Todays technology makes it easier than ever to waste our greatest asset — our time — through the overuse of social media. Deep down you desire personal and professional development. We believe life is a game best played when you are clear on what you want and take positive steps in that direction. Accountable.club is a tool to help you eliminate distraction by gaining clarity over what you want to get out of your life.

Every member of accountable.club started their own personal journey where you are right now - with a desire to to improve their daily lives. At accountable.club we all took our first positive step by creating our personal anti-hero. Your anti-hero is a version of you in living in a parallel universe right now and they have the life you dream of right now. Complete your Anti-hero letter here (you can download the questions offline too).

Congratulations. You now have clarity over which direction you want to go in and your journey has begun. Each day your goal is to simply wake up and take positive actions towards your goals. Remember to be mindful that the attainment of your goals — peace, joy, money, power, fame, status, flexibility, family — are not the ultimate purpose. They are simply a byproduct of the effort you'll now put in to achieve them. That is where your true satisfaction will come from. Remember, your anti-hero is already winning their game and you can too. Welcome to accountable.club.

I will state this clearly for you. If someone has a problem and instead of fixing their problem your strategy for keeping clients happy is a strategy of customer delight, you are just waiting to be overtaken by a more efficient competitor. Do not waste time with trying to 'WOW' your customers with fancy websites, software, flowers or gifts. Repeat business is the only proof you are providing core product value.

As Jeff Bezos said in this famous Amazon interview, 'Internet Shminternet'. Amazon's job is to solve customer problems whether of not that is through the internet. You have to become equally obsessed around delivering core product value for your customers. In everything you do you must be able to identify HOW this comes back to solving your customers' problems. A new desktop website design matters very little if your customers use your mobile 90% of the time. Watch Amazon's interview here.

You can sell a pen to someone if that person needs to write their name. This method is identifying an obvious need that must be filled immediately. Your sales conversations need to be the same. You identify whether your customer has a problem that you can solve and then you identify that they do not have a solution to that problem. Now you must engineer sales conversation to highlight either one of two things... the current pain they are in because or the future pain they are about to walk into and be so unprepared if they do not solve this problem now.

Got your first sale, great! You have a massive opportunity now to turn that customer into a customer for life. How? New business is what everyone puts all their energy into - making that SALE!... But then fumbles the opportunity of a delivering an amazing 'WOW' moment for their customer. It is fucking simple: identify your core product, solve that need and deliver your solution in a series of steps... no matter if you're a barman, dentist, magician, wedding planner... DON'T drop the ball when it comes to keeping that dollar.

Pricing is easy. In the internet age it is very possible to create something for a $1, sell it for $10 and deliver $100 of value. Think how much you can make from one golden nugget you read in a book for example. Your product wants to provide immeasurably valuable golden nuggets for your target customer.

Leading indicators are a method of delivering a sequence of highly orchestrated steps to 'WOW' your customers. Think of any world-class delivery of core product value from an operational point of view... McDonalds or the Ritz... there is a method and a highly engineered process to deliver core product value or that powerful 'A-HAA' moment you returned for.

Lagging indicators serve to fine-tune the effectiveness of your Leading Indicators, providing a reactive measure of how well you are delivering core product value. While lagging indicators might not be my primary focus currently, they are invaluable as evidence of the success (or failure) of your Leading Indicators. It's essential to remember that, although useful, lagging indicators do not guarantee future success. For instance, the S&P 500 has historically yielded an average return of about 10% annually since its inception in 1957. This demonstrates that Leading Indicators can forecast future performance but are not infallible. Therefore, it's wise not to rely solely on them and to diversify your strategies wherever possible.

Your best customer would ideally be a younger version of you with a problem you needed solving. A problem that you found a way to overcome in the past makes you highly qualified to build a roadmap for a product/service you could sell. This is because you inherently understand the problems you will have encountered so your product will likely resonate well with others. Reflect on the services you once wished were available. Leverage leading indicators to meticulously craft an original customer experience tailored to your customers. The key is to first envision the level of service you would find exceptional when you had encountered a previous p

Pareto's Principle, commonly known as the 80/20 rule, suggests that 80% of outcomes result from 20% of efforts. This concept underscores the importance of focusing on the most effective activities that drive the majority of results, offering a strategic approach to efficiency and prioritisation in various aspects of business and personal life.

