I used to think Atomic Habits had changed my life. I pretty much said that in this review I wrote in 2023. Then I discovered the If Books Could Kill podcast, listened to their take on it, and realised how it addressed those niggling feelings I had about some of its advice – and why
Category Archives: Karens Notes
18
Jul
Jul
Choosing a name – for your firm, for a new product, for a book – is tough. It feels like such a big deal. If it’s your business name, you know you’re going to be seeing this logo everywhere – on websites, on the wall in your office, on letterhead or business cards. It will
30
May
May
I moved to an island because I wanted to embed quiet, and slowness, and space into my life. I’ve been thinking lately how incredibly important this is in the face of the absolute and utter RUSH of AI. I won’t spend much time on the caveats – I use AI, my team use it, new
24
Apr
Apr
“In the end, stories are about one person saying to another: This is the way it feels to me. Can you understand what I’m saying? Does it feel this way to you?” ― Kazuo Ishiguro This photo is me in 2011. Just started a new marketing agency to help accountants. Fresh from working directly for
04
Apr
Apr
When it comes to seeing a result from your marketing, you know that keeping going is the way. Sticking with your email newsletter, your weekly YouTube or TikTok videos, your LinkedIn posts and comments…it has an impact over time. But it’s hard to tell sometimes if you’re speaking or writing or sharing into the void. Is
04
Apr
Apr
On Friday afternoon, I wrapped up my afternoon meetings, replied to the outstanding items from team members, and drove about twenty minutes to the sea and the wood fired sauna we have here on the island. It’s a Friday night rhythm for me. And the ONLY way this works is if I block it out.Â
28
Mar
Mar
“We’re going to walk together, really slowly. Because when you go slow, you see more. When you go fast, you miss things.” Recently I went on a Biofluorescent Walk here on the Isle of Mull. Never been on one before…didn’t even really know what it was. But the announcement about it and the images looked
Karens Notes, Plans & Strategy, Sketchnotes
Book subtitles, website messages, tag lines: The shorter the message the harder it is to create
29
Mar
Mar
This week, I had a deadline to get the full title and subtitle of my second book to the publishers. No problem, I thought. I have so many ideas! I already knew what the core title was – “Accountants, you are creative too” – and literally had forty or fifty potential subtitle texts in a
15
Mar
Mar
“Think of your brand like a bouncer”, I said on LinkedIn this week. Its job is to protect and help you from letting in those you don’t want in your club. And to protect the club (your business) from being so confusing that no one knows what you stand for, so they dither and eventually
08
Mar
Mar
This week I took out two full hours to “go dark” – no slack, no email, no phone notifications: complete silence on everything except this one project. The next day, I did it again. Same project (now halfway finished). Two hours, again. No connection with anything except the tasks before me. I got it done.
