Inspiration

Every week on Friday, I share a list of the most interesting and inspiring content I’ve read lately here on my blog. You can expect thoughts on productivity, happiness, balance, spirituality, politics, and more. Subscribe here to get updates. See archives here.

This week, I launched The Appothecary, a curated database of all the tools I love & would recommend to small business owners. I already have a few members, which is so exciting, and it warms my heart to see them discovering technologies they find helpful! You can read more about why I created the project here.

This is one of my favourite Maya Angelou quotes and never ceases to be relevant, especially when you add “the first time” to the end of it, as Oprah says.

I’m in the midst of bingeing the back episodes of Rework the podcast, and I have been loving it. I am so thankful for their values-based, insightful approach to business, it helps me feel inspired and less alone in the world.

This article is never not relevant, and I especially needed to read it this week after a tough bout of ~*feelings*~ last weekend.

I liked these diverse approaches to the topic of whether or not we should delete our social media accounts. I feel like I fall somewhere in the first camp, but I could always be better about reducing the noise.

Offline this week, I was super inspired by Roxane Gay’s beautiful book Hunger, and Curtis Sittenfeld’s book of stories, You Think It, I’ll Say It. Both were so excellent.

This week on the podcast I talked about the process of building The Appothecary and how it helped me look deeper at my own brand values & business systems.

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This week I had the honour of being the guest expert at my local TuesdaysTogether chapter, a meetup for entrepreneurs. We were addressing one of my favourite topics, systems, and it was so much fun to talk to a group about something I care so much about. It was such an affirming experience and I got so many thoughtful messages afterwards. It really felt like a big milestone for me, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity. This weekend I’m planning to do a lot of reading, go for a fall hike, and launch the Inbox Zero workshop I’m running in early November! I hope you have a wonderful weekend too. xo.

Every week on Friday, I share a list of the most interesting and inspiring content I’ve read lately here on my blog. You can expect thoughts on productivity, happiness, balance, spirituality, politics, and more. Subscribe here to get updates. See archives here.

I’m getting ready to launch my very first “product” to the world (if you want an early sneak peek, you can see it here!!) and, as with any new project, this one came with its fair share of technical difficulties. I was BLOWN AWAY by the level of customer service I got from the team behind the plugin I’m using, Memberful. Not only did they troubleshoot with me for hours on end, they solved my problem by coding me a custom plugin for my website. Truly unbelievable. If you ever need a membership app, this is the one to use.

In other fun app news, I have now gotten my whole family onto the app Carrot, which gives you rewards (Aeroplan points, SCENE points, etc) based on how active you are throughout the day. It is so much fun to “compete” with family – my dad is taking it very seriously and kicking our butts. If you sign up, you can use my code stephaniep5372 and get bonus points yay.

Last weekend I installed the Facebook News Feed Eradicator and I cannot tell you how much happier and less stressed I feel as a result. Goodbye endless scrolling! Sayonara time suck! I can still go to my groups and see notifications, but everything else is just: gone.

Extremely supportive of this sentiment from Adam Grant about who gets to give you feedback. Criticism is not universally helpful.

I like this distinction between habits and workflows, and definitely need to take some time to think about how this applies to me and my own work life.

I really liked this episode of “What Should I Read Next?” and especially liked the guest’s habit of checking in with her library holds on the daily, which to me is #goals.

This week, my team at With/out Pretend threw a launch party for our new digital magazine, The Vault. If you haven’t already, please check out these beautifully illustrated original stories and consider becoming a member! They’re so wonderful.

This week on the podcast, I chatted with my friend Sonja Seiler about the recent sold-out success of her retreat and her long journey to get here! It really struck a chord with people based on how many DMs and texts I got about it afterwards.

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I spent last weekend dogsitting for the puppy, and it was such a peaceful and lovely time. I got so much done in the quiet, which was a good reminder for me to spend more time free from distractions and with fun projects to work on. This weekend I am going home again for more family time, to celebrate Thanksgiving with my loved ones. I feel lucky daily, but Thanksgiving is a great excuse to voice my deep and profound gratitude for my life. I hope you have a wonderful weekend too. xo.