If maintaining self-discipline challenges you, it's crucial to establish a reliable system for accountability. Options abound, from sharing goals with friends or family to engaging a professional accountability partner. At accountable.club, we embrace the 'see, share, do' model: initially, identify a success that inspires you. Next, share your aspirations with a supportive peer group to gain motivation and constructive feedback. Finally, commit to your goal, dedicating yourself to the necessary actions until you achieve it.

Taking your eye off the ball is like taking your eyes off a circling shark. It may or may not bite you but you are putting all you have worked hard for up for grabs due to negligence and in return you will either not know it when it strikes and remain ignorant or be unlucky and pay the consequences. your gut is firing negative feelings to your brain. So take time once every month and go to your customers and simply measure if your core product is being delivered. Here’s three methods to avoid this fatal flaw 1) each month call a small percentage and simply ask them how it’s going 2), send out NPS scores 3) by putting leading and lagging indicators in place so you can measure the performance of tasks you have delegated. Once you have achieved some success you now need to keep an eye no the circling sharks: competitors, distractions, employee boredom etc. Do not throw your hard work away over delegation.

The old adage is true, hire slow fire fast. In reality you need 3-4 stages for hiring an employee. 1) 10-minute phone call with set questions 2) Set them a task which could be as simple as send a video talking about yourself to this email address 3) A short phone call to see they are a good culture fit 4) A 1-on-1 interview with a grading list to help identify A players who can do the job you need TODAY not tomorrow. 5) Before you make an offer, ask them to complete the following sentence via email 'I will join the company so long as X,Y, Z are offered.' Ask this question BEFORE you make an official offer. Tell them to include salary in that statement so when you make them your offer you know they will accept and cannot ask for any final terms which you might not feel comfortable offering after you have made an offer.

It's simple. If you have the interview, they probably like something about you. Assert your confidence that you can solve the problem they have on their plates today. Go in with 3-4 excellent questions written on paper, this makes you look highly prepared. Be able to recite their company website and what they do. Pick out 2-3 things you love about their company, this makes you seem like you are not just there for the money. Regarding money, do not ask about pay until the final rounds, this makes your seem desperate and you should already know what you'll be paid. Make some notes during the interview. Be prepared, know your shit, talk confident. Go in with 2-3 areas for professional improvement you are currently working on and put a positive spin on them. Toast when you get the job!

Can you teach me a skill right now? Are you able to clearly and effectively communicate and provide someone a valuable lesson? If the answer is yes then you can have a valuable conversation with someone in the world right now. Even if it’s fixing a lightbulb, there are thousands of old ladies who need help with that right now. You could be valuable to them.

What skills do you have? I’m going to teach you how to save a company time and money. I could sell my agency onboarding process. I could do this by charging a day rate to agency owners. I could do a free marketing course for unemployed people who want to get into marketing and teach them the basics.

Excessive generosity can lead to feelings of bitterness and resentment, especially if you find yourself overextended emotionally or financially in relationships. Striking a balance is essential; embracing a healthy level of self-prioritisation, or 'narcissism,' is not only acceptable but necessary. It demands strength and integrity to recognise the importance of putting your needs first.

Personal growth often emerges through confronting and overcoming challenges. An anecdote of a friend, who unknowingly possessed exceptional strength, illustrates this beautifully. His discovery of his physical capabilities after being introduced to the gym and experiencing muscle soreness for the first time exemplifies finding oneself through adversity. Similarly, emotional growth can be identified by the nature of the stresses you encounter, from the day-to-day struggles of a homeless individual to the overarching responsibilities of a CEO or president. Recognizing and addressing the areas where you experience emotional stress can lead to profound self-awareness and development.

