Thrive! Book club
I host a book club for folks who want to talk more about how to save the world without burning out.
Reading the whole book is optional, please come along and use it as an opportunity to meet others who are working in this sector.
Fridays at 2pm GMT
You're not alone with these challenges :) Send me a message at katherine@ellsworthkrebs.com with the book you want to join and I’ll add you to the calendar invite.
4 July - Julia Cameron's Write for Life
I started backpacking the Pacific Crest Trail with my dad and brothers every summer from the age of thirteen to twenty-three.
Three nights in a tent, walking 15+ miles a day has taught me many things, but recently I’ve been reminded of one of its favourite lessons: what it means to make every decision as a team.
If you abstain from reading the map, and we get lost, you can’t complain and say ‘well, I knew we were going the wrong way.’
Too bad! You didn’t take part in that process, and it doesn’t help anyone to point out that you knew better because it’s not changing the fact that we all now have to hike an extra 1000 feet today!
At a certain point, I learned that it was best to either take part in the decision-making process and own it if things didn’t turn out as you’d intended. Or if you didn't take part in the decision-making you’re in it together, whatever happened.
This also means that you know that your fellow hikers won’t complain because they too have signed up for this a collective agreement – they’ve gone in knowing they'll have to face their own demons and not blame someone else when these show up (because they will when you're pushing yourself down new paths and adventures). Maybe you’ll come to a stream that is waist deep and it terrifies the other person but not you... they know that’s a possibility, they aren’t going to blame you that you didn’t know better about washed out bridges. The path is unpredictable, that's a given.
I also thought of this recently because it captured of a key ingredient for me in any team scenario. I love working with people who take responsibility for the failures and the wins, and who you know have your back when you make mistakes too.
And I thought of this recently in terms of a coaching courses I’m on. I get the most out of the coaching when I don’t passively show up, expecting someone to guide me to the top of the mountain. I don’t just listen to the content without doing any of the actions my coach suggests. I don’t blame others (my coach, the trail, my fellow hiker) when I’m not getting to the destinations I desired.
I take responsibility. I am not a victim. I go in eyes wide open on the trail: knowing there will be mosquitos and steep descents alongside the awe-inspiring views and lupins.
I also thought of this recently as I’m nearly done with ‘Write for Life: a toolkit for writers’ by Julia Cameron.
It’s a shortened and updated version from her 2023 Artist’s Way for those who know it. It’s lovely. It’s what got me out of my rock-climbing fall funk. It’s what helped me find the perfect buyer for my camper van - something I'd been struggling to do for 6 months.
For those who have been tempted by the Artist’s Way before – or have done the AW and want a top up – I highly recommend it.
But how does this relate to my anecdote about backpacking? That also means this book club is going to be a little different than my previous ones.
Do you have to read the whole book?
Yes. Absolutely.
More than that, you can’t just read. And you can’t say that Julia Cameron’s method didn’t work for you. Not unless you actually did the activities she recommends.
You have to do the morning pages. Treat yourself like a precious object and actually do take yourself on a playdate every week. You’ll have to slow down and tune into your own wisdom on a 20-minute weekly walk without your phone . You’ll have to write the weekly reflection and face up to why you haven’t done some of the activities. You'll have to take responsibility for why you aren't already doing that thing you've always wanted to do.
There is no blaming someone else.
If you're up for it...
If you’re wanting to be more creative…
If now is a time when the long days and expansiveness of summer means you have a little extra bit of energy to try something new…
Send me an email at katherine@ellsworthkrebs.com if you want to join!
If you’re interested in having a buddy to message along the way, let me know and I’ll see if I can pair people up too!
Ps. Julia Cameron is a dreamboat, if you haven’t heard of the Artist’s Way you can listen to my podcast episode waxing lyrical or check out the bajjillion reviews online. I liked this one myself… and have found Write for Life is a magical update.
16 May - The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks
Have you ever had that feeling where everything is going perfectly, you've reached the goal you've been working towards for years…
- Get the grant funds
- Get a grant promotion
- Get invited to give a talk at an organisation you’ve admired
- Publish in the top outlet
- Get published at all
But, then, instead of ecstatic, break out into the most exuberant dancing…
You feel hollow or you get in an argument with your friend…
It’s like you sabotage your own happiness and success.
Put another way, Gay Hendricks asks you to reflect on these three questions:
Am I willing to increase the amount of time every day that I feel good inside?
Am I willing to increase the amount of time that my whole life goes well?
Am I willing to feel good and have my life go well all the time?
