Psychology

We all have inertia in life, the more comfortable we are, the harder it is to change. One of the best pieces of advice I got was from Dr. Paul Hersey, I was working for him, and he said, '…you're making too much money, your clients are happy, that's your problem… you're not going to be who you could be…' I was comfortable – inertia had set-in, I was re-living the same day repeatedly. It was a nice day, but I wasn't going anyplace.

World's Most Cited Executive Coach & Leadership Development Expert

Conspiracy theories not only explain things, but they also explain things in a way that are a lot more interesting and entertaining and purposeful that gives people meaning than that regular life which is usually boring.

Founder of The Skeptics Society & Science Communicator

The more people that must be involved, the less likely the theory is to be true. A couple of people could pull it off, hundreds or thousands of people would have to be involved, and it's not likely because we would hear about it.

Founder of The Skeptics Society & Science Communicator

Education attenuates conspiracism such as those without a high school diploma are twice as likely to believe conspiracy theories than people with a graduate degree. But 1 in 5 people with a graduate degree believe in conspiracy theories, which is 20% – that is a high number.

Founder of The Skeptics Society & Science Communicator

Nothing happens by accident, everything is connected, and there are no coincidences: that is the essence of conspiratorial thinking.

Founder of The Skeptics Society & Science Communicator

Despite every adversity, never give up on your dreams. I am living proof that having been born and brought up in the smallest country in the Southern Hemisphere, it is possible to fulfil your ambition and succeed despite seemingly insurmountable odds.

British actor known for Withnail and I and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

My wife quipped that we're all going to die and it just happened to be her turn. Her pragmatic and humorous attitude was a guide as to how to accept what is unchangeable and inevitable.

British actor known for Withnail and I and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Built into her edict, is not to feel any guilt if you find happiness or joy after her death. That is an extraordinarily generous piece of advice.

British actor known for Withnail and I and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Four days before she died, she challenged my daughter and I to try and find a pocketful of happiness in each day, which has become the mantra by which we navigate the abyss of grief, following her death. I don't think you ever get over grief, you just have to find a way to accommodate and travel around it.

British actor known for Withnail and I and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I began a conversation with my future wife in January 1983 and 38 years later, that conversation ended when she drew her last breath at 7.30 in the evening on the 2nd of September 2021. To be truly and completely seen, understood and loved by another Human Being, was her greatest gift to me.

British actor known for Withnail and I and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

A less experienced, less comfortable, version of myself would get angry and then realise they were angry. The meditative version of me can anticipate when I'm going to get angry- and then, it becomes a choice. Do you want to be angry? Or have a different attitude? It's been enormously powerful, and I've been doing it for 8 years.

Entrepreneurship is not for everybody, and it's also worth noting that you're not entitled to be a great entrepreneur. You're not entitled to be successful if you start a company, in fact the most likely outcome is that you won't be. Sometimes I meet founders and entrepreneurs who complain about how hard their fundraising or engineering challenges are… Guess what… yes…. It's really f***ing hard. That's the truth.

As a leader, you must evolve with the role. When I was 22, 23, 24, I was learning what it meant to be an entrepreneur and a CEO, it felt like I was spinning out of control. My identity, and that of the company, were one-and-the=same, and that's not just inaccurate, it's unhealthy. Once I was able to separate my identity from the business, it got me really focussed on how I could become a better leader.

I'm not saying that we should take-on less stress… the problem with the narratives around hustle-culture is that these narratives operate on one paradigm… you should either be working really hard, nor not working too hard.. that's a really primitive conversation. To be successful, you have to overcome a level of stress that would break most people. Building a company is not a sprint, it's a marathon… if you look at the world's best marathon runners, they're running in 4 minute miles. You have to learn how to take on an incredible amount of stress, and sustain it for a really long time.

anybody who's in wonderhell will know what that word means the second they see the word.

I went to see a psychiatrists and was like 'I think there's something wrong with my brain'. He diagnosed me fairly quickly as being a born overachiever. Born overachievement complex was my issue, and he said we can work on that. I said overachievement? That's a feature, not a bug. He's like yeah but it's not tenable. And I said no, no, I'm fine, I'm totally fine and he countered with the checkmate of 'but you're here'.