Passing the blame means you are likely in a position you cannot control. Do not waste your time passing the blame. If you feel you're backed into a corner, choose to declare your position and reflect the truth honestly and clearly. Then focus on getting yourself into a position where you are in control and not in fear of judgement from others.

Answer this question. Would you rather take $1million up front or be given 1 cent on day 1 and have that amount double each day for 30 days? Answer: the second choice gives you $5,368,709.12. The power of compounding is crucial and you need to use it in the workplace. If you have a problem, bring in another qualified opinion and apply two brains to the problem. You can often end up with a much more effective solution to the problem with two qualified minds.

How you ask a question of yourself or of others determines the quality of the answer you will get in return. First always ask yourself if you can get the answer on your own. Is it already on Wikipedia, Reddit, YouTube or ChatGPT? If you can't find the answer you need to ask someone and this automatically puts you in backseat. How you approach asking someone for their help/information is crucial to get right. 1) Simplify the question before asking 2) think if the person you are asking is likely to have the answer 3) be polite and brief 5) do not put pressure on a response time.

Going off the radar in an entrepreneurial sense means you are dedicating yourself totally to your goal at hand. Some call is monk mode, and this is a useful tool and test of your calibre as a person who can set and achieve goals. You are simply so focused in your work you are simply unavailable when you are normally totally available and this may distort people's perception of you. You can use this tool in short sprints to make massive progressive.

First you need to actually have revenue coming in. After that, you need to break down the tasks you are doing for that revenue into four groups: $10, $100, $1000 and $10,000 per hour. As a one mean team you'll be doing nearly all the tasks in all the buckets, but as soon as possible you need to delegate those tasks in the smaller buckets to others. If you never do this, you will never grow. This is when hiring comes into play.

You only want A-Players in your company or people who fit your company culture, are trustworthy and can do the job that needs doing today. Hiring slow and firing fast is true and you need an effective process that first ranks potential employees for their suitability. Here's three useful stages for making great hires. First, a 10-minute phone call with set questions. Second, a 45 minute interview. Third, a task which closely resembles the exact problem you are hiring them for. At each stage, rank them A/B/C/D. If you have no candidates who you rank as an A player, start the process again.

Ask the candidate to complete the following sentence… ‘I will join the company so long as…’. Ask the to include everything they want. Once that have completed this step, send them an email asking them, ‘Thanks, we are just finalising our interview process here. If we made you an offer with X,Y,Z (pay, start date, holiday, bonuses, training etc) included, would you accept this kind of offer? Once they respond, simply make them the offer, in-person is best.

You want your employees to experts in their roles. That is simply someone who can get on with the job and get a positive outcome with the most efficiency. This is why special forces were invented. They are highly niche in one area of problem solving and they are in small numbers. That is what you want your team to be.

These very lessons you are reading are the result of me taking 30 seconds to write down a thought on my iPhone. Note taking is a compounding action. If you are employed you will 1) impress your bosses 2) forget less 3) be more organised 4) get more done 5) become more valuable to your organisation 6) give yourself the freedom to outsource with a proven structure.

Debating an expensive purchase? Bare this quote in mind: "If you need a machine and don't buy it, then you will ultimately find that you have paid for it and don't have it." - Henry Ford

When a woman regrets sleeping with a guy and wishes she didn’t it’s because she doesn't feel enough rapport was built with the guy. Buyers remorse is that same thing. The customer has purchased without enough rapport being built in! Before the ask for a refund settle their nerves. Give them a call or text personally to welcome them as a new client and congratulate them on their choice. You did not build enough rapport and unless you are a doctor administering epinephrine to saves someone from anaphylactic shock you don’t have the right to administer the pen and waltz off.

When you become very good at something you may often find the task mundane or boring. What was interesting and challenging before is now a source of boredom. You have reached a level of competency that you can likely do the task quicker and with less mistakes than when you first started and this brings monotony. You want your team to reach this same level of monotony and this is when you know they will have reached a level of competency and you can now trust they will do the task well.

