Business

Over the last 20 years, I’ve spent half my time in Founder/CEO-mode and the other half in Philosopher-mode. Before going all in as a Philosopher, I built and sold two market-leading social platforms (raising $10m in the process). In this class, I share my Top 10 Ideas on how to create a great business and get paid to change the world. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, solopreneur, small business owner or leader in any organization, we hope you love it.

Alden Mills joins us as a guest teacher for this class! Drawing on over 25 years of high-performance leadership and team-building as a three-time Navy SEAL platoon commander and CEO of one of the INC Magazine’s fastest-growing consumer products companies in America, Alden illustrates his essentials for high-performance leadership and introduces us to 10 Big Ideas from his newest book, Unstoppable Teams, including his most successful leadership framework called C.A.R.E.

Peter Drucker is considered the father of modern management. This book was originally published in 1967. It’s *remarkably* well written and lucid. And, of course, packed with Big Ideas on how to optimize our effectiveness. We cover the 5 key practices/habits of the effective executive: time (first things first; second things never!), contribution (what can you contribute?), strengths (make yours productive; make weaknesses irrelevant), concentration (the secret to effectiveness), decisions (boundary conditions help).

I planned to read this book since Cal Newport referenced it in Deep Work. I finally did so in preparation to teach Productivity 101. It’s fantastic. If you’re a business leader or entrepreneur I think you’ll particularly enjoy it. Big Ideas we cover include the 4DX, the whirlwind, your Wildly Important Goals, Lag vs. Lead measures, the power of keeping score, and avoiding the blackhole of the magnificently trivial.

Ray Dalio is one of the most successful people alive. In fact, Time magazine says that he’s one of the 100 most influential people on the planet while Fortune magazine tells us his company (Bridgewater Associates) is the 5th most impactful private company in the U.S. and Forbes tells us that he’s one of the 100 wealthiest people on the planet. All of which makes Dalio, to use his words, “believable” when it comes to discussing how to get what we want in life and work. Enter: Principles. Big Ideas we explore: how to evolve, what’s most important, meet the shapers, Principles #1 (Embrace reality and deal with it) + #2 (5-Step process to getting what you want in life), and the two AI’s: Artificial Intelligence + Ancient Intelligence.

Dan Pink is a brilliant writer. His books have been translated into over 35 languages and have sold over 1 million copies in the US alone. We featured another one of his New York Times bestsellers called Drive. That one is all about “The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.” This one, as per the sub-title, is all about “The Surprising Truth About Moving Others.” The super-short story? Although only 1 in 9 of us technically earn our living as “salespeople,” we’re ALL in sales. In other words: To sell is human. Big Ideas explored include the new ABCs of sales: A is for Attunement, B is for Buoyancy, C is for Clarity) and how to master a servant-selling.

Little bets. Peter Sims tells us they’re a LOT wiser than bet-it-all-and-pray big bets. He shows us the wisdom of the little bets approach via fascinating stories highlighting the extraordinary success of everyone from Chris Rock mastering a performance to Pixar creating their ingenious films. Big Ideas we explore include how to build our growth mindset muscles, going from suck to unsuck, smallifying, creating small wins and doing things to discover things.

Shane Snow is a journalist and entrepreneur who takes us on a fascinating tour of “How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success.” The book is packed with stories capturing the ascent of everyone from young Presidents, Jimmy Fallon, and Elon Musk—and, of course, the “Smartcuts” they used to get there. Big Ideas we explore include: the power of progress, failure as feedback, creating a deep reservoir, stripping away the unnecessary and 10Xing our thinking.

I just love his no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point approach. His words pack a wise punch. We already profiled another one of his great books, The Total Money Makeover, and I’m excited to have some fun taking a quick peek at a few of my favorite Big Ideas from this equally great book: EntreLeadership, where he shares his best “practical business wisdom” he’s learned “from the trenches.” Big Ideas include understanding that you are the problem (and the solution!), the importance of passion and vision, and how it takes about fifteen years to be an overnight success. Good stuff!

