Rowan Spazzoli

Strategist. Lecturer. Consultant

New ideas, everyday

A few weeks ago I read a blog by Seth Godin where he said he was completely out of ideas. After 16 years of blogging and over 8000 original posts, he had finally gone dry. The barrel was empty.

This struck a cord with me. I was only 170 posts in and I was starting to feel like I was running low on ideas. All the deep insights I had seemed to been used. Sometimes it felt like I was just rewording old ideas.

Maybe I only had around 150 ideas and they had been spent?

It was only  later, in a follow up blog, that Seth revealed it had been an April fools joke:

And today, give or take, is the sixteenth anniversary of this blog. Not quite on April Fool’s Day a bunch of years ago, but close enough. I feel badly that so many people were fooled by this morning’s post, and I’m grateful to those that wrote in with concern. But no, I was making a point, not telling the truth. It turns out that showing up is a great way to find new ideas, and I have no plans on stopping.

Despite knowing that it was light prank, it has played on my mind quite often. There are some nights that I just sit at the computer screen, not knowing where to start. And others where I’ll write a post, only to realize I wrote a similar one a few months before.

This was again brought to my attention today when a comment on my blog today said that it appeared I may be getting bored.

I thought about this and came to the conclusion that I wasn’t bored. I’ve been really enjoying my blogs over the past while.

Instead, I have run out of ideas. I’ve run out of my well formed ideas.

  • The ideas you spend years thinking of.
  • The ideas that you carry with you through different stages of your life.
  • The ideas that you have convinced yourself are absolutely true.

And now, I’ve started entering unfamiliar territory. A place where I have to conceive new ideas, challenge them and leave them open to scrutiny.

Where they haven’t had years to form. Where they might have gaps. And where I might not fully understand them.

It’s the next phase of my blogging and development. More rapid idea formation and more letting myself go.

I’m not out of ideas.

I’m just learning how to come up with them more quickly.

 

 

Image was taken in 2006, and this is a picture of that picture (I can’t find the original). The three brothers are in the picture, with Fabio looking how I feel at the end of the day

Blog: 202/365

Song of the day: Don’t stop me now – Queen

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Friday Shoutout: Womxn of the Week

Today’s Friday shout out goes to a brand new and exciting blog, Womxn of the Week . My wonderful friend, Chantelle, has launched the blog as a platform for sharing and celebrating women around the world.

Part of the description of her blog reads as follows:

I originally wanted to start a newsletter that went out every week, but for now I only have the means to start small and use the people around me in my life as a gateway.  My hope is to create a platform on which people feel comfortable sharing their stories.  I want to focus on the achievements of women as well as their struggles, to delve into the deeper matters and let everyone know that they are not alone in what they are going through.  I hope that soon enough we can talk about the hardships of identity, of grief, of loss, and of hope; as well as support one another’s accomplishments.  

Well done on starting your blog Chants, so so incredibly proud of you and can’t wait to see the stories you share with the world 🙂

P.s. don’t forget to follow the blog here. The subscription box is on the right 🙂

Image was taken at the Waterfront with Chantelle 🙂

Blog:198/365

Song of the day: Lykke Li – I follow rivers

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My ratchet phone

After my phone was stolen I dug up my old iPhone 5.

The screen is cracked. It was really slow. The battery lasted an hour. And the cover was broken.

But it was what was available at the time.

And so I replaced the battery. And now it lasts the whole day. And it’s quite fast.

It has all the basic functions I need, including email, whatsapp and blogging.

And I kinda think I’m gonna stick with it.

It’s not an iPhone X… but it matches my needs. And so it’ll do 🙂

Image was taken in Newlands forest a few years back 🙂

Blog: 192/365

Song of the day: Budapest – George Ezra

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Thinking about play

After some lengthy discussions today, I realised that my distractibility/ loss of focus is not the cause of my low work rate, but potentially just a symptom.

I’ve begun to understand that I get distracted when I’m not sure where to start. When I have a blank page in front of me.

