Her Spirit, free time and a female adviser
On Monday next week it’s International Women’s Day, so I wanted to have a feminine theme to this week’s email.
TRIBEathlon Podcast
Episode 33: In a world where a normal Ironman isn't tough enough, Flora Colledge excels; she regularly wins or podiums in the X-tri races, which include iconic events in spectacular parts of the world like The Norseman, The Swissman and Patagonman - but what does it take to do that?
I wanted to know how the logistics of these epic point to point races work, how she deals with the cold and what it takes to win an Extreme Triathlon event.
Podcast I’ve Been Listening To
Her Spirit is a fantastic podcast; hosted by BBC Breakfast presenter, Louise Minchin, and BBC Triathlon presenter, Annie Emmerson. I’m never sure I should be listening to it as a man, but I really enjoy it. The episode I really enjoyed recently is the interview of professional boxer and England footballer, Stacey Copeland. A great story to inspire young women that have a passion for something, regardless of whether it’s sport or not.
TED Talk I’ve Found Interesting
I saw Laura Vanderkam talk at a conference in the US a couple of years ago, and she was brilliant. I haven’t read any of her books yet, but I did watch her TED Talk this week, ‘How to gain control of your free time’, where she points out that there are 168 hours in each week and asks how do we find time for what matters most?
Time management expert, Vanderkam, studies how busy people spend their lives, and she's discovered that many of us drastically overestimate our commitments each week, while underestimating the time we have to ourselves. She offers a few practical strategies to help find more time for what matters to us, so we can "build the lives we want in the time we've got.” So good I made the girls watch it too.
What I’ve Been Reading
I actually read this book a couple of years ago, but never got around to recommending it. Thinking of inspiring women brought it back to mind. Chrissie Wellington’s story is a brilliantly inspiring one. In case you don’t know, she is an English former professional triathlete and four-time Ironman World Champion. Her first book A Life Without Limits is one of my favourites, and I did recommend that in The Efficient Wealth Update, but her second, ‘To the Finish Line’ is nearly as good. It is an entertaining and informative guide to training for triathlon with more practical advice than the first book. You can hear Chrissie's voice as she guides you with a human touch and humour. If you are thinking of exploring the world of triathlon, these are great books to read.
Quote of the Week
“Don’t ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn’t.”
– Michelle Obama.
If you want another book by an inspiring woman, definitely read her book Becoming.
“Failure is not the opposite of success; it’s part of success.”
- Arianna Huffington.
Again, her book Thrive is also amazing.
Finance Theme I’ve Been Considering
We often get asked, why don’t we have any female advisers at Efficient Portfolio, which is a great question. My usual answer is that it’s their choice not ours! We have always wanted to be able to offer a female adviser as an option to clients, but none of our team have progressed fast enough, far enough or at the right time for them to take that opportunity; however, we aren’t far away. Katie Burgess will be an authorised adviser later on this year, so we are really excited to be able to finally enhance our advice team with a female perspective.
