BEN COUPLAND’S PERSONAL BLOG
Welcome…
I'm Ben Coupland, an entrepreneur, writer and DJ based in the Yorkshire (UK).
I love music, run my own business, and write. You’ll find allsorts of different content here.
Feel free to read, comment, adapt, and plagiarise to your heart’s content. As the great Bruce Lee said:
“Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own”
ARTICLES
Nature's Blueprint: How to Build High-Performing, Adaptive Teams
I dropped a new Enso blog this morning:
https://www.ensotalent.co.uk/articles/adaptiveteams
In today’s business world, building a team that can seamlessly adapt, innovate, and collaborate is essential. But traditional, rigid structures often fall short. In this article, I'm looking to nature for inspiration.
Come with me as we explore how nature’s most resilient systems can teach us powerful lessons on team dynamics.
22nd October 2024
I dropped a new Enso Talent blog this morning:
https://www.ensotalent.co.uk/articles/adaptiveteams
In today’s business world, building a team that can seamlessly adapt, innovate, and collaborate is essential. But traditional, rigid structures often fall short. In this article, I'm looking to nature for inspiration.
Come with me as we explore how nature’s most resilient systems can teach us powerful lessons on team dynamics.
🧩 Here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll learn:
🐙 Adapt like Octopuses: Encourage autonomy while maintaining alignment with larger goals.
🐜 Communicate like Ants: Establish clear, open channels for continuous information flow.
🪸 Specialise like the Portuguese Man o' War: Leverage unique strengths to create organisational synergy.
🐦 Coordinate like Starlings: Foster intuitive, real-time collaboration.
🐧 Care like Penguins: Build a culture of care, resilience, and trust.
Ready to see how these natural behaviours can transform your team? 🌍🌱 Read on to discover how you can create a truly dynamic, effective, and resilient team to support your talent ecosystem.
OCTOBER Weight UPDATE…
I’ve been losing weight faster lately, and it's great!! The main change? I’ve amped up my fasting routine. I used to fast for about 12-16 hours a day, but now I’m pushing it to anywhere between 18-36 hours on most days. You might be wondering, how am I managing without feeling like I need to eat my own arm? Well, I’ve got a secret weapon: miso soup.
Monday 21ST October 2024
I’ve been losing weight faster lately, and it's great!! The main change? I’ve amped up my fasting routine. I used to fast for about 12-16 hours a day, but now I’m pushing it to anywhere between 18-36 hours on most days. You might be wondering, how am I managing without feeling like I need to eat my own arm? Well, I’ve got a secret weapon: miso soup.
I picked up this fantastic 800 ml travel mug from the supermarket (got it on sale!), and it keeps liquids warm all day. The brand is “Smash”—which, according to my wife, is pretty good, though I’d never heard of it until now. Every morning, I fill it up with miso soup using three sachets of Itsu instant miso. It’s the perfect way to get through the day because whenever a craving hits, I just take a sip. For someone like me who loves to eat, this has been a game-changer, as it stops me mindlessly snacking.
Now, I know some fasting purists might argue that having miso means I’m not technically fasting. But considering it’s less than 100 calories over 18-24 hours (and I’m not eating anything else), I’d say it’s still working wonders.
Weight update:
In January 2024, I was almost 110 kg—way overweight, thanks to some bad eating, drinking and exercise habits that developed during COVID lockdown.
Today, I’m just over 100 kg (-10 kg), so I've lost the weight of about two watermelons. I already feel tons better, even though I'm only halfway there.
My next goal is to hit 95 kg (-15 kg) by Christmas
Where I'd like to end up is 90 kg (-20 kg) by the end of March. When I reach this weight, I think I'll be happy! I'll have lost the weight of around 10 pineapples, or fifty oranges 🍊 🍊 🍊 🍊 🍊
I’ll keep you posted on how it goes!
When I started my BENX10 project, losing weight was probably my number one priority, so I'm pleased to have come this far. Realistically though, I've still got a long way to go - I've got to do the same again now, and the second half might be harder, so I've got to stay focused and really commit.
If you’ve got any experience of fasting, or any tips for successful and sustainable weightless, I'd love to hear them!
🎚️ Lounge Frequency: volume 1
Posted a new 🎚️ DJ Mix this morning. You can find it on Mixcloud
It’s a smooth but funky 90 minute mix that I’m calling “Lounge frequency: Volume 1”.
If you like Disco, Soul, House, and smooth blends, you’ll probably like this. Please give it a listen and email on ben@benx10.com or hit me up on the Facebook page to let me know what you think! 🎶🎧🎛️
Tuesday 21st October 2024
Posted a new 🎚️ DJ Mix this morning. You can find it on Mixcloud
It’s a smooth but funky 90 minute mix that I’m calling “Lounge frequency: Volume 1”.
If you like Disco, Soul, House, and smooth blends, you’ll probably like this. Please give it a listen and email on ben@benx10.com or hit me up on the Facebook page to let me know what you think! 🎶🎧🎛️
Sunday Morning Coffee Reflections
Ah, Sundays ☕️
The perfect time to slow down and truly savour the little things, like my favourite cup of coffee. Today, I’m enjoying a cup (or three) of Ueshima’s Fuji Mountain brew. It’s not just any coffee—it’s a smooth, well-balanced roast that seems to capture the beauty and simplicity of Japan in every sip. Being a lover of all things Japanese, this coffee speaks to me on a whole new level.
