Reclaiming Attention: The Power of Reading Field Notes #6: Reading is an antidote to the noise and polarization of our painful worlds.

📚 I thought reading was about entertainment or self-improvement. I discovered it was about taking my mind back from the algorithm and learning to focus again.
✨ Read the full story in the link in bio.
#WhyWeRead #AttentionEconomy #FounderLife #WeeklyReflection

That Time I Stopped Being a Cripple: Reclaiming Strength After Injury The story of how I went from homebound cripple to budding athlete.

That Time I Stopped Being a Cripple: Reclaiming Strength After Injury

The story of how I went from homebound cripple to budding athlete.

Conflict Is a Gift: From Adversity to Agency Field Notes #4: Most people fall into one of two categories: avoid conflict or quietly enjoy it. I love conflict: it has given me a full life. This post is a love letter to conflict: reframing it from something we dodge into a force for growth, connection, and creative purpose.

Conflict isn't always a threat: it can be a catalyst. This Field Note explores how sparring with resistance (in life, work, and politics) fuels real growth.

Read more in the link.

#CreativeLeadership
#FounderLife
#WeeklyReflection

Books & Reflections – August 2025 Edition A deep dive into creative alchemy, civic courage, and curating the public self; through hard reads, powerful stories, and the discipline of discernment.

August’s Books and Reflections is live! A few duds, yes – but also wisdom from Teddy Roosevelt, Jon Batiste and Suleika Jaouad on grief, leadership, and creative alchemy. ✨ Link in bio.
#ReadingRecap #CreativeLeadership #SlowThinking

Writing Without Witness: My Year of Morning Pages Field Notes #3: What happened when I wrote every morning for a year.

372 days of Morning Pages changed my life. Journalling isn’t just self-reflection: it’s about becoming a person who can hold difficult truths and still move forward.
✨ Read the full story in the link in bio.
#FounderLife #MorningPages #WeeklyReflection

How Time Shapes Problem-Solving Field Notes #2: Moving beyond discipline: how attention mode and time structure shape problem-solving.

Spinning your wheels? Discipline might not be the issue. I use Paul Graham’s Maker/Manager lens with a twist to match attention to task. Less rework, more momentum.
✨Read the full story in the link in bio.

#FounderLife #MakersSchedule #StartupThinking #ProblemSolving #WeeklyReflection

Breath: Ally or Saboteur? Our breath can be our biggest ally – or our hidden saboteur. The key is to learn to align energy, recovery and effort to enhance performance.

Two workouts, one difference: my breathing.
Breath isn’t just background: it can be our ally or saboteur.
What happens when we stop moving on autopilot and start matching our breath to the real demands of the work?

#CreativeLeadership #LifelongLearner #Mindfulness
junesvetlovsky.com/2025/08/09/b...

The Gift of Space: From “Shoulds” to a Founder’s Journey Space gave me what “should” never could: the freedom to choose, the courage to build, and the clarity to become an entrepreneur.

Getting reorganized out of my job felt like a loss - until it became relief. That space gave me clarity, creativity and a new path in entrepreneurship.

Read the full story.
#Entrepreneurship
#FoundersJourney
#Values

Books & Reflections – July 2025 Edition July's reading stack - from Agatha Christie to Mónica Guzmán - sparked reflections on splitting, nuance, and why curiosity is more powerful than outrage.

Splitting - the urge to see things as all good or all bad - was my theme this month. Books, therapy, and even election volunteering reminded me that nuance matters more than outrage.
#ReadingRecap
#CreativeLeadership
#SlowThinking

Books & Reflections – Q2 2025 Edition Welcome to the second installment of Books & Reflections, my regular roundup of what I’ve been reading, watching, and reflecting on. This series tracks the ideas shaping my work, my writing, and myself. 📚 Inputs & Influences Books - Fiction Arabella. Georgette Heyer, 1949. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Mary Ann Shaffer, 2008. Books - Non-fiction…

What do Orwell, Brené Brown, Trevor Noah, and a time budget have in common? They all appear in this quarter's Books & Reflections - a space where I gather what I'm reading and shape meaning from the mess. For fellow readers and sensemakers.
#ReadingRecap
#CreativeLeadership
#SlowThinking

Books & Reflections – Q1 2025 Edition Welcome to the first installment of Books & Reflections, my regular roundup of what I’ve been reading, watching, and reflecting on. This series tracks the ideas shaping my work, my writing, and myself. 📚 Inputs & Influences Books - Fiction Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen, 1813. The Mystery of the Blue Train. Agatha Christie, 1928. The Masqueraders. Georgette Heyer, 1928.

