BigIdeas by nextbigwhat

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Three Laws of Performance by Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan.

How do companies—in different countries and industries—all achieve breakthrough performance when the odds are stacked against them? The answer: By applying The Three Laws of Performance and thereby re-writing their futures.

The authors crack the code on rewriting the future for people and organizations, elevating performance to unprecedented levels.

How We Normally Solve Problems

We solve problems by breaking them down, prioritising them, and tackling them one at a time. Such patchwork solutions only address the symptoms, not the underlying causes of the problem. In fact, solving one problem frequently leads to the creation of new ones. For example, we cut budgets to improve our financial performance.

Breaking Free From The Vicious Circle

People become frustrated and demoralised, and productivity and performance suffer as a result. Breaking free from this vicious cycle requires adopting a system-wide perspective and changing the context in which your actions are performed.

Free Audiobook summary of the book 7 Leadership Qualities Of Great Leaders by Philip Andrew.

What an ideal leader should be and how leaders need to act.

What Makes a Good Leader Great?

Great leaders strike a balance between business foresight, performance, and personality.

They have vision, courage, integrity, humility, and focus, as well as the ability to plan strategically and catalyse team cooperation.

1. Vision

Great leaders have a vision. They can see into the future.

They have a clear exciting idea of where they are going and what they want to accomplish and are excellent at strategic planning.

2. Courage

One of the most important qualities of a great leader is courage.

Having courage means that you're willing to take risks in the achievement of your goals.

3. Integrity

The core of integrity is truthfulness.

Integrity requires that you always tell the truth to people, in every situation.

Truthfulness is the foundational quality of TRUST that is necessary for the success of any business.

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Art of Thinking in Systems by Steven Schuster.

System thinking is being able to examine and analyze ourselves and things around us with the express purpose of being able to improve upon them.

Systems And System Thinking

A system is anything that has interacting and interconnected parts.

The human body is an example of a system. It reacts to the environment and is composed of many interdependent parts such as the brain, digestive, and circulatory systems.

Dealing With Complex Problems

Systems thinking is the art and science of making reliable inferences about behaviour by developing an increasingly deep understanding of underlying structure.

With system thinking, it’s easier to deal with complex problems because system thinking asks that you look at the bigger picture first.

It is impossible to know the behaviour of a system just by knowing the parts that make up that system.

STEVEN SCHUSTER

Free Audiobook summary of the book What I Didn't Learn in Business School by Jay Barney and Trish Gorman Clifford.

All of the theories, frameworks, and tactics you learn in business school have their limitations. This is a book about how strategic decisions are made in the real world

How Strategy Works: Key Points

Different assumptions produce different results. The real question is where those differences originate in the first place.

Determine who the key stakeholders are. Determine who has the authority to implement the recommendations and, more importantly, who has the authority to prevent them from being implemented.

Long before you make your final presentation, get a good sense of the political landscape.

How Strategy Works: Key Points Part 2

Utilize both analysis and change management to convert those who are likely to oppose your recommendations into supporters.

Individual biases or corporate politics can easily sway even sophisticated financial analysis.

The Five Forces Framework

The five forces framework is an excellent tool for identifying competitive threats in an industry. However, using this tool to estimate an industry's overall attractiveness is rarely useful.

The five forces are similar to the wind in that they indicate the direction in which competition within an industry is moving. Strategy is about positioning the firm relative to the prevailing winds and finding a way to ensure that the firm gets where it wants to go regardless of which way the wind blows.

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau.

The Art of Non-Conformity teaches you how to play life by your own rules by giving you practical glimpses into the world of self-employment, a new approach to travel, to-do list minimalism, and conscious spending habits.

Non-Conformity: The Premise

"Asking "why?" to everything like a three-year-old can help you avoid jumping off the bridge without first considering the alternatives."

The Art of Non-Conformity teaches you how to live your life according to your own rules by providing practical insights into the worlds of self-employment, a new approach to travel, to-do list minimalism, and conscious spending habits.

What You Don't Do Doesn't Matter.

CHRIS GUILLEBEAU

The Remarkable Life

Most of us don't want to spend the rest of our lives lying on a beach; we want to work on something important to us.

We must develop an image of our own "ideal life."

Here are some ways:

Describe in excruciating detail what a perfect day looks like to you. Then assess what needs to change to help you get there.

Make a life goal list, similar to a bucket list, to help you focus on what you want to achieve.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Top of Mind by John Hall.

When helping others becomes the framework through which you interact with the world, you’ll find yourself at the top of many minds.

JOHN HALL

What Being Top Of Mind Means

Being authentic, honest, and truthful is your best promotion, because if your customers trust you, then you will be the first thing that comes to their minds in case they need your goods or services.

Focus On Building Trust

Since today’s customers are not passive; they are even more suspicious of salespeople who don’t ask for permission to invade their privacy; a salesperson's job isn’t anymore that of a marketing rep, but the far more humble and noble of being a friend.

Don’t Trick People

Customers today don’t like to buy from people who are intrusive. You can trick them once or twice, but the minute they find out, you’ll lose them for eternity. Them and about a million other people who’ll find out about it on social media. So instead of tricking them – earn their trust.

 Authenticity is the foundation of your relationship with your audience. But for the relationship to flourish, it’s not enough to simply be authentic; you also have to deliver tangible value.

JOHN HALL

Free Audiobook summary of the book Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits! by Greg Crabtree and Beverly Herzog.

This book teaches the fundamentals of owner compensation, profit targets, labour productivity, cash flow, and data reporting. Clear explanations and helpful illustrations throughout make it a must-read guide for small business owners looking to achieve higher profits.

Owner's Salary: Why Your Salary and Distributions are Fogging Your View of Net Income

Don’t confuse business profits with the owner's salary.

You get paid a salary for what you do, and you get a return on what you own.