Many times football teams lose a star player and everyone panics. How will we survive? At my company we lost someone who made 100% of our sales for two years. How did we survive? Two years on we had added another £2million in revenue. Our sales did take a hit in the short term but the new constraint breeds creativity and resourcefulness. Another time we lost an employee who could easily solve every single problem a customer would come to him with. He was like a plane on autopilot taking customers everywhere. We only wished we could find 10 of him and we always wandered what we'd do if he ever left. The one normal working day he just walked in and said, thanks guys but I want to leave, and handed in his notice. The constraint forced me to build a new employee onboarding system teach and train employees what we taught him in person. Now we can take anyone and turn them into a skilled employee in months. People will leave and this is an opportunity to sharpen your sword.

No I am not getting hippy. You need to live and breath by your daily workflow. How are you administering core product value into what you are working on? Then you must obsess and become fanatical about your daily workflow and ask yourself the questions you must know the answer. What is my plan today? Did I achieve yesterdays target? Do I need to change or update my workflow tomorrow? Am I ticking off at least one major action each day which drives me forward towards my goals? This must be written down in your daily workflow and you must sweat to it.

A moat was an effective way for castles to keep their enemies at bay. You must do the same with your business. Be hard to imitate both internally and externally. We had a competitor of ours at the agency (Alexander 12) who we somehow pissed off, I don’t exactly remember how but we did. He then decided to pivot into the same industry as our agency. I heard of this and he even prised a few clients away from us. Did we react directly to his new interest in our niche? No. We simply continued living and breathing our daily tasks, taking step by step towards our goals. Widen the distance between our competitors and us and making what we did harder and harder to copy. One small product improvement, or one new video testimonial. Focus on the work in front of you and keep the main thing the main thing.

Spreadsheets and an absolute god send. They are cheap and powerful, simple and complex, controllable and scalable. Learn them well.

By far the most progress you can make in yourself is learning how to set yourself a simple plan of action mapped out in a 12 week sprints with milestones with some form of collateral you have put up which is at stake. 12 weeks is long enough to get serious work down and the two week intervals give you short milestones to be held accountable to and focus on. On your check in calls you will review your leading and lagging indicators in order to decide if your leading indicators require adjusting. By far the biggest component here is having an accountability partner who controls your collateral.

Stress arises from one, or more likely, multiple, demanding situations before you. Attempting to solve problems while your attention is consumed by other stressful situations is akin to quicksand. Without proper action, you will only sink helplessly further and further. Setting and forgetting is a tool to give you the best chance of staying present in the moment. You do this by simply focusing purely on one problem at a time and breaking it down into as many individual chunks as you need. The more time passes and experience in solving this problem you get, the less you will have to chunk problems into individual steps. However, when you are in a quicksand like moment, your default state should be to pause and break the problem down into a number of steps, or chunks, so you have clear set of simple actions you can focus on, get present in and tackle in a focused manner. Now how does this relate to achieving an overarching goal? You’ve likely heard of the saying, "It's not the destination, it's the journey." by Ralph Waldo Emerson. This quote is aware that there is an end destination in mind we are striving for, but this can only be achieved with a mind that is present during the journey and aware of the obstacles to come. When you encounter an obstacle, you pause and simply break the problem into a series of manageable chunks. Over time the nature of the problems you face will increase in complexity but the process does not change. We all have the same 24 hours in a day you see, so it's the quality of our actions that determines the progress towards of end destination. Your quality in those moments is only heightened be presence and focus. Therefore, when you set a goal and you have good reason to commit to that end goal, you must then forget the goal and become full present in the journey at hand. Through this process of setting and forgetting, we free ourselves from the useless fantasy of what and where we will eventually end up and instead get lost in the moment. When you achieve this, you enter a state of flow where time passes differently and you may end up lost in the moment or lost in play. Isn't this the goal of us all?

Remove as much negativity as possible from your life. A good start is to simply reset how you perceive others’ opinions. Simply ask yourself, does this opinion you are about to react negatively to really make a difference to your overall outcome? If the answer is no but you choose to react, you are only taking time and energy from your main pursuit. You can do that when have achieved your goals, but now you must work on yourself. This is a time to prioritise narcissism or altruism.