This winter, I read my way back to something resembling focus.
From time, voice, and attention to Jane Austen and murders on a train, Winter 2025's stack gave me more than just stories with satisfying endings - it helped me get grounded.
What's been shaping your thinking lately?
#ReadingRecap

100%! I link to our biggest Canadian book retailer (Indigo Chapters) or if it is an indie book, to the indie bookstore where I purchased it.

The Meaning of Resilience: a Boxer’s Journey Back to the Ring Does anyone else use words without knowing exactly what they mean? The theme for the Speaker Slam competition in January 2025 was resilience. The organizers asked me if I had any stories to share. Sure, I’m tough! I used to be a boxer. ‘It’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. It's about how much you can take, and keep moving forward.

Resilience isn't just about how hard you can get it - its about how you bounce back. Returning to boxing taught me the power of adaptability, vulnerability and having people in my corner. These lessons apply equally to the stage as they do to the ring.

#Resilience
#Boxing
#PublicSpeaking

Why I Box: Self-Discovery and Humility Preface: A version of this text first appeared in Discovering Ratchet (the now-defunct blog) on May 26, 2016 under the title "I Don't Like Fighting. This is Why I Box". It is reproduced here, with minor edits. It is part of a 9-post series written between 2016-18 on mental health and my struggles to make sense of what my brain was doing to me, while presenting to the outside world as a successful 30-something year old professional.

I don't like fighting. So why do I box? Because the ring forces me to confront my fears, my anger, and myself. A journey of self-discovery, humility and growth.
#Boxing
#MentalHealth
#PersonalGrowth

Great article! I appreciate the contrasting examples of what is and isn’t Deep POV. Really drives the point home. Thanks!

Kendrick Lamar’s GNX. It might only be 1 month old but it is amazing! “Resurrected” is sheer poetic genius.

It applies to all artists.

Thanks! That was a great article. I love discovering new bloggers.

To lighten this rainy day. Well, it's raining here in SW England. If you have sunshine, please share!

#writingcommunity #readingcommunity #poetrycommunity

How do you block the bot? I’m on Wordpress, would love to do the same.

Any good would be nice.

For Christmas I want everyone to stop calling themselves "content creators". If you write, you're a writer. If you make art, you're an artist. If you report on things, you're a journalist. Content creators fill a void, artists fill a need. Respect yourself enough to own what you actually do.

If you're on the cusp of feeling like you should do something: act, speak, engage, etc. Being open and bold with compassion and truth can make all the difference. Let's speak out 💙

"Silence is the residue of fear." - Clint Smith

Having a plane to catch is unfortunately a strong motivator. Next time I will make sure my WotW visit is mid-trip with days of downtime before and after that can be repurposed as bonus visits.

Third alternative: get hired on the spot? I considered a spontaneous career change lol.

Leaving the boat was definitely the hardest part. It wasdefinitely the bookshop where I had the highest ratio of time on premise per sqft. The next time I'm in London, I will plan to spend an entire day there.

Great map. That really brings it home.

I'm from Montreal, Canada! you?

I agree! I especially love how curious she is in her approach. She layers in so many different perspectives and considerations, while also sticking to the facts of her trauma. It’s a very effective approach.

Working through it now. Chapter 10. Things be a'moving in my life!

Embracing Mid-Life: Lessons from Sarah Polley’s Essays Intro I turned 40 this summer, and predictably, I’ve been working through a mid-life crisis. It’s been building for the past two years: I spent a lot of money on a fantastic education at a the top business schools, only to realize my big dream is to be an author(*). What to do? Well, I decided to do what all the professors preached: be bold.

Sarah Polley's Run Towards the Danger is a must read! Her essays explore memory, trauma and healing, with empathy and curiosity. It's a masterclass in storytelling that inspires courage to face our own truths.
#BookReview
#Memoir
#Storytelling
#BookSky