A Book You Shouldn't Overlook
A couple life-changing ideas from the best book I’ve read in a while..
Don’t judge a book by the author! (Maybe)
If you haven’t seen the podcast “Diary of a C.E.O” You’ve probably been living under a rock. It’s one of the top podcasts in the world and also one of the fastest-growing. It’s attracted guests like Jordan Peterson, Robert Greene, Sam Harris, Casey Neistat, Richard Branson, Gary Vee, etc.. The list is huge and outrageous. It also has a ton of ultra successful guests that are just not so well known.. the founder of Airbnb, the founder of Spotify, former high level Google employees etc..
I’ll be honest, I think the host Steven Bartlett is a good interviewer but because he doesn’t talk about himself very much, I really didn’t know anything about him even after watching many episodes of his show and I definitely didn’t expect what I was about to learn about him upon reading his book.
When I saw him talk about his book in one of his ads, it kind of seemed like a money grab but I thought ehhhh what the heck and pre-ordered it. I didn’t have high hopes but I figured he’s got to have some bangers in there just because of all the people he’s been able to talk to.
When I finally got around to reading it.. it totally rocked my shit. I didn’t realize what a killer Steven was.. His business accolades and accomplishments are wild and he’s only 31.
In his words..
I've been the CEO, founder, co-founder or board member of four industry-leading companies that collectively - at their peaks - reached a cumulative valuation of more than $1 billion. I'm currently the founder of Flight Story, an innovative marketing agency; thirdweb, a software company; and an investment fund called Flight Fund. My companies have employed thousands of people in every corner of the world. I've raised almost $100 million of investment for my companies. I'm an investor in more than 40 companies. I'm on the board of four companies, two of which are currently at the forefront of their respective industries, and I'm 30 years old. Being the founder of two successful marketing groups that have risen to the top of their industry, within their market, has meant that I spend much of my professional life in boardrooms working with and advising the CEOs, CMOs and leaders of the biggest brands in the world on how to do marketing and how to tell their story online; Uber, Apple, Coca-Cola, Nike, Amazon, TikTok, Logitech, you name it.. they have been my clients.
Jeeeeez right? Who knew?..
When I started the book I also started a new practice of writing down the most important things I learned after every reading session (which I highly recommend btw). I learned so much from this book and I LOVED it. It really is one of the best books I’ve read in a while..
I’ve gone back and picked out some of my favorite lessons or ideas from the book and I’m going to write about and share some of them with you now. Some need a bit of explaining and some don’t.
Cognitive dissonance will grow in accordance with the rate of change you experience as technology progresses. (The gap between what you believe about the world and what actually IS in the world will grow over time).
Note: Our beliefs are formed by the world around us. These days, the world is changing at a more rapid pace than ever before and this puts us at risk of our beliefs about the world not being able to catch up in time. This can make for a frustrating and difficult experience of the world. However, if we know this we can increase our open-mindedness in parallel with the ever-growing rate of change we see around us due to technologies and also be more prepared to embrace new cultural norms and the realities of our modern world.
If you want to inspire change in yourself or others, ask a binary question rather than make a statement. For example, ”will you go to the gym today?” Rather than I think you should go to the gym.
A positive self story is more predictive of success and achievement than skill or ability. Better results can be achieved just by changing the way you think about and view yourself.
Note: This is a huge one for me. One of my biggest struggles is self love and acceptance. I constantly think I’m shitty, a loser, a failure etc.. I have to work really hard to focus on the good parts of myself and try not to be too hard on myself for the ways I fall short. Knowing this fact ^ makes it that much easier to focus on and develop a more positive way of thinking and talking about myself.
A positive and useful view of yourself is built by mental and physical habits.
Note: This builds on the last point. I’ve completely overhauled my routine, and lifestyle lately to focus and prioritize discipline so that I have more control over my thoughts and actions that inevitably lead to proof of the better person that I want to be and that I can be proud of.
Your health is like a table that everything else you care about in your life rests on. You can remove anything from the table and everything else will still be there but if you remove the table you lose everything.
Note: Prioritize your health.
Useless absurdities will define you more than useful practicalities. People think, talk, and notice things that are out of the ordinary. So, absurdities that serve no purpose might actually serve a huge purpose.
Note: I’ll let you read the book to hear about the story behind this one but it was probably my favorite concept from the book. For me, this gives me permission to follow my ideas, interests and the little things that pique my curiosity and that move me regardless of how weird or strange they might be.
The process of habituation can cause your brain to tune out things that are familiar even though they may be relevant.
Note: Oooof this one is a slithery sneaky snake. An example of this would be that sticky note on your mirror that says “Make sure to xyz” that you eventually just ignore. It’s the fact that the tattoo on my arm reminding me to be present basically has never done its job. Being on the lookout for this effect could be a huge game changer. It really seems like a silent killer…
Framing can completely change the perception of a person or item.
Note: Consider how apple displays their products in store compared to most retailers. The Apple Store more closely resembles an art gallery than a traditional store. This makes the products feel like pieces of art and in turn are perceived as more valuable. Adding to this effect is the fact that inventory is mainly stored in the back giving the illusion of scarcity. A similar thing happens when you give a bum a haircut and put them in a suit.
The small things that are easy to do are also easy to NOT do so watch out. Read that again.. Most success is built one small thing at a time.
A strong cultural vision and philosophy in leadership can turn a failed/closed factory into the top performing factory in the world using all of the same employees.
Note: The story behind this one is also just unbelievable. I’ll also be leaving it to you to read the book but I’ll use another example which is from Jocko Willink’s book ‘Extreme Ownership’ where he talks about the navy seal training where they have to carry the boats on their heads and race around the beach. The punch line is that they can take the team leader from the winning boat and switch him with the leader from the last place boat and the last place boat will win the next race. The effect of leadership on a company or group and their culture is EVERYTHING.
This is just a tiny snippet of my notes from the book and I really can’t recommend it enough. If you have any goals in your life or are striving for anything at all.. this book will be incredibly useful to you.
You can purchase the book on amazon here
As always, I’m happy to receive feedback, advice or to just have a conversation about any of the topics on this blog! Don’t hesitate to comment or reach out via social media
(@danny_suede on all platforms)
I’m glad you’re here and thanks for reading <3