Until you pay yourself a market-based wage and plug that number into your financials, your financial data is worthless.

How To Understand Owners Salary

If you got run over by a bus today and your heirs decided they would keep the business going in your absence, what would they have to pay someone to do your job? Answering this question determines your market based-wage.

Create A Cash Cow

If you’re not able to pay yourself a market-based wage, then you’re operating at a loss.

Until you pay yourself a market-based wage—and make a profit on top of that you have a sick cow on your hands.

Your goal should be to create a business that generates income for you every day (cash cow).

Free Audiobook summary of the book This Is Marketing by Seth Godin.

Marketing 101 coming from the expert: Seth Godin

Marketing In Five Steps

Create something worth making, a story worth telling, and a contribution worth discussing.

The second step is to design and build it in such a way that only a few people will benefit from and care about it.

Marketing In Five Steps: Part 2

Tell a story that corresponds to the pre-existing narrative and dreams of that small group of people, the smallest viable market.

Spread the word.

Show up - on a regular, consistent, and generous basis - for years and years to organise, lead, and build confidence in the change you seek to bring about.

Things Marketers Know

● Creative people can change the world.

● You cannot change everyone.

● Change is best made with intent.

● Human beings tell themselves stories.

We can group people into stereotyped groups that often (not always) tell themselves similar stories.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Radical Focus by Christina Wodtke .

Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what you need done and let them surprise you.

Ideas and Systems

It is simple to generate ideas. Moving from an idea to reality is difficult. We need systems to keep us and our teams on track.

Systems are divided into three parts:

● Setting inspiring and measurable goals.

● Ensuring you and your team always make progress toward that desired goal.

● Setting the cadence to ensure the group remembers what they are trying to do and hold each other accountable.

The Path To Success

Creating a mission statement is the first step towards success. A good mission is brief and inspiring. Make it as broad as possible in order for it to be valid for at least five years.

"We [improve life] in [market] by [value]."

Then motivate people to get them to do their best work and meaningfully measure progress using the OKR system - Objectives and Key Results.  

Free Audiobook summary of the book Mini Habits by Stephen Guise.

Personal development blogger Stephen Guise offers a self-improvement program that is “too small to fail.”

Mini Habits: Too Small To Fail

Take one small step every day to initiate a lifelong positive habit.

People form habits over time through repeated behaviours.

A mini habit is the smallest possible iteration of a positive habit, like one push-up.

Easy To Do

A mini habit is “too small to fail” because it requires only a tiny bit of willpower, and you quickly accumulate a record of success.

When your motivation for an activity is high, you don’t need much willpower. When your motivation is low, you need a lot of willpower, which most people don’t have.

Mini Habits: Rules And Workings

Mini habits work because they deplete little of your willpower reserve.

On the mini-habit plan, you divide your goals into “stupid small” but effective actions.

The mini-habit rules are: don’t cheat, be glad when you succeed, give yourself rewards, stay with your new routine, and drop back and go smaller if it gets hard.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Powerful by Patty McCord.

Powerful: Radical ideas from Netflix.

The Five Practices Of Netflix Culture

● Open, clear, and constant communication: across the entire company about the work to be done and challenges being faced.

● Radical honesty: telling one another, and managing, the truth in a timely fashion and ideally face to face.

● Debating based on fact-based opinions: at Netflix, employees are expected to have strong, fact-based opinions and to debate them avidly and test them rigidly.

The Five Practices Of Netflix Culture: Part 2

● Customer and company first: people base their actions on what’s best for the customer and the company, not on attempts to prove themselves right.

● Preparing teams for the future: The right skills with potential.

Face the challenges: Being Comfortable with Change

The most successful organizations will be the ones in which everyone, on every team, understands that all bets are off and everything is changing – and thinks that’s great.

One of the biggest mistakes poor leaders and managers make is wanting to be the boss,  thinking that they can tell everyone what to do, and do not want anyone to challenge them. In today’s rapidly changing, hyper-competitive world, that approach is fatal.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Kaizen by Sarah Harvey.

Small habits to move towards big change.

 Kaizen Is Incremental Growth

In Japanese, the word Kaizen translates to many things, but the main idea is simply “change.” To take advantage of the power of change, you need to start with your habits.  

Your brain is always making habits as a way to save power on repeated behaviours. This preserves your mental energy for bigger, tougher tasks. But because it’s so automatic, you might form unwanted habits.

Make An Inventory Of Life

Start by interrogating your habits to make an inventory of your life. Get a piece of paper, and divide it into the major sections of your life. Then, go through all areas of life and ask yourself if you’re doing all you can to be happy in that area.

Dig deep to find out what you really seek. Finish by writing down your biggest aspirations in each category.

Make The First Step Extremely Small

Small changes like these aren’t usually easy to make because we don’t see the rewards immediately. In contrast, it’s easier to give in to a bad habit because they involve things that do reward us instantly.

Kaizen fixes this problem by focusing on changing things in such a tiny way that your brain hardly notices. Don’t discount things that seem ridiculously easy, either. They work!

Free Audiobook summary of the book Ikigai by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles.

The happiness of being busy with life. :)

The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

WASHINGTON BURNAP

IKIGAI

Ikigai is a Japanese concept that basically means “the happiness of always being busy”.

The Japanese word has two characters: ‘iki’ which means life, and ‘gai,’ or value.

Well, what's happiness in business? Let's find out here!

 A Life with a Purpose

Ikigai explains how you can live a longer and happier life by having a purpose, eating healthy, and not retiring.

Many people find themselves trapped in the never-ending need to do everything faster, better, and harder. In contrast, discovering your ikigai will help you slow down and enjoy life more.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard P. Rumelt.

Strategy is the craft of figuring out which purposes are both worth pursuing and capable of being accomplished.

