What You Will Learn

The alarm goes off at 6am. Without conscious thought your hand shoots out and hits snooze... A 10 minute reprieve. You tentatively slip a foot out from under the covers. You open one eye. Still dark out.Now you face a choice: You could sit up, switch on the light and start grinding your brain into gear, prod your groggy grey matter to search out three things you're grateful for so you can write them down. You could then fire up the machinery of tired legs, hips, and back to crane yourself out of bed and go do the 20 sit-ups you promised you'd do every day and then read 10 pages of a book.When you said that, did you even mean Saturdays? Today is Saturday? You yawn. Or you could slip down under the sheets and catch some more Z's. No, that's lazy. Compromise, flip on the news. Catch up on that unfolding juicy political scandal, see what's happening with the manhunt for the murderer of the week. You reach for the remote.And you just set the direction your life will take.The single most important thing about The S

On the slope of Long's Peak in Colorado lies the ruin of a gigantic tree. Naturalists tell us that it stood for 400 years. During the course of its long life it was struck by lightning fourteen times, hit by avalanches, bushfires and storms of four centuries. It survived them all.In the end, however, an army of beetles attacked at the tree and levelled it to the ground. The insects ate their way through the bark and gradually destroyed the inner strength of the tree by their tiny but incessant attacks.Like this magnificent tree, it isn't the big events that necessarily take us down. It is usually the small nagging little worries that have the ability to eat us from the inside out. In this episode we talk about how to stop these nagging little worries, change our perceptions about the world and make the most of bad situations.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We spoke with David Epstein, author of 'Range' and 'The Sports Gene'.  Range is AA's favourite book of 2020 so far, and we only got to scratch the surface in our book summary episode. In this interview with the author, we speak about: how you should focus on skill development rather than comparing yourself to others around you, not settling for a career you're not in love with because you feel like you're in a rush to achieve things quickly, and stories about how low-level engineers became world famous inventors and how creators with a broad range of practical experiences were able to produce international blockbusters.  See more from David Epstein on his website: https://davidepstein.com/  Check out our favourite bits of the book 'Range' here: https://whatyouwilllearn.com/book/range/  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Range - by David Epstein'How Generalists Triumph In A Specialised World' There are two paths to success. One is 'specialisation': committing to a field early, getting a head start on your peers, rigorous deliberate practice, refining a narrow focus on specific skills. This approach is popularised in many books and many biographies. But the other approach is 'generalisation'. This means going wide not deep, going through an early 'sampling period' where you test a lot of different potential paths forward, then recognising that switching careers later in life isn't career suicide but you can actually combine different ideas from different fields to get an advantage.  Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Range-David-Epstein/9780593084496/?a_aid=adamsbooks    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The pressure around the world has been turned up. In the short term (finite game) you can't deny the pain that many are going through. But looking at it through a longer-term perspective (infinite game) it is a hurdle that could offer opportunities for reinvention. "It is just reality that many businesses will fail, they will go bankrupt... The ones who will survive are the ones that don't try and double down on their old business models, but attempt to reinvent their business models." We chat with Simon Sinek (author of Start With Why and The Infinite Game) about how individuals, businesses and leaders can get through the health and financial implications of COVID-19. Full transcript of the interview can be found here: https://whatyouwilllearn.com/simon-sinek/  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Infinite Game - by Simon SinekThere are two types of games: finite and infinite. Finite games have clearly defined rules and boundaries, and all players know what the objectives are and what they need to do to win. Infinite games have no clear rules and there is no winning or losing - the only objective is to keep playing. Business is an infinite game, but too many companies are playing with a finite mindset.In this episode, we'll talk about the five essential practices for cultivating an infinite mindset. These lessons are crucial to the times we're living through right now. Stay tuned for a special interview coming this week ;)   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is a book that everyone needs to read. The habits aren’t specific to an industry or a point in time, these are pervasive habits that you should constantly be practicing and applying. When we first read this book it shot straight to our #1 and it stayed there for years – it was very hard to knock off top spot.The seven habits are grouped: the first three habits for them 'private victory' (the things that relate to you as an individual – personal effectiveness), the next three are the 'public victory' (how you interact with others and the world – interpersonal effectiveness), and the final is an overarching call to be constantly learning, growing and improving.  Private Victory:Habit 1 - Be ProactiveHabit 2 - Begin with the End in MindHabit 3 - Put First Things First Public Victory:Habit 4 - Think Win/WinHabit 5 - Seek First to Understand, Then to be UnderstoodHabit 6 - Synergise Balanced Self-Renewal:Habit 7 - Sharpen The Saw  See acast.