I got this book after I saw General Stanley McChrystal’s blurb on the back of Ryan Holiday’s Lives of the Stoics. I read it in one 8.8-hour Deep Work-filled day. It’s fantastic. McChrystal uses Plutarch and his profiles of some of history’s most prominent figures as his inspiration and focuses on thirteen leaders in six pairs plus one standing alone. Almost all leadership books are prescriptive in nature. This book is not. Rather than make us believe that there’s a nice, simple recipe for leadership, McChrystal, Eggers and Mangone present us with the “myths” of leadership and the MUCH MESSIER “realities” of leadership. After the profiles of the thirteen leaders, the authors present the three myths of leadership and their new definition of leadership. We end the book with the sober recognition of just how complex, dynamic and context-specific good leadership is. It’s a challenging, important book that’s difficult to distill into a nice and tidy and practical 6-page Note but I’m excited to share some of my favorite Ideas as we all continue to step up into our own idiosyncratic expressions of Heroic leadership. So... Let’s get to work!

Kevin Kruse is a Forbes Leadership columnist and successful entrepreneur. He’s built and sold several multimillion dollar technology companies, winning both Inc 500 and Best Place to Work awards along the way. He’s also written a number of bestselling books. I got this book after a long-time student and Heroic Coach connected me with Kevin. Apparently my new friend was being interviewed by Kevin about his new book on creativity for a Forbes article. At the end of their chat, my new friend told Kevin that he should check out Heroic. And, apparently, he had JUST signed up for Heroic the day before. (Awesome.) This book, as per the sub-title and intro quote, is all about the top productivity habits of some of the world’s most productive and successful people. It’s written in a straight-forward, conversational style. There’s a reason it has over 1,400 reviews—it’s fantastic. It’s packed with Big Ideas. I’m excited to share some of my favorites so let’s jump straight in!

Alan Cohen is one of my favorite teachers and humans. We met after we both appeared in Finding Joe. I loved Alan’s laid-back intensity, wise energy and brilliant story telling. The sub-title captures the essence of this book perfectly: We all want to “prosper wildly” (in every sense of the word) and, obviously, none of us wants to “sell our soul” in the process. Big Ideas we explore include how to be a good spiritual sponge, letting the (spiritual) washing machine do its job, embrace your inner weirdo, the two paths of business, your soul's fire and dissolving the (apparent) work/life dichotomy.

Alden Mills is a three-time Navy SEAL platoon commander and the Founder/CEO of Perfect Fitness (which was one of Inc.’s fastest-growing companies in the country). He’s also the father of four boys, a great writer/storyteller and, most importantly, an inspiring human being. I loved Alden’s first book Be Unstoppable. This book (and the AMAZING Unstoppable Teams 101 class Alden created with us for our Optimizers!!) is packed with wisdom gleaned from Alden’s 25+ years of experience working with high-performing teams. It’s fantastic. Big Ideas we explore include a quick look at the CARE loop, the Whiner vs. the Whisperer (+ Samurai swords), The A in CARE, achieving over-the-horizon goals, and jumping headfirst into leading your unstoppable teams!

Darren Hardy is the publisher of SUCCESS magazine. His message is clear: We are living in the era of greatest opportunity in human history. There’s never been a better time to be an entrepreneur. NOW IS THE TIME to hop on the entrepreneur roller coaster. Big Ideas we explore include the importance of getting super freaky, practicing getting up after getting knocked down, setting the pace as an effective leader and remember it’s the fear of fear we fear.

Gary Vaynerchuk. Better known by those in the know as Gary Vee—the jumbo intense, uber-passionate entrepreneur/social media maven/investor extraordinaire who happens to have a strong opinion on everything! In this book, we get the best Ideas from his ##AskGaryVee show. It’s packed with Gary’s insights on everything from entrepreneurship to social media. Big Ideas we cover include Clouds and Dirt, Oxygen + DNA, Hustle, practicing the religion of adding value and being willing to suck.

The ONE Thing. What's yours? Gary Keller (his Keller-Williams real estate is THE largest real estate company in the world--I bet that was a ONE Thing goal at some point!) shares his wisdom in this BRILLIANT book. We'll have fun exploring a few of my favorite Big Ideas: dominoes + extreme Pareto and other goodness.

This classic has sold 15 million copies and was the first self-development book I read back in the day (1995 to be precise). In this Note, we'll take a quick look at all 7 Habits—from being proactive (huge!) to beginning with the end in mind, putting first things first, thinking win/win, seeking first to understand, synergizing and sharpening the saw. Lots of goodness here to help us develop our character to create our ideal lives as we most fully give ourselves to the world.