Answering yes to all of these seems obvious and impossible.
This is what Gay Hendricks calls ‘the Upper Limit Problem’ or that you’ve not practiced and built up the muscles to experience more abundance, joy and success. So when it appears, when you achieve the goals you’ve long worked hard towards, your unconscious reaction is to return to your own status quo.
Because it’s scary to break patterns and be in a feeling you’re not used to.
Breaking out of this pattern is what Gay Hendricks calls the Big Leap – the book for my Book Club for sustainability professionals and climate activists in May.
I’ll admit, like some of the previous books, there are parts that probably won’t resonate and may make you want to throw the book (or earbud) across the room because you don’t want to learn from Gay’s client who make $1000/hour or from a billionaire who is hung up on his wife buying fancy toilet paper!
I get it. If sprinkles of uber privilege and brags to build credibility will drive you nuts (you’re in good company), but if it will get in the way of trying any of the experiments than feel free to join just for the chat!.
Yet the Thrive book club is about experimenting and we’re reading books that offer practical tips to change our own sense of agency in working on wicked, complex issues that take a great deal of resilience to keep showing up for.
For example, one of the first thought experiments Gay Hendricks offers is to address if you’re someone who is constantly worrying.
It reminds me of an explanation I’ve heard about the difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ anxiety.
Anxiety, like any emotion, is useful – it’s trying to tell us something.
When you can’t remember if you packed your rail pass or watered your peace lily – it’s ‘good’ anxiety because you can do something about this. This emotion, if you react as a result of it, can help you save money for your travel or keeps your plant babies in good health.
But ‘bad’ anxiety is constantly worrying about something you can’t control. Like the noise of motorcycles when you’re out for a bike ride or the health of your loved ones as they grow older. If you’re not able to take some action in response to this worry, then it’s not useful. Putting yourself in a state of daily worry about the things you can’t control is exhausting and Gay Hendricks challenges you to break this habit. First by making a list of all the things you worry about over a few days and putting them into these two categories – ones you can react to, and ones you can’t.
Then he offers these steps (easier said than done) to break ‘the addiction’ to worry:
1. Notice you’re worrying about some thing
2. Let go of the worry thoughts and shift your focus away from them
3. Wonder what positive new thing is trying to come into being?
4. Notice your body or where that positive new thing is trying to come through.
5. Let yourself feel it deeply for as long as you possibly can
6. Ask what positive thing that was trying to come through
Try it out, or if it doesn’t make sense, pick up the book and see if Gay’s broader explanation sparks something!
Or join us on 16 May at 2pm GMT to discuss with others passionate about climate justice and saving the world without burning out.
Drawin a line
January, February, March we'll be reading short books (under 6 hours as an audiobook options)l in the self-help genre that will give us a launch pad to discuss personal care and resilience.
The first series connects to step one of my Group Coaching Programme Catalyst:
1/ embrace doing less, changing narratives
24 January - Slow Productivity by Cal Newport
In Slow Productivity, Cal Newport calls for a shift toward working at a natural pace—acknowledging that big, meaningful changes often take time.
This is particularly true for sustainability and CSR, considering the goal is long-term, systemic impact.
Newport encourages us to stop rushing through tasks and accept that our biggest achievements might take decades to fully materialize.
Now, I know what you're thinking—"It’s easy to talk about taking things slow, but I’ve got sustainability reports, compliance deadlines, and stakeholders to meet."
Yet do you ever feel like you’re focusing on surface-level tasks—like churning out reports or answering emails—that feel productive in the short term but don’t lead to true, long-lasting impact?
Cal Newport’s book aims to offer some ways to slow down and make more space for a few high-leverage projects that could create real, large-scale change.
By shifting your focus to these high-priority tasks, you give yourself the time and space to deeply engage with the most important aspects of your CSR mission.
You probably have felt overwhelmed at times by the small, often bureaucratic tasks, that can encroach on getting to do the work that got you into this sector in the first place – like organising an event that led to a room full of strangers also talking excitedly about climate activist!
I’m not gonna say it’s effortless, or even easy, to let go of the never-ending urgent to-do list, but if you want to start having that conversation join us on Friday to discuss Cal Newport’s latest book. Even if you haven’t read it, you can likely join in as it brings up some basic (potentially controversial) topics that most people can wax lyrical about… For instance:
1. The Slow Revolution: Is It Possible?
Cal Newport argues that slowing down can actually make us more productive. Does this idea feel radical or refreshing to you?
