Happy New Year and welcome to 2012! This is the time when we’re tempted to define all sorts of wonderful wishes, hopes and dreams for the year. The tricky bit of course is maintaining momentum on that stuff that we want – once life gets busy or the going gets tough. Psychologies magazine to the [...]
Archive for the ‘How to work out what you really really want (Secret 1)’ Category
That tricky thing, momentum
Posted by John on January 9th, 2012
Stop faking it
Posted by John on November 4th, 2011
A few days ago I watched a youtube video of someone playing a song on the piano. She was one of the 200 participants in the 30 Day Challenge and she had responded to one of our exercises by taking the risk to record a video of her playing and show it to the other [...]
Losing a hero is tough…
Posted by John on October 7th, 2011
Today, I am still reeling from the news of Steve Jobs’ death. Losing a hero is tough and Steve has been a hero of mine for many years – from my time as a software geek to my life now, writing and running my own business. Yesterday when I should have been writing my new [...]
If you don’t do it, no one else will
Posted by John on September 26th, 2011
The interesting thing about any significant creative project you undertake – whether it’s a book, blog, or business – is that while you might have a title (and even a strap line), you don’t really know what it’s about until you dive into making it. Sometimes you think you know at the start, but it always [...]
How to start a business – one play project at a time
Posted by Selina Barker on March 20th, 2011
By Selina Barker, Head Coach at Screw Work Let’s Play Ian was stuck. He knew he didn’t want to carry on in his job in an ad agency, but he had no idea what he wanted to do instead – or even what he could do. Ian was a classic case of a frustrated creative. Bright, [...]
What to do when your idea’s too big
Posted by John on February 24th, 2011
You’ve got an idea you want to put into action – an idea for a business, a mission to become famous, or a vision of making a living doing something you love. But… it’s BIG. Too big. It requires you to quit your job. Or it needs a lot of money. Or a whole team [...]
Meet your tribe of players, scanners & entrepreneurs
Posted by John on January 9th, 2011
If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’re a creative person with a lot of ideas (otherwise known as a scanner). And your biggest challenges include choosing which idea to pursue, making it happen quickly, and turning your best ideas into something that might make you a living. If that’s the case, don’t try and [...]
Posted in How to be happy, How to choose what to do next (Secret 2), How to get started right now (Secret 3), How to guarantee your success (Secret 4), How to win your first playcheque (Secret 8), How to work out what you really really want (Secret 1), Players, The play revolution (Chapter 1)
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Why self-help books don’t work (and what does)
Posted by John on December 13th, 2010
I’m a fan of self-help books – as you might expect being an author of one. Self-help books have changed the way I view the world forever, they’ve inspired me to believe I can have what I want, and they’ve shown me how to create it. But we all know they don’t always work. We [...]
The Times: Fed up with work? So play!
Posted by John on June 25th, 2010
Earlier this month The Times did a 2 page spread on Screw Work, Let’s Play and myself (John Williams) as the author. How did they represent play? By photographing me sitting on a space hopper (sadly the space hopper is cut out on this online version). It’s actually rather a good introduction to the book so [...]
“Cars are what I lived for” – John Haynes, creator of Haynes manuals
Posted by John on June 12th, 2010
At 16 years old, while still at school, John Haynes realised that “Cars are what I lived for”. He bought an Austin Seven Saloon, dismantled it, and built a lightweight, open two-seater sports car. Then he had an idea – as he explains in this BBC News interview by Mark Miodownik from last year, “I thought to [...]
