Welcome to this issue of the WISER Newsletter!

This is the newsletter where you’ll receive Wise Insights Shared by Email Regularly.

I’m glad that we can get WISER together!

🍃 What Season Are You In? ☀️

Feeling lost?

Need to cut things out of your life?

Keen to see yourself grow to reach your potential?

I’ve got you covered.

Today I want to revisit something that I heard in a sermon at Hillsong Oxford back in November 2022. Don’t worry if you don’t identify as a Christian - I believe anyone can find value in these principles.

I want to talk about Seasons and understanding what season of life you are in.

In the aforementioned talk, the preacher discussed four seasons that I will outline below.

You will likely identify with each of them, and you might even have another season to add to the list.

Unlike the four Earthly seasons, these don’t follow a particular pattern where one follows the other. It’s not a cycle of these four; it’s less predictable.

I want to encourage you to read through them and try to identify which season you are in. I believe understanding this will help you to make the most of your current circumstances.

🌱 Season of Growth.

Let’s start with the most obvious season: the Season of Growth.

This is one that many of us will relate to. It’s where we find that we’re pushing ourselves to achieve more.

• Perhaps you’re studying; learning something new to grow your knowledge, skills or expertise.

• Maybe you’re working out; exercising to grow your muscles or stamina.

• Many of you could be focussing on your work; focusing on growing in responsibility to climb the career ladder.

We can be growing in many areas of life, but recognising that you’re in a Season of Growth can be really empowering.

Why?

Because it can help us to stay focussed.

It’s easy to get side-tracked by the next thing, or want to cash-in on our intellectual capital, but when you recognise that it’s a Season of Growth, it’s easier to practice delayed gratification and double-down on growth.

Don’t get me wrong, it can be uncomfortable and stretching, but if you’re in a Season of Growth, embrace it. We’ll reap the rewards later.

✂️ Season of Pruning.

You can probably guess what this season is for.

Sometimes you need to cut things out of your life.

We see a lot of this at the start of a new year as people try to cut away the bad habits or relationships that were holding them back last year.

Other forms of pruning could be cutting out negative beliefs, or getting rid of physical clutter.

One of the worst forms of a Season of Pruning is the one that immediately follows burn out.

This is when you’re forced to stop and cut things out of your life to make space for the much needed rest.

Try to avoid that type of Season of Pruning, but consider whether you could benefit from cutting out some things from your life when you’re in control.

🌳 Season of Wilderness.

The Season of Wilderness is the one where you have no idea what’s really going on.

We’ve all been there at some point, right? A period of complete uncertainty.

Typically this season goes hand-in-hand with exploration. Perhaps you’re experiencing something new:

• A new career

• A new relationship

• A new home

Uncertain times can be challenging, but again recognising that you’re in a Season of Wilderness can help you to make the most of it.

These seasons aren’t meant to be comfortable - they are uncertain for a reason. You can either tuck your head in the sand and pretend that nothing is going on, or embrace the uncertainty and get exploring.

There’s new ground awaiting to be discovered. I know what I’d rather do.

Don’t necessarily worry about getting out of the wilderness fast; focus on heading in the right direction.

I feel like this above visual is so relevant in a Season of Wilderness.

P.S. Let me know if you’d like to see me sell like this!

🌾 Season of Harvest.

This is where you reap what you have sown in the other seasons.

The Season of Harvest is where you cash-in on all your hard work; where you experience all the benefits of your growth, the pruning and the wilderness that you’ve trekked through.

For some people, this could be a financial or material Season of Harvest, but it could also be a relational, spiritual, health, emotional or otherwise.

I find that these seasons often provide context to the previous ones. It’s only when I get to reap the benefits that I truly appreciate all the growth, pruning and wilderness exploring that I have had to go through.

A Season of Harvest is where everything comes to fruition. Enjoy it while it lasts.

❓ What Are Your Thoughts on These Seasons?

• What season do you think that you are in?

• Do you think there’s another type of season that I’ve missed from this list?

• Are there areas that you could grow in?

• Are there areas that need pruning?

• When was the last time you explored the wilderness?

• Think of a memorable time of harvest - what did it look like? What happened? What did it feel like?

✍️ Consider journalling through the above questions yourself.

💬 Also, if you want to chat about this, email or DM me! I’d love to hear from you!

Recommendations

Last week, I asked you on Twitter if you’d like me to share recommendations in the newsletter and there was an overwhelming response of “Yes!”

So from now on, I’ll include a couple things or people that I would recommend you checking out!

1️⃣ The first recommendation will be a book: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.

The first edition of this book that Charlie Mackey released was gorgeous, and this new edition is even better.

I was fortunate to go to his book tour for this prior to Covid and to hear Charlie’s heart for this book was a delight.

Whimsical quotes to give your a greater understanding and appreciation for life.

Consider picking up a copy yourself here:

* Please note that this is an affiliation link. Purchasing through this link would support with the growth of Wisdom Made Easy.

2️⃣ The second recommendation for this week is someone on LinkedIn: Rachel Smith.

I recently connected with Rachel because of her awesome visuals that empower leaders.

The particular thing that she’s done that I want to recommend to you is her visual summaries of The Diary of a CEO episodes. They’re brilliant and succinct.

You can find the one she did for Mo Gawdat’s episode here:

✍️ What I’m Working On

This is my third and final plug for the WISER Newsletter Instagram account! It’s been great to connect with many of you in a new way, and I’ve valued the meaningful discussions that have come out of this new content. You can follow that account here:

I’m still working on the The Wise Guide to Journalling (my upcoming e-book), but it has taken a little bit of a backseat whilst I focus on some client work. Doing custom visuals for clients is really helping me to reinvest in Wisdom Made Easy, and I’m hoping that you will get a chance to experience these benefits in the near future.

And if you have made it this far, I have one small favour to ask of you…

SEND ME AN EMAIL!

I’d love to get to know you more. Respond to this email and let me know:

• Who you are?

• Where are you from?

• What you are passionate about?

• What areas you feel like you could benefit from wisdom in?

And feel free to tell me anything else about yourself. I look forward to getting to know you more!

😊 Thank You!

Thanks for checking out this issue of the WISER Newsletter. If you have any feedback, I’d love to hear it!

Simply reply to this email, and I’ll get back to you.

Alternatively, just DM me on social media. You can find me here:

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Catch you in the next issue!

Thanks,

Michael