Career Fuel

This page pulls together my top articles, resources, and podcasts on developing and fueling a career.

There are pieces on going out solo as an independent consultant or freelancer; positioning yourself; building resilience; which labels to use in your work; and much, much more.

Below are some of my most popular articles by theme, or keep scrolling to access every Career Fuel article.

Thirsty for more? Got a topic in mind you’d like me to write about? Just drop me a line.

Top 5

  1. Undertaking a 2019 Annual Life Review (Guide & Template)
  2. Life’s a Pitch…but for who?
  3. Learnings from the other side of an accelerator program
  4. Freelancer to Entrepreneur: The Forest, The Mountains, and the Water
  5. Overrated Mentors, Underrated Coaches

Entrepreneurship

  1. The Dollar Bill and The Golf Ball
  2. Learnings from the other side of an accelerator program
  3. Workshop Slide Deck (guided): Lifecycles in products, companies, and careers
  4. Hiring? Look out for the goalkeeper

Freelancing

  1. A simple recipe for working independently
  2. Switching to Annual View
  3. Freelancer to Entrepreneur: The Forest, The Mountains, and the Water
  4. Employee of the Month
  5. What do they remember you by?

Positioning

  1. Serious Fun
  2. Positioning: Get Uncomfortably Narrow
  3. Be Like Bowie
  4. The Microscope & The Telescope
  5. Lowercase skills

Storytelling

  1. Thinking in Bits
  2. Life’s a Pitch…but for who?
  3. How to articulate your vision in 4 post-it notes
  4. The Gallery

Resilience

  1. Pre Game / Post Game
  2. Two types of role model
  3. Keep it boring
  4. 3 circles for managing control, influence, concern, and anxiety
  5. When you’re not killing it