Losing a customer from poor management, lack of customer service and not learning from it and putting in place markers to avoid this is a slippery slop. Customers changing their mind or firing you is their prerogative so do not appear desperate in those circumstances. But every client you sell must receive a carefully cultivated and refined series of steps to deliver core product value as fast as possible (leading indicators).

Well earned feedback is a tool in your belt you have to use strategically. Do not dish out praise like candy. It has to be earned and one or two well placed compliments are a great way of foster motivation in your staff and at the same time, offer genuine praise.

Having successfully emailed a business owner turned author who sold a company to Steve Jobs and received advice and emailing Ben Francis’s assistant to meet him for a tour of GSHQ from him and asking him business questions to playing golf in Spain with a guy who sold a company for £100+ million after he invested in our company to approaching the CEO of carwow in a restaurant in London and he offered my business partner and I a 45 minute meeting where he gave us tons of advice to sending a bottle of red and white wine to two CEO’s of a girl I dated because I wasn’t sure which they’d prefer… I will personally admit I am not the best at networking and don’t really enjoy it. But it is very valuable tool and you need to sharpen it. You’ll notice with all here examples the same strategy. 1) every time it was me taking the lead first 2) my strategy was same in person or over email 3) deliver value by was of a non-needy, genuine compliment 3) don’t linger here and immediately switch to a very short and simple question 4) do not ask for anything directly (advice, time, investment).

These meetings are a pitch fest. If they give you a badge, you stand up and introduce yourself for 30 seconds and there is an onlooking table of 'experts'. They are all business owners with little to no business experience and just want you to sign up get their referral fee. Save your time.

Sold a new customer? Dedicate 5% of the sale towards becoming 'friends' with them a strategic gift! Now this is not a way to save them from leaving you as a customer but it is just one more way to separate yourself from the competition plus they will likely change their view of relationship. You have a chance to go from a simply business transaction to looking like you genuinely care.

This is a simple one. With your team at work whether it be yourself or a friend I highly recommend you have a call everyday work day at the same time and go round in a circle and say first what you are grateful for in the day. Second round, what core product related tasks you completed yesterday and will today. Maximum 10 minutes.

If you ask a tree what the time and it wasn’t busy in the moment it would simply laugh and respond ‘the time is now’ or ‘what is time’. When you ready to ingest a wholesome opinion on life, go and read The Power Of Now. It’s an excellent book but mind-bending where you might find yourself getting strange looks in a nude spa in Berlin because you have been reading the same page for 15 minutes.

An effective tool for communication I use is by saying the following: “Before we have this conversation I just want to say, whatever you say, if you feel you have said something wrong or it came out slight wrong and you want to rephrase it or simply take it back in it’s entirety. That is totally okay. You can take it back, I will simply forget it and wait for you to reassemble your thoughts. If I have a negative knee-jerk reaction to something you have said, please make me aware of it.” By stating this you are giving them freedom to be brave in their communication and open with their true feeling and intentions. You cannot do more than this.

You are not your emotions and thoughts. You are simply a witness to them. The following test is a good challenge of your current level of consciousness. Ask a close friend to tell you something not nice about you or your past actions. We all have our imperfections, moments where we didn’t act in a way we are proud of. Ask them to simply explain your actions to you and how they, or others, would have judged you negatively. You must try to put yourself on stage and shine a negative spotlight onto yourself. Now observe how does your mind and body react? Do you feel negativity on the form or anger, fear, depression, defensiveness? Can you be a witness of your thoughts and feelings, thank your friend, and carry on with your day unaffected?

A Navy Seal once said of his BUDs training that, no matter what the instructors put him through that day, he was sure of two things. First, they would have to feed him. Second, they would have to let him sleep. What happened between those two points was the challenge but each challenge welcoming celebration at the end of it. Carry this attitude with you when you feel nervous before a challenge.

