Alyse Speyer's guest appearances

Alyse Speyer

Movement Unedited

Integrally Alive podcast (Sparkling life)
Beyond Thinking, balanced & unapologetic life

Niraj Naik

Claire Wilde

Tim Ash

Shoebox Moses

Kiruba Shankar

Emma Juniper

Siddharth Anantharam

Cari Merriam

Amrit Sandhu

OwlTail

There’s a difference between making notes and taking notes. When starting and continuing a creative project, your mindset is critical. Understanding that you are working on a first draft and honoring that will help you move forward on it. The first draft always takes the longest and then you get faster and faster at it. Stay curious and keep asking yourself: what’s going to happen today?Benchmarks and KPI'sChoose a benchmark for yourself and also understand that there are multiple ways to measure success. You might need more than one. I realized that using just word count would eventually cause a stop in progress, and I'd either need to surrender to the moment or choose different metrics for success - or better accept both! I initially choose word count. After some time, I realize that the cells in my tracking spreadsheet green or red, it's still is all great. Even with creative projects and your own creativity, you have good days and bad days. You might not be happy with your progress but there is always progress - keep showing up and remember that you are not your feelings. This is a great reminder to yourself, because your feelings about a situation aren’t necessarily representative of reality or what you yourself actually thinks and understands about the situation. You have to let feelings pass for you to actually have more clarity on what’s on the other side. The brain will always want to speculate. And yet, it cannot find the answer because you are still in the momentary emotion. It will pass, keep fighting the good fight, and show up.Exercising the muscle There will be some days where nothing comes out or days where you are in bliss and flow. The important moment is that it’s about showing up to your project every single day. Success loves commitment. Exercise the muscle of success. There will be times that you will only fully understand when you are on the other side of the feeling or even the project. This holds true for life as my mom is experiencing this with her cancer treatment. What's your recipe?Observe your creative process. Mine seems to be waffling in cafe and choosing where I want to write and who I want to be that day. Whether you are writing characters or developing your own character, you still are fighting the good fight, getting ready for battle. Choose consciously which wolf in your head do you want to feed. Acknowledge yourself and show that any day where you sit and dedicate to your prokect is a good day. It’s a couple of hours, come what may. And something beautiful will always come. It’s a massive exercise in meditation and vulnerability with the self - and experimenting with your own creative process will reveal worlds about yourself to yourself. Sometimes it helps to ask yourself "Who do I want to be today?" or even "Who do I need to be today?" There is always a lesson in everything that you do.EmbodimentEmbodying the thing that you want to be or to create will help you achieve it with more gusto and happiness. This is because your brain can't really tell the difference between what is happening and what is not. We make up stories all the time, so why not write one that serves you and your highest good? Embodiment is the missing piece in the "fake it until you make it" quip. You need to feel it in your cells, visualize how it will be for you when you finish. What's it going to feel like? Quantifying Head SpaceWhen you look at your projects, be sure to account for head space.You could have a great gant chart, etc. and yet accounting for head space, especially when tasks are extraordinarily different, is powerful. This is what I call the Ping Pong Table Effect. Move your body between tasks. Movement makes the difference and the body has a language of its own that can help us problem solve in a different way. Literally “Take off the jacket of work” and put on something else. Or simple things such as standing up or pushing the chair back or literally taking a step back. Just breathe.You make an attempt, and you get ready for what you want to have show up in your life.  Practice and all is coming.