All Career Fuel posts

  1. Free or full price November 24, 2020
  2. Do you remember your first 10? November 24, 2020
  3. The Rust November 19, 2020
  4. 30 degree days November 18, 2020
  5. Zenith & Nadir November 3, 2020
  6. Pareto in a pandemic November 3, 2020
  7. The $15m unbranding November 1, 2020
  8. The flipped fortune cookie October 14, 2020
  9. The Rough Edges October 12, 2020
  10. The cycles of alchemy October 5, 2020
  11. Do you like dogs? September 21, 2020
  12. A simple recipe for working independently April 26, 2020
  13. Pre Game / Post Game April 26, 2020
  14. The Entertainers April 2, 2020
  15. The Dollar Bill and The Golf Ball March 26, 2020
  16. Opening Credits January 10, 2020
  17. Thinking in Bits December 28, 2019
  18. Undertaking a 2019 Annual Life Review (Guide & Template) December 11, 2019
  19. Serious Fun December 10, 2019
  20. Life’s a Pitch…but for who? November 26, 2019
  21. The Tension: Chaos / Order October 29, 2019
  22. The Tension: Time / Energy October 22, 2019
  23. The Tension: No One Cares October 15, 2019
  24. The Tension: Natural / Rounded October 1, 2019
  25. The Question: ‘So, what do you do?’ September 24, 2019
  26. The Tension: Microscope / Telescope September 17, 2019
  27. Overwhelm, Skateboards, and a new podcast August 27, 2019
  28. The Secret August 27, 2019
  29. Stories around the fire August 22, 2019
  30. On Stage August 6, 2019
  31. Talking to Humans: Go anonymous July 30, 2019
  32. Talking to Humans: No intro, no get-go July 30, 2019
  33. Fear, Envy, and Contempt July 24, 2019
  34. Group Dynamics: Sitting in Circle July 16, 2019
  35. What was it like? July 10, 2019
  36. Learnings from the other side of an accelerator program June 27, 2019
  37. Alchemy before Chemistry June 24, 2019
  38. No Reply = No Interest? June 22, 2019
  39. Work labels: word salad and connotations June 19, 2019
  40. Switching to Annual View June 19, 2019
  41. Lucky Number 7 – and a 40-degree day June 17, 2019
  42. Two types of role model June 17, 2019
  43. Positioning: Get Uncomfortably Narrow June 15, 2019
  44. The Vessel & The Lens June 15, 2019
  45. KPIs: The slide snap June 14, 2019
  46. Dominant Design May 29, 2019
  47. A simple way to get unblocked May 25, 2019
  48. 22,000 songs in your pocket May 21, 2019
  49. Back to business school: the new case study May 18, 2019
  50. Freelancer to Entrepreneur: The Forest, The Mountains, and the Water May 15, 2019
  51. Labels In, Labels Out May 15, 2019
  52. Going Solo? You’re still in the Rat Race May 10, 2019
  53. Why we need to get rid of ideas May 10, 2019
  54. Becoming a wizard May 8, 2019
  55. Overrated Mentors, Underrated Coaches April 30, 2019
  56. The Rotation April 26, 2019
  57. Two Tunnels April 24, 2019
  58. Keep it boring April 16, 2019
  59. Bonus Content April 15, 2019
  60. Signposts and Surprises April 6, 2019
  61. Cultivate your questions carefully April 5, 2019
  62. Game Time: History Repeating April 3, 2019
  63. A lot can happen between now and never April 2, 2019
  64. Over Indexing March 30, 2019
  65. Question time: Getting booked to speak at conferences March 26, 2019
  66. Gateway Drugs March 26, 2019
  67. Cross Training: The ChefTender and The KitBar March 23, 2019
  68. Natural or Rounded? March 21, 2019
  69. Idea Fuel: The Creative Observer March 1, 2019
  70. Battle Scars February 28, 2019
  71. How to build your network in a new city, country or culture February 27, 2019
  72. Beyond the 1 hour meeting February 25, 2019
  73. 7 Lessons from Jim Collins on The Tim Ferriss Show February 25, 2019
  74. Suggestible, Susceptible? February 22, 2019
  75. The Portfolio Career Podcast February 22, 2019
  76. The Prestige February 21, 2019
  77. Be Like Bowie February 20, 2019
  78. Tension February 20, 2019
  79. The Crier, The Glue, The Word, and The Arrow February 19, 2019
  80. How to articulate your vision in 4 post-it notes February 19, 2019
  81. Bringing the Essential Mix to work February 15, 2019
  82. Pressure brings performance – or does it? February 13, 2019
  83. 5 x Why, 5 x Who February 13, 2019
  84. The Action & The Juice February 12, 2019
  85. The Gallery February 5, 2019
  86. From the Magpie to the Hummingbird February 4, 2019
  87. A simple way to overcome nerves and anxiety in a first meeting February 4, 2019
  88. Why we should think more like Detroit’s techno pioneers February 4, 2019
  89. Managing the feeling of being scattered February 4, 2019
  90. Employee of the Month February 1, 2019
  91. Should you be Standing Out, or Fitting In? January 31, 2019
  92. Rules of the Game January 30, 2019
  93. Finding mentors & advisors: 1:1 or a roster? January 29, 2019
  94. Trade-offs January 29, 2019
  95. Trust, Lock-in and Switching Costs for Coaches, Consultants, and Advisors January 28, 2019
  96. What do they remember you by? January 25, 2019
  97. When is it hard to do, or easy to finish? January 25, 2019
  98. Workshop Slide Deck (guided): Lifecycles in products, companies, and careers January 22, 2019
  99. Why Penn & Teller ignored the audience January 19, 2019
  100. Navigating Uncertainty: Climbing the Ladder, Going out to Sea January 17, 2019
  101. It’s hard to tell other people’s stories January 17, 2019
  102. Hiring? Look out for the goalkeeper January 15, 2019
  103. The trouble with saying No January 14, 2019
  104. Trend Spotting: How to identify what’s coming next January 11, 2019
  105. Be the person you needed when you were younger January 1, 2019
  106. Undertaking an Annual Life Review (a Guide & Template) December 28, 2018
  107. What kind of artist are you? December 27, 2018
  108. The Microscope & The Telescope December 17, 2018
  109. Two quick tips on Trend Spotting December 17, 2018
  110. Being Typecast December 14, 2018
  111. Demo Night December 14, 2018
  112. The Quick No December 11, 2018
  113. If Jobs were Houses December 11, 2018
  114. Lowercase skills December 11, 2018
  115. The fissures on your path December 2, 2018
  116. How to create your own personal investment thesis November 26, 2018
  117. Pressing pause on Tetris scheduling November 26, 2018
  118. Life Advice from Underground Resistance & Marcus Aurelius November 25, 2018
  119. 3 elements for making deals as a freelancer or consultant November 21, 2018
  120. Untangling Time & Energy November 14, 2018
  121. 3 elements of a successful entertainment venture November 13, 2018
  122. From Code School to Podcast School November 9, 2018
  123. Company Name* (required) October 30, 2018
  124. Shipping, Unshipping and the Creative Handbrake October 23, 2018
  125. Mind the Gap: A primer on Biases and Mental Models (slide deck) October 23, 2018
  126. Intensity or Technique? You choose September 18, 2018
  127. 3 circles for managing control, influence, concern, and anxiety September 17, 2018
  128. 5 lessons from Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola September 10, 2018
  129. Forcing Mechanisms August 28, 2018
  130. Connecting different dots May 23, 2018
  131. Here’s your perfect brief April 25, 2018
  132. Are you built for the big company? Take a tip from Ripley April 25, 2018
  133. Enjoy the silence April 18, 2018
  134. Career Fuel: signal vs ability, illicit activities, and the future of work April 6, 2018
  135. What’s your circle of competence? March 27, 2018
  136. Advisor, Mentor, Coach, Counsel: what’s in a name? March 22, 2018
  137. Career Fuel: Portfolio planning for the full stack freelancer March 7, 2018
  138. Get paid like a DJ March 7, 2018
  139. Harness your curiosity. Beware the Magpie. January 2, 2018
  140. When you’re not killing it August 7, 2017
  141. Note-taking, creativity and 80s action movies May 22, 2016
  142. So you wanna be a boxer? March 24, 2016