The Paradox of Choice - by Barry Schwartz'Why Less Is More' or 'How the culture of abundance robs us of satisfaction' Barry Schwartz is the author of The Paradox of Choice. One day, went to the store to buy a new pair of jeans. He said to the store person that he wanted a pair of blue jeans: 32 waist, 28 leg. She asked – do you want them stone washed, acid washed, torn, distressed? do you want zip fly or button fly? do you want them faded or regular? do you want them slim fit, easy fit, or relaxed fit? straight leg, skinny leg or extra baggy?Barry just wanted “the regular kind”, but there’s no such thing any moreBuying jeans is a trivial matter, but its indicative of a much greater theme in the world today. When people have NO choice it becomes restrictive and unbearable. As choices increase, we feel a sense of autonomy, control, and liberation – variety brings us a feeling of power and positivity. BUT, as the number of choices KEEPS growing more and more, there are negative aspects of having TOO MANY ch

Big Magic - by Elizabeth Gilbert'Creative Living Beyond Fear' In Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert refers to magic, literally like in the Hogwarts sense. She is referring to the supernatural, the mystical, inexplicable, the surreal, the divine, the transcendent, the otherworldly. Because the truth is, she believes that creativity is a force of enchantment that is not entirely human in its origins. Gilbert believes that our planet is inhabited not only by animals and plants and bacteria and viruses but also by ideas. Ideas are driven by a single impulse: to be made manifest, and the only way an idea can be made manifest is through human efforts that an idea can be escorted out of the ether and in the realm of the material. Therefore ideas spend eternity swirling around us searching for available and willing human partners. When an idea thinks it found somebody (like you) who might be able to bring it into the world, the idea will visit you and it will try to get your attention.   

Your career, finances, reputation, love life, even the fate of your kids - at some point all hinge on your ability to negotiate.Chris Voss spent more than two decades at the FBI, including 15 years negotiating hostage situations from New York to the Philippines and the Middle East. At any time there are 10,000 people in the FBI, but only one lead international kidnapping negotiator. Soon he discovered these skills from the FBI worked everywhere. It turned out that the approach to negotiation held the keys to unlock profitable human interactions in every domain and every interaction and relationship in life. This book is how it works.We've already reviewed Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury, a ground-breaking book that had a step by step logical negotiation procedure for a win-win outcome. But if you've been listening for a while, you'd know that human beings aren't logical or rational. Feeling is a form of thinking. Conducting negotiations based on logical concepts without the tools to r

Principles - by Ray Dalio Over the course of our lives we make millions of decisions, essentially bets, some large and some small. It pays to think about how we make them because they ultimately determine the quality of our lives. Ray Dalio is an American billionaire investor, hedge fund manager and philanthropist. Ray Dalio wrote a set of principles to help with his daily decisions which many have a similar rhyme that can be executed via a set of principles. In this episode we cover: embrace reality and deal with it, being radically open minded and understanding that people are wired differently. This episode is sponsored by 99 Designs. If you'd like $20 off and a free $99 upgrade for your first contest, head to: http://99designs.com/whatyouwilllearn   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A Brief History of time is a popular science book on cosmology written by Stephen Hawking. It is a book for readers who have no knowledge of the universe and are curious to learn more about science. In this episode we'll talk about  Space and Time, Black Holes, The Expanding Universe and the Universe and Meaning.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Seth Godin is back for round 2.    We drill into the choices we make - to take responsibility or relinquish it, to be generous or follow the script, to try something new or stick to the job description.    We also spoke about the importance of REAL skills (some people call them ‘soft skills’). 'Hard Skills’ are the essential ticket you need to get a seat at the table - for you it may be coding, or doing engineering computations, or knowing how to use google analytics or post facebook ads. But these just get you in the door - they don’t make you indispensable. What sets you apart from the masses are the soft skills - being able to influence a decision, solving problems, engaging with a troublesome customer, comforting a colleague after a difficult meeting, and so on.    Check out everything Seth has to offer: https://akimbo.com/ Be a part of the next Real Skills Conference: https://realskillsconference.com/ Read Seth’s daily blog: https://seths.blog/   Download our free ’Top 50 Best Book of All Time’ document,