There’s a difference between making notes and taking notes. When starting and continuing a creative project, your mindset is critical. Understanding that you are working on a first draft and honoring that will help you move forward on it. The first draft always takes the longest and then you get faster and faster at it. Stay curious and keep asking yourself: what’s going to happen today?Benchmarks and KPI'sChoose a benchmark for yourself and also understand that there are multiple ways to measure success. You might need more than one. I realized that using just word count would eventually cause a stop in progress, and I'd either need to surrender to the moment or choose different metrics for success - or better accept both! I initially choose word count. After some time, I realize that the cells in my tracking spreadsheet green or red, it's still is all great. Even with creative projects and your own creativity, you have good days and bad days. You might not be happy with your progress but there is always progress - keep showing up and remember that you are not your feelings. This is a great reminder to yourself, because your feelings about a situation aren’t necessarily representative of reality or what you yourself actually thinks and understands about the situation. You have to let feelings pass for you to actually have more clarity on what’s on the other side. The brain will always want to speculate. And yet, it cannot find the answer because you are still in the momentary emotion. It will pass, keep fighting the good fight, and show up.Exercising the muscle There will be some days where nothing comes out or days where you are in bliss and flow. The important moment is that it’s about showing up to your project every single day. Success loves commitment. Exercise the muscle of success. There will be times that you will only fully understand when you are on the other side of the feeling or even the project. This holds true for life as my mom is experiencing this with her cancer treatment. What's your recipe?Observe your creative process. Mine seems to be waffling in cafe and choosing where I want to write and who I want to be that day. Whether you are writing characters or developing your own character, you still are fighting the good fight, getting ready for battle. Choose consciously which wolf in your head do you want to feed. Acknowledge yourself and show that any day where you sit and dedicate to your prokect is a good day. It’s a couple of hours, come what may. And something beautiful will always come. It’s a massive exercise in meditation and vulnerability with the self - and experimenting with your own creative process will reveal worlds about yourself to yourself. Sometimes it helps to ask yourself "Who do I want to be today?" or even "Who do I need to be today?" There is always a lesson in everything that you do.EmbodimentEmbodying the thing that you want to be or to create will help you achieve it with more gusto and happiness. This is because your brain can't really tell the difference between what is happening and what is not. We make up stories all the time, so why not write one that serves you and your highest good? Embodiment is the missing piece in the "fake it until you make it" quip. You need to feel it in your cells, visualize how it will be for you when you finish. What's it going to feel like? Quantifying Head SpaceWhen you look at your projects, be sure to account for head space.You could have a great gant chart, etc. and yet accounting for head space, especially when tasks are extraordinarily different, is powerful. This is what I call the Ping Pong Table Effect. Move your body between tasks. Movement makes the difference and the body has a language of its own that can help us problem solve in a different way. Literally “Take off the jacket of work” and put on something else. Or simple things such as standing up or pushing the chair back or literally taking a step back. Just breathe.You make an attempt, and you get ready for what you want to have show up in your life.  Practice and all is coming.

Accounting for Head Space and Creativity in Project Management: a Conversation with Alyse Speyer and Achille Ramambason Part 3

When you go through challenges in life, your community and who you keep close to you really matters. Friends really lighten the moments, because life is better when shared together. There’s also no substitute for great chemistry, especially between friends. How does this happen? Sometimes it's simply a matter of trusting that the person you are with has no judgement on you whatsoever. This is an effect that years of friendship and community can have on us. But what if we shortened that time and just allowed ourselves to deeply conenct with each other and, again, listen to what's happening in someone's life.When you approach people and the world with love, energy is infinite. As humans we have an innate desire to genuinely want to help in the way that we can. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is just show up, be present, and, be yourself.Another avenue is to simply let go and let the good things in life come to you. Friends, family, and even strangers will show up in the way that they want to and the way that they can. It might not be in the way you expect, but it will always be in the way you need. It's growth. And it could also be that the biggest growth is asking for help and focusing on those who are full enough to give you from their overflow.Community is what can help you get through the times in your life. And if you're on your own, community is something you have to build. Because sometimes you go to a place with an objective and something else shows up. How will you react to that? How will you show up to the differences in life? It certainly helps to be the observer in life. Treat it like a meditation in and of itself. Then you might start to see that coincidences aren’t actually random.Staying connected doesn't mean being obsessively attached to your devices and to technology and social media. We've all heard before that some of us treat our cell phones like another limb. Well, if they are another limb, then why not treat it as one? You wouldn't hit yourself in the head with your hand, so why would you with your phone? Choose to own your devices otherwise they will own you. Put your phone on airplane mode or silence throughout your day and especially at night before you go to bed. This will help you use your phone when you want it without being bombarded by urgent, but not important messages.

When you go through challenges in life, your community and who you keep close to you really matters. Friends really lighten the moments, because life is better when shared together. There’s also no substitute for great chemistry, especially between friends. How does this happen? Sometimes it's simply a matter of trusting that the person you are with has no judgement on you whatsoever. This is an effect that years of friendship and community can have on us. But what if we shortened that time and just allowed ourselves to deeply conenct with each other and, again, listen to what's happening in someone's life.When you approach people and the world with love, energy is infinite. As humans we have an innate desire to genuinely want to help in the way that we can. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is just show up, be present, and, be yourself.Another avenue is to simply let go and let the good things in life come to you. Friends, family, and even strangers will show up in the way that they want to and the way that they can. It might not be in the way you expect, but it will always be in the way you need. It's growth. And it could also be that the biggest growth is asking for help and focusing on those who are full enough to give you from their overflow.Community is what can help you get through the times in your life. And if you're on your own, community is something you have to build. Because sometimes you go to a place with an objective and something else shows up. How will you react to that? How will you show up to the differences in life? It certainly helps to be the observer in life. Treat it like a meditation in and of itself. Then you might start to see that coincidences aren’t actually random.Staying connected doesn't mean being obsessively attached to your devices and to technology and social media. We've all heard before that some of us treat our cell phones like another limb. Well, if they are another limb, then why not treat it as one? You wouldn't hit yourself in the head with your hand, so why would you with your phone? Choose to own your devices otherwise they will own you. Put your phone on airplane mode or silence throughout your day and especially at night before you go to bed. This will help you use your phone when you want it without being bombarded by urgent, but not important messages.