In 2008 Cristiano Ronaldo's mother fell in and he told Sir Alex Ferguson, he can't play football and he needs to go home. Sir Alex responded in a caring way which attended to Cristiano's initial short-term needs and the clubs' desire to have the player back whenever possbile. Sir Alex responded, 'Of course, we need you here but your mother needs you more, go straight away'.

One of the main solutions to wasting time is asking quality questions from the right people. If you haven’t done the work you have no right to complain. First, be quiet, and work hard. This is not some mindset hashtag ‘hussle’ message either. It is the simple belief that hard work earns respect and if you find yourself complaining, get busy by working hard and then you will gain a little more favour when you show someone your hard work and then ask a for help/feedback. This is working smarter. You do this working hard, encountering problems and asking questions that will help you overcome your current problem. Then ask people who have overcome your same problems and then just copy their method of success. Once you are successful you can iterate on their version of success, finesse it to your target market and and you now have a solution to a problem you could likely charge for.

This one is a simple one but an easy to mistake to make. First you first you must ensure each person that is the right person for your company and then you find them the right seat for their skills and experience. You can define the former as a person that fits your culture and that can be measured in their ability to they will do the best for the company without anyone looking; they meet performance expectations, they're honest and always on time. Next the right seat HAS to be one that directly or indirectly generates revenue for the company. Simple as that. The wrong person in the right seat is disastrous (think about a double-agent in your office).

It doesn't take a smart business owner to make use of a little luck and and unrealistic promises to win a customer desperate for a solution. Overpromising without proof leads you in a position likely to upset customers as given enough situations, most people do not rise to the challenge but fall to their level of competency. Therefore using validated proof of your success with customers is a string to your bow that most competitors simply do not have. This in turn allows you to start negotiating with the power to talk away as there is such a thing as tacking on bad revenue, especially in service based businesses. Second, buy insisting on delivering proof to your target before the sales in order to win their business you set their expectations inline with your standard customer results. This approach to using proof over promises means you and the team only need to rely on your level of competency, to turn that customer into a loyal fan of your business. That is the key to recurring business relationships.

If you have, or are planning to, hire for a new position, can you write down an hour-by-hour account of their working day? Do you know exactly what they will be doing and know you have the skills in your team to train them if necessary and processes in place to meet and reflect on their progress in a professional and productive manner? If the answer is no, you are not in a position to hire and will likely micro-manage this employee, especially if their role is important.

When it comes to managing employees, scheduled, regular employee 1-on-1's offer honesty in terms of your employees feelings as well as an opportunity for you to provide feedback but always remember that you are their ally, just as much as their boss in these situations. First off, in the 1-on-1, remember that it's their meeting not yours. Second, start open-ended with a simple question of, "How's the last few weeks of work going for you?". If you have any specific feedback use the "Situation, behaviour, impact" to give them constructive feedback. Explain a situation they underperformed in, breakdown the best behaviour next time this problem occurs and explain the positive impact this has for the company. Other than that, keep things informal, relaxed and focused on them. If you lose a track of your employees feelings relative to their role, you can't be surprised if motivation or poor performance occurs due to lack of management from you.

If you’re right, help people see your view so you may both arrive at position to progress forwards from. However, if you’re proven wrong, concede defeat and change your mind without hesitation and then use that information to improve your current and future position. Whether it be at home or in business. Nobody likes a stubborn person.

Overusing social media is similar a child wanting too many sugary sweets. The negative effects are not felt immediately nor are they physically noticeable right away. But over consumption will lead to rot, decay and pain all through negligence. With social media, I do not suggest to go cold turkey either, as it absolutely has its benefits. Instead, simply look to replace your screen time by exploring some of your passions. Enjoying time spent this way will play social media at its own game — which is all about triggering dopamine releases which causes overuse. Instead, by investing more time into your passions — reading, drawing, sports, music — you’ll link dopamine releases to the memories you’re enjoying with your new habits. These will far outweigh the short term benefits of social media (or extra sweets). So how to combat any overuse? Start small by becoming aware of when your brain telling you to use take out your phone because you have nothing to do and then pause, take a moment and decide if you’re in control or is your brain hankering for dopamine spike like a child for more ice cream?