2. The Deep Work Dilemma
Newport emphasizes deep work as the key to meaningful achievement. In a world full of distractions, how can we carve out time for focus?
3. Rest as a Superpower
We’re conditioned to push through exhaustion, but Newport suggests rest is an essential productivity tool. Have you experienced moments where rest actually boosted your performance?
21 February - Do Less by Kate Northup
“How can I do as little as possible today?”
That was a question my coach offered in 2021 when I read Do Less by Kate Northup – this month’s book club pick.
That question may bring up some judgement in you about yourself or others who might start their day with this query.
Some of you are probably thinking “that sounds lazy!”
Like it’s a bad thing!
But like last month’s book by Cal Newport – Slow Productivity – argues... what if doing less is the way to accomplish the tasks that are most important to you?
So what does Do Less bring to the discussion of productivity and rest?
Do Less is written for women and moms, but I think anyone can take something from it.
Why it feels like it's written for women and moms is because Kate Northrup spends a lot of time talking about the menstrual cycle and productivity.
This was revolutionary to me in recognizing another aspect of living in a patriarchal society and an expectation that every day can be the same. Men don't have this monthly calendar, but for people who are menstruating just based on your hormones, you won't feel capable of doing the same things every day.
Having permission to say “I don't have to do all the things all the time. I can do more reflection at one period of the month”
Or
“I don't have to be outgoing, every week or every day, these things can come in cycles”
was novel for me... does it seem challenging to you?
So one of the biggest shifts that I got from Do Less was that it helped me to see approach my life in cycles or seasons.
For instance, Kate Northup talks through the four phases of the menstrual cycle and connects these to the four seasons, which makes it easier to remember:
The follicular phase is when you're primed to plan and initiate new projects. That’s spring energy.
Then when you ovulate, that's summer = when you're articulate and magnetic. You want to get out and be around people. Your hormones are literally trying to get you to meet new people and procreate.
The luteal phase is autumn. You turn inward and complete projects. And this is actually one of the longer phases, about 12 to 14 days.
When you’re bleeding is winter. This is when you rest and you reflect and you're more logical and intuitive.
So to put this into connecting to the ways you work... Take a moment and notice if you are someone who is more often in that spring energy–always starting projects and not necessarily finishing them?
This tendency can be softened by playing with connecting your month plans to the four seasons. I've especially found it can really help with flow and not trying to do too many things:
- You know when you’re willing to take on new projects (roughly a week in your ‘spring,’ although this is also a time when if you’re like me you have a lot of energy and may agree to too many things! So caution is also useful in the spring energy)
- When you’re willing to load up networking events (your summer week)
- And more importantly you know when you’re going to say “No” to new project or presentations because if it’s outside of that cycle (e.g., in your autumn and winter you’re wrapping things up and holding space to be intentional about what you want to accomplish in your next cycle).
This may sound too restrictive, I know it did to me at first. But through a book club and a committed group to trying to save the world without burning out, I found Do Less was one of those books that changed my life in really good ways.
Every day or week does not have to be the same, you can listen to your body and find rhythms that suit you.
21 March - Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
What Tricia Hershey brings to the conversation critiquing the idea that doing more, makes us more worthy is a historical reminder:
The ultimate hustle culture is where humans are dehumanised and treated as machines… in other words… plantations, slavery, white supremacy.
In that context, slowing down and resting is an act of resistance.
Tricia Hershey sets out 4 tenets for her Nap Ministry:
1. Rest is a form of resistance because it pushes back and disrupts white supremacy and capitalism.
2. Our bodies are a site of liberation. And that brings into the somatics the idea that wherever our bodies are, we can find rest.
3. Naps provide a portal to imagine, invent and heal.
4. Our dream space has been stolen, and we want it back. We will reclaim it via rest.
In this context, rest is not done to be more productive… as much wellness advice may imply. Tricia Hershey reminds us that rest is a divine right of all humans. You do not have to feel guilty or shamed because you need rest,:
“You are not a failure, inadequate or unworthy because you are tired and want rest.”
What we're doing to our bodies when we're exhausted, when we're burnt out over a long time is killing us. It is causing more disease to take root in our bodies. It's not allowing us to live to our full potential.
The CDC has named sleep deprivation as a public health crisis.
When we aren't sleeping, our organs don't have a chance to regenerate. Our brain doesn’t function as well because sleep helps your creativity, memory retention, and removing waste products.
“We're not resting to get ourselves more riled up to be on capitalism's clock. We are resting simply because it is our divine and human right to do so.”