Every week on Friday, I share a list of the most interesting and inspiring content I’ve read lately here on my blog. You can expect thoughts on productivity, happiness, balance, spirituality, politics, and more. Subscribe here to get updates. See archives here.

This week I used Loom multiple times to record screencast walkthroughs of various tools for my clients. I love the little circle pic feature, it adds so much more personality! So useful.

I’m so inspired by my friend Sonja’s retreat selling out this week! She has worked so hard on this and really invested in herself and this business, and is now reaping the rewards. You can learn more about her retreat, Nurture, here.

In The Useletter last week (one of my fave newsletters), Amy mentioned a newish tool called Notion which I’ve been testing all week. It’s a project management/wiki/document sharing/to-do list/database app and it’s pretty cool so far.

Last week I read the book Places I Stopped on the Way Home and really enjoyed it. It was nice to read about her romantic trials & tribulations and feel how much she really believes in love. Very inspiring.

Very into this radical idea to set up a vacation autoresponder that tells people you are automatically deleting any emails that come in during your vacation. Wowow.

Important reminder that things often take way longer and are much harder than they look. Having recently built a few things I’m super proud of, I can confirm. Patience is so important, and so is the willingness to be bad at first and fumble through.

An interesting case for taking some things for granted. This is less of an instruction manual than it is a thought exercise.

Psychologists are finding that fatigue may not be about physical exhaustion or depleting willpower, but perhaps about motivation. This makes sense to me, and if it’s true, this has interesting implications!

In case you missed it, this week on the podcast I was “inspired” by the new show Escaping NXIVM to discuss the potential dangers of “spiritual language” being used in manipulative ways.

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This week my family had an early Thanksgiving, as a going away party for my little sister who is bravely moving to the States for a year for work! It was so nice to see my family all together again. And it was a great work week too: I love it when I discover new business tools that are smart and helpful, it makes me so happy. I also had a lot of fun wins with clients, which felt amazing. This weekend I’m dogsitting for my mom, and I can’t wait for puppy cuddles! I hope you have a wonderful weekend too. xo.

Every week on Friday, I share a list of the most interesting and inspiring content I’ve read lately here on my blog. You can expect thoughts on productivity, happiness, balance, spirituality, politics, and more. Subscribe here to get updates. See archives here.

Right up top: some excellent essays this week about how criminals who happen to be famous are trying to have comebacks. Here’s one from Anne Thériault, and one from Roxane Gay. PS. Were you surprised by my word choice of “criminals”? That’s because normally we treat famous predators with an incredible amount of respect and use their names and titles when we talk about them, a dignity we do not always offer the women they assaulted.

This week I also came across two wonderful essays about a controversy happening in the wellness community. Maryam Ajayi does a great job of explaining the problematic display of white fragility that played out in the “Free+Native” community a few weeks ago (which I was appalled by at the time) on The Thirlby. And Jaclyn from Interior Creature shows us a beautiful example of how you can commit to working on your privilege, learning from others and owning your impact.

A good reminder for any of us that live in any big city.

We can do two things at once! We can hold on to two opposing ideas simultaneously! Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Remember that it is a sign of intelligence.

Love this idea – I regularly need a browser tab that would float above the others! Just need to figure out how to implement this and I’m sure it’ll be a game-changer.

I loved Akimbo this week – so many important points on how to build something from the ground up (and how not to), and when to launch.

“Chill is the opposite of something else too: warmth. And kindness, and earnestness, and vulnerability.” No more chill.

In case you missed it, this week on the podcast I’m talking about how we can start to take down pulverize our inner critic.

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It’s been a good one this week! I joined The Quarterly, so I’m excited to get started on my first planning party tomorrow, to end the year with a bang. I wrapped up work with another client, which I feel great about. And I am watching my favourite people succeed all around me in a way that feels so incredibly exciting and inspiring. So happy to get to be a part of so many interesting and important businesses! This weekend we’re having an early Thanksgiving/going away party for my baby sister and I can’t wait to spend some time at home. Hope you have a wonderful weekend too! xo.