The Friday Thing #728

It never ceases to amaze me which posts capture people's imagination. I thought last week's edition was a bit throwaway - not least as it was written on the hoof - but lots of people seemed to enjoy it. Thank you.

The Friday Thing #728 is inspired by a coffee conversation I had in London a few weeks ago with my friend Ian Sanders. We've known each other for a few years now and finally got the chance to meet at 180 Strand for a pleasant hour or so over coffee and grey skies. Ian is a kindred spirit - a storyteller who enjoys many of the things I do - a busy coffee shop, the inspiration that travel brings, The Monocle Store, The Design Museum, Sir Paul Smith. We have a lot in common.

What we do not have in common is he is an author of five books, and I am an author of none (yet). On this cold, London morning, Ian presented me with a lovely brown paper wrapped copy of his new book, 365 Ways to Have a Good Day with a hand written note inside the cover. What a treat.

The book itself is a treat too. A simple series of bite sized advice on creativity - though it doesn't really set itself out as a creative book, that's what I took away from it. Lots of gems of advice, including a new coffee shop in my home city of Liverpool I have overlooked. A few from the 365 I love:

• #50 Find your superpower - I have written about that here before. Mine, I think, is storytelling. What is yours?
• #156 Look at the world outside your office - I created a whole program about this at Microsoft called "outside 98052" - the zip code for our Redmond headquarters. In short, inspiration is everywhere...not just in the 1-mile radius of where you sit.
• #244 Don't worry about FOMO - I share this with Ian. I haven't watched Game of Thrones, or Ted Lasso. One day maybe I will, but I don't get stressed about it. I use that time to do the opposite.
• #286 Always be on time - punctuality is a personal passion of mine. It shows you care. And people notice.

The book also inspired me to journal in 2022. Ian's book is literally a collation of ideas from his own 27 journals over the last many years, so I plan to do the same and have even found a tool to help me do it - One Line a Day: A Five-Year Memory Book.

That's it for this week. Go buy Ian's book - make it a stocking filler for a friend or buy it for yourself. You will not be disappointed.

Cheers to you, Mr. Sanders and Happy Friday all.

-Steve