Stephen Covey passed away in 2012. This book was published posthumously and features a collection of wisdom focusing on the fact that private victory precedes public victory. Primary greatness. It’s all about what’s on the INSIDE. Covey tells us there are 12 levers of success—each with its own chapter in this great book. Big Ideas we explore include: Esse Quam Videri (“to BE rather than to seem”), Virtues: meet your parents, say “YES!,” your high-tech power saw and living in crescendo.

Doris Kearns Goodwin has been studying presidential history and leadership for five decades since she first became a professor at Harvard. She has won a Pulitzer Prize and her bestseller Team of Rivals was the basis for Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award–winning film Lincoln. In this book, she walks us through four case studies in leadership: Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson. If you enjoy studying leadership like I do, I think you’ll love this book as much as I did. Big Ideas we explore include the one quality all of our very different leaders possessed (hint: FIERCE AMBITION), Lincoln's commitment to growth ("I must die or be better"), the importance of a growth mindset, acquiring virtue Teddy Roosevelt style and the importance of finding ways to relieve stress.

James Kouzes and Barry Posner are two of the world’s preeminent researchers on leadership. This is the 25th anniversary, fifth edition version of their best-selling classic that has sold over 2 million copies. One of the things I most like about this book is the fact that it covers the SCIENCE of leadership. Kouzes and Posner have been conducting empirical research for over three decades. Big Ideas we explore: The 5 Practices (← key word!) of Exemplary Leaders, the foundation of leadership (= credibility which = …), Law #2: DWYSYWD, and the best-kept secret of leadership = …

Solitude. It’s the secret sauce to leadership. But... In their great book Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin tells us: “Solitude is a state of mind, a space where you can focus on your own thoughts without distraction, with a power to bring mind and soul together in clear-eyed conviction. Like a great wave that saturates everything in its path, however, handheld devices and other media now leave us awash with the thoughts of others. We are losing solitude without even realizing it.” Big Ideas we explore include the big 4 of solitude (clarity + creativity + emotional balance + moral courage), the threats from our "Input Age," how MLK and Eisenhower used solitude, FOMO (get over it!) and how to change the world (starting with YOU!).

John Maxwell is one of the world’s leading authorities on leadership. He’s trained millions (literally) of leaders and has written over 50 (!) books that have sold over 13 million copies—this one alone has sold over 3 million copies. After a super quick look at the 21 Laws, Big Ideas we explore: The Law of Process (aka: Leaders are learners), the foundation of leadership (= trust), leaders are practical AND visionary, the law of victory (!), and your legacy—what will people say when you die? + What’s your “life sentence”?

Warren Bennis is one of the world’s leading authorities on leadership. This is, as Peter Drucker puts it, his “most important book.” Big Ideas we explore include the basic ingredients of leadership (#1 = Guiding Vision!), the importance of self-invention (hint: write your own story!), the power of trusting ourselves, choosing to express ourselves rather than prove ourselves, how to cultivate trust, and becoming a world-class leader.

Robin Sharma is one of the world’s top leadership experts. He’s also an extraordinarily inspiring guy. This is an inspiring fable about a disillusioned former veteran (Blake) who meets a mysterious mentor (Tommy) who introduces him to four exceptional leaders who change his life. Via this fun cast of characters, Robin downloads his ENORMOUS array of wisdom on leadership + personal greatness. Big Ideas we explore: the four keys to leading without a title, how to flip the leadership switch, the power of moving thru fear and embracing adversity, a simple way to optimize your relationships, and training like an athlete to achieve your personal greatness.

Jocko Willink and Leif Babin were two of the most senior (and decorated) SEALS on the ground in the most intense battles of Iraq. In this book they share their leadership lessons on how U.S. Navy SEALs lead and win. It’s an intense, impactful read. Big Ideas we explore include a definition of Extreme Ownership, the fact that there are no bad teams, only bad leaders, how to prioritize and execute and remembering that discipline = freedom.

Jason Selk is one of the world’s leading peak performance experts. His tagline? “The relentless pursuit of greatness.” If that appeals to you, you’ll love this book. It’s *fantastic*! Big Ideas we explore include the difference between Process and Product Goals, a 100-second mental training workout, why your self-image matters and the REMARKABLE benefits of writing down your goals.

