Skin In The Game is about the distortions of symmetry and reciprocity in life. If you have the rewards, you must also get some of the risks and not let others pay the price of your mistakes. In Skin In The Game , Nassim Nicholas Taleb explains how the willingness of accepting ones own risks is an important quality of heroes, saints and successful people in all walks of life. Utilising examples from Hammurabi to Seneca and Antaeus the Giant to Donald Trump, Taleb shows us that having ...
Feb 24, 2022•37 min•Ep 368•Transcript available on Metacast In Screw It, Lets Do It , the Virgin Group founder Richard Branson shares all the important lessons, good advice and inspirational adages that have helped him along the road to success. An ultimate lesson that Branson learned is the following motto: If you want something, just do it. From starting a student magazine to forming a chain of record stores and launching an airline, Branson managed to establish the Virgin Group that we all know today. The Virgin Group is one of the w...
Feb 17, 2022•33 min•Ep 367•Transcript available on Metacast Debbie Milman is a writer, designer, educator, artist, brand consultant and host of the podcast Design Matters. She is one of the OG's of podcasting, going at it for over 15 years. She has been named as one of the most influential graphic designers working today. Her book Design Matters contains interviews and essays from her long journey in design, interviewing and podcasting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Feb 13, 2022•47 min•Ep 366•Transcript available on Metacast In Hold Me Tight, Dr. Sue Johnson presents the concept of Emotionally Focused Therapywhich helps reestablish safe emotional connection and preserve the attachment bond in relationships. Love has always been a mystical elusive emotion for many of us. It should come as no surprise that people recently surveyed in Western societies rate a satisfying love relationship as their number one goal. Thankfully, within the past few decades, an exciting understanding of love is emerging. In this...
Feb 10, 2022•26 min•Ep 365•Transcript available on Metacast There is a big difference between EXTENDING LIFE and PROLONGING VITALITY. We're capable of both - but "extending life" - simply keeping people alive - decades after their lives have become defined by pain, disease, frailty and immobility is no virtue "Prolonged vitality" meaning not just more years of life, but more active, healthy and happy ones is coming and its coming sooner than most people expect. By the time people who are born today have reached middle age, these changes should be here. A...
Feb 03, 2022•25 min•Ep 364•Transcript available on Metacast Everyone is probably familiar with some job at your workplace which is the butt of the jokes: the jobs with a fancy title (and probably the juicy pay packet) but they seem to do nothing. They dont seem like they don't really play any vital role. The more you think about it, the more you'll realise that this list is seemingly endless So the Author started thinking, are these jobs REALLY useless? And if they are, are the people those those jobs just blissfully ignorant, or do they know that their ...
Jan 27, 2022•26 min•Ep 363•Transcript available on Metacast Procrastination. It is a problem that we all have in some areas of our lives. Be it balancing the budget, filling a legal brief, or painting the spare bedroom - anything we have delayed in favour of more pressing or pleasurable pursuits. We all have tasks and goals we attempt to delay - or totally escape. Procrastinators still get most of these tasks and projects completed on time and in good order... but the pressure and the stress they accumulate along the journey causes unnecessary anxiety an...
Jan 20, 2022•27 min•Ep 362•Transcript available on Metacast Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway - by Susan Jeffers Fear seems to be epidemic in our society. We fear beginnings, We fear endings. We fear changing, we fear staying stuck. We fear success, we fear failure. We fear living, we fear dying. What is it for you? Fear of public speaking? Fear of asserting yourself? Fear of making decisions? Fear of intimacy? Fear of changing jobs? Fear of being alone? Fear of aging? Fear of driving? Fear of losing a loved one? Fear of ending a relationship? It turns out ...
Jan 13, 2022•28 min•Ep 361•Transcript available on Metacast In The Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money. Financial success is a soft skill where how you behave is more important than what you know. A genius who loses control of their emotions can be a financial disaster. Ordinary folks with no financial education can be wealthy if they have a handful of behavioural skills that have nothing to do with formal measures of intelligence. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac...
Jan 06, 2022•29 min•Ep 360•Transcript available on Metacast Our annual tradition, recapping our favourite 10 books we've read in the second half of 2021. We share our faves, the best snippet from each, and try to remain coherent as we proceed with our own end-of-year celebrations (these can tend to get a little sloppy towards the end...) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 30, 2021•2 hr 40 min•Ep 359•Transcript available on Metacast Many people are competent at their job, and eventually get promoted. Then, competence in that new position qualifies them for yet another promotion. This happens until the point they are no longer competent and no longer eligible for the next promotion. That means you are also at risk of hitting the point of incompetence! This concept is named The Peter Principle. So, given enough time, and assuming there are enough ranks in the heirarchy, each employee may rise to their level of incompete...
