“Work takes on new meaning when you feel you are pointed in the right direction. Otherwise, it’s just a job, and life is too short for that.”

“Life is fragile. We’re not guaranteed a tomorrow so give it everything you’ve got.”

“Let your joy be in your journey – not in some distant goal.”

“I learned that focus is key. Not just in your running a company, but in your personal life as well.”

“Our goal has never been to make the most. It’s always been to make the best.”

“You can focus on things that are barriers, or you can focus on scaling the wall or redefining the problem.”

“You want to be the pebble in the pond that creates the ripple for change.”

“People like things they can do now, not just think about.”

“The sidelines are not where you want to live your life. The world needs you in the arena.”

Get inspired by the best Tim Cook quotes on success and technology. You can also download free quote wallpapers for your iPhone.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

product

Product & Design

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Apple CEO Tim Cook quotes on success & technology

“Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.”

“It always seems impossible, until it is done.”

“Lead from the back – and let others believe they are in front.”

"I have always believed exercise is a key not only to physical health but to peace of mind."

“I am fundamentally an optimist. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

“Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”

“I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles.”

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

18 July is Nelson Mandela Day, marking the late South African president's birth. Here are some of his most inspiring quotes - and how his legacy lives on.

Here are 11 of Nelson Mandela’s most inspirational quotes

<ul>
<li>Gratitude: Think of how life could be worse. Be happy those things are not real. Appreciate the good things that are real. </li>
<li>Reciprocity: I’ll say something nice to that stranger next time I’m at Starbucks if you do the same. Deal?</li>
<li>Altruism: Volunteer. Offer your knowledge or expertise to help someone. Think of it like bragging except instead of being a jerk you’ll be an awesome person.</li>
<li>Choice: You can choose to do something different. Or you can choose to see things differently. You have a choice. </li>
<li>Enjoyment: Go have fun. If you don’t you will become your own worst-case scenario.</li>
</ul>

The Five Rituals To Make Your Life Awesome

If you want a better a life, a big big part of it comes down to connection. Here's what neuroscience says leads to an awesome life...

New Neuroscience Reveals 5 Rituals That Will Make Your Life Awesome - Barking Up The Wrong Tree

We're often told that success is only the result of hard work. But it often seems that those who succeeded had an unfair advantage over their competitors. We all have our own set of unfair advantages we can use to succeed. The book, The Unfair Advantage: How You Already Have What It Takes to Succeed starts with the premise that life is fundamentally unfair. When we're looking at successful people, they did not only work hard but there were also other things that played a role, such as luck, circumstances, privilege, etc.

How people get ahead

Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. We all have our own unfair advantages in our own ways that can give us a competitive edge.We can find out what our unfair advantages are using the MILES framework.<ul><li>Money</li><li>Intelligence and insight</li><li>Location and luck</li><li>Education and expertise</li><li>Status</li></ul>

Life isn't a level playing field

<ul><li>Money. Evan Spiegel is the billionaire co-founder of Snapchat grew up in a multimillion-dollar house with well-connected parents.</li><li>Intelligence and insight. The Collison brothers co-founded Stripe which became a multi-billion dollar payments processing company before they turned 22. Patrick left school a year early to enrol at MIT and his brother John finished with the highest ever score on his Leaving Certificate.</li><li>Status. We don't all have the outward status of people like Elon Musk. But we can develop our inner status, for example, confidence and self-esteem.</li></ul>

Advantages that are easy to use to your benefit

Ray Kroc, the pioneer of McDonald's once said. "The two most important requirements for major success are: first, being in the right place at the right time, and second, doing something about it." <ul><li>The right location can be vital in making connections and unlocking opportunities.</li><li>Luck is something we can make for ourselves by exposing ourselves to more things.  The more we expose ourselves to opportunities, the luckier we become. So take more action, meet more people, go to more events, produce things and publish them, get feedback, and put more stuff out into the world. </li></ul>

Location and luck

Having a fancy degree from a prestigious university probably is an unfair advantage, but people increasingly care less about where you went to university and more about what you've been doing and what skills you can bring to the table.  Our value comes more from our expertise. And that is something we can build on our own, such as taking online classes.

Education and expertise

<ul><li>Having a little money. Many people start off with having little money. But having little money makes you more creative and adds to your drive to succeed.</li><li>A growth mindset (instead of a fixed mindset.) Our abilities aren't fixed. We can grow. Everything we do is part of improving.</li></ul> When we fixate on the privileges we don't have, we blind ourselves instead of appreciating the advantages we do have. It's about knowing the realities and using the unfair advantages we have to help us succeed.