Colin Powell is a retired four-star general in the United States Army and has earned numerous military, civilian, and foreign honors. He served four presidential administrations in a variety of roles, most recently as Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. In this great book, he shares the wisdom he gained that, as per the title, worked for him in life and leadership. It's fantastic. Big Ideas we explore include a super-quick look at his Thirteen Rules, the power of perpetual optimism (it's a force multiplier!), starting with "It can be done" (but making sure we're optimists and not stupid :), entering the Zone of Calm (essential for a leader), the fact that good leaders know that good plans are revised immediately, and how to deal with fear and failure.

Todd Henry tells us that history’s most impactful humans all had a unique, powerful, authentic voice. This book is all about helping us harness the power of OUR authentic voice. Three keys: Identity + Vision + Mastery. And, we’ve gotta learn how to own the Big U as we run our own race, have fun in monk mode and practice action + patience.

Angela Duckworth is the world’s leading authority on the science of grit. In fact, she pioneered the field and, as Daniel Gilbert says on the cover: “Psychologists have spent decades searching for the secret of success, but Duckworth is the one who found it.” In this Note, we explore the two facets of grit (hint: passion + perseverance, why they’re important and how to cultivate them.

Gabriel Oettingen is one of the world’s leading researchers in “The New Science of Motivation.” The basic idea of the book is captured in a clever image on the cover: Rose colored glasses with one lens cracked. Oettingen walks us thru the compelling research that demonstrates the power of seeing both the positive AND the challenges. When we contrast our wishes with the obstacles to their attainment we, almost magically, catalyze an extraordinarily higher level of performance.

How’d you like the scientific low-down on how to effectively set goals and succeed? Well, Heidi Grant Halvorson, the young Positive Psychology superstar, gives you the goods in this awesome book. You might be surprised by what you learn. It’s not all about vision boards and visualization (obviously). In the Note, we’ll explore all kinds of Big Ideas, including the fact that we need to have a specific, difficult (but attainable) goal we believe we can achieve AND awareness of all the challenges that stand in our way. Powerful stuff.

Eric Butterworth is an amazing guy and this book really transformed my relationship to money. In the Note, we'll take a look at the fact that our goal shouldn't be to make money/acquire stuff but to achieve the level of consciousness through which abundance flows through our lives naturally. We'll look at the roots of the words affluence and security and prosperity along with some Big Ideas on how to merge our spirituality and our economics.

How'd you like to be a Wealth Warrior? Steve Chandler takes us on the personal prosperity revolution in this great book. In the Note we'll unpack the fact that it's ALL (!) about profound service, turning pro, converting your dreams into projects, making each day a masterpiece, exiting your comfort zone, and other such goodness.

Cal Newport decodes the pattern of finding work that inspires us and tells us, as per the sub-title, “Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love.” The title of the book comes from comedian Steve Martin’s advice to aspiring entertainers to “Be so good they can’t ignore you.”

Steve Chandler tells us “There is bad and there is good . . . And then there is crazy good." And, our path to living a crazy-good life is simple. It's all about CHOICES. As with all of Steve's books, this one is packed with wisdom. Big Ideas we cover include The 5% Solution, Systems vs. Dreams, Game vs. Shame, and making life an experiment.

Want to be fearless? Then you’ll love this book. And this Note. Steve Chandler is a funny guy. And, he’s brilliant. I really like that combo. :) We have Notes on two of his other great books: 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself + Time Warrior. All of Steve’s books are quick-reading, wisdom-packed gems that will make you laugh as you get your wisdom on. In this Note, we’ll have fun eliminating fear from our lives as we learn how to challenge fear thoughts, make tectonic shifts, and discover the secret of life. Good times!

This is our 7th Note on one of Steve Chandler's dozens of books. As with all his others, this one is written in his ineffably self-effacingly funny and witty and wise style. Big Ideas we cover include: Meeting the coolest new Sphere (Hint: YOU! Codename: CREATOR!), two questions to guide your life ("Given whatever's going on, what would you like to create?" Plus: "Who do you need to be to rock that?"), the power of severe pruning, relax (and just do your job), the checklist (how's yours?), and grow lights (remember: What you shine the spotlight of your attention on grows!!).

Darren Hardy is the Publisher of SUCCESS magazine and knows a thing or 1,000 about success. It's all boiled down into this little manifesto on The Compound Effect. The equation? Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = RADICAL DIFFERENCE. In the Note, we'll check out the power of compounding and how to welcome Mr. Mo to the party and create your greatest life.

