29th Edition: Education investors, Zoom timers & Lightening your load

Thanks for being here

Hey everyone, hope you’re having a wonder-full week

My trip to Florida was somewhat hellish.

The first three days were great. I went to a tech conference headlined by Serena Williams, and a summit hosted at an art museum featuring the Marisol and Warhol Take New York exhibit.

A glimpse of the Marisol and Warhol Take New York exhibit

But then came an abrupt turn. A $70 USD meal at a fancy restaurant transpired into the worst food poisoning of my life.

I had to cancel my plans for the rest of the week (a major ouch given I lost money on pre-booked events and missed out on seeing peers and prospective clients in person). I’d also been daydreaming of walking for hours along the beach, but by the time I regained the ability to stand upright, I was too weak to go far.

Another feature at the museum: A piece by Kehinde Wiley, the New York based painter who produced the Obama portraits in 2018

The silver lining is I was extra grateful to come home. And the trip made me realize how hard I’ve been pushing myself. I’ve been running a marathon since September, when I dove into self-employment. I’ve been working all hours, taking courses, volunteering my time—and ultimately burning myself out.

I thought back to this Tweet I’d seen a few weeks ago:

Now I’m making a change. I’m doing a “spring clean” for my mind and body. For the next couple of weeks, I'll be prioritizing sleep, eating well, exercising, and relaxing. And I’ll be cutting down my work projects and going deep on the ones I’m most invested in.

If you’re in a similar boat, I encourage you to do the same.

💌 Stay tuned for more updates, and if you’re in Montreal, hit reply and let’s catch up over coffee or a walk.

Now, here are 3 gems I want to share with you:

An experience to inspire: Education investors

Miami Tech Summit nailed their content and aesthetics. The event was privately held at the Pérez Art Museum Miami—a gorgeous waterfront venue with floor to ceiling windows casting Florida sunshine across each room.

Of the impressive lineup of speakers, Jack Abraham was a stand out. Abraham is the Founder & CEO of Atomic and he shared a surprising tactic he first used with investors when he founded another company several years back.

“I was a real transplant to California. I didn’t know anyone—but I had one contact.”

Abraham recounted how he persisted in following up with that one contact until he eventually landed a meeting. Within five minutes, the guy wanted to invest in Abraham’s startup. That’s when Abraham made a bold—and surprising—request. He told the guy in order to invest, he would need to commit to spending one hour with Abraham every Friday for three years.

Guess what? The guy agreed—in writing.

Abraham said he required the same commitment from every other investor, and that’s where a lot of his entrepreneurial education came from.

Genius, right?

🔥 Challenge: Think of someone in your network you’d be keen to learn from on a longterm basis (it could be a financial investor, or simply someone invested in your professional development). Pitch them on the idea of meeting regularly to ask questions and get advice.

A resource to consider: Zoom breakout timers

One of the biggest pain points participants have with Zoom breakouts is knowing how much time has elapsed, versus how much is left.

Here’s a quick demo of a feature you can use to keep everyone on the same page:

⏲️ Challenge: Think about how you can incorporate timers to run your breakouts more efficiently.

A question to ponder: Lightening your load

Spring is in the air, bringing fresh energy to all that surrounds us.

I mentioned earlier, it’s a great time to reprioritize your health, energy, and clarity of mind. We have a tendency to overbook our calendars and take on too many commitments, so it’s important to redistribute our load every now and then.

Source: Google images

💭 My question to you is: what can you release to lighten your load?

A gesture to consider: Donating to Ukrainians

Here are some causes you can support (though I recommend doing your own research): 🏥 Ukrainian Red Cross​,🪖 Come Back Alive​, 🚸 Voices of Children​

May we continue to support Ukrainians until they’re peacefully home. 💙💛

Thanks for reading my 29th newsletter

We’re now 129 people within this vibrant community. And my goal is to nurture the art of reflection amongst us.

I’d love your feedback on how I can make future editions beneficial. So if you have an idea or burning question I could address, hit reply and we’re off.

Have a wonder-full week,

Alexandra

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