If you are an entrepreneur and you do not own the pie or a significant percentage of the business you are working on, then you are no longer working on the business and you are certainly not working towards your future goals. Instead you are working IN the business for someone else’s personal gain and profit. You are not in a powerful position, make peace with this or make a change. The choice is yours and there's no judgement either way, just don't complain.

Much like gasping for air, when you can feel that you are trying too hard, you cannot be present and appreciate the journey you're on that’s destined to incur ups and downs. Nor can you be grateful for the moment and smile at what life is serving you. When you feel yourself overexerting your time, effort and energy for too long — much like gasping for air — it’s likely a good time to pause, reflect and as theirs little to be gained on the path your on.

Would a lion play hard to get with its prey? You’re not a puffer fisher lying in wait by playing dead. Though this metaphor might sound a far stretch, you do this when you do not fully communicate your feelings in business or life. If you know what you would like, take the opportunity to start clearly and simply what you’d like with you actions not just your words, or thoughts. Don’t bother thinking too much as you’ll inevitably try too hard to want it or not and miss the next train that’s rolling by soon. Go and put in the effort and analyse the actions you get back in return for your effort. Push, pull and pivot from there.

The reason why you should practice gratitude or meditation is very simple. Because no matter the situation you are in right now, you very likely already have arrived a point in your life where with a little shift in perspective, you’d be very grateful for.

While choosing to see life as a game is unnatural for some, those who do have the opportunity to take control of the present moment. You see, the past is gone, and the future isn’t here yet. The time is now, but presence does not account for time. How do you measure your current feelings with time? You can’t, and if you do, you are severely undervaluing the intangible aspects, like your emotions, creativity, playfulness, and many other things that those who are not present seem to miss. Simply see your life as a game in which you are the main character, and what you have to spend is the only time you have left. But now you know you cannot measure that accurately, ask yourself this: are you in control of the present moment? Now think about where you want to go, what you want to do, and who with. When you are present, you are in control and aware of your attention, energy, and effort in this exact moment, and that’s all you have. So why not play the game? It starts right now.

Your responses to anything in life can vary from scolding hot to freezing cold or anything between. Observing context and the others’ situation before you act is crucial. Sometimes no response is the best response. This give you time to pause, reflect and consider they circumstances. Then you can choose your response before you say something in a state which you are provoked and not yourself.

Have a plan, respect your plan. If something needs to be changed and your ego is not in the way of what’s best for all involved, execute your plan now without delay. Much like when Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City in 2016, he had the England first team goalkeeper in his new team that he iced out immediately. Why? He didn’t fit his footballing philosophy and the best thing to do was replace him. While this may be a ruthless approach, you’re executing your plan without ego and you are doing your job.

When a customer leaves through a mistake, get angry at the source of the problem, not the employee or customer. Simply accept responsibility, take ownership. If possible, promise the customer that you will fix the problem for future customers and that you will offer to work for free in order to win back their business.

At university I graduated with a 2:2 in Computer Science and Business. I lived with one of my best friends who I also did not get an excellent grade in second year. He chose to live with 5 other students from our course instead of joining with me and guess what. They all graduated with excellent graduate, some were 6-figure salaries, because they spent time spent their time wisely in their final years of university. They spent it with other students who were academically excellent. Do this and set yourself up for success at university.

5. From feature-oriented to benefit-oriented Stop focusing on features—ask, “So what?” until you reach a real benefit for the audience. Shift your perspective from what the service does to how it helps the user. Time and budget are often limited, so make your communication count by empathising deeply with your audience’s needs. The goal? Get it right the first time—be first, not just smarter.

Ever wanted to be the new guy in a new city for a few days? Ever really asked yourself what you’d love to do? I’ve done this in Barcelona, Berlin, Milan, Florence and I always come back with amazing memories and learned all about new cultures. It’s as easy as choosing to be brave and book your tickets.

