Jodie Cook

Welcome, great to have you here đź‘‹

I'm Jodie, founder of Coachvox AI. We make AI coaches.

After selling my agency in 2021 I wrote my new book, Ten Year Career: Reimagine business, design your life, fast track your freedom.

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These blogs are for entrepreneurs who think differently (or want to!)
Topics include mindset, lifestyle design and how to run a business without it running you.
September 22, 2021

Spectrums

Nearly everything you see as black or white actually lies on a spectrum. For every concept, each of us have our own imaginary range which dictates how it’s defined in our mind. Consider these words: Workaholic Awkward Risky Worthless Where one sees a workaholic, another sees someone who has found their calling and is barrelling forward...
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September 20, 2021

On serendipity

I love chance. Luck, coincidence, mysterious connections. That person you meet on the train, who happens to be in the market for your company’s skills. The lady you bump into whose recommendation was exactly what you needed. The books someone mentioned that turned out to be your favourite. The phrase you overheard that became your mant...
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September 17, 2021

The last day on earth test

If today was your last day on earth, would you be pleased with how you spent it? Did you make the most of every minute, treat people well, laugh lots and keep perspective? Did you act true to the best version of yourself, or were you irritable and rubbish company? Did you do things that moved you forward or held you back? If you repeat...
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September 15, 2021

Playing bigger games

It takes just as much effort to be miserable as it does to be happy. It’s just as easy to criticise as it is to compliment. Entrepreneurs running impressive, game-changing businesses work just as hard, for just as long, as those running small ones. Elon Musk probably puts in the same hours as a restaurant owner, he’s just chosen a diff...
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September 13, 2021

Everything is borrowed

Everything you have isn’t really yours; you’re simply borrowing it. Your family and friends don’t belong to you. You don’t own your partner. They aren’t going to live forever and neither are you. One day you’ll drive your car for the last time. One day your house, garden and office will belong to someone else. Ownership of anything is ...
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September 10, 2021

Champions do extra

Turning up to do the minimum before clocking off is not what champions are made of. Meeting specifications. Delivering the brief. Reaching the target. Doing the least of what’s expected. Champions see standards and exceed them. They go over and above the spec and they challenge the brief. They want to do more. They ask how they can. Th...
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September 8, 2021

Having something to prove

Opponent, nemesis, arch rival, competitor. Trendy words used to describe someone who isn’t us. Perhaps we cross paths or share goals, perhaps only one of us can win. Perhaps they’ve underestimated us in the past. They never gave their support, only their doubts. In sports and business there’s often focus on this other person. Superhero...
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September 6, 2021

Instant awakening

The Japanese word “satori” translates to “instant awakening”. It refers to when a realisation is immediate rather than gradual. It means change can happen straight away, like a lightbulb moment. It’s that mantra that resonates so deeply it instantly changes how you think. That book you read that sparks instant ideas. The song with the ...
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September 2, 2021

North star check

In Tucker Max’s book, The Scribe Method: The best way to write and publish your non-fiction book, he advocates constructing what he calls a north star check. The format of the north star check is: I will use my book to target [primary audience] by teaching them [primary audience benefits gained or problems solved], which will lead to m...
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August 31, 2021

Overcoming tech addiction, turning customers down, four books to change your business and life

Here are the articles written for Forbes during August: Overcoming technology addiction: three experiments to try now In the last few hours of your life, you will not be reading the news or scrolling your Twitter feed. In the last few hours of your life, when you reminisce about the time you had and the impact you made, you will not wi...
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August 27, 2021

Crosses and shots

Every day, my present self works to cross a metaphorical football into the box so my future self can shoot. The better I position the ball, the easier it is for future me to score a goal. So much of the win takes place in the preparation. The glory is secured from the plan. The assists count for more than you might realise. What are yo...
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August 25, 2021

What things mean

When I was in secondary school, my friend Hannah told me her theory that whenever she saw a yellow DHL van, she went on to have a great day. She was so sure of the link. After that, every time I saw a yellow DHL van, I knew it was going to be a great day for Hannah and probably me too. Links can be made between any two occurrences. You...
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August 23, 2021

Questions from future you

When I look at my old journal entries it strikes me how little I knew then compared to what I know now. Naivety, ignorance. A different view of the world and my place within it. In the future, I’ll think of today’s version of me as naïve. I don’t know exactly why, or which elements of what I say and believe now will change in the futur...
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August 20, 2021

Institutionalised

When I worked in the head office of a care home provider, this word was mentioned regularly: institutionalised. The managers wanted to steer clear of their residents becoming institutionalised. Turning reliant and passive. Less able to function as an individual. Losing independence in favour of institutional control and following instr...
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August 18, 2021

Jump and the net will appear

The grass is always greener. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Better the devil you know. Don’t fly too close to the sun. These phrases keep you thinking small and acting smaller. They prize comfort and familiarity over the unknown. Their fear-based lessons encourage movement away from perceived risk and back to safety. The gras...
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August 16, 2021