And that’s because I’m so scared of writing down something that’s wrong.

And then I end up writing nothing at all.

This perfectionism keeps me frozen. And in a desperate bid for gratification, I lose focus and turn to other, more instant sources.

So I need to develop my ability to play. To be wrong. And to put down words, even if they get deleted later.

I need to be less scared, and be more comfortable with exploring.

Image was, once again, taken on the prom 🙂 (it may have not uploaded. If so, I’ll edit it tomorrow)

Blog: 189/365

Song of the day: Redbone – Childish Gambino

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In Focus

I feel that I have gotten really good at creating an environment that is ideal for work. I walk or cycle to the business school, I set up my computer with an extra screen and I play the music that I work best to.

And this environment works really well. Sometimes.

But I find there are times where I struggle to focus regardless of the environment. Even if the work is enjoyable, I get easily distracted and then get frustrated with myself.

A prime example is today. I managed a good morning of work but by the afternoon I got so distracted that I couldn’t get back on track.

I think over the next few days I’m going to be mindful of what nudges me into this state. I’ll gently analyse what’s going on and try and see if I can bring myself back into focus.

Ideally, I’ll be finding the gaps in my foundation, fixing them up and understanding myself better so that work becomes even more enjoyable in the future

Routine update: managed to get up at 6am, meditate, exercise (yoga) and make it to work before 8 🙂 now for day 2!

Image was taken on my afternoon cycle to the promenade 🙂

Blog: 189/365

Song of the day: Alison Wonderland – Easy

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Morning Routine

Over the past year I’ve tried to implement a number of daily routines. The first was blogging, which has been highly successful. The second was daily meditation, which I managed for around 80 days before going off course. And the third was daily yoga, which only lasted a week.

I’m going to attempt to start another habit that runs during the week, inspired by Louis, and this would be an early morning routine. The main setup around the routine will be:

  • Waking up at 6am
  • 20min of meditation
  • 30min of exercising
  • A goal setting/planning session

I know it’s quite ambitious, especially since I am not a morning person. But I feel like these are things that I really want to be doing every day and that I know I enjoy.

I also feel like I start every morning on the back foot. Always dealing with busy work instead of feeling prepared for the day.

So tomorrow will be my first attempt at this. Wish me luck 🙂

Image was taken in the Standard bank lounge on Thursday at 5am

Blog: 188/365

Song of the day: Muse – Undisclosed Desires

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Irrational insecurities

After identifying an insecurity, the next step seems simple: rationalize it with facts and then the insecurity disappears.

The truth is that it is much tougher than this. You can throw all sorts of logic and reason at an insecurity and it will be present in just as much force as before.

If you’re insecure about your successes, you might rationalize that you’ve done well, given that you have three degrees and a top consulting job.

But that’s not how it works. The insecurity will pop up at the next chance it gets.

And so we can’t fight it with a single, logical argument.

Rather, you need to slowly dismantle it over an extended period.

One brick at a time.

Image isn’t uploading, I’ll try to add one in the morning 🙂

Blog: 186/365

Song; Gareth Emery – Concrete Angel

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Grade 8

Today we have our first guest blogger, my little brother Fabio. Here is Fabio’s blog, enjoy!

St Stithians Boys College is a massive step-up from the St Stithians Boys Prep, from all the new kids to having no fixed classroom. I personally love the spirit because it is really fun and at the same time deep (kinda like a poem). I  also love the sports i am playing (B team Rugby and the A Rowing team). My favorite lesson is math (mainly because it comes easy to me (DNA from extremely clever older brothers)).

Looking forward I want to improve on my:

  • Rugby (I want to make the A team)
  • Afrikaans (I want to get above 60%)
  • My goal setting ability.

Thank you for tuning in, I will see you in a later blog.

PEACE OUT ROWANGSTERS!!! (Rowan+Gangstas)

Image was taken at Fabio’s rugby game on Saturday (Fabio is in the middle with Lorenzo on the left)

Blog: 183/365

Song of the day: You’re the voice- John Farnham

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