🦞 Join our Learn Like a Lobster Sprint: https://bit.ly/4oZzJ3F This week on the Squiggly Careers podcast, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from Dr. Zach Mercurio’s book The Power of Mattering. They talk about how mattering goes beyond belonging, why it boosts motivation and wellbeing, and what happens when we feel invisible or replaceable at work. From personal reflections on high and low mattering moments to practical ways to help others feel noticed, affirmed, and needed, Helen and Sarah bri...
Nov 25, 2025•41 min•Ep. 514
🦞 Join our Learn Like a Lobster Sprint: https://bit.ly/4oZzJ3F When people describe their week at work in one word, pretty much 90% of people use the word busy. By swapping this vague default for a more specific and honest word, you can understand your week more clearly, make better choices, and create more meaningful momentum in your squiggly career. From feeling overwhelmed to making progress, Sarah shows how “naming it to tame it” helps you turn how you feel into useful actions. Episode 513 ...
Nov 20, 2025•8 min•Ep. 513
🦞 Join our Learn Like a Lobster Sprint: https://bit.ly/4oZzJ3F This week, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, who writes about the seven types of rest that everyone needs. Rest is far more than sleep — it’s a set of rituals that help you restore energy, creativity, and motivation in your squiggly career. From physical and mental rest to creative, emotional, and social rest, Helen and Sarah share how to identify your biggest “rest gaps” and design routines that actua...
Nov 18, 2025•33 min•Ep. 512
🦞 Join our Learn Like a Lobster Sprint: https://bit.ly/4oZzJ3F In this Squiggly Shortcut, Helen shares five practical ideas to help you become a speed learner at work — so you can keep growing, adapting, and learning even when time is tight. From instant inspiration to everyday experiments, these quick and simple strategies will help you learn faster, stay curious, and build learning into your day-to-day routine. Episode 511 🦞 Pre-order Learn Like A Lobster: 🇺🇸 PRH US – https://bit.ly/3KxTeB...
Nov 13, 2025•8 min•Ep. 511
🦞 Join our Learn Like a Lobster Sprint: https://bit.ly/4oZzJ3F This week on the Squiggly Careers podcast, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from a sweet source — the marshmallow experiment — to explore how the science of delayed gratification applies to our work and career choices. Inspired by the famous psychology study, they unpack what it means to make one marshmallow versus two marshmallow decisions — the everyday trade-offs between instant satisfaction and long-term success. From replying ...
Nov 11, 2025•33 min•Ep. 510
Most of us will change career up to 5 times in our squiggly careers. In this shortcut, Sarah shares why career change isn’t about having the perfect plan — it’s about getting started. She gives three practical ways to make progress without pressure, from small experiments to curious conversations that open new doors. Episode 509 🦞 Pre-order Learn Like A Lobster: 🇺🇸 PRH US – https://bit.ly/3KxTeBn 🇬🇧 Amazon UK – https://amzn.to/3KcRZaR ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 Welcome to Squiggly Shortcuts 00:28 ...
Nov 06, 2025•9 min•Ep. 509
This week on the Squiggly Careers podcast, Sarah and Helen borrow brilliance from Vanessa Urch Druskat’s research on team emotional intelligence, first featured in Harvard Business Review. While emotional intelligence is often talked about at an individual level, this episode explores what happens when you apply it to teams — and how emotional awareness can build motivation, trust, and high performance together. Sarah shares how she used AI (Claude) to turn Druskat’s research into a practical te...
Nov 04, 2025•43 min•Ep. 508
✨ Welcome to Squiggly Shortcuts— a series from the Squiggly Careers podcast, bringing you quick career tips in just 5 minutes, every Thursday. In this shortcut, Helen shares three practical ways to stand out with senior stakeholders — the people who can influence your impact, support your development, and open up new opportunities. Whether it’s your manager or another leader in your organisation, these ideas will help you build better relationships and be remembered for the right reasons. Episod...
Oct 30, 2025•7 min•Ep. 507
This week on the Squiggly Careers podcast, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from an unexpected source — the psychology of seats. Inspired by a conversation about how we choose where to sit, Helen talks about how your seating choices can shape the way you feel, behave, and influence others at work. From safe seats that help us feel in control to power positions in meetings and even virtual seating on video calls, this episode reveals how something as simple as your seat can affect confidence, in...
Oct 28, 2025•36 min•Ep. 506
✨ Welcome to Squiggly Shortcuts — a series from the Squiggly Careers podcast, bringing you quick career tips in just 5 minutes, every Thursday. In this shortcut, Sarah shares three practical reframes to help you quieten your inner critic — the fears, doubts, and limiting beliefs that hold you back in your squiggly career. From fear of failure to feeling “not good enough” or being put on the spot, we all have gremlins trying to stop us. Episode 505 🦞 Pre-order Learn Like A Lobster: PRH US - http...
