Something odd happened to me last week. I’m going to share this story with you because I think it’s unusual and kind of funny. But I’m also sharing it because it caused me to think about something important, and I’d like you to think about that too.

Saving lives is harder than I thought

My blood-donation experience has been a bit of a rocky ride. It certainly wasn’t what I expected when I first chose to give it a go.

Strike 1

My first donation attempt was around 5-6 years ago. It started with an outing for a pancake lunch, since you’re told to eat a big meal and drink lots of fluids better donating.

At the Red Cross building, I filled out some paperwork and was taken into a little office to have all my details checked. Part of this pre-donation check is a finger-prick to check that your iron levels are high enough for you to donate. The prick doesn’t hurt much (though surprisingly...

One of the most common questions I get asked as a writer/blogger/content marketer is where I get my ideas from. Publishing as often as I do (multiple times per week, up to every weekday sometimes), ideas are certainly something I need a lot of.

Since people seem interested in how this works for me, I thought I’d share some of the ways that work best for me (so far—it’s always a work in progress!).

TED talks

Whenever I’m in a curious mood, I like to browse the homepage of [TED](ted.com). The videos I’ve found there are usually full of memorable stories and fascinating information. In the past I’ve used TED talks as inspiration for posts about an inspiring teacher, how we think about charities (that one really woke me up) and neuroscience myths.

Reading

I try to read a lot. After all, that’s one of the marks of a good writer. Sometimes I’ll want to riff off something I read, but more...