You can turn your disadvantage into an advantage

🚀Join Cohort 4 of the Part-Time YouTuber Academy! It's my flagship live YouTube course where I teach people to do YouTube as a side hustle. If you want to learn how to grow your YouTube channel without quitting your day job or sacrificing your current projects, it's one of the best places to start this journey. More than 350 people are already signed up, and we're stoked to get started. We're closing the enrolment this Wednesday the 20th so, if you decide you do want to join me and other creators and spend the next 6 weeks learning ins and outs of YouTube, click the link below. 👇 https://academy.aliabdaal.com 🚀 Join my live online course, the Part-Time YouTuber Academy, running 7th June to 14th July 2021. If you want to learn how to kickstart & grow your channel without quitting your job, check out https://academy.aliabdaal.com 😃 In the first episode of Book Club - a series where we take an in-depth look at a particular book every fortnight - we're talking about The Unfair Advantage by Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba. We look at the equation for success, the MILES framework for identifying our Unfair Advantages, the value of understanding our Unfair Advantages, how everyone has their own Unfair Advantages and the importance of a reality-growth mindset running throughout it all. Enjoy! 📚 The Unfair Advantage (on Amazon) - https://geni.us/e83Ll To see the full interview with Hasan about success on Nebula, grab a 30-day free trial of CuriosityStream - https://curiositystream.com/ali and use the code ALI at checkout to get access to Nebula for free. 0:45 The Success Equation 02:30 The MILES Framework 07:45 What's the value of understanding Unfair Advantages? 08:20 What if people don't think they have any Unfair Advantages? 09:50 The Importance of Mindset -------- MY FREE ONLINE COURSES: 🚀 Productivity Masterclass - Principles and Tools to Boost Your Productivity - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/productivity 🎬 Video Editing with Final Cut Pro X - From Beginner to YouTuber - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/video-editing 🎓 How to Study for Exams - An Evidence-Based Masterclass - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/studying 😃 How to be Happier - Stoicism Masterclass - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/stoicism TOOLS OF THE TRADE: 🎥 My YouTube Camera Gear - https://kit.co/AliAbdaal ⌨️ My Keyboard - Wireless Coral mechanical keyboard (Cherry Blue) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/keyboard 📝 My favourite iPad Screen Protector - Paperlike - https://go.aliabdaal.com/paperlike 🎒 My Desk Accessories + Todo List - Ugmonk - https://go.aliabdaal.com/ugmonk 📚 How I remember what I read - Readwise - https://go.aliabdaal.com/readwise 🎵 Where I get my Music (amazing for YouTubers) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/epidemicsound What I Use For Analytics - https://go.aliabdaal.com/tubebuddy 🌐 My website platform (Ghost) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/ghost OTHER RECOMMENDED COURSES 📔 Effortless Output with Roam Research - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/roam 📓 Building a Second Brain - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/basb 🎙My weekly podcast - https://www.youtube.com/c/notoverthinking My brother and I host a weekly podcast where we discuss happiness, creativity and the human condition. You can find it by searching “Not Overthinking” on any podcast app (eg: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts etc). BE MY FRIEND: 💌 Sign up to my weekly email newsletter - https://aliabdaal.com/newsletter/ 🌍 My website / blog - https://www.aliabdaal.com 📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/aliabdaal 🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/aliabdaal 🎮 Twitch - https://twitch.tv/aliabdaal WHO AM I: I'm Ali, a junior doctor working in Cambridge, UK. I make videos about medicine, technology, productivity and lifestyle design. I also have a weekly podcast with my brother (https://www.youtube.com/c/notoverthinking), and I write a weekly email newsletter that contains some quick thoughts + links to interesting things (https://aliabdaal.com/newsletter/). 🌍 My website / blog - https://www.aliabdaal.com GET IN TOUCH: If you’d like to talk, I’d love to hear from you. Tweeting @AliAbdaal directly will be the quickest way to get a response, but if your question is very long, feel free to email me at hi@aliabdaal.com. I try my best to reply to things but there sadly aren't enough hours in the day to respond to everyone 😭 PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜

videos

Videos

📚 The Unfair Advantage (on Amazon) - https://geni.us/e83Ll
✍️ For the best summaries of books check out Shortform - https://go.aliabdaal.com/shortform

In the first episode of Book Club - a series where we take an in-depth look at a particular book every fortnight - we're talking about The Unfair Advantage by Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba. We look at the equation for success, the MILES framework for identifying our Unfair Advantages, the value of understanding our Unfair Advantages, how everyone has their own Unfair Advantages and the importance of a reality-growth mindset running throughout it all. Enjoy! 

To see the full interview with Hasan about success on Nebula, grab a 30-day free trial of CuriosityStream - https://curiositystream.com/ali and use the code ALI at checkout to get access to Nebula for free.

