?? Leanne's favourites things of 2021 + introducing: The Junket Retreat

I wanted to catch you before you got too overwhelmed with the receive of flurry of end of year emails…Although if you’re at that point already, I totally hear you!

Here are three key things I wanted to share with you before wrapping up the year:

1. A handy reflection question to disrupt your thinking
2. Solopreneur retreat - jump on the wait-list
3. Leanne's 2021 best of list

In Australia, we tend to "down tools" for around 4-6 weeks at this time of the year. It’s the summer and I’ve naturally been waking up at 4am daily because of this kookaburra that loves to belly laugh right outside my window.

Over the break, I'm aiming to reimagine what life looks like post the First Time Facilitator podcast (although, I’m kind of cheating... on Monday I’m releasing an ENCORE episode with my all-time friendtor Jenny Blake talking about her insane new book called?Free Time?that I recorded recently with the?Booked Out Facilitator crew.

However, because you're here, you get an early sneak peak of the full interview on YouTube (below).

1.?A handy reflection question to disrupt your thinking

I’m in a year-long mastermind with Alan Weiss, and I wanted to share one thing he shared with me that continues to underpin my thinking:

Leanne, stop projecting your present onto the future. Start IMAGINING the future, instead.

We often limit our thinking when planning for the future, and tend to extrapolate what we currently do but make that bigger or more efficient.

It's important to cast the "How will I do that" aside and just ask yourself, "How am I? How do I want to be?"

Oh, and when you respond? Stop filtering your response with those four, dreaded words: “That will never happen”.

Here’s a photo of what helps me getting into "Dream Big" mode:

...As I was drinking champagne and eating cheese, I wrote down that I want to hang out with cool people, having incredible conversations, and amazing experiences. I saw this as some aspirational, long-term goal.

And then I disrupted myself and thought, “Why can’t I do this now? What am I waiting for?”

2. Introducing: The Junket Retreat in 2022

That’s why I’m planning a solopreneur retreat in quarter 1 of 2022 in Queensland, Australia. What I’ve discovered is that when you go away for a conference, most of the insights happen outside of the conference room - at lunch, in the hallway, at the sundowner drinks in the evening.

So, I’ve decided to design a conference around this theme: A Junket (and yes, I realise this is an Australian term, so here's the Urban Dictionary definition for you):

A Junket is:

n. a free trip provided by employer etc... considered a perk

"another junket this week"

Honestly, all of my best work trips have felt like junkets. The magic happens through real conversations in great spaces (not in stuffy air-conditioned rooms with zero natural light, where we're all sitting classroom style, facing a big screen).

The Junket will pretty much be the opposite of what I've just described. ???????????

It’s still in the creation zone, if you’d like to know more once details are available and get on the waiting list, simply comment below with the word:?CURIOUS! (or email me [email protected]).

3. Leanne’s favourites things in 2021

I personally LOVE reading everyone else’s favourites list for the year, so thought I’d whip together some of my favourite things from the year.

This isn’t an exhaustive list and it also doesn’t cover things I’ve already discovered (for example, I still love Zoom and Calendly, and Notability on my iPad but they’re old news now).

Note: I definitely have recency bias with these recommendations!

Fave reads

• Free Time by Jenny Blake?- grab her book on a Buy One, Get One and Gift One
• How to Begin by MBS?- you can also preorder this now! I accidentally blurbed this book, I was lucky enough to get access to a final draft and enthusiastically emailed MBS saying, "This book is legendary' and he threw it in. It is legendary.
• Belonging by Owen Eastwood?- this guy speaks the truth! You'll overhaul your onboarding experience after reading this
• Million Dollar Maverick by Alan Weiss?- being a solopreneur is all about self-worth, discover how you can build it by reading Alan’s book
• Dream Big by Bob Goff?- this guy is so cool. Thank you, Charles Hsuan for introducing me to Bob's work!
• The Courage to Be Disliked by ?Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga- "All problems are interpersonal problems" - this will have you rethinking your approach to life. SO GOOD x 10

(Btw - if you need recommendations on what to read, check out my friend Steph Clarke's podcast:?Steph's Business Bookshelf)

Fave listens

• ABC Conversations episode - Abbas Nazari: After the Tampa?- beautiful story of resilience, I teared up listening to it
• This American Life episode No Coincidence, No Story!?- While it was recorded quite a few years ago, I only heard it earlier this year and I was grinning listening to it on my run. I love how life is full of weird coincidences.
• 7 Figure Small with Brian Clark - Web 3.0 is People?- If you're curious around Web 3.0, blockchain and what this actually means - listen to this. If you have an ability to build a community, you're going to love the future.
• First Time Facilitator episode 181?is the most downloaded episode of 2021: What I’ve learnt from hosting 3.5 hour virtual workshops

Fav tools/apps

• Hello Audio?Private podcasting was my favourite thing to do this year! All of the content for Booked Out Facilitator is on a private podcast feed, all the recordings I need to play back I have also thrown onto a feed, and any private 1:1 coaching call recordings? You got it, I create a private podcast feed for their recordings, too. It's the best.?In this podcast episode, I share info on how I use private podcasting in my business, and how you can, too.
• Notion.so?to collect and collate all my random ideas and musings (watch the interview with Jenny Blake at the 30min mark to see how she works her list)
• Crypto.com?wallet - I started my crypto journey earlier this year and this is the wallet I use. I'm not here to tell you to start buying crypto - if you are curious?use my referral code?to sign up for Crypto.com and we both get $25 USD :)
• Wall Street Journal digital sub?- I actually love reading this at the end of the day on my iPad, as I get the new issue when the US is waking up.
• Discord?- Mandatory if you’re thinking of getting into NFTs! Fascinating to see how people host and create engaged, online communities. Not sure what I'm talking about? Listen to my friend,?Andy Storch's new podcast about NFTs
• NordVPN?- Yes, it’s kind of sneaky but it’s the only way we can listen to the Formula 1 BBC commentary live!
• Peloton+ Bike / app: I joined the cult four weeks ago, and I’ve gone from never using a stationary bike, to now cycling every single day. You can checkout the app for free for?60 days on the app?using this link.

Other faves

• A3 drawing pads have rocked my world this year! Love the extra space on the page.
• Launching?Booked Out Facilitator?and helping 50+ facilitators from around the world to book out five more workshops, for every workshop they deliver, was the highlight of the year. The calls were sensations, the group were amazing, and I’m excited to continue serving the community with monthly calls next year. If you’d like to use this time over the holiday season to learn how to book out your workshop,?just send me a LinkedIn message, or email [email protected]

Wow. If you got to the end of this, I'm impressed!

I'd love you to comment below and let me know if anything in this email has provoked your thinking. What are you up to next year?

Happy holiday wishes to all of you. I'm thankful for you!

See you in 2022~

Leanne