Hi Reader,

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I was at a networking event this week (my first in many years!), when someone asked me what I did. I said I was the author of How to be a Productivity Ninja.

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"Wow", she said, "I've read your book!". We had a brief chat about what I was working on now, including the new book coming soon (October - and you'll hear about it here first!), and I mentioned how proud I am of what I'm about to share with the new book, and that when I occasionally read back snippets from 'Productivity Ninja' now, I cringe a bit.

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Since I wrote that book, back in 2013, I've written a lot of words. And like many of the myriad other things we do for work, writing is a practice - a craft - that you can hone and improve. I'm certainly no Stephen King (it is beyond my comprehension that anyone can create whole characters and fictional worlds that exist only in their own minds, let alone commit it all to the page), but I do take my writing seriously, and I definitely think over this last decade, my writing has improved. Committing to this Rev Up for the Week email since 2020 - so that I have at least one writing deadline each week - has been a big part of that (so thank you for being here and holding me accountable).

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My colleague at the networking event told me that the cringing is good, because it's a sign of growth and development. The cringing feeling is the 'current me' looking back at the 'old me' and seeing the naivety and sloppiness in the craft. And it's the 'current me' realising that if I had the chance to write that book again, it would be better. I told her it was probably a bit like when George Michael was releasing the 'Faith' album and his more serious songs: I'm sure he cringed every time he was reminded of 'Club Tropicana'. She nodded, paused and then added, "Yeah, but Club Tropicana is still a banger, isn't it?".

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'Productivity Ninja' remains one of my biggest work successes. It's sold close to 200,000 copies now, and been translated into languages all over the world. I get emails and DMs on Instagram every week from people saying thank you for writing it, and I have never taken a single one of those for granted. So even though it might be my 'Club Tropicana', people are still dancing away to its' tune all these years later.

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So this week I invite you to think about your personal and professional growth:

• What makes you cringe when you think about your younger self at work?
• What events in your working life do you wish you could rewind the clock to, or unpick, and do differently?
• How have you learned, changed or grown along the way?
• Who do you aspire to be in the future so that your future-self might cringe at your current-self?
• How can you practice so that you can better hone your crafts?
• And most importantly, how can you remain curious and open to a process of learning and avoid getting too comfortable so that you continue to improve and grow?

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Have a great week,

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Graham

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