Dec 16, 2021•22 min•Ep 358•Transcript available on Metacast Tapping into Netflix's work culture, No Rules Rules explains the philosophy behind one of the world's most successful companies. This book is an overview of how Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings built a culture that focused on freedom and responsibility. Hastings set new standards such as valuing people over process; emphasizing innovation over efficiency; and giving employees context, not controls. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Dec 09, 2021•47 min•Ep 357•Transcript available on Metacast The Inner Game of Tennis book isn't just about tennis. In this book, W. Timothy Galleway uses anecdotes of tennis games to illustrate the tools we need to improve our performance in any activity. Focus in tennis is fundamentally no different from the focus needed to perform any task. The Inner Game of Tennis reveals how to: - Focus your mind to overcome nervousness, self-doubt, and distractions - Find the state of relaxed concentration that allows you to play at your best - Build skills by...
Dec 02, 2021•31 min•Ep 356•Transcript available on Metacast If all goes well, human history is just the beginning. Humanity is about two hundred thousand years old, but the Earth will remain habitable for hundreds of millions more. Enough time for millions of future generations, enough to end disease, poverty and injustice forever and enough to create heights of flourishing unimaginable today. Such a lifespan places present-day humanity in its earliest infancy. A vast and extraordinary adulthood awaits. This book argues that safeguarding Hu...
Nov 25, 2021•35 min•Ep 355•Transcript available on Metacast The 5 Levels of Leadership provides the ultimate leadership GPS to guide your career journey. In this book, John C. Maxwell identifies 5 levels of leadership and how to maximise them. As you progress in your leadership abilities, you move up to a higher level. But instead of trading one level for another, you need to build upon it. Dont leave the lessons from your previous experiences behind! This book is the guide that will help you make the most of your professional experienceregar...
Nov 18, 2021•30 min•Ep 354•Transcript available on Metacast Ryan Holiday joins us on the show to talk about all things books. We've covered five of his books on the podcast before (Perennial Seller, The Obstacle Is The Way, Ego Is The Enemy, Stillness Is The Key, Courage Is Calling) so we were able to dig a little deeper into his writing and his career. Check out more Ryan Holiday here: https://ryanholiday.net/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Nov 15, 2021•49 min•Ep 353•Transcript available on Metacast There is nothing we prize more than courage. But courage is not a precious stone like a diamond that takes a billion years to create, nor oil that must be drawn from deep underground. Courage is something much simpler. Its renewable. Its everywhere. It's something that we are capable of at a moment's notice. There are unlimited, even daily opportunities for it everywhere. And yet it remains so rare. Why? Because we are afraid. It's easier not to get involved. We have something else we're working...
Nov 11, 2021•25 min•Ep 352•Transcript available on Metacast Robert Greene is back! Not every day you get to speak to your favourite author. Robert Greene is author of books we've already reviewed on the podcast, including The Laws of Human Nature, Mastery, 48 Laws of Power, 33 Strategies of War (plus we'll do Seduction one day too). His new book, The Daily Laws is like a 'greatest hits' album, giving you a powerful punch for each day of the year. In this episode we get to delve deeper into some of the best ideas in his books. He's a weapon. Enjoy! Find m...
Nov 08, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep 351•Transcript available on Metacast The Effective Executive - by Peter Drucker 'The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done' Written in 1967, the principles in this book still hold strong today. Simple ideas presented in this book can have a substantial impact on your effectiveness, like focusing on results and contribution, managing your time before managing your tasks, and focusing on opportunities rather than problems. The 8 questions or practices of an Effective Executive: ask, What needs to be do...
Nov 04, 2021•38 min•Ep 350•Transcript available on Metacast Whether we like it or not, the process of innovation is dictated by random combinations of different concepts. Individuals and teams who often break new ground know this and therefore maximise their chances of finding intersectional ideas. They do it by introducing diversity into their occupations, teams, and encounters. Frans Johansson has named this concept The Medici Effect after the Medicis, the 15th Century banking family in Florence, Italy. The Medicis funded creators from a wide range of ...
Oct 28, 2021•31 min•Ep 349•Transcript available on Metacast In Enlightenment Now, Steven Pinker explains the impact of Enlightenment values reason, science, and humanism on the world. These values were instrumental in moving society forward, and Pinker worries that they are under threat. Humans have achieved a whole bunch of cool shit over the ages. Unfortunately, we take it for granted. Progress has a very funny way of erasing its tracks as we move forward as a species. The local supermarket is overflowing with food. Youve got clean water on tap. You dr...
