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...