Around 2012, while social media existed well before then, we gave up Ecademy, a really tough time for us personally. There was no way we could compete with the change in behaviours; social media (broadcast) was winning over social networking (conversations and friendship). Our saddest business journey. But what is sadder is the loneliness and emotional disconnection that was being born.
This week my Ponderings are about how we all stay calm, feel in control of our lives, make the right choices, and feel safe about the direction our lives are taking. I'm also pondering how we make sure the people who matter so much to our sanity, and to our sense of mattering, don't get pushed to the bottom of the list while we try to keep up with everything else.
How do we decide who gets our time, our attention and our emotional energy? This is becoming increasingly important in a world where we desperately need deep, meaningful relationships, yet so much of our time is spent managing communication with hundreds of people. We answer WhatsApps, emails, Teams messages, social media comments, and notifications, often leaving less emotional capacity for the people who are actually most significant to us
Making new friends as an adult isn't easy. With all 3 of my children now living their lives in other countries I needed to fill a gap. I was invited into a new group of women, and I was genuinely excited. It takes courage to step into an established group, especially when life is already full with work, family and all the responsibilities we carry. I suspect many of you will know exactly what I mean.
We all have a limited capacity for connections, some wider than others. I know someone who has the ability to have dinner parties every weekend and invites 6- 8 people. She is popular and amazing. However, from a capacity point of view, does she remember the important things in my life? Do I get unexpected messages asking how I am, remembering an important event in my life? No, that is beyond her capacity; knowing so many people, I feel that would be impossible for her.
We all have a limited capacity for connections, some wider than others. I know someone who has the ability to have dinner parties every weekend and invites 6- 8 people. She is popular and amazing. However, from a capacity point of view, does she remember the important things in my life? Do I get unexpected messages asking how I am, remembering an important event in my life? No, that is beyond her capacity; knowing so many people, I feel that would be impossible for her.
As relationships deepen and mature, they are transforming. We can begin to release some of the fear, expectation, resentment, guilt, and dependency that we may have unconsciously attached to them. We might not realise it, but we were requiring the other person to behave in a particular way in order for us to feel secure, loved, or significant to them.
We told ourselves the phones were saving us time. In truth they filled every gap we had. The queue, the walk, the pause before sleep, the small silences where a thought might once have wandered toward another person. We disconnected as far as human beings are willing to go, and then we called it progress.
It has been fascinating and illuminating how much we are all aware that we are overwhelmed with connection, and at the same time underwhelmed by the feeling we matter. A lack of emotional connection and sensing that to matter as a customer, a supplier, a parent, a friend, a sibling, even a spouse is being challenged. Time, technology, tasks and doomscrolling has impacted all our ability to connect as closely as we wish we could. So how do we know which relationships are deeply significant and give our commitment, and which are looser, more casual, less important relationships to us? How do those people that matter to you know they do?
Contribution is a confusing act. Many people feel uncomfortable needing it, and some find it hard to give it without an agenda, an outcome. I learned with Toby the synchronicity of two hearts in need. The person that wants to contribute and the person that received these acts of love. Both hearts achieve joy, and a boost in oxytocin, self worth and confidence growing together.
At first glance, togetherness feels wonderfully empowering. The freedom to make our own choices, create our own path and prove to ourselves that we can succeed through our own determination. There is something deeply satisfying about building a life through our own effort, our own talent and our own resilience.
The art of conversation is not easy for everyone. With rising social anxiety and many people unsure how to ask meaningful questions, we cannot assume that curiosity naturally translates into connection. In fact, we can be curious and still be poor conversationalists.
This week’s Ponderings is about a time in all out Internet histories when Social Networking was shifting into social media, we were moving from conversation with one another to broadcasting posts. This shift from social networking to social media around 2008 is a really huge topic for me, and one that we can all relate to. We can all reflect on a time when the internet gave rise to so many opportunities, and for me, it was the dream of people connecting globally as friends in business.
While AI is transforming how we work, communicate and build businesses, one thing remains unchanged: our deep human need to feel seen, heard and valued.
Penny Power reflects on resilience, emotional intelligence and the quiet strength we build through heartbreak, setbacks and uncertainty. A thoughtful exploration of how life’s challenges shape personal growth, leadership and human connection.
Four continents. One family. As life shifts in ways we never quite expect, this gentle reflection explores the quiet ache of change, the beauty of fully lived moments and how gratitude for what was can bring peace to what is.
A reflection on how AI and automation can improve efficiency, yet still leave space for the human actions that bring gratitude, dignity and emotional meaning to everyday life.
A reflection on how technology, speed and modern habits have quietly changed the way we connect, why invisibility is affecting wellbeing and performance and why significance matters more than ever.
We all want to matter, not in an ego driven way, but in the quiet human need to feel seen, valued and connected. This week’s Ponderings explores why true significance may be found not in seeking attention, but in helping others feel that they matter.
Success can feel elusive when measured against someone else’s achievements. In this week’s Ponders, Penny reflects on how easily we borrow other people’s benchmarks and why true significance comes not from comparison, but from contribution, gratitude and recognising the value of what we have already built.
In a world where likes, follows and views are often mistaken for connection, this reflection explores the difference between being visible and being truly seen. It considers why acknowledgment, genuine conversation and feeling understood still matter deeply in both professional and personal life.
Contribution is one of the most powerful human forces we have. It shapes our relationships, strengthens our self worth and quietly builds the confidence that allows us to create the life we desire. In this reflective piece, Penny explores the beautiful reciprocity of contribution, how giving transforms the heart of the giver, how receiving deepens trust and connection and why true communities thrive on meaningful human exchange rather than transaction.
Contribution is one of the most powerful human forces we have. It shapes our relationships, strengthens our self worth and quietly builds the confidence that allows us to create the life we desire. In this reflective piece, Penny explores the beautiful reciprocity of contribution, how giving transforms the heart of the giver, how receiving deepens trust and connection and why true communities thrive on meaningful human exchange rather than transaction.
Penny Power reflects on the moment she discovered her true expertise in community building and why choosing depth over breadth transformed her life and business. Explore how recognising your unique contribution can unlock clarity, creativity and lasting fulfilment.
Penny Power reflects on the moment she discovered her true expertise in community building and why choosing depth over breadth transformed her life and business. Explore how recognising your unique contribution can unlock clarity, creativity and lasting fulfilment.
Explore how human connection through curiosity and vulnerability can transform relationships, leadership and the way we communicate in modern life.
This week, I’ve been reflecting on a time in my life when I truly lost confidence in myself as a businesswoman, 2018.It was the year everything I thought I knew about myself, my strength, and my place in the business world felt like it crumbled.
Humans were never meant to be self-contained. We are wired for co-regulation, for companionship, for shared meaning, for circles of safety where we matter to one another.
We cannot think our way into transformation. We must live ourselves into it, often weeping our way through it.
Wherever we are seen and valued, feel significant to others, not for productivity but for humanity we are experiencing community, a sense of belonging.
We spend so much time trying to secure things, our identity, our routines, our future. We tell ourselves: “Once I’ve done this, then I’ll feel calm.” But calm doesn’t live in the next achievement. Calm lives in the moment we stop gripping so tightly.