Oct 23, 2025•8 min•Ep. 505
This week on the Squiggly Careers podcast, Sarah and Helen borrow brilliance from an unexpected source — maps. Inspired by Jürgen Appelo’s Substack post “I Started Drawing Maps”, they explore how mapping can help you find clarity, confidence and direction in your squiggly career. You’ll hear about five different types of maps you can create to understand yourself and your work better — from mapping your energy and relationships to visualising your skills, possibilities and problems. Episode 504 ...
Oct 21, 2025•38 min•Ep. 504
✨ Welcome to Squiggly Shortcuts — a series from the Squiggly Careers podcast, bringing you quick career tips in just 5 minutes, every Thursday. In this shortcut, Helen shares four powerful questions to help you make a difficult career decision. When you’re weighing up your next move, it’s easy to get stuck in overthinking or uncertainty. These questions are designed to help you zoom out, get clear on what matters most, and move forward with confidence. Episode 503 🦞 Pre-order Learn Like A Lobst...
Oct 16, 2025•7 min•Ep. 503
What does it mean to live — and work — with moral ambition? In this episode of the Squiggly Careers podcast, Sarah introduces ideas from Rutger Bregman’s book Moral Ambition and Helen helps turn them into practical actions you can apply in your own career. You’ll hear why moral ambition is about using your 80,000 working hours wisely, how to close the belief–behaviour gap, and what small steps you can take to make a bigger difference. Together, Helen and Sarah explore how to connect Bregman’s bi...
Oct 14, 2025•32 min•Ep. 502
✨ Welcome to Squiggly Shortcuts — a series from the Squiggly Careers podcast, bringing you quick career tips in just 5 minutes, every Thursday. In this shortcut, Sarah shares a practical idea to help you confidently ask for a pay rise. While the conversation can feel anxiety-inducing, waiting rarely works — you need to advocate for yourself and highlight the impact you’re having. Sarah breaks it down into 3 simple tips to set you up for success. How To Ask For A Pay Rise Episode 501 ⏱️ Timestamp...
Oct 09, 2025•11 min•Ep. 501
Is “just be yourself at work” really the best advice? In this 500th episode of the Squiggly Careers podcast, Helen and Sarah explore the tricky topic of authenticity — and why being 100% yourself at work might not always help you succeed. Borrowing brilliance from Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, they discuss the difference between effective vs. ineffective authenticity, why trust often matters more than “being real,” and how to adapt without feeling fake. You’ll learn three practical actions to hel...
Oct 07, 2025•26 min•Ep. 500
✨ Welcome to Squiggly Shortcuts — a brand new series from the Squiggly Careers podcast, bringing you quick career tips in just 5 minutes, every Thursday. In this shortcut, Helen shares a practical idea to help you spot and stop people pleasing at work, so you can set boundaries, protect your time, and focus on what matters most. How To Stop Being A People Pleaser (3 Tips) Episode 499 ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 Welcome to Squiggly Shortcuts 00:35 What is people pleasing? 01:09 Tip 1 - Find your pause st...
Oct 02, 2025•8 min•Ep. 499
What can a Nobel Prize-winning physicist teach us about navigating squiggly careers? In this new Borrowed Brilliance format, Helen introduces the curiosity-driven ideas of Richard Feynman and Sarah helps turn them into practical actions for work. Together, they explore how Feynman’s playful approach to learning can help all of us grow with more clarity and confidence.You’ll discover the power of the Feynman Technique, why keeping a Don’t Know Notebook builds smarter learning habits, and how Prob...
Sep 30, 2025•32 min•Ep. 498
Big news! 🎉 Pre-orders for Helen and Sarah’s brand-new book *Learn Like a Lobster* are now live. In this special episode, they share why lobsters are the perfect metaphor for modern learning, what makes the book different, and how you can start “learning like a lobster” right away. You’ll hear about the free Learn Like a Lobster Library, discover three big lobster-inspired lessons, and get practical tools you can experiment with today. 🦞 Pre-order Learn Like A Lobster below: PRH US - https://b...
Sep 23, 2025•47 min
This is the fifth and final episode of the Squiggly Careers x AI skills sprint series. Today, Helen and Sarah talk about exploring Future Possibilities in your career. As careers become less linear and more unpredictable, having multiple options and directions is essential for resilience and control. In this episode, they show how to use AI prompts to generate a mind map of career possibilities, from obvious to ambitious, pivot, and dream options. They also introduce an AI tool for practicing cu...