Good and Bad Strategy 

Strategy is the application of strength against weakness.

Strategy creates new strengths through subtle shifts in viewpoint.

Most organizations have multiple conflicting objectives that amount to little more than spending more and try harder.

They spread resources to placate internal interests rather than concentrate resources to focus on pivot points.

Creating a good strategy means saying no to a variety of interests.

Discovering Power

Success isn’t just about what your organization does, it’s also about blocked or failed competition

For example, in setting cold war strategy, it made little sense to match Soviet capabilities. The best method was to build on our strengths in ways that were aimed at their weaknesses.

Act so as to impose exorbitant costs on the competition using your relative advantages

Free Audiobook summary of the book Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk.

Good ol’ Gary, in his remarkable, in-your-face style, provides a blueprint of success.

Success Is In Your DNA

● Your DNA dictates what you were born to do. Follow your passion, and don’t listen to what society has to say about success.

● There is enough success out there and if you want it badly enough, you will get it.

● When building your personal brand, focus on the quality of the relationships with your followers and not on their numbers.

● Be authentic and produce quality content.

There is no excuse for anyone living in the United States or anywhere else right now to slog through his or her entire life working at jobs they hate, or even jobs they simply don’t love, in the name of a paycheck or a sense of responsibility.

GARY VAYNERCHUK

A Whole New World

● Plan to develop and grow your own brand and business alongside your current job. This is how you will open opportunities in the digital economy.

● As long as you are working for someone else, you will never be living entirely true to yourself and your passion.

● To monetize your personal brand, you need two pillars: product, and content. Great content is what will attract people to your blog.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Content Inc. by Joe Pulizzi.

This book is a delightful blend of inspiration and advice that businesses can follow to create an actionable content business model. It describes a six-step model you can use to do your marketing long before you need it, without even having a product, or spending a lot of money, so your entrepreneurial venture will be guaranteed success.

A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.

 DAVID BRINKLEY

Anyone Can Build A Content Business

Prior to 1990, large media corporations wielded the most power because they controlled both information channels and audiences. Now, almost all of the power has shifted to the consumer. Anyone, from any location, can become a publisher and build an audience."

New Opportunity

The window of opportunity is wide open because of several key developments:

● Internet and mobile technologies have allowed anyone to publish and receive content.

● As online publishing becomes mainstream, more content providers are willing and able to create content.

● Social media and Google help in the sharing and searching of useful content.

Free Audiobook summary of the book To Sell Is Human by Daniel H. Pink.

To Sell Is Human shows you that selling is part of your life, no matter what you do, and what a successful salesperson looks like in the 21st century, with practical ideas to help you convince others in a more honest, natural and sustainable way.

You Are In Sales Already

40% of your time at work is spent in non-sales selling, which simply means moving others somehow. For example, this could mean persuading them to help you with a project, convincing them of your idea, or influencing them to get on board with a particular strategy.

No matter what your job is – yes, you’re a salesperson!

Honesty And Good Service 

In 2016 and beyond, the only way to sell is, to be honest and transparent.

To sell is no longer to guard information and hand out little pieces – it’s a service, helping people to navigate the wealth of information, explain it to them, and get them to make the best decision, the one that’s right for them at the specific time.

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Practice: Shipping Creative Work by Seth Godin.

Creativity By Choice: How It Happens

Creativity Can Be Learned

Creativity is not a natural talent or innate gift. Creativity, on the other hand, is a skill and a choice that can be learned and expanded.

The key to becoming more creative is to develop the habit of constantly shipping or sharing your creative output.

Self-Driven Practice

When you ship or share your work, whether you get paid or not, you establish a "Practice" that will help your creative skills grow and expand in the future.

This type of practise is self-motivated and not outcome-oriented. The more you ship, the faster your creative skills will develop and expand, and the better your art, in whatever form it may take, will become.

The magic of the creative process is that there is no magic.

SETH GODIN

It's Not About The Results

You were born with the ability to create art. Art is the generous act of improving things by doing something that may or may not work.

But you've been told that you don't have enough faith in yourself to do so. You've been told that you lack talent. And you've been told that if you can't win, don't try (but now you see the journey is the entire point).

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Practice of Groundedness by Brad Stulberg.

Being rooted is the key.

The Six Principles Of Groundedness

Many people place too much emphasis on external achievements and see themselves as solitary individuals who must deal with their own problems.

The six principles of groundedness to practice for a more balanced attitude to life are accepting your current reality, staying present with it, being patient with your progress, allowing yourself to be vulnerable, embracing community, and keeping your body moving.

Burnout and Misery Are the Results of Heroic Individuality

Heroic individuality leads to fatigue and dissatisfaction.

Do you ever feel that it's never enough, no matter who you are or what you do?

You could be suffering from heroic individualism, which is a common way of thinking in Western culture. It teaches people that regardless of who they are or what they achieve, it is never enough. Everyone wishes to increase their productivity, efficiency, and success.

So Much To Do, All Depending On You

People enslaved by heroic individualism are forced to perform far too many chores at far too fast a pace and under far too much stress.

As a result, they are disorganized, rushed, and exhausted. They can't even sleep properly because they're so preoccupied with their external accomplishments; when they're not pursuing them, they feel empty or restless.

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Mental Toughness Handbook by Damon Zahariades.

Many people don’t cultivate mental toughness, however, because it requires patience and work. This is a revelation of a book which teaches how to handle life’s challenges, manage negative emotions, and overcome adversity with courage and poise.

The head-exploding moment: The mind does not differentiate between real and imagined experiences.

Mental Toughness Is Required For Success

Mental toughness is a mindset which enables you to avoid catastrophic thinking and embrace positivity when facing challenges. It teaches you to use setbacks to your advantage. If you struggle to reach your goals and maintain your desired level of success or perhaps feel discouraged, depressed or angry, know that you have the power to improve your circumstances and shift your mindset.