This is the classic text on the psychology of persuasion. Robert Cialdini is a professor of both psychology and marketing at Arizona State University. He’s one of the world’s leading experts on the psychology of persuasion. The book is simultaneously kind of a consumer protection guide (how not to be duped) AND a manual for marketers (how to sell your stuff!). Cialdini has identified six core psychological principles of persuasion. We take a quick look at each, how they can be used for good or ill and how to apply the wisdom to our lives today.

Did you know there's a science of hope? Yep. And Shane Lopez is the world's leading researchig studying the science of hope. This book is an inspiring look at the nuts and bolts of cultivating hope. Big Ideas we explore include differentiating hope from fantastizing and dwelling, the three keys to hope (goals + agency + pathways) , futurecasting, sirens, when/where plans and why hope is so important for leadership.

William Damon is one of the world’s leading scientists studying human development and the psychology of morality. In this book, he gives us a guide to discovering and creating our noble purpose. Big Ideas we explore include making a distinction between noble and heroic, the ultimate purpose formula, 9 tips on how to cultivate your noble purpose, the one phrase your advisor should whisper in your ears when you’ve achieved ultimate success, and how to create true, sustainable happiness.

Wonder what the iconoclast’s brain looks like? Well, that’s what this book is all about. Our guide is Gregory Berns, one of the world’s leading pioneers (iconoclasts?) in the field of neuroeconomics. Berns is a professor in the department of Psychiatry and Economics and at the Goizeta Business School at Emory University. This book is a fascinating look at the three primary facets of the iconoclast’s brain (perception + courage + social skills), brought to life via research studies and biographical sketches of modern iconoclasts. Big Ideas we cover: how to change the way you see the world, how to control your fear and how to build your social skills (hint: be a good human).

Michael Eric Dyson is one of America’s premier public intellectuals and the author of a number of New York Times bestselling books. He’s also an ordained Baptist minister who got a Ph.D. in Religion from Princeton. And, he is a Professor of Sociology at Georgetown where he’s taught classes on “the fusion of politics, hip-hop and race relations” including “Sociology of Hip-Hop.” He’s also been teaching classes on JAY-Z and his poetry for years. I really enjoyed the book for a number of reasons. First, Michael is a brilliant, captivating writer. Second, JAY-Z is an equally brilliant, captivating subject for Michael’s analysis. And, finally, as a white man trying to open my eyes to the realities of the racial issues in our culture, I found this book to be a perfect opportunity to deepen my perspective while appreciating two genius artists at work. If that sounds like fun, I think you’ll enjoy the book as much as I did.

This is the third installment in 99U’s book series on the “missing curriculum” for creative leaders. Like the other two, it’s a collection of short essays by great leaders + creators + writers. The content is organized in four domains: 1) Defining your purpose + 2) Building your product + 3) Serving your customers + 4) Leading your team. Big Ideas we explore include purpose, eating your own dog food (aka making something YOU are excited to use), serving profoundly, character as your #1 asset and the power of just getting started!

Phil Knight created Nike. This book is a *phenomenally* well-written, funny, tear-jerking, inspiring look at how he and his eclectic team of misfit geniuses made Nike one of the most iconic brands in the world. If you’re into sports, business and hero’s journeys, you’ll love it. I highly recommend it. Big Ideas we explore include: Crazy Ideas, victory, billionaires getting their credit cards declined (before they’re billionaires), optimal business, gratitude, luck and answering your calling.

Russell Simmons. Part vegan-yogi. Part pop icon. 100% awesome. (And *really* funny. :) In PN - Volume I we did a Note on his great book Do You! and I’m excited to share some of my favorite Big Ideas from this fun weekend read as well. Favorites include getting on the right train, becoming a business yogi, the power of hard work, and cleaning out the junk mail in our minds!

Tom Morris is my favorite living philosopher. As a former Professor at Notre Dame with a dual Ph.D. in Religion and Philosophy, he blends old school, rigorous philosophy with amodern sense of fun. In this Note, we have fun getting our wisdom on with his “7 C’s of Success”: Conception, Confidence, Concentration, Consistency, Commitment, Character and a Capacity to Enjoy. Good times.

Would you like to be the greatest version of you? Og Mandino's classic can help with that. The best selling book on sales ever written is really a fun fable about how to achieve success in any/ever domain. In the Note, we unroll the "10 ancient scrolls" of wisdom to discover that obstacles are our friends, good habits are essential and other such goodness.

