From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
All these prongs matter for happiness, and they're all interventions we can try, regardless of our circumstances or genetic background. They're simple changes that can really improve our well-being.
That constant re-entry back into who we are if we're acting like someone, we're not is laborious and exhausting to do over and over.
Markets have an incredible capacity to forget, so who knows if it will stay like that… Markets forget, they get over-leveraged, they extend themselves, we will see other bubbles.
We spend a huge amount of our lives away from the immediacy of our existence, lost in reflections on the past or anxieties of the future. This misadventure in episodic memory takes a huge toll on us, leading to stress, anxiety, depression and exacerbating a range of complex medical and psychological conditions we may have.
Every soldier who enters the military knows what makes the grass grow. Civilians are like, 'okay… sun? Water? Photosynthesis?…' for us? Its blood, we say the bright red blood makes the green grass grow.
You're not going to be a warrior in battle unless you are a warrior in preparation. You have to be single-minded, you can't just show-up on the night.
You can't control what happens to you, you can only control how you react to it. So, focusing on what's in your control and accepting for the time being what's beyond your control is a really useful therapeutic idea.
I think everyone should meditate. It's important to relax your brain and body, even just 10 minutes a day. You can do a lot to protect and build your immune system by controlling your stress and living a well-rounded life.
Songs are like a cleanse for the nervous system. I put on She's Always a Woman by Billy Joel and I just suddenly felt psychologically lifted. There's something in the essence of this song… it's not just beats and energy. It felt this song was filled with beauty, mystery, and love.
There's a disease shared between individuals who consider themselves the smartest people in the room that makes them think they'll be the ones that get out just in time, while others are left holding the bag. That was true for a few people, but in general… someone will always be left holding the bag.
Emotional intelligence however is a skill that is learned and learnable. We learn it in life- and we can be trained in it. It's not enough to have someone come and talk to your team about why it's important however, it's something that needs practice, something that you have to work at.
We are held back by our deep, underlying fears. Fears of rejection, fears of being the imposter. We need to reframe these fears and work on regret minimisation. If you didn't take that action, spark up that conversation, or try that idea, would you regret it?