If you put an iron in the fire every day, over time you have more than you know what to do with. Each creates an option, a possibility, an opportunity, the freedom to choose. What counts as an iron in the fire? A proposal A question An application A submission A follow up A good deed An FYI A recommendation Putting them out there consi...

If a business takes off, suddenly there are copycats. Someone shares a marketing hack they tried, and others try it too. A book is published promising a blueprint or a tried-and-tested method. Methods, blueprints and formula work for science experiments but rarely for commercial success. It’s a trap. Mark schemes are relevant for regur...

“Working on my novel” is the title of a book by Cory Arcangel that poignantly prints tweets from various writers saying that they are working on their novel. However, at that exact moment in time, they weren’t working on their novel. They were tweeting. The book explores the concept of instant communication and distraction in a light-h...

Architects are artists. They study, research and plan. They dream, imagine and create. They take a vision and turn it into reality for all to enjoy. They craft every detail of their masterpiece and obsess over minutiae. When it’s ready, it’s presented. Bulldozers are not artists. They march in and tear down. They survey a site and dism...

I joined friend Mark Leruste, host of the Unconventionalists podcast, to talk about building a bulletproof mindset, how to write a book every three months, living like an explorer versus settler, plus other juicy topics. We discuss: • What it’s like to sell a business after ten years of building it • The benefit of focusing on enjoymen...

In 2001 our phones could make calls and texts. Some had Snake. In 2021 they have cameras and apps. They have social media and payment methods. We learn, entertain and record with them. What’s the prognosis for 2041? Have we reached peak phone and will it stabilise? Or will the next twenty years see us become even more at one with our d...

Be happy because you’re lucky to be the person you are, living the life you live, at this moment in time. Be happy because you’re becoming the person you always knew you could be. Be happy because you have the freedom to choose how you respond. You can always say no. Be happy because every pain, struggle or hardship shall pass. You’ll ...

These are the most popular articles I have recently written for Forbes: How to block out distractions and stay focused At any given time, dozens of things are fighting for your attention. Pop up banners want your email address, ads want you to look at them, colleagues want you to respond to them and friends want you to talk to them. Pl...

In powerlifting competitions, you have to perform each lift to a specific standard. Squats must hit a certain depth, you can’t hitch a deadlift. When bench pressing, the bar must be stationary on your chest before receiving the press command, your bum must remain on the bench and your feet must be flat on the floor. In lifting and in l...

During a video call or interview, ideally you are looking at the person you are talking to whilst also looking down the lens of the camera. Not only do you have a better connection with the person you are speaking to, because you are looking into their eyes, but recordings look better because you’re looking at the audience rather than ...

There are two ways to go through each day. One is to take whatever is thrown at you. It might be good, it might be bad. It might cause excitement, it might cause anguish. You’ll be led by others and situations and whatever will be will be. The other way is by implementing a pre-commitment strategy. This is where you choose, in advance,...

We are annoyed that a client emails at the weekend but here we are checking emails at the weekend. And responding. The house is a mess but we’ve been clearing up after flatmates and not saying anything. We’re not paid enough but we haven’t put forward the case for why we are worth more. The fear of making a stand is real. We perceive t...

You can do the bare minimum and hype it up or you can produce excellent work and let others bring the hype. Energy put into blowing your own trumpet would nearly always be better used practising to play better. The best in their field don’t grow their online presence using follow/unfollow or hacks to trick the algorithm. They beat the ...

Play a happy song. Take five deep breaths. Call a friend. Recite a mantra. Be grateful for what you have. Smile at yourself in a mirror. Write in your journal. Watch an uplifting video. Go for a walk. Tidy your room.

I’m sure you would agree that you saw no one as beneath you. You could say with certainty that you treat others as equals and show respect regardless of their title or standing. But what about those you admire? Perhaps you put someone on a pedestal. See them as incredible or superhuman or something you could never be. Idolising them. I...

We rarely read the work of someone going through a tough time. Instead, we read the lessons they learned after they happen. It makes sense. When someone comes to us with their problems, we try to solve them. We offer solutions. The best solutions are those we already have. The ones we find when we search deeply inside ourselves. If som...

You step up a level in any field by working at the level above before being rewarded for it. Get a publishing contract by writing an amazing book, as if you already have a contract. Get a pay rise by being so exceptional that a promotion is the obvious next step. Receive opportunities by being the type of person others want to collabor...

Ask someone what they really want and they might say, “freedom”. But freedom on its own doesn’t mean anything. It makes no sense. The follow up question is, “freedom from what, to do what?” Freedom from answering client calls to write my novel. Freedom from a 9-5 to go surfing. Freedom from the weekly shop to watch TV. Freedom from dis...

The 2020 SBD World’s Strongest Man was held in Miami, Florida, without a crowd. Competitors didn’t have their friends and family around them. There was no roar of an audience. The low-level applause came from sponsors and organisers but it wasn’t the same. Weights feel lighter with hype. Lifting that last atlas stone to a soundtrack of...

In his book, Greenlights, Matthew McConaughey explains why he shut down his production company and his music label. “I was making Bs in five things. I want to make As in three things.” Those three things: his family, his foundation, his acting career. Are you making Bs when you could be making As? What can you drop?

A well-known tale of literary folklore, the emperor’s new clothes represents something that is widely accepted as true due to a lack of willingness of most people to criticise it. Modern examples of this concept exist today in many aspects of life and work. One embodiment is an entrepreneur who focuses on mindset, strategy and vision b...

Build your reserves of mental toughness when you don’t need to, so they are there when you do. Here are fifteen ways to build mental toughness. Do the hard thing first: Look at your to-do list and see which task you have been avoiding or putting off. Do it first and do it well. Seek out the resistance and overcome it. Make the call, fi...