The Benefits Of Being Mentally Tough

No matter where you are in your life, no matter what struggles you’re currently experiencing, you can improve your circumstances.

Benefits:

● Improved emotional and stress-management skills.

● A clarified sense of purpose.

● Higher confidence and performance levels.

● The capacity to overcome your fears.

● A healthier attitude toward failure.

● Greater impulse control.

● The ability to stop fixating on regrets and painful experiences while fostering a growth mindset.

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Imposter Cure by Jessamy Hibberd.

Understanding why we feel as if we are not worthy of our job or title.

The Imposter Phenomenon

Imposter syndrome was first described in 1978 by two clinical psychologists.

They coined the term "imposter syndrome," which describes a condition in which people believe they are unworthy of success and have a persistent belief in their lack of intelligence, skills, or competence.

Beyond Feeling Like A Fraud

Imposter syndrome entails much more than simply feeling fraudulent, and it manifests itself in a variety of ways. It can manifest as insecurity, self-doubt, failure fear, and perfectionism. Alternatively, it can manifest as self-criticism, low self-esteem, and an inability to accept compliments.

What Triggers The Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome can be triggered by any achievement or approval-related task, or by feeling insecure about your knowledge or skills, especially if you work in a competitive environment with increasing responsibilities.

A Big Change

It is typically more intense during times of transition or change, or when confronted with new challenges (a new job, project, or being accepted into higher education). This forces you to step outside of your comfort zone and into new routines, as well as subject you to increased scrutiny.

The syndrome can also occur when you feel disconnected from your core group.

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Good Life Method by Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko.

This is a philosophical book on ethics and goodness.

The Cause And Effect Of Goodness

Cultivating good intentions leads to moral progress, and moral progress leads to human flourishing.

Sometimes we make terrible decisions that, thankfully, do not end in disaster. Sometimes we attempt heroic, loving, or generous deeds but fail to make a difference in the world.

Moral Development

Moral development entails bettering your intentions, developing your character, and better understanding why you are pursuing certain morally significant goals. And the good life is one that can be captured in a specific kind of story, one that accurately depicts your own moral development.

The Ultimate Good: Flourishing

The "ultimate good" for humans will entail satisfying our animal needs while also gradually and rationally developing virtuous traits of character.

This state is referred to by contemporary philosophers as "flourishing"—the complete state of being a well-developed, accomplished, and happy (in the good-feeling sense) person.

The Achievement of The Flourishing State

Those who achieve this goal will feel and act in ways that reflect our best qualities. They will acquire all and seamlessly integrate virtues such as courage, generosity, and wisdom into an intentional and purposefully lived life.

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson.

This book is for rereading. Every new read of this book gives you fresh ideas and opens up your mind.

Money vs Wealth

● Money is not going to solve all of your problems, but it’s going to solve all of your money problems.

● Money is how we transfer wealth. Money is social credit. It is the ability to have credits and debits of other people’s time.

● Making money is not a thing you do—it’s a skill you learn.

“Money buys you freedom in the material world. It’s not going to make you happy, it’s not going to solve your health problems, it’s not going to make your family great, it’s not going to make you fit, it’s not going to make you calm. But it will solve a lot of external problems.”

NAVAL RAVIKANT

If You Secretly Despise Wealth, It Will Elude You

Money is not the root of all evil; there’s nothing evil about it. But the lust for money is bad.

This is due to the fact that it is a bottomless pit. It will always occupy your thoughts. There is never enough money if you love money and make it. There is never enough because desire is always on and does not turn off at a certain number.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi, and Tahl Raz.

Success in any field, but especially in business, is about working with people, not against them.

Becoming A Good Networker

● Generosity and loyalty are the cornerstones of good networking.

● You must establish your network long before you need it.

● It is the quality of the time spent, not the quantity of time spent.

● Anyone can learn to network effectively. Only a small percentage of people are natural networkers; the rest of us must practise.

Networking: Developing The Right Mindset

The key to successful networking is to add value to help others to succeed:

● Don’t keep score. Give generously to others and be willing to accept help from others. Adopt the mindset that everyone has the ability to both help and be helped.

● Clarify your mission and strategy. It is always easier to achieve something when you have a clear goal and strategy.

● Have the courage to ask. You must be bold enough to put yourself out there and risk rejection in order to build a network.

Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone.

MARGARET WHEATLEY

Free Audiobook summary of the book Mindsight by Daniel J. Siegel.

Mindsight is a repackaging of awareness and meditation, what they now call mindfulness! It is worth reading though.

Mindsight: The Definition

Mindsight is the ability to reflect on the relationship that exists between your body and mind, combining emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and stoicism.

When done correctly, it can assist you in dealing with trauma and uncertainty, improving relationships with loved ones, and controlling your emotions.

3 Lessons that Help You Develop Mindsight

● Think of yourself as a river to cultivate a balanced, harmonic self.

● Practice the three pillars of mindsight: observation, objectivity and openness.

● Be receptive, not reactive in your relationships.

● Out of all the possible Jedi mind tricks you could learn, mindsight is by far the best one.

Getting Aware Of Our Thoughts

Mindsight is a set of psychological steps we can take to understand and shape our inner selves in the most beneficial way for our well-being.

Meditation is an example of mindsight practise because it makes us aware of our thoughts and breathing.

Mindsight, on the other hand, is much more than a meditation you can do when you have time to be alone and reflect. Instead, it is a tool that will assist you in dealing with situations when they become overwhelming.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Factfulness by Hans Rosling.

“Step-by-step, year-by-year, the world is improving. Not on every single measure every single year, but as a rule. Though the world faces huge challenges, we have made tremendous progress. This is the fact-based worldview.”

