I read a lot of articles online that state things like “Practice gratitude to be more happy” or “Meditate for positivity”. I think that it can be misleading to suggest that it’s one or two key things or silver bullets that will bring you closer to happiness. I think there’s a lot of ingredients that work together for your positivity. I think that having overflowing, rambunctious levels of positivity are key to feeling super happy. I think that to get these levels of positivity means that three things in your life are firing on all cylinders. You must have a healthy body, a healthy mind, and a healthy soul. Healthy body Overall good health, so no illnesses, regular pain etc Excellent cardio fitness (eg. the ability to run fast for decent lengths of time) Physical strength (lifting heavy weights with compound exercises and progressive overload) Excellent flexibility (through pilates and …[Read More]
Customer service is a rarely-deployed competitive advantage
No matter what you buy, whether it’s a product or a service, customer service will be an element in your overall experience. That customer service can be great or terrible, or most of the time, somewhere in between. That range is something I don’t understand because customer service is surely something that the product or service provider can control. You can choose to smile warmly when you serve coffee or you can be grumpy and spill coffee on the table. I bet that you can remember on one hand how many great customer experiences you’ve had this year. Which is pretty shocking given how many interactions we must have had as customers. The ones that stand out to me are airline cabin crew (of good airlines like Cathay Pacific) and the best customer service I’ve ever experienced which was at the Covent Garden branch of Aesop. It was so good …[Read More]
“Legacy – What the All Blacks can teach us about the business of life” by James Kerr
The All Blacks are probably the most consistently successful team in history, having dominated Rugby Union for decades, perhaps almost a century. In the professional era, they have a win rate of 86%. James Kerr is an author who was embedded with the All Blacks for 5 weeks. It’s written so lyrically and with such pathos, that it’s almost like poetry. He weaves powerful Maori proverbs into All Black sayings and shows how these teachings can enrich and guide us in life. Maori believe that the haka draws up tipuna, our ancestors, from the earth to the soul. It summons them to aid us in our struggle here on earth with the sound of ngunguru, the low rumble of an earthquake: Tis death! Tis death! I may die! I may die! Tis life! Tis Life! I might live! I might live! Chapter 1 – Character Waibo ma te tangata e …[Read More]
Getting fit for fatherhood
I’m 40 and just about to become a dad for the first time. I’m told that I need to work on my core and my lower back strength because there’s going to be a lot of lifting and a lot of bending over. I have a glass back these days so this prospect scares me a bit! After poo-pooing it for a long time, I’ve signed up to my first pilates class at my local gym. I’m expecting to be terrible at it but hoping it gives me a much stronger core. I’ve upped my speed work on the treadmills and trying to run faster instead of just steady-state 30 mins runs and I’m definitely feeling the benefits of extra lung capacity when I’m breathing in and out. I’m still doing the same upper body workouts on the machines. 85kg on the chest press, 70kg on the pull-down, and 90kg …[Read More]
4 speeches to put fire in your belly and put hairs on your chest
These speeches will make you stand a little taller, with your chin held up, with your chest puffed that bit further out. And put fire in your belly and hairs on your chest. I watch these whenever I need inspiration and some courage. Hopefully, they give you some too! Al Pacino’s speech in Scent of a Woman (1992) If you haven’t seen this film yet, then watch it before this humdinger of an ending speech. For a very useful transcipt of the Pacino’s barnstorming speech, see this link from American Rhetoric. Arnie’s 6 Rules of Success Arnie is the man. Plain and simple. Champion bodybuilder, self-made millionaire businessman, blockbuster A-list acting legend, Governor of California, all-round great guy. Listen to this. Rocky’s speech to his son in Rocky Balboa (2006) Every Rocky film (except Rocky V of course) has made me cry. Floods of tears. The final struggle of the …[Read More]