Building mental resilience
It’s Sunday, so sit back, relax and let your synapses be stimulated with this bite-sized weekly selection of insights, observations and trends.
Enjoy!
How to get rich
There are a billion business books out there that promise to change your world, but few are as entertaining (or useful) as How to Get Rich by the late Felix Dennis. It’s a brilliantly funny take on his entrepreneurial journey to becoming one of world’s most successful magazine publishers. With an empire spanning everything from Maxim and Viz to Stuff and Moneyweek, he was a true maverick with a knack for spotting trends. The book is eminently quotable but one of my favourites is around ideas. “Everyone has good ideas,” he says. “Ideas don’t make you rich. The correct execution of them does.”
Listen to the real Ari Gold
From one unorthodox leader to another, check out Ari Emanuel – the charismatic CEO of the Endeavor Group talent agency (and the inspiration for Ari Gold in Entourage) – in this Freakonomics podcast. It sees him reveal the secrets of his success, outlining how he built a small talent agency into a sports and entertainment behemoth that now owns the UFC and WWE. It’s a fascinating and freewheeling chat with one of the biggest guns in the business who, in 2023, took home a $83.9m pay packet.
Inside the mind of a master procrastinator
Why do we often find it hard to complete tasks that are hugely important? That’s the gist of this very amusing TED talk from Tim Urban, founder of the terrific long-form writing website Wait But Why. His description of trying to turn in an academic paper on time will strike a chord with anyone who’s ever done some serious deadline surfing.
Come in podcast bros, your time is up
Every week sees a new AI story emerge and the latest hot topic is the rise of Google’s Notebook LM, which allows users to upload PDFs, Google Docs, Google Slides and more into a super easy UI. But the feature that’s really got everyone buzzing is its ability to create ‘audio overviews’ – essentially podcast-like conversations between male and female voices which sound remarkably real. Try it here.
Why introverts make effective business leaders
As an introvert, I've learned that leadership doesn't have to be loud to be effective. ‘Quiet storm’ bosses bring valuable qualities like listening, empathy, and the ability to make thoughtful decisions without needing constant validation. Because leadership is about authenticity – embracing who you are and using it to make a meaningful impact. Find out more about how everyone can make their introversion work to their advantage in my blog post here.
Are you a high EQ leader?
Introversion and having a high EQ often go hand in hand. Here’s a simple checklist to see whether you (or your boss!) have the qualities to help you win in the workplace – and live a happy, healthier life.
Building mental resilience
It’s World Mental Health Day on Thursday October 10. With this year's focus on workplace mental health, it's a good time to recognise the unique challenges many of us face in maintaining balance at work. Building mental resilience is key to handling stress and avoiding burnout and there are a number of tools that can help manage this, from wellbeing apps to mental health resources. Because everyone in a business deserves the chance to thrive, not just survive.
Shaping the future together
As this newsletter is still in its early stages, I’d love to get your thoughts to aid its evolution. What are some of the topics or trends you’d like to see more of? Please reply with a suggestion or two and I’ll look to cover it in the weeks and months ahead.
Cheers!
Adam