HANS ROSLING

The Gap Instinct

This is the irresistible urge we have to categorise everything into two distinct and frequently conflicting groups.

The gap instinct leads us to envision division where there is only a smooth range, differences where there is convergence, and conflicts where there is agreement.

It paints a picture of a world divided into two types of countries or people: rich and poor.

"Human beings have a strong dramatic instinct toward binary thinking, a basic urge to divide things into two distinct groups, with nothing but an empty gap in between. We love to dichotomize. Good versus bad. Heroes versus villains. My country versus the rest. Dividing the world into two distinct sides is simple and intuitive, and also dramatic because it implies conflict, and we do it without thinking, all the time."

HANS ROSLING

How To Control The Gap Instinct

Remember that reality is not always polarised.

Look for the majority to control the gap instinct. You will probably discover that there is no gap at all.

Extreme comparisons should be avoided. There are some at the top and some at the bottom of every group.

Even when the disparity is extreme, the majority is usually somewhere in the middle, right where the gap is supposed to be.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.

Our bodies can run forever. But Science won't tell you that.

You don't stop running because you get old, you get old because you stop running.

CHRISTOPHER MCDOUGALL

Our Bodies Are Highly Flexible

Some people take pleasure in marathons. We frequently find ourselves surprised by their great ease in running long distances. We struggle to run a few miles at the same time. Perhaps you believe that these people are crazy and possess superhuman skills. Would you believe that you are also capable of running long distances?

You Can Run All Day If You Train Hard

As strange as it may sound, you are physiologically built to run long distances. The human body has provided you with the tools you need to run for hours. All you have to do is dedicate the time and patience to train.

Our Bodies Were Constructed to Run Far

You may believe that your human body is slow in comparison to animals such as horses. But did you know that those two legs of yours can outrun any animal on the planet?

Free Audiobook summary of the book Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek.

Determining a company’s WHY is crucial, but only the beginning. The next step is how do you get people on board with your WHY? How do you inspire deep trust and commitment to the company and one another? Lets find out.

How to Lead

Efficiently leading an organization is something that many people struggle with these days. While there is no easy path to do it successfully, there are some guidelines and ideas that can surely help.

From Circles of Safety to happiness chemicals and empathy, follow me on this journey to learn how to be a better leader, one step at a time!

The Circle of Safety

Understanding that an organisation is essentially a Circle of Safety is the first step towards becoming a good leader. Inside this Circle, people's insecurities vanish, but a bad leader will inevitably shrink or fracture it into multiple small ones.

There is uncontrollable danger outside the Circle, but we can make it safe inside.

An Introduction to Happiness Chemicals

When discussing human behaviour, we need to dig a bit into how the brain works. There are 4 primary chemicals for happiness:

● Endorphins

● Dopamine

● Serotonin

● Oxytocin

Free Audiobook summary of the book TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking by Chris Anderson.

Public speaking 101

Convey One Big Idea

Don't make the mistake of attempting to cover everything in a single talk. Instead, convey a single big idea that draws on your personal experience.

A big idea can take an audience on a journey that changes their perspective on the world. You should be able to define your idea in 15 words or less as a throughline.

The Core Point

What is the main point of your presentation?

Consider your audience, their context, and why your problem is important to them. As a tip, pick one person you like and pretend you're giving the talk to them.

Open and Close Strong

Write the first minute and the last lines. These are the most important points of the discussion. Use compelling images and stories to arouse curiosity and reflection. The way something ends has a big impact on how people remember it.

Bad Talk And Bad Visuals

Avoid sales pitches or talks that are solely about what your company does.

In terms of visuals, no slides are preferable to bad slides. Remember that less is more when it comes to conveying one idea per slide. Allow photos to fill the entire slide. Throughout the presentation, use only one typeface and three fonts. Avoid using bullets, italics, or underlines.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Zen: The Art of Simple Living by Shunmyo Masuno.

A comprehensive look at the essence of eastern philosophy.

The World Dominated By Large Corporations

Consumption is a defining feature of the Western world. The information age has arrived, and everything is readily available. Companies employ large teams to create advertisements that force us to accumulate. Their oxygen is our attention.

Simple Living

Zen practise goes against the grain. It means saying no to advertisers while saying yes to ourselves. Zen advises living a simple existence in all aspects of life, reducing everything to the essentials. Choose the definition that works best for you: simple, intentional, or purposeful. The idea is to have only what you consider to be sufficient.

Zazen Meditation

It is necessary to make time to be alone with one's thoughts and to sit quietly in nature.

Zazen is a Zen meditation practise that allows you to sweep the detritus from your mind.

Zazen is the practise of becoming aware of your thought patterns and achieving inner peace.

The Method

First, we take the proper posture, then we concentrate on our breathing, and finally, we calm our minds. When we have all three of these things in place, we can begin to practise zazen.

Try zazen sitting: empty your mind and let your thoughts float up and then drift away.

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer.

Our time is our life and our attention is the doorway to our hearts. Dive into this beautiful book about faith, minimalism and slowing down.

Slow Down! The Three Takeaways

● Every day, you must make time for the kind of silence and solitude that brings peace.

● Taking a day off each week for rest isn't such a bad idea; it can boost your productivity and happiness significantly.

● Take pleasure in slowing down your life by allowing moments of inefficiency to help you become more mindful.

Silence And Solitude In The Age Of Constant Diversions And Distractions

Finding isolation and stillness in a society when we are continuously barraged by notifications on our smartphones can be challenging.

Even though we may be by ourselves with our phones, we are not necessarily alone in our thoughts. Via social media, we are exposed to a constant stream of ideas and viewpoints. Before, there would be no steady source of entertainment while people waited. We don't leave much time these days for meditation and alone time.