Continuing our chat about How to Prosper, let’s talk about another facet of our session on the subject with our Mastery-Coaches.

In our last +1, we took a very quick, high-level look at the growing recognition of the fact that businesses can (and I’d say must!) be used as a force for good.

In our last couple +1s, we opened up The Economist and chatted about the rise of purpose-driven businesses in general and Public Benefit Corporations in particular.

John Mackey created Whole Foods Market and captured the principles of how he deliberately created a purpose-driven business at scale in his great book Conscious Capitalism.

Jim Collins is arguably the greatest business thinker alive. He’s written classics like Good to Great, Built to Last and Great by Choice in which he applies rigorous research to what makes great companies great.

Brian Tracy is one of my favorite old-school self-development teachers. I can still remember listening to his CDs back in the day when I was first getting into all this stuff. And, we’ve covered a number of his books including Maximum Achievement, Eat that Frog, Goals!, Focal Point and No Excuses.

In our last +1, we talked about Phil Stutz’ great phrase: “Endlessly evolving process.”

In our last +1, we talked about setting your “work-down” alarm so you don’t need to set a “wake-up” alarm. (For what time did you set YOUR alarm? :)

When I worked with Steve Chandler, one of the themes of our work together was “creating wealth through profound service.”

Peter Drucker is known as the “Father of Modern Management.” Basically, he was the greatest business thinker of the 20th century.

In our last +1, we talked about mastering Ownish and noticing when we slip into Victimese. (We also talked about going all in and mastering the dialect of Extreme Ownish—which, I’m told, is where it’s REALLY at. 🤓)

Steve Chandler has a new book called CREATOR. It’s awesome.

In our last +1, we did some severe pruning with Steve Chandler and Ralph Waldo Emerson. (How’d that go for you? More specifically: What went for you? 🤓)

Way back in the day, we talked about Rick Snyder’s wisdom on The Science of Hope.

In our last couple +1s, we took a quick look at some of my recent attempts to cool-ify and kid-ify the idea that delaying gratification via saving/investing money is awesome. 🤓

In our last +1, we revisited our Spiritual Economics dictionary to redefine some key terms. Specifically: Affluence + Security + Prosperity.

Not too long ago we talked about the fact that the word prosperity literally means “to go forward with hope.”

Not too long ago, we hung out with my friend Tripp Lanier who helped us gain perspective via a little thought exercise that included us looking through the Hubble telescope at distant galaxies.

Marcus Aurelius once wrote to himself in the journal he never intended to publish that we now know as Meditations that “The impediment to action advances the action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

Vice Admiral James Stockdale was shot down during the Vietnam War. He spent seven and a half years in a brutal prison camp. He spent four of those years in solitary confinement and two years in leg irons. He was tortured fifteen times.

So, let’s say you’ve decided to embark on a heroic quest. It’s time for you to leave the normal, routine life and really go for it—stretching yourself to dare greatly and do what you’re here to do.

Let’s talk some more about how to become Antifragile.

In our last couple +1s, we’ve been talking about Agency. I promised we’d get into how The Power of Agency guys tell us we can build our agency.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the whole idea of “neutral” thinking since I first read about it in Trevor Moawad’s It Takes What It Takes.

Josh Waitzkin is a fascinating guy. You know that movie Searching for Bobby Fisher featuring a little chess prodigy kid?

In our last +1, we entered our World Champion You Training Camp.

Georges St-Pierre is one of the greatest mixed martial artists in the world. Ever.

Imagine this: It’s your first day of art class. You signed up for an intro class on pottery. (Nice! Go you!)

Ray Dalio is one of the most successful people alive. Time magazine says he’s one of the 100 most influential people on the planet while Fortune magazine says his company (Bridgewater Associates) is the fifth most important private company in the U.S. and Forbes tells us he’s one of the 100 wealthiest people alive.

Ray Dalio shares a ton of wisdom in his epic book Principles. Here’s an idea I come back to often in my coaching sessions and in my own strategic thinking.

In our last +1, we talked about zero-based thinking and reflected on the powerful question of asking ourselves whether, knowing what we now know, we’d have started doing some of the things we’re doing.

