What brings you joy?

Hello, I'm joining you today from a coffee place in Valencia, trying to finish off all my homework before going on leave for a couple of weeks.

In today's newsletter you will find:

• A reflection

• 13 things that bring me joy

• A book recommendation

A reflection

I had another version of this Friday's newsletter, but it was so boring that I had to press delete and start from scratch. I'm a sucker for pushing through, but sometimes it's better to just stop, scratch it all, and start again.

I want to keep it simple today, so I will just share...

13 things that bring me joy

• swimming

• sunsets and sunrises

• cold water swimming

• breakfast

• driving my car with music so loud I cannot hear my own thinking

• drinking a cold beer in a hot day by the ocean

• watching the rain in my car

• knitting/spinning while reading a book (or the other way around)

• re-reading some books

• pizza margarita

• looking for houses

• spending time with my sisters

• working from a coffee place

Do you want to share yours?

A book recommendation

Whether you're a seasoned globetrotter or embarking on your first international venture, "The Culture Map" promises to enrich your understanding of cross-cultural interactions.

I've worked on multicultural environments for the last 20 years and I wish I had read this book sooner. You won't find rocket science, but you will understand interesting things such as:

- the linearity of time for different countries (how can it be that there are countries that set up a meeting "when the cows come home"? 🤯) or,

- building relationships before doing business, how time spent just "hanging out" will potentially help to close a deal (this knowledge would undoubtedly have been a game-changer in many of my previous roles!!!)

Thanks for reading!