Yay

Get to

February 8, 2026

One of the simplest shifts in language has massively changed my life.

I found myself saying things like “I have to do the show tonight” or “I have to go to that meeting”.

Shows and meetings are part of the life I’ve designed for myself- so “have to” doesn’t ring as true for me.

“Have to” is against your will. It’s reluctant. It’s “Okay, fine I’ll do that”

None of these belong in the life I want. And the good news is, we can use language te remind ourselves each moment that we have a choice.

Switch your “have to” to a “get to”.

“I get to do the show tonight”

“I get to go to that meeting”

Look at all you get to do. How lucky are we?

Goals are great… when you remember them. Something I’ve noticed is I’m great at setting goals and feeling that initial enthusiasm. As I’m sure we all are. But it can be tricky to find effective mechanisms of follow through on the day to day. An inefficient way to get to any destination is to only check in a few times across the journey.

I like the image of a pilot needing to constantly course correct across the span of a flight. Did you know they are off course between 90% and 99% of the time? Pilots have to constantly course correct to get to their destination.

The same goes for our goals and I’m using a super simple daily question to help me do that. In my journal every morning I ask myself:

How can I course correct today?

It allows me to look at yesterday, what I did, didn’t do and how I spent my time. If I lived a day like that again would I get to where I want to go? If not, what could I do slightly differently today?

It’s nice to know we can be off 99% of the time and still get there.

It just requires a little course correction ✈️

Just do the next thing

January 9, 2026

Most things are just a matter of jumping through the hoops.

You do the first thing you can see in front of you, then the next thing and then the next thing and the next. And after that the next thing will present itself.

I (and you might too) feel the need to have the perfect plan architected out from the outset.

But we can save ourselves the hassle and the time and just do the first thing.

Meaning makers

January 3, 2026

We are the ones who get to decide what things mean to us.

Is this the beginning or the end?

Is life a war or a test?

Yes, yes this is all great in theory… but this morning I spilt a third of my pristine smoothie and had an unsatisfying amount left.

The knee jerk meaning was that “this sucks, life sucks and I’m sad now.”

But then I realised that your highest behavioral aspirations only have real meaning when the going gets tough.

Sad smoothie? Yup that’s tough going.

So I decided to change the meaning. I looked down at the spilt smoothie and smiled…

“Yay, I get to have more breakfast!” I made a bowl of weetbix- something I don’t normally do- and enjoyed a Petit Déjeuner instead of being mad at my one third empty smoothie.

Oh wait, no- it was a two thirds full smoothie 😉

I think everyone should warm up their voice

January 1, 2026

At drama school, the idea of warming up the voice and body was very normal. Before that, I think I’d only heard of warming up in the context of sports.

There is a bit of a belief sometimes that if someone is warming up they aren’t good enough to just do the thing.

It would be great if we didn’t believe that.

Actors warm up to free and flex their voice because they are about to use it.

The reason I think we should all have voice warm ups is because we all use our voices to do things in the world. Sure it’s not in the context of a performance, but we still use it.

Your voice warm up doesn’t need to be fancy. Here’s a really easy way to warm your voice up:

Step 1: Choose your favourite song

Step 2: Do a lip trill along with your song. Follow the melody as precisely as you can.

There you go- you’ve warmed your voice up!

Generous words

November 13, 2025

A generous word from a stranger is nice.

A generous word from an authority figure is better; ever notice how they have a way of really sticking?

When we’re young it’s a parent, a teacher or principal.

It holds the same weight as something coming from anyone in a lab coat.

Here’s two generous comments that completely stuck with me:

“You’re on the cusp of something!”

“It’s not a matter of whether or not you’ll succeed, but if you’re ready for it”

We have so much power with what we say (seemingly in passing) to those we lead. Have a couple at the ready and be free in how you share them.

You never know what’ll stick for life.

(AKA, you’re a bit of a wizard aren’t you!)

Being light makes you light.

July 9, 2025

There’s a lot to be said about moving through the world with levity.

It’s greeting things with a smile; a light feathery touch of gentle kindness about us.

It’s funny, when you are light in this way, there is a light that shines from within you onto all the people who you interact with.

Lightness begets lightness.

Painting a fence

April 25, 2025

Today I helped paint a fence at my friends house in the mountains of Italy.

We simply chatted and simply worked. Then we strolled in the evening and admired our handy work from across the village.

The ingredients of a holiday

April 23, 2025

I lay on a beach today and the breeze was perfect. The water was perfectly icey and the sun thawed me immediately.

There was even a DJ who played trancey beats that lulled me into a trance of complete relaxation.

I didn’t need to be anywhere or do anything- the only pressing thing on my mind was weather I’d dip in the ocean again.

You know, I think I will

Another language

April 22, 2025

I’m in France and I realised how easy it is to take a shared language for granted.

I can’t read any signs and people I don’t understand shop keepers.

With this kind of vulnerability comes a massive opurtunitity for growth.

JUSTIN ROGERS

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Course correcting pilots