Our world is filled with factories. Factories that make widgets, insurance, websites, movies, take care of sick people and answer the phone. You can become a great factory worker if you pay attention in school, follow instructions, show up on time and try hard and in return they would take care of you. You won't have to be brilliant, creative or to take big risks. The factories would pay you a lot of money, give you health insurance and offer you job security. It's a pretty seductive bargain, so seductive for that century, we embraced it. We set up our school and our systems and our government to support that bargain.   For a long time it worked, but in the face of competition and technology, the bargain has fallen apart: job growth is flat at best, wages in many industries are on a negative cycle, the middle class is under siege like never before, and the future appears dismal. People are no longer being taken care of: pensions are gone, 401ks have been sliced in half and it’s hard to see where to go from

The Power of Habit - by Charles Duhigg "Why we do what we do in life and business" William James wrote in 1892: "All of our life so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits". Most of the choices we make each day may feel like the products of well-considered decision making, but they're not - they're habits. Though each habit means very little on its own, over time, the meals we order, what we say to the kids each night, what we spend and the way we organise our thoughts have enormous impacts on our health, productivity, financial security and happiness. Habit Change follows a 3 step loop First there is a CUE, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use Second there is the ROUTINE, which can be physical or mental or emotional Finally there is the REWARD, which helps your brain figure out of this particular loop is worth remembering for the future In almost every experiment, researches have found habits are powerful but delicate. They can emerge outside of our

Mindset - by Dr Carol S Dweck 'Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential'   This book is about one pervasive view we adopt for ourselves and our abilities: we either have a 'fixed mindset' or a 'growth mindset'. Those with the fixed mindset believe that we have a natural level of talent or ability that we are born with and cannot change, whereas those with a growth mindset believe that everything can be learned and improved upon. These 'mindsets' rear their heads in business, sport, relationships. This simple distinction becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and permeates all aspects of our lives, from the way we view failures, to the success we achieve, to how we view effort, and everything in between. Read this book. Adopt a growth mindset. Apply it to all areas of your life. Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Mindset-Carol-S-Dweck/9780345472328/?a_aid=adamsbooks  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Emotional Intelligence - by Daniel Goleman 'Why it can matter more than IQ: The groundbreaking book that redefines what it means to be smart'   Emotional Intelligence is a guide to making sense of the senselessness. Daniel Goleman worked as a psychologist first then as a journalist for the NYT, and has been tracking the progress of our understanding of the realm of irrationality. From this position, he's been seeing two growing trends: one portraying a growing calamity in our shared emotional life, the other offering some helpful remedies. This book is all about the latter – offering ideas about how we can understand ourselves better, manage our own emotions, and use empathy to better understand the feelings and emotions of the people around us. The book will show you why EQ  indeed trumps IQ in the modern world. There are 5 elements to emotional intelligence: 1. Self-Awareness 2. Managing Emotions 3. Motivating Oneself 4. Recognizing Emotions in Others 5. Handling Relationships  See acast.com/priva

This is Part 3 of our 3-part series on 'Mastery' by Robert Greene. Now that we've discovered our calling in part 1, then went through an apprenticeship in part 2, it's time to bring in creativity to make something new and original and masterful. Using historical examples, Greene gives us some strategies for developing something unique.  If you're just discovering this episode, you might want to check out the previous two episodes first to lay the foundations: Part 1 = Discover Your Calling Part 2 = The Apprenticeship Part 3 = Unleashing Creativity   Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Mastery-Robert-Greene/9781781250914/?a_aid=adamsbooks  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

All of us are born with an essentially similar brain, with more or less the same configuration and potential for mastery. Why is it then that in history only a limited number of people seem to truly excel and realize this potential power? In today's episode we cover part 2 of our 3-part series, The Apprenticeship phase. We will learn about the 3 Modes of the Apprenticeship Phase, strategies for completing the ideal apprenticeship, and the Mentor dynamic.   Part 1 = Discover Your Calling (previous episode) Part 2 = The Apprenticeship (this episode) Part 3 = Unleashing Creativity (next episode)   Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Mastery-Robert-Greene/9781781250914/?a_aid=adamsbooks  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Robert Greene has done it again with Mastery.  All of us are born with an essentially similar brain, with more or less the same configuration and potential for mastery. Why is it then that in history only a limited number of people seem to truly excel and realise this potential power? We are a one time phenomenon in the universe - our exact genetic makeup has never occurred before nor will it ever be repeated. At your birth a seed is planted, that is your uniqueness.  This is Part 1 of our 3-part series, in this episode you'll learn about how to develop your uniqueness and find Your Life's Task.   Part 1 = Discover Your Calling Part 2 = The Apprenticeship Part 3 = Unleashing Creativity   Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Mastery-Robert-Greene/9781781250914/?a_aid=adamsbooks  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.