From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
I've done what society tells you is successful, only to feel really empty and alone inside. True success is the discovery of your authentic self—discovering who you are before any wounding, trauma, or limitations were created in your life's journey.
If you tap out the rhythm to a familiar song, say 'happy birthday…' how often do you think that someone listening to your taps will guess the song? The person tapping usually guesses about 50%, but in reality, it's about 2.5%! You are assuming the other person can hear the song you are tapping!
We often have this flawed, broken principle of perfection put on us from a very young age that we must be perfect as people. No-one is perfect. In fact, we are perfectly imperfect.
For the first time in over 20 years, I feel brown… I find myself being extra careful in terms of how I dress, where I go, how I speak, what I carry and how I behave; not to conform to any new social norms- but rather, so that people don't mistake me for a terrorist.
Most great sellers and leaders figure out the things they love about their job – what they would do for free – and set up the infrastructure to intentionally avoid the parts that force them to show up inauthentically.
This essence is an inner necessity that yearns to be expressed. When you allow this essence to shine through, it rejuvenates you. It fosters creativity, energy, and imagination. However, when you suppress it, feelings of depletion, exhaustion, and burnout take over.
Since we started really living these tools, we are now better at uncertainty than we were even two years ago. You can't go back to believing that it's too risky, you've got to keep going.
The greatest leaders have humility. A good leader is a humble leader. A good leader listens to people, gets other inputs, admits when they're wrong… and that boils down to humility; it's the single most important characteristic that I see in leaders.
Our brain was designed for survival and was developed in the 99.9% of human history that occurred before culture and civilisation. As a result, there are situations in our lives today where the brain doesn't work so-well. We call this an emotional hijack.
If you see less poor people in the streets, and abandoned children, it makes you feel better- and that helps us to build a more independent attitude in foreign policy. That, again, has feedback in Brazil- making people more confident feeling that we don't always have to say yes to whatever is presented.
The human mind can shape itself – the human mind can take itself as an object and change – no other living creature on the planet can do that, and it gives me tremendous optimism.
It hurts to be on the stage, and it can be scary, and it can be really, really gut-wrenching. But if deep down in your heart the problem you're trying to solve is something that is so important to you, that will erase the noise of the millions of voices in the arena.