2020 to 2024: what has changed with Out of Hours?

Honest reflections, and what is ahead

Hello! How have you been?

Thank you for reading this newsletter. It’s a miracle you’re still here! In truth, I do everything you’re *not* meant to do when writing a predictable newsletter: I write irregularly and about all sorts of unrelated things. So if you’re still here, which I hope you are if you’re reading this (otherwise hello bot 👋) I wanted to begin this newsletter by saying thank you so much for sticking around. It means a lot.

I would love to hear from you and to hear what you’re working on, and how you’re feeling right now? From my side, it feels like the world has changed a lot since this newsletter started.

It is easy to feel like the world is changing - and indeed it feels like a very different place to when I was first writing in 2020 when the pandemic hit. It’s not just that the climate crisis and global wars continue, it’s also that AI is improving at rapid pace (changing what it means to be ‘creative’), the world of work has changed, and what it means to be a “creator” has changed.

Amongst these changes, I find I am still committed to my original mission, and also looking at it in a new way…

The original mission of Out of Hours

Years ago I hosted a workshop to help you with your side projects, and it included the “5 fives” exercises (where you ask ‘why’ five times to get to the crux of a reason behind something). I did this exercise for my own side project Out of Hours too - and after the 5th ‘WHY?’ I landed on “because I want to help more people reach their full potential”.

I suppose I’ve seen enough talented people never share their skills, and enough amazing ideas die the moment someone leaves the pub, that I feel moved to help people bring these ideas into the real world. I think making new ideas happen is important for the world, and that it’s transformative for the individual to realise they can create something from scratch too.

Originally the way I delivered that mission was events: in person events, co-working sessions, and panel events. They were great, lots of you even met each other there. I also ran a Side Project Launchpad - to help people launch their own side projects during a 6 week live course. I loved it - the projects were incredible: from e-commerce ideas, to passion projects against ageism, to creative ways to create awareness of diseases, to design projects. But it was tough to run as a sole founder. I had also created the podcast, and that allowed me to share stories of people who had built things at scale, reaching thousands of people.

I continued the podcast, and reduced the events (for now…).

Meditation

In the meantime, I also discovered meditation and yoga - undertaking training in both of them. On the surface, these seem completely unrelated to side projects: but at their core they are paths to the same thing: self discovery, self fulfilment and - you guessed it - expanding into your full potential. Yoga is less about the shapes you make with your body, and meditation is less about ‘achieving perfect calm’, and instead both are about the intentionality in day-to-day life they cultivate. When the mind is still, you can see things for what they are, and you can get out of your own way. Quieting the mind from busyness allows us to focus on what really matters.

Coaching

I also followed my curiosity and trained as a coach. Again, without realising, this was also part of my personal mission to help more people expand into their full potential. I now coach a very small number of people to help them bring their ideas out in the world and to reach their full potential: through mindset, accountability and talking through perspectives. If you ever decide to work with a coach, I’m here.

What’s next?

• December: Next season of the Out of Hours Podcast (new episodes launch soon)

• 2 December: Online meditation sessions for total beginners. Designed to help you carve out time for stillness. We meet every Monday and Friday at 7.15am GMT online in December to create space in your week to build space and awareness (and yes everyone including you *can* meditate!)

• January: Coaching sessions for a very select number of people.

• Soon: Something new 👀

I’ve got a very exciting plan for an event that I’d love you to come to if you’re working on something creative… Watch this space.

Send me a note if you’ve got to the end of this :)

Wishing you a great week ahead,

Georgia

(Founder of Out of Hours)