Decisions End the Noise | Contend | Never Split The Difference
Hello there! Welcome to my weekly LEAPS.
You’re receiving this email because you subscribed to my weekly Wednesday feature or our mailing list. Every Wednesday, I share 5 things using our LEAPS approach:
Learn: something new or an idea
Energy: an energy (good or bad) word and it’s meaning
Action: something to do
Processing: a question to consider
Shout out: something or someone that I want to celebrate or acknowledge
LEARN
Something Worth Sharing
Decisions End the Noise
Towards the end of 2025, I found myself making three significant personal decisions. One of them was finally getting a second tattoo, twenty two years after the first, this time on my wrist. I love it. But what stayed with me more than the tattoo itself was what it represented, how long we can carry an idea, a want, or a pull towards something before we act on it.
It made me reflect on how often we sit with things we have been thinking about for years. Not doing them, but not letting them go either.
Because of the work and research we do around confidence and action, I made a simple pact with myself. For anything that had been lingering, I would view it through one of two lenses. Either I would accept things exactly as they are and consciously choose not to act, then move on. Or I would take a step, any step, towards doing the thing.
What I realised is that most of our discomfort comes from not making a choice. We stay in limbo, wanting change without committing to action, or clarity. Over time, those incomplete situations quietly drain energy and focus. In truth, I was starting to annoy myself.
The learning was simple but powerful. We usually have two real options: do, or decide not to. The moment we choose one, momentum or peace follows. It is the in between that costs us the most.
ENERGY
An emotion or energy; a stand-out word / s
Contend
Looking back on the year, I realised how much I was contending, with challenges, expectations, and my own limits. From the Latin contendere, meaning to stretch and to test one’s strength, contending is less about fighting and more about engaging fully with what is in front of us, and growing through that stretch.
ACTION
Something small that you can do that might make a big difference
Contend with Intention
Choose one situation you have been avoiding, delaying, or quietly carrying - especially one that has existed for a long time. This week, stop resisting it or overthinking it and instead engage with it directly by taking one clear, constructive step, having a conversation, making a decision, or moving past a boundary.
Notice how meeting it head on, rather than stretching away from it, changes your energy and clarity.
PROCESSING
A question to think about and consider (you can discuss this with someone or write your thoughts down)
“What would make this year feel alive rather than just productive?”
We often hope the new year will be productive, but there is a simpler, and perhaps more challenging, question worth asking, how do I want to feel more alive this year?
I’d love for you to send me your own stories / thoughts about this. Drop me a line with your answer / thoughts on this question
SHOUT OUT
Who / what I think deserves recognition - my gratitude or to be celebrated.
Sharing Your Appreciation
We often focus on what needs improving or moving forward, but there is something quietly powerful about pausing to share our appreciation. Taking a moment to acknowledge someone, out loud or in writing, not only strengthens connection, but reminds us that progress is already happening, often through people we might otherwise take for granted. Shout out for what happens when we share our appreciation (and people do that for us too!).
BONUS GIFT FOR YOU
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If you’d like to discuss having your ideas, business or culture captured visually - you can also let me know via email.
LEAPS is a process used by our team and clients all the time - and even my own family on a daily basis.
I’ll be sharing a set of LEAPS each week with you and encourage you to do your own version:
L: what have you learned?
E: what’s your energy / feeling word
A: what’s one thing you need to do?
P: what are you thinking / processing?
S: who or what can you shout out?