Steal The Time

Simply remember to rise earlier than your family. Spend some time relaxing and enjoying things like a good book and coffee. Even better, use this extra time to go for a leisurely walk before going to work. Let boredom to develop.

The more you practice doing this, the more you'll come to understand that solitude is not the same as loneliness. Instead, it enables interaction with your environment.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Find Your Happy at Work by Beverly E. Jones.

Feeling stuck in a rut at work? According to executive coach Beverly Jones, even if you don’t love what you do, you can find meaning and happiness in your career

Feeling Happy At Your Job

More than half of American workers feel stuck in their current jobs or are too agitated and upset by them. This contrasts sharply with the one-third of employees who report feeling engaged, joyful, energized, and meaningful at work.

You Have The Power To Make Life-Improving Changes

If you identify more with the former than the latter group, remember that you can still take action to improve your work-life balance without changing careers or positions by making adjustments to your viewpoint, skills, way of life, mental acuity, and health.

Happiness and success are similar in that you can’t pursue either directly. Each seems to emerge as a consequence of the way you manage yourself and your activities.

BEVERLY JONES

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz.

“Hard Things” gives an insider’s perspective on what it’s like to lead and scale a startup.

First Hand Knowledge

Knowledge cannot be rushed, especially information derived from firsthand experience. It can be worse than knowing nothing at all to rely on shortcuts and conventional wisdom.

Be able to distinguish reality from perception. Look for alternate narratives and explanations originating from drastically different perspectives, especially when the "facts" seem to compel a definite outcome.

I Will Survive

You only ever feel happiness and dread while running a company.

Two types of buddies are essential in your life:

● One you can call when something good happens, and they’ll be excited for you.

● One you can call when things go horribly wrong.

Treat those who depart fairly, or those who remain will never again have faith in you.

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Art of People by Dave Kerpen.

Life is short. The less time we waste on the weather, the better!

When Meeting A New Person

Consider some of the following inquiries in place of the typical "what do you do for a living" or "where do you reside" queries:

● In your professional life, what do you think is the most exciting thing?

● In your personal life, what is exciting you the most at the moment?

● If money wasn’t an issue, would you be doing something different?

● Who is a role model to you and why?

Listening To People

It is actually much more important to shut up and listen than to talk in order to comprehend others.

You need to fight the impulse to speak. Just keep returning to the other person in the conversation. You must have the ability to pay attention and show the other person that you care about what they have to say.

Active listening

It's the effort to understand their viewpoint rather than becoming fixated on your own. People feel heard, respected, inspired, and motivated to find solutions when you listen to them.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Rationality by Steven Pinker.

Biases distort our cognitive system and prevent us from making rational decisions. The myth that we are reasonable creatures stems from the incorrect assumption that our brains are, by default, instruments of logic. Through analyzing the most common cognitive fallacies, we’re taken on a journey through the mechanics of the mind toward the root of our irrationality, which is due to motives shaping our judgment.

Rationality: What Sets Humans Apart From Other Species

● Rationality can be used as a tool to accomplish a task.

● Rationality aids in the decision-making process.

● Ignorance and constraint are both viable alternatives.

● Science is the practical application of logic in the real world.

● We become less partial — and more sensible – as a result of institutions.

● People are punished for their own good, which leads to a more rational common.

● Because it is rational, our most important moral principle is powerful.

Rationality: A Tool for Achieving a Goal

Dictionary definitions of rational state that it means "having a rationale." The Roman word ratio, which meaning "reason," is where the word "reason" originates.

Philosophers define rationality as the capacity to use information to accomplish goals.

Yet being logical requires more than merely accepting true statements like "1 + 1 = 2." That also makes our tasks easier.

Free Audiobook summary of the book How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price.

We might not realize it, but each time we compulsively check our phones, we’re programming ourselves to develop a technology addiction, one that can start innocently and derail our life in the long run. Let's get rid of this!

The Reason To Break Up

Even if we are fully aware of the risks associated with certain tech habits, what harm might come from simply checking our phones?

People check their phones at least 47 times every day on average.

More than 80% of Americans check their phones within 30 minutes of waking up, and many do so in the middle of the night. Americans spend more than 4 hours every day on their phones.

Your Phone Can Lead To Deep Trouble

Many studies link excessive smartphone use to detrimental outcomes such neuroticism, low self-esteem, depression, impulsivity, self-identity, empathy, and sleep issues.

We have access to the entire internet thanks to smartphones. Yet unlike earlier technology, we always have them with us.

In addition to having neurological impacts, smartphones and other digital goods are purposefully made to cause them.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Micromessaging: Why Great Leadership is Beyond Words by Stephen Young.

The stuff we say without saying.

Setting The Stage

We've all had conversations with people who somehow managed to convey the message, "The sooner I get away from you, the happier I will be," without so much as moving an eyelash or a facial muscle. On the other hand, an admiring gesture isn't necessarily indicated by a broad smile, a fixed look, or a firm handshake.

It takes an in-depth grasp of how other people see reality or see through deception to send the micromessages that effectively communicate your intended message.

The Subtle Art Of Messaging

Micromessages can boost self-confidence and encourage people to strive for higher goals, or they can erode it and make people second-guess everything they do. They have the power to do this with barely a spoken word.

Micromessaging And Leadership

Micromessaging's influence and the almost imperceptible intricacies of sending and receiving messages are both defined. These micro messages demonstrate to us how highly we are regarded and valued by people who decide our fate at work.

Micromessages reveal our specific position and the expected extent of our movement. They are as intangible as the medium through which they are sent.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Living Beyond “What If?” by Shirley Davis.

This book is a comprehensive how-to guide for achieving your goals. It provides a step-by-step plan for conquering your anxieties and succeeding.

Visualize Your Dreams

The power of the human mind is amazing. It remains active and unrestrained in children and follows us throughout our lives. Even if we utilise it in less evident ways as we get older, seeing a new future is one of the most important first steps in making any significant life change.

