…is character. Not exam grades Not IQ Not college education Not work experience Character. Future stars show star quality in their first jobs. Even when they are doing such simple, menial tasks they are doing them exceptionally because it’s in their nature to do so. They can’t not do something well, it just wouldn’t feel right to them....

Luck always plays a part in success and failure and it’s so stupid to think that it doesn’t. Anyone who has reached any level of success has benefitted from luck in some way. Lucky timing, lucky place, lucky chance, beginner’s luck. They could have been lucky to happen to sit next to that exact person at that exact time and have opened...

You can influence how much energy you have every single day. It’s in the people you hang around with The news you choose to ignore Where you live The foods you eat How much perspective you can maintain when problems enter your world. You can choose what you do in the first hour upon waking Which notifications you have turned on How ava...

Your brain is a prediction machine, meaning that when things don't go as planned, there can be significant consequences. You’ll have experienced this many times. That tight feeling in your chest when receiving adverse news. That sinking feeling when a decision you made starts to look like a costly mistake. That anxiety when your schedu...

Relentless focus on the basics is what separates winners in life and business from people who have massive plans but never get anywhere. Novak Djokovic focuses on just hitting the ball, really well. Kobe Bryant focused on free throw after free throw, thousands of repetitions on that basic shot. Tiger Woods played putt after putt after ...

Creating content is one of the best ways to grow your business. Becoming a content creation powerhouse involves three steps: ideation, execution and delegation. Ideation is your way of getting new ideas for what you create. Carry a notebook, meet new people, read new books, become inspired in some way. Execution is where you focus on c...

Do they get it? Do they want it? Do they have the capacity? These are from the book Traction and they are simple yes or no questions. Do they get what we are trying to achieve here? Do they want to be part of this team, do they want the responsibility? Do they have the capacity to do whatever this role entails? You want three yesses, o...

Is this nothing to worry about or will this put me out of business? That’s the assessment every business owner has to make whenever any problem is brought to them. Do I ignore this and get on with what I was doing or do I drop everything to manage this risk and make sure my company survives it? People get this wrong. They ignore someth...

Synchronous communication relies on two parties being available at exactly the same time. Synchronous communication methods, such as meetings, telephone or Zoom calls, must be arranged. Both parties must be physically and mentally present. During this type of communication, questions require immediate answers or there is a subsequent f...

Generally speaking, the faster someone responds to emails the less progress they are making. It makes sense. In many cases, people who don’t quickly respond to emails are busy honing their craft. They are making their art, serving their clients, out and about. The plan their day in advance rather than let emails hijack their time. If l...

My friend Jason told me that, growing up, his goal was always, “to be the richest person I know.” He’s a multimillionaire on his way to more. But the goalposts keep moving. He now knows people with their own jets, their own islands, running billion-dollar companies and making a huge difference in the world. Jason’s goal is still the sa...

Ninety six percent of companies are turning over less than one million dollars. Four percent are turning over between one and ten million. Only 0.4 percent are at between ten and fifty million and only 17,000 total are turning over more than fifty million dollars. If your goal is to build a hundred-million-dollar company, there are few...

Step one: become your tribe Figure out who you are. Unapologetically be that person. Do the stuff you’ve always wanted to do. Show up and don’t censor yourself. Step two: find your tribe You’re now on the same frequency as your kind of people. You become a magnet for your ideal tribe members. You find people you align with like never b...

Entrepreneurship can be a minefield. Whilst some seem to have it completely figured out, others are totally lost. For every glossy headline or perfect headshot there’s another story of struggle, of covering up the cracks or making it through a rollercoaster time. For every founder genuinely nailing it there’s another simply winging it....

We are 99% living in dreamland. Daydreaming, predicting the future, going around with our head in the clouds thinking about the past and having conversations with ourselves. Meditation teaches separation from daydreams. Rather than identifying with them, think of yourself as merely a thinker of your thoughts. Tamara Levitt, Calm App’s ...