Oct 21, 2021•45 min•Ep 348•Transcript available on Metacast Humour, Seriously - by Jennifer Aaker & Naomi Bagdonas Why Humour Is A Superpower At Work And In Life (And How Anyone Can Harness It... Even You) Everyone loves a laugh. We like to watch funny movies, listen to entertaining podcasts, go to comedy festivals to watch stand up or improv. But that's all in our personal lives... surely in our professional lives there's less room for jokes? Surely the workplace should be a little more "serious" if we want to be productive and effective? Well, it t...
Oct 14, 2021•26 min•Ep 347•Transcript available on Metacast What an honour to be able to speak with Steven Pressfield. He's the author of three awesome books that we've covered on the podcast previously: The War of Art, Turning Pro, and Do The Work. Plus he's the author of MANY more books, both fiction and non-fiction, and was the screenwriter for a bunch of Hollywood movies. Find more about him and his work at: https://stevenpressfield.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 11, 2021•36 min•Ep 346•Transcript available on Metacast Do The Work - by Steven Pressfield This book (and this podcast episode) is designed to coach you through a project from conception to finished product. Be that a book, a ballet, a new business venture, a philanthropic enterprise, were going to see it from the perspective of The Resistance (that evil counterproductive force that Pressfield made famous in his other books that weve previously covered on the podcast, The War of Art and Turning Pro). We'll hit every predictable Resistance Point along...
Oct 07, 2021•31 min•Ep 345•Transcript available on Metacast I like to think that if I lost all my money and you dropped me on a random street in any English speaking country, I'd be wealthy again within 5-10 years. Because it's just a skill I've developed and anyone can develop. Naval Ravikant Naval Ravikant is an entrepreneur, philosopher, and investor who has captivated the world with his principles for building wealth and creating long-term happiness. Inspired by his experience throughout the last decade, Naval Ravikant shares his principles for...
Sep 30, 2021•28 min•Ep 344•Transcript available on Metacast Mo Gawdat is the author of the book Solve For Happy, plus the brand new book Scary Smart. His first book, Solve For Happy, was all about an engineering applying a logical, mathematical lens to finding happiness. After an enormously successful career at IBM, Microsoft and Google, he looked in the mirror and realised that he wasnt happy. A personal tragedy led to him looking for an equation for happiness. His next book, Scary Smart, talks about the rise of Artificial Intelligence. It looks i...
Sep 27, 2021•52 min•Ep 343•Transcript available on Metacast Karma is the natural basis of all existence. Karma is about becoming the source of one's own creation. It makes each one of us squarely responsible for our own destinies and above all, the nature of our experience in life. It doesn't allow us to blame our parents, teachers, our countries, our politicians, our gods, or our fates. Are you ready to hear about a dimension that is so empowering that it tells you that youre fully capable of taking the reins of your life into your own hands? If you are...
Sep 23, 2021•27 min•Ep 342•Transcript available on Metacast Your Music and People is a philosophy of building recognisable work by being creative, considerate, resourceful and connected. Derived from his experience as a founder of CD Baby, an online distributor of digital music, Derek Sivers shares the guideline to build your career as an artist from a business perspective. Even though the context of Your Music and People mainly focuses on the music industry, this book is beneficial for anyone who looks to start their career. Hosted on Acast. See acast.c...
Sep 16, 2021•30 min•Ep 341•Transcript available on Metacast Kara Goldin is the founder and CEO of Hint Water. She used to drink 10 cans of diet soda a day, and found herself 45 pounds overweight with terrible acne and no energy. Making one change in her diet - swapping diet soda for flavoured water - she was able to turn her health. Then, after some experiments at her kitchen table, she "accidentally" founded a 9-figure brand. In this episode, we speak about creating opportunities in your career (not finding opportunities, but creating them), we speak ab...
Sep 13, 2021•35 min•Ep 340•Transcript available on Metacast The Drama of the Gifted Child explores how repressed emotions from our childhood can impact our mental wellbeing in the future. We cant change our past, but we can change ourselves. We can gain our lost integrity by looking more closely at the knowledge inside our bodies and bringing them closer to our awareness. Most people continue to live in their repressed childhood situation, fearing and avoiding dangers that havent been real for a long time. The term 'Gifted Child' refers to children who a...
Sep 09, 2021•26 min•Ep 339•Transcript available on Metacast 