Sep 19, 2025•13 min
This is the fourth episode of the Squiggly Careers x AI skills sprint series. Today, Helen and Sarah are talking about Networking. Before you skip this one (we know some of you want to!), remember this squiggly stat: 70% of people's roles come through connections. The key is reframing networking from "people knowing people" to "people helping people." This creates career karma - when you help others, good things come back to you over time. In this episode, Helen and Sarah introduce AI tools to b...
Sep 18, 2025•13 min
This is the third episode of the Squiggly Careers x AI skills sprint series and today Helen and Sarah are tackling Confidence. We all have gremlins - those beliefs, doubts and fears that hold us back in our careers. They're often hidden and they can grow when we don't address them. When you learn to cage them, you get better at navigating tough moments and saying yes to opportunities that stretch you. In this episode, Helen and Sarah introduce their brand-new custom Gremlins GPT - a tool they've...
Sep 17, 2025•13 min
This is the second episode of the Squiggly Careers x AI skills sprint series and today Helen and Sarah are diving into Values. Your values are what motivate and drive you - they're your internal compass that guides decision-making and career choices. In this episode, Helen and Sarah share the best tool for identifying your values and how AI can accelerate the actions you take about your values, turning them into a brilliant filter for your future. They'll show you practical ways to use your valu...
Sep 16, 2025•13 min
This is the first episode of the Squiggly Careers x AI skills sprint series and today Helen and Sarah are kicking things off with Day 1: Strengths. Our strengths are what we're known for - they shape how we show up and help us make more impact at work. And because strengths develop throughout your career, it's important to keep reflecting on them. In this episode, Helen and Sarah share how to give AI the right prompts to help you spot your strengths in action, stretch your strengths in your team...
Sep 15, 2025•13 min
AI is on everyone’s minds and we’re getting curious about how it can help to develop our squiggly career skills. Join us for a 5-day sprint from the 15th September where we’ll be exploring lots of AI tools to support our 5 squiggly career skills: Strengths, Values, Confidence, Networking, and Future Possibilities. Just 10 minutes a day for lots of ideas and insights on how AI can help you to accelerate your squiggly career. 🥇 Sign up for the sprint here: https://bit.ly/3UC3jPy 👥 Join our Squig...
Sep 14, 2025•6 min
🥇 Sign up for the sprint here: https://bit.ly/41jasYO This week, Helen and Sarah shine a light on the unhelpful habits that teams often slip into without even realising it. From meetings that drag on autopilot to one-to-ones that don’t deliver what you need, these routines can waste time, reduce energy, and stop people from working at their best. In this episode, they share the four most common team traps and practical alternatives to try instead. You’ll hear how to spot unhelpful routines, res...
Sep 09, 2025•42 min
🥇 Sign up for the sprint here: https://bit.ly/41jasYO Are old habits holding you back from the progress you want to make? September often feels like a natural reset point—a chance to stop what’s no longer serving you and start building new wins. In this episode, Helen and Sarah share their own September “starts” and “stops” to inspire you to reflect, reset, and refocus. You’ll hear how small, intentional changes can help you create space for growth, protect your future self, and build habits th...
Sep 02, 2025•41 min
This is the fourth and final episode in the Squiggly Careers Quote Series, and today Sarah shares the quote that has shaped her approach to leadership: “Be yourself more with skill.” Inspired by the book and article Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?, this episode explores how true leadership comes from leaning into your strengths and embracing uncomfortable situations that spark growth. There’s no blueprint for being brilliant, and whether you're in a leadership role or not, you don’t need to bec...
Aug 26, 2025•25 min
🥇 Sign up for the sprint here: https://bit.ly/41jasYO Are you letting other people set the boundaries for your career? This is the third episode in the Squiggly Careers quote series, and today Helen shares the quote that’s shaped her approach to career development: “Challenge your limits, don't limit your challenges.” In the episode, Helen and Sarah discuss how this mindset can help you push past external expectations, explore what’s truly possible, and embrace challenges without letting others...
Aug 19, 2025•19 min
🥇 Sign up for the sprint here: https://bit.ly/41jasYO Are you unintentionally repeating the same career year again and again? This is the second episode in the Squiggly Careers quote series, and today Sarah shares the quote that’s inspired her career mindset: “Never live the same year twice.” In the episode, Helen and Sarah talk about how this idea helped Sarah move beyond linear ladder-thinking and sparked a more intentional, experimental approach to career development. You’ll learn how to emb...
Aug 12, 2025•17 min
🥇 Sign up for the Skills Sprint here: https://bit.ly/41jasYO This episode is the first in a four part mini series where Helen and Sarah focus on quotes that have inspired their career. They discuss how each quote has helped them and share ideas for action so you can put the inspiration into action for your development. We’re starting with one of Helen’s favourites: 'run your own race'. It's all about letting go of comparison and building confidence by focusing on what matters to you. Helen and ...
Aug 05, 2025•18 min