Unbelievable But True: Imagination Leads To Manifestation

Nevertheless, reality and fantasy are not the same thing. Reality, however, is a another matter. One finds it hard to believe that we can envision our future and make it a reality.

Take The Chance

Taking a risk can result in significant rewards. Knowing which risks to take is the true expertise.

An exit strategy for a profession could entail talking to a mentor or supervisor, looking into other jobs that are a better fit, and figuring out what skills you need.

Free Audiobook summary of the book It's the Manager by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter.

A must-read for leaders, CEOs and Founders.

What Makes A Difference In An Organization

The manager determines 70% of the variance in team engagement. You have delivered on the new global will when you have great managers who can maximise the potential of every team member.

Not Just A Job

Millennials and Generation Z want more than a paycheck. They are no longer looking for job satisfaction; they are looking for growth. Coaches are preferred over bosses. They don't want annual reviews; they want ongoing dialogue. They don't want a manager who focuses on their flaws. They want a job that is more than just a job; they want a life.

Organizational Change Is Hard

The old boss-to-employee, command-and-control leadership environment "worked" when it came to building process-efficiency systems, large buildings, and infrastructure. However, traditional top-down leadership techniques have not adapted to a workplace that now requires coaching and collaboration to thrive.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Food Rules by Michael Pollan and Maira Kalman.

We have been eating wrong all our lives. This book shakes our belief patterns on food and diet.

Food Facts: What We Need To Know

● The western diet is responsible for nearly all Type II diabetics, 80% of all cardiovascular diseases, and 33% of all cancers.

● These diseases do not affect populations that consume a diverse range of foods (unrefined).

● Your health may improve if you abandon the Western diet.

● Food processing removes nutrients, introduces toxins, and increases absorbability (causing insulin challenges).

The Western Diet

Populations that consume a so-called Western diet—generally defined as a diet high in processed foods and meat, high in added fat and sugar, high in refined grains, high in everything except vegetables, fruits, and whole grains—always have high rates of the so-called Western diseases: obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Key Points

● Eat local, healthy food that your great-grandmother would have recognized.

● Avoid anything processed.

● Buy from your local farmer's market.

●  Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.

● Avoid food products that contain high-fructose corn syrup.

● Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Humility Is the New Smart by Edward D. Hess and Katherine Ludwig.

To manage and lead a team, you need to meditate so that you dissolve your ego. Buddhism for the corporate world.

Smart Machine Age

Society is on the verge of a technological tsunami. Artificial intelligence, the internet of Things, virtual reality, robotics, nanotechnology, deep learning, human brain mapping, and biomedical, genetic, and cyborg engineering advances will change the way most of us live and work.

This Smart Machine Age (SMA) has the potential to be as disruptive and transformative for us as the Agricultural Age and Industrial Revolution were for them.

Get Ready For The Next Ride

The American worker has been outsourced, off-shored, and automated on many factory floors and in many routine tasks over the last few decades. Following that will be broader and more comprehensive automation, which will likely affect many more workers, including many professionals.

While automation has been taking place for decades, technology is now starting to replace knowledge workers such as accountants, business managers, doctors, lawyers, journalists, researchers, architects, higher-education teachers, and consultants.

The American Dream

Smart technologies will pervade and change many aspects of our professional and personal lives, challenging our fundamental beliefs about success, opportunity, and the American Dream in many ways. The most recent research indicates that technology will replace 47 percent of US jobs or displace up to eighty million US workers within the next ten to twenty years.

Free Audiobook summary of the book You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One) by Jeff Goins.

Stop seeking public approval and just write.

Noteworthy Ideas: You Are A Writer

● Believe that you are already who you want to be. Then begin acting like it.

● You must first believe in yourself before others will believe in you.

● The concept of multitasking is a myth. You have the option of creating or reacting. However, you cannot do both. Make an informed decision.

● You are your brand. But it goes beyond that. It represents your most authentic self. The part that everyone remembers.

Create Your Platform

Many writers become discouraged while trying to find their place in the sea of new writers. Their error is that they are waiting for others to notice them.

Don't wait to be chosen. Instead, choose yourself by developing your reader platform and launching your writing career.

Your Message

Before embarking on your writing career, ask yourself, "What do I have to share with the world, and what makes me uniquely qualified to deliver this message?" The answers to these questions will assist you in determining where your readers are and how you can reach them.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Triggers by Marshall Goldsmith.

Changing our habits and behaviour using awareness. “Triggers” is representative of the relative nature of things that can drive your life back and forward.

Triggers: An Overview

Triggers are stimuli that cause a behavioural response. They can take the form of beliefs, behaviours, or environments. Identifying triggers is beneficial in all interpersonal relationships and will aid in your success at work and at home.

To change your behaviour for the better, you must want to change and be willing to accept personal responsibility.

Be A Wolf!

Despite having a good life, full of opportunities, a negative environment can impose depressive behaviour. Even in these circumstances, they can have a positive impact if the person is willing to look beyond the difficulties.

Pain is frequently self-inflicted. Don't be a victim of your insecurity; instead, be a wolf!

We Have A Choice

Triggers appear to be relentless and omnipresent—a cake that makes us forget the sugar content warnings, a song that takes our attention away from a conversation.

All of these affect our behaviour in less than a second.

The good news is that we have a choice. We have command over them.

A trigger is only a problem if your reaction to it is problematic.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Finish!: Give Yourself the Gift of Done by Jon Acuff.

Setting new goals is easy, but finishing them is hard. In this blockbuster bestseller, the author shares his plans to help you actually achieve your goals.

Perfectionism Kills

Starting is difficult, but it is easier than finishing. You may have a number of half-finished projects and other unfinished business. Many people make New Year's resolutions, but according to research, 92% of these resolutions fail.

