Notes on staying human. Essays by Chris Henry, written slowly, from the Hunter.https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/© 2026 Chris Henryjournal@chrishenry.com.au (Chris Henry)https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/notes/allowed-to-tell-me-the-truth/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/notes/allowed-to-tell-me-the-truth/Who in my life is allowed to tell me the truth? Not who would. Who's allowed. Who I've made it genuinely safe for, where honesty won't cost them the relationship. I can count them on one hand. I suspect that's not a small list. I suspect that's the whole list, for most of us.Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTnotebookquestionleadershiplifehttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-true-cost-of-honesty/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-true-cost-of-honesty/I used to think honesty was expensive. That telling the truth, the real version, not the softened one, came with a price tag most people couldn't afford.Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTlifeleadershiphttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/notes/would-i-still-do-the-work/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/notes/would-i-still-do-the-work/If no one could see the result. No post, no photo, no mention of it ever. Would I still do the work? Some things survive that question. Most don't.Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTnotebookquestionworkidentityhttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/notes/recognising-enough/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/notes/recognising-enough/What does enough actually look like? Not as a number. As a Tuesday. What time I wake up, what I say no to, who's at the table. I'm starting to think if you can't describe it as an ordinary day, you haven't found it yet.Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTnotebookquestionlifehttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/notes/rooms-not-stages/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/notes/rooms-not-stages/Most of us perform at work without noticing. The meeting becomes a stage. The update becomes a pitch. The shift I keep coming back to: stop addressing the stage and sit down in the room. Different posture, different sentences, different outcomes. People can tell which one you'rWed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTnotebookidealeadershipworkhttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/notes/ideas-die-of-company/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/notes/ideas-die-of-company/Every idea I've said no to has made the one I kept stronger. The hard part was never killing the bad ideas. They die on their own. It's the good ones, the ones that would probably work, that quietly bleed you. Sometimes I try to reframe that mybacklog isn't a graveyard so much Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTnotebooklessonworkhttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-goal-is-absence/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-goal-is-absence/What if the point isn't to be more present, but less needed? On the kind of leadership that doesn't leave a wake.Sat, 21 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTleadershipworkhttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/notes/honesty-charges-interest/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/notes/honesty-charges-interest/Honesty costs upfront. You feel it immediately. The awkward meeting. The hard phone call. The sentence you'd rather not say. Dishonesty charges interest. You don't feel it for months. Then you do. I've paid both ways. Upfront is cheaper. Every time.Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTnotebooklessonlifeleadershiphttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/notes/check-the-destination/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/notes/check-the-destination/Tools should change how fast we move, not where we're going. Worth checking the destination before upgrading the engine.Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTnotebookideaaiworkhttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-world-is-hungry/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-world-is-hungry/The world is hungry. If you let it, it will take every hour you have. Then ask for the next one after that.Sun, 21 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTworklifehttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/fireworks-vs-firewood/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/fireworks-vs-firewood/You can't make fireworks out of firewood. But if you look up, you might still catch a few embers drifting through the air.Sun, 14 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTlifeworkhttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/my-bot-vs-your-bot/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/my-bot-vs-your-bot/When everyone has the perfect script, the only advantage left is being the one who refuses to use it.Tue, 09 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTaiworkhttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/enough-ideas-to-kill/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/enough-ideas-to-kill/I came across a quote recently that caught me off guard. At first, I laughed. Then I felt a bit sick. Then I wrote it down.Mon, 17 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTworkleadershiphttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-masks-we-wear/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-masks-we-wear/What started as a polished website became a mirror, and a question about who I was actually building it for.Wed, 05 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTlifeidentityhttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/artificial-intelligence-progress-and-people/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/artificial-intelligence-progress-and-people/The AI conversation is loud right now. Louder than it's ever been. And at River, our position is clear.Sun, 24 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTaiworkleadershiphttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-drawbridge-and-the-grass/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-drawbridge-and-the-grass/After something painful, most of us do the same thing. It doesn't really matter what shape it takes. Something breaks, and we retreat.Tue, 05 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTlifehealinghttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/moving-forward/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/moving-forward/Last week was Men's Health Week. I wasn't planning to post anything. Clearly, very few of us were. Because as the days passed, I kept noticing how quiet it felt.Mon, 23 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTlifeidentityhttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-quiet-ones/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-quiet-ones/Some people shout when they need help. Others stay quiet. And more often than not, it's the quiet ones we need to worry about most.Mon, 16 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTleadershipworklifehttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/rise/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/rise/A reflection on the RISE Conference in Sydney and the conversations real estate needs to start having. About pressure, burnout, and supporting the people behind the performance.Mon, 09 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTleadershipworkhttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-things-we-carry/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-things-we-carry/Not all wounds heal with time. Some just become part of you. And somehow, you keep going.Mon, 02 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTlifehealinghttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/lessons-from-hands-across-the-water/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/lessons-from-hands-across-the-water/The Hands Across the Water ride pushed us physically, mentally, and emotionally. Each day, we woke up with sore legs and aching bodies, knowing we still had hours in the saddle ahead. But it was never about us.Mon, 26 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTlifehealinghttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/get-excited-for-a-marathon/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/get-excited-for-a-marathon/Twenty-six miles. Forty-two kilometres. Fifty-five thousand steps. And seventeen thousand litres of air through burning lungs.Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTlifeworkhttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/relationships-that-matter/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/relationships-that-matter/In our fast-paced lives, where the demands of work, personal responsibilities, and endless to-do lists consume our days, it's easy to let meaningful relationships slip to the background.Mon, 28 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTlifehttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/success-versus-fulfilment/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/success-versus-fulfilment/In today's fast-paced, goal-obsessed culture, people often confuse 'success' with 'fulfilment.' But they're not the same thing.Mon, 14 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTworklifehttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/embracing-change/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/embracing-change/To navigate change successfully, I have been diving into the study of mindset and behaviour, exploring the neuroscience that underlies our ability to adapt. I'm fascinated by what I'm discovering.Mon, 31 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTlifeworkhttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/your-situation-is-not-your-conclusion/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/your-situation-is-not-your-conclusion/What are you really training for? If you're not preparing for a marathon, a big event, or even a race, why are you pushing yourself so hard?Mon, 23 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMTlifeworkhttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-power-of-prospection/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/the-power-of-prospection/What if there was a better way to approach your career, one that brings more meaning, satisfaction, and excitement to your daily life?Sat, 21 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMTlifeleadershiphttps://journal.chrishenry.com.au/progressing-vs-working/https://journal.chrishenry.com.au/progressing-vs-working/What if there was a better way to approach your career, one that brings more meaning, satisfaction, and excitement to your daily life?Wed, 18 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMTworkleadership