#57 Puzzles and board games

Hi all,

Happy New Year! I hope 2024 has started well.

I’m sure you’re all already saturated with information about goal setting for achieving the best year yet, so I want to share a different perspective in this first edition of the year, reflecting on my holiday experiences.

Christmas, for me, is a special time dedicated to enjoying moments with family and friends and engaging in group activities such as board games and puzzles. Whether it's a spirited afternoon game of Monopoly or a morning spent piecing together a puzzle, these activities offer immense joy and are perfectly commonplace during the festive season.

Now, fast forward to mid-January, and many people who so wholeheartedly embraced these activities during Christmas might not fathom continuing to do them. January is for New Year’s goals, productivity, for achieving success. I put my hand up to being in this camp.

This year, however, I have taken a different approach. A puzzle that wasn’t completed by the first day back at work and would have been put away until next Christmas remains on my coffee table, and I have been making incremental progress in the evenings after work.

You might be asking, what does a puzzle have to do with any of the themes covered in this newsletter?

We are all aware of the benefits of breaks and fun for sustainable success. Yet, how many of us do this properly? Yes, we might have an evening off, but is it the same proper disconnection as we might do during the Christmas holidays?

Continuing to partake in holiday-like activities throughout the year can contribute to better rest, enhanced recharge and the ability to sustain or even raise the bar on our achievements over time. These holiday-like activities involve a few key ingredients: social connection, the requirement for lateral thinking, and a break from technology.  They stimulate cognitive functions, improve problem-solving skills, enhance concentration and focus, and reduce stress.

I increasingly believe that an extremely important element of success involves simply making marginal improvements day by day, which compound significantly over time. A key factor in being able to do this is ensuring our machinery - mind, body, and soul - is operating effectively. Ensure you are looking after all of these aspects.

Best, Alex Joshi.

On my bedside table:

• Non-fiction: Same as ever by Morgan Housel (link)

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