People became more productive when they stopped striving for perfection. Perfectionism kills momentum and prevents people from achieving their objectives.

The Day After Perfect

Perfectionism will do its best to knock you down when you work on a goal.

Excuses are a cover for perfectionism. Because you weren't perfect, you gave up. You're not by yourself.

Everyone wants to get all A's. Nobody aspires to Bs and Cs. However, getting straight As is difficult and intimidating. That is why many people don't even try.

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Gap and The Gain by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy.

Good habits, a good life, ample happiness, awareness. A self-reflective book on understanding your precious life.

Embrace the Freedom of Wants and Desires: Understanding The Gap

The GAP is founded on an unhealthy "need" or attachment to something other than yourself. You're trying to break free from something, and you won't be happy until you do.

When you're in the GAP, you're avoiding "here" while attempting to get "there"—but you never get "there."

Understanding The Gain

The GAIN is based on being in tune with what you want while also understanding that you don't need it. When you're in the GAIN, you live your life on the basis of intrinsic motivation and harmonious passion, which leads to flow and high performance.

Ask Yourself: What You Love

● Is there anything in your life that you are obsessed with? If so, what unmet internal need are you attempting to address?

● What aspects of your life and work do you enjoy?

● What is your long-term strategy? You're doing what you love when you're playing the long game. You are not acting in order to get somewhere else.

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Adaptation Advantage by Heather E. McGowan and Chris Shipley.

In the past, jobs were about muscles, now they’re about brains, but in future, they’ll be about the heart. The authors declare a future in which humans share knowledge and build meaningful workplace cultures.

The Big Change

The world is undergoing three "climate changes": environmental, market, and technological, which are forcing people to become more adaptable.

Jobs are changing so quickly that your current position may no longer exist in 18 to 24 months.

In the next ten years, artificial intelligence (AI) will most likely transform all jobs.

No More Straight Line Career Paths

A shift in the market climate is on the horizon. Currency, collaboration, and contracts, among other things, will go digital and move at the speed of light.

The three climate changes will have a profound impact on ethics, community, geopolitics, politics, work, and education. A political choice between the "left" and "right" will result in governments that are responsive, adaptable, and quick.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Building A Storybrand by Donald Miller.

Companies tend to sell solutions to external problems, but customers buy solutions to internal problems. Building a StoryBrand is about making your customer the hero of a story.

The Key to Being Seen, Heard, and Understood

If we haven’t clarified our message, our customers won’t listen.

The more simple and more predictable the communication, the easier it is for the brain to digest.

The Two Mistakes Brands Make

There are two critical mistakes brands construct when talking about their products and services:

● They fail to focus on the aspects of their offer that will help people survive and thrive; and

● They cause their customers to burn too many calories in an effort to understand their offer.

● Make your company’s message that readers/viewers can understand without burning too many calories.

The Secret Weapon That Will Grow Your Business: The Hero's Story

What’s the essence of the Hero’s story?

● A CHARACTER who wants something encounters a PROBLEM before they can get it.

● At the peak of their despair, a GUIDE steps into their lives, gives them a PLAN, and CALLS THEM TO ACTION.

● That action helps them avoid FAILURE and ends in a SUCCESS.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson.

Understand your customer, and build your marketing framework.

Creating Your Movement

To create a movement, you need 3 things:

● An expert or guide

● A new opportunity

● A future-based cause that unites the tribe

● The expert offers someone a new opportunity and then guides them to a result with a future-based cause.

Finding Your Voice: The 5 phases to becoming an expert

1. The Dreamer: Fascination + Mastery = Passion 

2. Reporter: Learn everything there is to know about your topic from multiple perspectives

3. Framework Creator: identify patterns of success and create your own frameworks to help others achieve success.

4. Servant: test your framework on yourself first, then on others, to ensure it is perfect and produces results.

5. Start guiding others to their destination as an expert guide.

Free Audiobook summary of the book Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker.

Enlightenment Now is a thoroughly researched vision of human progress.

An Optimistic View Of The World

Wealth has increased not only in the West, but also globally, while poverty and inequality have decreased.

We still have issues to deal with, such as AI, terrorism, and the environment, but we must do so rationally.

Contrary to popular belief, the human story of the twenty-first century is one of progress, not misery.

Enlightenment Has Increased Wealth While Reducing Poverty and Inequality

Over 90% of the world's population lived in extreme poverty just 200 years ago. Today, that proportion is less than 10%. That's because global income tripled between 1820 and 1900. It had tripled again 50 years later, and a third time by 1984.

Even poorer, less developed countries, such as Rwanda and El Salvador, now double their income every 18 years. Every 35 years, wealthier countries do so.

A Rise In Income Benefits All

A common argument against the benefits of global income growth is that "only the rich get richer". This is not correct.

Inequality rises initially, then peaks and falls as income rises.

As a state's wealth grows, so does its spending on social benefit programmes.

Free Audiobook summary of the book The Startup Owners Manual by Bob Dorf and Steve Blank.

The organization can be confusing. The reader is guided step-by-step through the startup's necessary tasks in this book.

Getting Started

The traditional product roll-out method is completely inappropriate for startups. That process is appropriate when customers are known and the market is well-defined. This is not always the case for startups.

Customer development is therefore critical for startups, and the framework includes several stages.

The Customer Development Framework

● To learn more about your customers, develop hypotheses and test them with them.

● Test sales to see if customers will purchase and if you can scale up.

● Marketing: creating customers.

● A company-building strategy is to transition to a sustainable business.

The First Product: Customer Discovery

Startups should focus on developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for a small target market.

The goal of the MVP is to release a product so that early adopters can test it. By releasing an MVP, designers are forced to focus on core functions rather than gimmicks. After receiving customer feedback, the product can be improved.