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.
June 11, 2021

Rejection letters

For a reason I don't quite know, I kept all the rejection emails I received when applying for jobs and graduate schemes after university. Perhaps my former self knew I would be writing this with a smile one day. Three are included below but there were many more. Supermarkets, banks, the NHS, even KFC. All rejections. Finally, I was acc...
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June 9, 2021

Why you can’t seem to ignore your email

We are social beings, you and me. We evolved to live in groups and create connections with tribe members. Technology advancements since caveman times mean we have myriad ways to connect to others, email being one of them. Our primal brains seek the same connections they always have. Whilst we can rationalise that our overflowing inbox ...
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June 7, 2021

Judgment is separation

Passing comment or opinion on the actions, appearance or words of another person creates distance. In your mind, it puts you above them. You feel you have a right to be heard. It creates disdain and superiority. On a long enough timeframe, separation leads to loneliness. Loneliness leads to suffering. Sooner or later, someone will need...
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June 3, 2021

Why I sold my company

In August of 2011 I was twenty-two and fresh out of a graduate scheme, so I decided to start my own social media agency. My business plan was two words: get clients. Over nearly ten years I had a wonderful time building a brand and working with inspiring people, fabulous clients and team members. In March, the agency was acquired by a ...
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June 1, 2021

Before you rush back to normal

Life feels like it’s getting back to normal but it might be a trap. 2020 and its forced changes showed us that something was wrong. Very wrong. We had to take five steps back to reassess and reorganise. In doing so, we lost some freedom but we found ourselves. Sure it was tough, but there were countless silver linings for each of us. S...
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May 28, 2021

Errors leaders make, jack of all trades, how to find a coach

Here are the articles written for Forbes during May: Seven common errors great leaders don’t make Tiny cracks can undermine the actions of an otherwise brilliant leader. They start small and build, until they take over and it’s too late. Why being a jack of all trades is essential for success "Jack of all trades" has become somewhat of...
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May 26, 2021

Don’t find time, steal it

You’ll probably never find the time to renovate that room or darn that sock or write that novel. The space to create that masterpiece or pen that musical won’t just fly into your calendar. Time is not found. Time is snatched and stolen. It’s a minute here and there to jot down ideas. It’s that key bit of research whilst on hold or in a...
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May 24, 2021

On doing nothing

Going forward with the wrong thing, the suboptimal allocation of your time or attention, costs more than just doing the wrong thing. There’s all the gain of what the right thing would have brought. Now that time is spoken for, now you’re spoken for, the right thing cannot find you. A calendar filled with 7/10s is the cost of the 10s th...
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May 21, 2021

Sticking labels on people

People become what we label them, especially kids. The kid labelled as clumsy will start tripping over more because they take on that trait. In turn, that reinforces the label and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The creative one, the academic one, the nervous one, the loud one. It’s said, it sticks, it becomes who we are; part of o...
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May 19, 2021

The key to heaven and hell

During a trip to Honolulu, physicist Richard Feynman spoke with a Buddhist temple’s tour guide, who explained the Buddhist religion for tourists. On each tour, the guide left attendees with a proverb of the Buddhist religion that Feynman never forgot: To every man is given the key to the gates of heaven; the same key opens the gates of...
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May 17, 2021

Irons in the fire

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...
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May 14, 2021

The same thing won’t work again

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...
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May 12, 2021

Working on my novel

“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...
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May 10, 2021

Architects and bulldozers

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...
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May 7, 2021

The Unconventionalists

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...
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May 6, 2021

On phone addiction

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...
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May 4, 2021

Reasons to be happy

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 ...
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April 30, 2021

New articles

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...
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April 28, 2021

Mistakes in training

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...
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April 27, 2021

Better Zoom calls and webinars on the move

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 ...
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April 26, 2021

Pre-commitment strategy

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,...
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April 23, 2021

We get what we tolerate

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...
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April 21, 2021

Output over hype

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 ...
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April 19, 2021

Ten things to do instead of feeling sad

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.
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April 16, 2021

The danger of idols

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...
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April 14, 2021

Open wounds and battle scars

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...
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April 12, 2021

Substance

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...
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April 8, 2021

Freedom from what, to do what?

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...
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April 6, 2021

The world’s strongest

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...
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April 2, 2021

Making "A"s

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?
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