Do you have the strength and courage to create the life you want? Being confident in even one area can spill over into all aspects of life. It shapes how you wake up, how you greet the barista, interact with colleagues, and respond to clients. Start with an area that matters—ideally, fall in love with your work. Enthusiasm and confidence in a place where you spend most of your time can build momentum for everything else.

Most people go about their day distracted, so being present and genuine makes you stand out. Smile, engage in activities you love, and bring that enthusiasm with you. When you interact with others—like staff in a coffee shop—offer a warm hello and ask how they’re doing. Pause briefly to let them respond if they wish, and carry on with your day with a smile. This authentic presence creates positive energy, making you a welcome presence wherever you are, whether at your favourite café, heading to a job you enjoy, or pursuing a hobby. Your presence naturally invites others to connect.

Ever worried about the future, panicked and then found yourself helplessly unproductive? Stressing like this is a comforting distraction and popular method for not taking action but after you’re worrying is over it’s time to take action. Here is a simple formula, know what you did yesterday and know what you are doing today, tomorrow will then take care of itself.

Humans usually want to follow. When they’re the customer and they’re paying, they’re looking to you to lead. Don’t show up to business meetings unprepared—it’s unforgivable, embarrassing, and leaves clients doubting their decision. Picture Elon Musk in a dentist’s chair; do you think he’s calling the shots there? Always have a plan. On a sales call, ease their nerves by helping them clarify their problem, realise they can’t solve it alone, and position your product as the solution. After a sale, reassure them by delivering core product value quickly to confirm they made the right choice. And if there’s been negative feedback, approach the meeting with a list of actions you’ve already taken to fix it.

Offering an existing employee a new role is risky. It can be enticing but demanding work, and often takes time to fully transition. From a business perspective, forcing someone into a role they don’t fit can lead to stress for both them and you. You don’t want to cause unnecessary pressure or frustration. It’s important to make sure the move aligns with their skills and interests, for the sake of their well-being and your bottom line.

Your anti-hero is you in an alternate universe that wins at everything you’ve ever dreamed of trying. Now come back to reality and think the anyone successful is able to produce a body of work that speaks for itself. Your anti-hero will have done something writing about or written something worth reading as they saying goes. From footballers to artists, scientists to entrepreneurs, the most successful people have an impressive body of work they can look back on with a smile and sense of personal and professional fulfilment. So now ask yourself, what would be your anti-heroes legacy be, and why is it important? Next comes the real part - the journey of acquiring the necessary skills to make it all happen. Time and success will follow.

This is almost never a good idea. Speaking your mind makes a quiet presence more powerful. How? First, when you speak up when necessary, you relieve the stress of bottling emotions. Second, when you’re comfortable being quiet, people won’t need to guess whether your silence means something—they’ll understand that you just don’t have anything to say at the moment.

When you need a response quickly, clarity is key. Compare “Can you get me this soon?” with “I need your help with X task. Specifically, I need Y from you. Could you assist, and if so, when can I expect it?” If it’s urgent, add: “This is time-sensitive—can you confirm if you can meet the deadline by X? If not, I’ll need to arrange an alternative.” This respectful approach increases your chances of getting the work on time or an update on any delays. And remember, a surprise coffee as thanks goes a long way in keeping goodwill!

It’s fine to have materialistic desires, but try not to over-idealise these goals. Doing so can rob you of the chance to fully appreciate the happiness you experience without that item and the small moments of joy that often far outweigh the material thing you’re chasing. Then, when you finally acquire what you wanted, you can enjoy it, knowing it won’t make you truly happy—the journey and memory of the hard work you put in is the real reward.

Core product value can be defined as the main reason someone buys from you. Understanding your core product value is crucial and you must strip back your product/service one piece at a time until you identify the minimum effective dose of core product value where customers are happy and keep returning. Your chances of repeat business and word of mouth can be determined by how fast you can deliver a strategic dose of core product value to your intended target audience. Once you have identified this If you have a subscription product, your job is now to repeat that every month.