Community and Technology: a Conversation with Alyse Speyer and Achille Ramambason Part 2

Part One of a private conversation between Alyse and her friend Achille about life, meditation, caring for ill parents, and being in transition.Listening and being present for our fellow humans is the single most important gift that you can offer. Allow people to share their stories with you no matter how weird or cool or uninteresting those stories might be, you will most definitely learn something from the other person and from deep within yourself, if you pay attention.Talk is often cheap, and it’s mostly because the vast majority of people don’t feel heard and need someone to listen to them, particularly during difficult times such as undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Two realisations came to me during my 10 day trip to Los Angeles to support my mother during her treatment.Lessons LearnedNo one can ever see what they have. You need an external factor to show you for perspective. This could also be an experience, such as a tragedy or adventure.Everyone is lonely and wants to be heard.Silence is golden. Not speaking is the greatest gift you can give to another person.Create an environment of safety and space for people to be comfortable being themselves. When they feel comfortable, you learn so much from them.Also having one clear focus per time chunk really helps you align yourself to your to-do list. Knowing your primary aim can help you keep your energy and your focus, knowing to say “no” to the things that tax your energy because they are distractions from your one thing. This creates space for yourself too and affords you the ability to also create space for other people.Steps for success completion of projectsSet an intentionFocus solely on your one thing.Do the work in spite of everything that you feel, because you are not your feelings.Celebrate every win, especially the teeny tiny ones.Don’t get rid of your early drafts.Review your progress.Celebrate again.Your mind is a pattern making machine, put a container on it so that you leverage this tool to your benefit. For example, light is everywhere, but when it’s contained in a light bulb it is useful, powerful, and allows for even more creation at all hours of the day and night.Remember that your creativity stems from asking better questions. The answer is in the question or questions that you ask yourself and continue to ask yourself again and again and again. In essence, what kind of light do you want your mind to make? Does it help you go back to your roots? 

Part One of a private conversation between Alyse and her friend Achille about life, meditation, caring for ill parents, and being in transition.Listening and being present for our fellow humans is the single most important gift that you can offer. Allow people to share their stories with you no matter how weird or cool or uninteresting those stories might be, you will most definitely learn something from the other person and from deep within yourself, if you pay attention.Talk is often cheap, and it’s mostly because the vast majority of people don’t feel heard and need someone to listen to them, particularly during difficult times such as undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Two realisations came to me during my 10 day trip to Los Angeles to support my mother during her treatment.Lessons Learned<ol><li>No one can ever see what they have. You need an external factor to show you for perspective. This could also be an experience, such as a tragedy or adventure.</li><li>Everyone is lonely and wants to be heard.</li><li>Silence is golden. Not speaking is the greatest gift you can give to another person.</li></ol>Create an environment of safety and space for people to be comfortable being themselves. When they feel comfortable, you learn so much from them.Also having one clear focus per time chunk really helps you align yourself to your to-do list. Knowing your primary aim can help you keep your energy and your focus, knowing to say “no” to the things that tax your energy because they are distractions from your one thing. This creates space for yourself too and affords you the ability to also create space for other people.Steps for success completion of projects<ol><li>Set an intention</li><li>Focus solely on your one thing.</li><li>Do the work in spite of everything that you feel, because you are not your feelings.</li><li>Celebrate every win, especially the teeny tiny ones.</li><li>Don’t get rid of your early drafts.</li><li>Review your progress.</li><li>Celebrate again.</li></ol>Your mind is a pattern making machine, put a container on it so that you leverage this tool to your benefit. For example, light is everywhere, but when it’s contained in a light bulb it is useful, powerful, and allows for even more creation at all hours of the day and night.Remember that your creativity stems from asking better questions. The answer is in the question or questions that you ask yourself and continue to ask yourself again and again and again. In essence, what kind of light do you want your mind to make? Does it help you go back to your roots?