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