If I want to learn how to write a book I can find the information. If I want to learn how to start a business I can find the information. If I want to learn how to lose weight I can find the information. The barrier to having each of these things is not informational, it’s always emotional. Perhaps I know how to write a book, but I’m s...

I recently listened to entrepreneur-turned-lecturer A.J. Wasserstein talk about life after he sold his company and found it resonated hugely. He digs into the feelings that someone might have after exiting. He categorises post-exit entrepreneurs into five distinct groups including the do it againer, the philanthropist and the investor....

Here are some of the articles written for Forbes during the past few months: Asynchronous communication: the secret weapon of entrepreneurs who get more done Companies and individuals are embracing asynchronous communication to take control of their day, concentrate better, get more done and avoid being booked solidly at the expense of...

Both procrastination and perfectionism are blockers of progress and signs of fear. They block progress because they stop you shipping your work. They prevent you from getting started or they convince you it’s not good enough to share. They are signs of fear manifesting as productivity problems. Fear of being seen, fear of rejection, fe...

Artist Andy Warhol once wrote that if he could have anyone hired on a retainer, it would be a boss. “A boss who could tell me what to do, because that makes everything easy when you’re working.” When you work for yourself, there’s no one telling you what to do. You can pretend your clients are your boss, or your editor or audience, but...

Enjoying the input beats anxiously awaiting the outcome. You get to do your work You get to lead your team You get to solve that problem You get to do this. The reward is simply a nice addition. The success is a bonus The money is a bonus The recognition is a bonus. If the metrics didn’t materialise, if the prizes didn’t appear, if the...

"What are you capable of?" is a question that I am absolutely obsessed with. The answer to the question is actually: a lot. What am I capable of? What are you capable of? What are we capable of? So much! So much more than we even know right now. But it's not that easy. I think that if we knew what we were capable of - if we realised th...

In order to log into any software, I must receive a code to a phone number that I type in to the login page. Two-factor authentication is switched on for everything I use, and not just as a security precaution. The real value is that is adds another step. A pause. Clicking to get that code then going to find my phone and enter it force...

When you’re on a long haul flight you can choose to focus on: The person in front who reclined their seat at the earliest opportunity. The person behind who is tapping away at the back of your headrest like a woodpecker. The baby two rows in front that is screaming at the top of its voice. The fact that your food is dry and the turbule...

Since last week, I’m keeping track of a new metric. The metric is this: The number of minutes between when my alarm clock goes off and when I check my phone. The goal is that the number grows. The goal is to completely remove checking of any sort from my morning. Within “check my phone” is email, social media, WhatsApp, any messaging a...

The hardest thing about starting a business is winning the first client. The hardest thing about exercising every morning is getting started. The hardest thing about speaking on stage is the walk up the stairs. The hardest thing about writing a book is showing up at the blank page. The hardest thing about making new friends is the open...

We pretty much get what we expect. The optimist and the pessimist are both correct. They each find the world they are looking for. It's a new week and you don’t yet know what it will bring. Just for now, throw hopes and dreams out the window and prepare to be lucky. Notice what enters your consciousness when you’re open to possibilitie...

Sometimes we don’t need to learn anything new, we just need to remember what we know. I guess it’s why people have tattoos on their forearms, signs on their wall and desktop backgrounds on their computers. Constant, daily reminders to bring the best you to every situation. Here are my reminders. The truths that the best version of me l...

If I’m feeling overwhelmed with detail I picture myself in a helicopter, seeing the situation from afar. It’s a way of regaining perspective and shifting my attention to the big picture and the long term. In Frozen, Elsa sings, funny how some distance makes everything feel small. A friend likes to think of the earth and space, remember...

1. Focus and attention are the best gifts you can give. 2. There’s little point making little plans. 3. Not everyone cares for coupon codes or haggling. 4. Insecurity is loud and confidence is quiet, not vice versa. 5. Owners of smelly pets don’t always realise their pets smell. 6. People you have never met are rooting for your success...