Sunday 15th September 2024
Ah, Sundays ☕️
The perfect time to slow down and truly savour the little things, like my favourite cup of coffee. Today, I’m enjoying a cup (or three) of Ueshima’s Fuji Mountain brew. It’s not just any coffee—it’s a smooth, well-balanced roast that seems to capture the beauty and simplicity of Japan in every sip. Being a lover of all things Japanese, this coffee speaks to me on a whole new level.
I can't honestly remember how I first found Fuji Mountain, but for over a year now, I’ve subscribed to Ueshima’s monthly subscription service. the postman kindly delivers two packs of this little beauty to my doorstep every month for just a little under £10. Honestly, at this point I wouldn’t consider switching to anything else. The process is hassle-free, and every time the package arrives, it feels like a little bit of self-love. By the way, I’m not an Ueshima affiliate, just a coffee lover who believes the good stuff is worth recommending! ☺️
At the moment, I’ve got a real Mount Fuji theme going on. As I sip my Fuji Mountain roast, I’m flicking through a new book: Hokusai’s Fuji. It’s a stunning collection of over 100 wood block prints prints by the Japanese artist Hokusai (one of my favourites), who was absolutely fascinated by Mount Fuji. His Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series beautifully captures the mountain from various perspectives. If you've never heard of it, you'll at least know one of his prints: the legendary “Great Wave of Kanagawa”.
What fascinates me about Hokusai’s Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji is how he captures so many different aspects of life—fishing, farming, travelling—and yet, in the background of each scene, Mount Fuji stands tall, strong, and silent. It’s always there, a constant presence amidst the hustle and bustle of everyday life. To me, the mountain represents patience, perseverance, and natural beauty, a reminder to endure quietly and gracefully, no matter what's happening around you. I try to hold on to that image, especially when times get tough—like Fuji, I remind myself to stand strong and let life flow around me.
Anyway, enough rambling for now—time to dive into the rest of my morning. What's your favorite weekend ritual? Let me know!
BACK TO BUSINESS…
After a long summer break, it's back to business! 🧑🏼💻 For the first time ever, I took the entire 6-week school holiday off to spend some quality time with the kids, and it was the perfect break(other than the bloody awful weather ☔️). We had so many fun days out, but two highlights were definitely Eureka and The Deep. If you're anywhere near Yorkshire and you haven’t been to these, you’re missing out—both places are packed with cool, interactive experiences for the kids (and adults too!). Even better, if you buy tickets to either one, you get a year long pass to come back for free.
Friday 13th September 2024
After a long summer break, it's back to business! 🧑🏼💻 For the first time ever, I took the entire 6-week school holiday off to spend some quality time with the kids, and it was the perfect break(other than the bloody awful weather ☔️). We had so many fun days out, but two highlights were definitely Eureka and The Deep. If you're anywhere near Yorkshire and you haven’t been to these, you’re missing out—both places are packed with cool, interactive experiences for the kids (and adults too!). Even better, if you buy tickets to either one, you get a year long pass to come back for free.
Now that I’m back to work, I’m feeling energized. The downtime gave me a chance to reflect, plan, and write. I’ve got some really exciting ideas in the pipeline—both short-term and long-term. I’ll dive deeper into those plans soon, but for now, I’m just happy to be back, feeling fresh and ready to tackle what’s next!
Stay tuned... big things are brewing. 🙌
🎚️ The 10x Summer Sampler: Volume 1
My new mix “The 10X Summer Sampler: volume 1” has just dropped on Mixcloud. You can listen to it here. 🎧🎶
This is the first release in the ☀️ Summer Sampler series. There isn't really a grand plan behind the series other than to release one every Summer; it's just a chance to get some cool mixes and tracks out there, mainly inspired by the kind of stuff I find myself mixing in the summer months. There are elements of house, disco, pop and R&B all in the mix to make a blend that's hopefully just as much fun whether you're in the car, getting ready for a night out, or pegging the washing on the line.
Friday 19th July 2024
My new mix “The 10X Summer Sampler: volume 1” has just dropped on Mixcloud. You can listen to it here. 🎧🎶
This is the first release in the ☀️ Summer Sampler series. There isn't really a grand plan behind the series other than to release one every Summer; it's just a chance to get some cool mixes and tracks out there, mainly inspired by the kind of stuff I find myself mixing in the summer months. There are elements of house, disco, pop and R&B all in the mix to make a blend that's hopefully just as much fun whether you're in the car, getting ready for a night out, or pegging the washing on the line.
contact me at ben@benx10.com and let me know what you think!! 📨 👋
I’ll probably be putting out a bunch of different styles of mix in the coming months. Just off the top of my head, I’m thinking about a purely R&B-themed mix, Dance/EDM, Neo Soul, and maybe even a Hip-Hop classics set. If there’s anything in particular that you’d like to hear more of, let me know!!
By the way, I know the artwork for this is pretty naff! It’s something that I’m looking at and will get better for future releases, I promise. 👨🎨
mY wORKSTREAMS
I have a bunch of interests and projects that I’m working on right now.
You can find out more about them here.
Freelance DJ for hire, rocking parties and events since 1998!!
Values-based Talent Acquisitions Consultancy specialising in holistic talent ecosystem design
A brand new adventure - coming soon
““Be Water, My Friend. Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.””