In our last +1, we met one of my heroes, Mrs. Kristie Kuehnast. I smile with joy (and in awe) every time I imagine her fifth-grade students coming back into the classroom after their mile run to sit down and watch a new +1.

Matt McCall is one of the leading venture capitalists in the world. He also happens to be a friend and advisor and personal investor in Heroic. (And, perhaps most importantly, his license plate says “KARMA” which I think is pretty epically cool.)

Peter Drucker is considered the father of modern management. The greatest business thinker of the 20th century.

We’re on the home stretch of our quick sprint through Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits.

As we’ve discussed a few times, I went to UCLA. First generation college student. Studied Psychology and Business.

This morning I’ve been working on a Gordian Knot in our business.

Continuing our theme of spending time with some of the best productivity thinkers on the planet, let’s cruise on over to Harvard Business School and spend some time with its head of research, Teresa Amabile.

Alison Wood Brooks is a researcher at Harvard Business School. She studies the most effective strategy for dealing with acute stress.

The other day I was reading a great book called Company of One by Paul Jarvis. Sub-title: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business. Alexandra got it for me. (Thanks, Darling! 😘)

​​A few +1s ago, we had fun chatting about the starting and finish lines of my first business, eteamz.

In our last few +1s, we took a very quick, high-level look at the growing recognition of the fact that businesses can (and I’d say must!) be used as a force for good.

Today we’re going to talk about ink blobs and emptiness.

Continuing our Antifragile theme, let’s talk about another way Nassim Taleb tells us to approach things if we want to avoid being fragile. He’s using this example in the context of investing but I love to apply it to EVERYTHING.

A couple +1s ago, we talked about the power of buoyancy and the optimal ratio of positive to negative.

In our last +1, we talked about Twyla Tharp’s great book The Creative Habit. In addition to seeing who she thinks wins the philosophical tug of war on what makes people creative (effort for the win!), we also talked about establishing our own creative habit of doing some Pre-Input Deep Work every morning.

In our last +1, we hung out with Mister Rogers and his barrelful of songs.

Not too long ago, we spent some time with my Yoda (aka Phil Stutz) and he taught us the power of what he calls “stringing pearls.” (It was Part 2 in our Yoda’s Law of Action series. 🤓)

Continuing our Productivity 101 theme, here’s another gem from the 4DX guys.

Daily Rituals is a fascinating book that features brief vignettes of the idiosyncratic habits of 161 of history’s most iconoclastic writers, scientists and other great thinkers—ranging from W.H. Auden, Charles Darwin and Carl Jung to Stephen King, Benjamin Franklin and Mozart.

Gay Hendricks tells us that we need to make a big leap into our Genius Zone.

Many moons ago, very early in our +1 journey together, we talked about Gay Hendricks’ wisdom on your Genius Zone.

A couple +1s ago, we had some fun hanging out with Trevor Moawad and discussed some wisdom from his great book: It Takes What It Takes.

Today’s Day 1 of our Heroic Mastery Series and Coach-Class II certification programs.

In The Science of Getting Rich (best title ever?), Wallace D. Wattles (definitely best name ever) tells us that, if we want to enjoy the process of creating abundance in every facet of our lives, we need to make sure we focus on CREATING not COMPETING.

In our last +1, we talked about the importance of goals as they relate to having high hope.

Back in the day, we chatted about Cal Newport’s Deep Work Equation.

In our last few +1s, we’ve been spending some time with world-class fear wolf-tamer, Mark Divine as we explore wisdom from his new book Staring Down the Wolf.

In our last +1, we spent some time with an Academy Award-nominated documentarian who reminded us that we need to be willing to fail.

Matt Fitzgerald wrote a great book called How Bad Do You Want It?

In Born for This, Chris Guillebeau tells us that, according to legend, Warren Buffet once gave a struggling friend a three steps process for setting goals. Here’s the quick look.

In our last +1, we spent some time with Tim Ferriss, setting some unusually large goals and thinking about the fact that those jumbo goals can often be, paradoxically, easier to reach than the “realistic” goals that everyone else is going after.

Continuing our abundance theme, let’s talk about WHY we may be trying to make money and create wealth.

In our last +1, we briefly chatted about John Harrison’s decades-long (!!!) quest to bring the world precision timekeeping.

In our last +1, we had fun hopping in the Optimizing River of Flexibility for a little CANOE-ing fun. (Constant And Never-ending Optimizing Experimentation for the (joyful!) win!!)