Solitude stint

Could you live alone, for a month, in the middle of the woods? No phone, no internet, just you and a stack of blank paper? Could you be content with the simplest of existences as you lived out your days? Basic food, modest furnishings, no music, only the sounds of nature around you? No alarm clock, just rising and sleeping with sunrise...
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August 13, 2021

Persistence

It’s seen as a good thing to be persistent. Not to quit. To never give up. But where’s the part where we make sure that what we’re fighting for is really what we want? There’s little sense in persistence for the sake of persistence. Winning a negotiation that you didn’t care about in the first place. Proving someone wrong on something ...
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August 11, 2021

Spring cleaning

Last week I removed every item of clothing I owned from its wardrobe or drawer and put it on the bed. Then I sorted every item into three piles. Definitely, definitely not, maybe. Definitely: These were clothes that I love and had worn recently, that suit me and I feel good wearing. Definitely not: These were clothes I hadn’t worn in a...
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August 9, 2021

Introducing yourself

I used to think that success was not having to introduce yourself. I thought it was having others introduce you or everyone already knowing who you were. Having others seek you out and introduce themselves as if you were a celebrity. Now I realise that success is probably not having to introduce yourself but doing it anyway. Assuming n...
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August 6, 2021

Ten things I know for sure (this week)

1. No one remembers who said hi first. So say hi first. 2. Most opinions are irrelevant. 3. If it’s not how you would spend your last hour on earth, do you really need to do it? 4. A little customer service goes a long way. 5. Challenger banks are the future. 6. There are 2,755 billionaires in the world and nearly all give millions awa...
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August 4, 2021

Banish the beige

In Graham Allcott’s book, How to have the energy, he recommends removing beige food from your diet in favour of a rainbow of vegetables. What if beige was banished from all aspects of life? Beige commitments: Removing “meh” experiences from your diary and only committing to what you really want to do. Beige clothes: Donating whatever d...
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August 2, 2021

I’m not f*cking around

Jason Feifer of Entrepreneur magazine has a mantra and it’s: “I’m not f*cking around”. He created the mantra to stay focused. To remember why he was taking risks and holding himself to high standards. He was on a personal mission to have an exciting career and to push himself into doing things he knew he was capable of doing. I especia...
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July 30, 2021

Expanding your comfort zone, putting yourself first, writing a bestselling business book

Here are the articles written for Forbes during July: Why successful entrepreneurs put themselves first Self-centred. Unconscientious. Selfish. These are some of the shame and guilt-ridden words that might swim around in an entrepreneur’s head when they choose to put themselves first. But entrepreneurs should think of themselves as ass...
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July 28, 2021

What are you capable of?

I think about this question all the time. Every single day. What am I capable of? When I’m in the gym, when I’m at my laptop, when I’m writing down ideas. The answer is a lot. We all are. Humans operate far within their comfort zones, all the time. We unconsciously crave comfort. We’re soft. We haven’t needed to push ourselves because,...
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July 26, 2021

Lapping everyone on the couch

Not feeling too fit? If you’re jogging round the park, you’re lapping everyone on the couch. Not found a job? If you’re up early writing applications, you’re lapping everyone on the couch. Making that first sales call? Producing resources from your ideas? Lapping everyone on the couch. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Taking simple a...
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July 23, 2021

Boom and bust

A colleague was feeling stressed and decided she would book a seven-day yoga retreat. However, to that point, she’d never taken a single yoga class. Boom and bust thinking is rarely a good idea. In any situation. But when overwhelm takes over it’s easy to think you want the exact opposite of what you have now, and to talk and think in ...
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July 21, 2021

Habits of eventual millionaires

I'm not ashamed to admit I have a folder on my computer called the folder of motivation. It's where I keep screenshots of emails, quotes and concepts that keep me on track when I'm feeling a bit meh (technical term!) There's one I'd like to share with you. I saved it back in 2016 and it's by James Altucher, an entrepreneur, angel inves...
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July 19, 2021

A surface level life

Reading the books you think you should be reading. Watching the shows everyone else does. Attending the meeting but saying nothing. Going for a walk but looking down at your phone. Scrolling social media instead of playing with your kids. Making small talk with friends instead of asking how they are and delving into the answer. Going o...
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July 16, 2021

Ten things I know for sure (this week)

1. Just because you are good at something doesn’t mean you have to do it. 2. Others will want old versions of you and it’s down to you to say no. 3. Everyone’s favourite radio station is WII FM; what’s in it for me. 4. “It only happens every four years” isn't an automatic reason for you to give away your time. 5. Department stores are ...
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July 14, 2021

Obsessions

An endurance athlete I know has a mantra: Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated. He’s dedicated to training, nutrition, endurance and being better than he was before. He’s dedicated to understanding his body, heart rate, performance and recovery. Some may say obsessed. Some obsessions are undeniably good. An obsessi...
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