🍿WATCH NEXT:
Is Success Hard Work or Luck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NquuITL9-ZA&t=8s
Atomic Habits Book Summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT7tQzmGRLA&t=88s
The Book that Changed My Financial Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg8_TA7U0Uw&t=285s
How Writing Online Made me a Millionaire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyVpRiqOvt4&t=31s

0:45 The Success Equation
02:30 The MILES Framework
07:45 What's the value of understanding Unfair Advantages?
08:20 What if people don't think they have any Unfair Advantages?
09:50 The Importance of Mindset

💌  Sign up to my weekly email newsletter - https://go.aliabdaal.com/subscribe-sundaysnippets

MY FREE ONLINE COURSES:
🚀  Productivity Masterclass - Principles and Tools to Boost Your Productivity - 
 https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/productivity
🎓  How to Study for Exams - An Evidence-Based Masterclass - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/studying
🎬 YouTube for Beginners - Everything You Need To Know To Start  - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/YouTube-for-Beginners

MY CREATOR COURSES
🎬 Check out my free 7 day email course on how to become a part-time YouTuber: https://aliabdaal.com/part-time-youtuber-crash-course/
🏆 Creatorpreneur - My flagship course for scaling up your creative side-hustle → https://creatorpreneur.academy/course
🗣 Camera Confidence - My self-paced course on how to improve your creativity, career, or communication skills → https://cameraconfidence.aliabdaal.com/

MY FAVOURITE GEAR
🎥  My YouTube Camera Gear - https://kit.co/AliAbdaal
⌨️  My Keyboard - Wireless Coral mechanical keyboard (Cherry Blue) -https://go.aliabdaal.com/keyboard
📝  My favourite iPad Screen Protector - Paperlike - https://go.aliabdaal.com/paperlike
🎒 My Desk Accessories + Todo List - Ugmonk - https://go.aliabdaal.com/ugmonk

🎙 Check out my weekly podcast, Deep Dive - https://www.youtube.com/c/DeepDivewithAliAbdaal/ - It's also available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts etc.

MY FAVOURITE TOOLS
🚀 VidIQ - How I optimise my YouTube videos - https://go.aliabdaal.com/vidiq
✍️ Shortform - The BEST summaries of books - https://go.aliabdaal.com/shortform
📚  Readwise - How I remember what I read - https://go.aliabdaal.com/readwise
🎵  Epidemic Sound - Where I get my music (amazing for YouTubers) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/epidemicsound

MY KEY LINKS
🌍  My website / blog - https://www.aliabdaal.com/
🐦  Twitter - https://twitter.com/aliabdaal
📸  Instagram - https://instagram.com/aliabdaal

WHO AM I:
I’m Ali, a YouTuber, podcaster, soon-to-be author and ex-Doctor working in London, UK. I make videos that explore the strategies and tools that help us live happier, healthier and more productive lives. I also have a weekly podcast called Deep Dive (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChfo46ZNOV-vtehDc25A1Ug), and I write a weekly email newsletter that contains some quick thoughts + links to interesting things (https://go.aliabdaal.com/subscribe-sundaysnippets).

PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜

📚 Check out my first book Feel-Good Productivity here: https://www.feelgoodproductivity.com/

Hey, I'm Ali, a doctor turned entrepreneur, and the world’s most followed productivity expert 😜 

On this channel, we explore evidence-based strategies and tools that can help us be more productive, and build a life that we love. 

If that sounds interesting, consider subscribing! See you in the next video x

Ali Abdaal

What Makes People Successful?

Everyone is a short-term thinker and everyone is transactional and that’s what those people experience in 99.9% of their interactions

Consistently making content in a niche you’re passionate about is the modern-day equivalent of going to the gym at 5:00 AM.

<ul><li>We spend so much time being performative whether we realize it or not</li><li>You start growing when you start accepting your funny, nerdy, weird, quirky self.</li><li>The friends that he has now are the people with whom he feels he can be honest around, talk about random things he is struggling with.</li><li>The more you find those kinds of people, the more you grow.</li></ul>

Embrace Your Quirkiness

<ul><li>These are the type of friends who stick with you during the hard times.</li><li>They are not around just for the celebration.</li><li>You never forget those people, they were they for you during the hardest times.</li><li>When you find them, cherish those relationships, they are truly rare.</li><li>Your real friends are the ones who are there for you when you have *nothing* to offer in return.</li></ul>

Friends Even In Your Darkest Hours

<ul><li>Too many people feel the need to fix things.</li><li>The most powerful thing to say to a friend who is hurting is “I’m with you”.</li><li>Don’t just say it, show it. It’s the ultimate form of kindness</li></ul>Best one-liners for different life scenarios:<ul><li>The ability to accept compliments is underrated.</li><li>Just say “thank you”.</li><li>“I appreciate YOU”.</li></ul>

What To Say To A Friend During A Challenging Time

<ul><li>Sahil Bloom met Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, at the gym; they were both a part of the 5 AM crew.</li><li>Tim Cook has the most insane work ethic; wakes up at 3:45 every morning</li><li>They started chatting about an article Tim Cook was cited in.</li><li>Sometime later, Sahil correctly guessed his e-mail address and sent him the article as a follow up to their gym chat.</li><li>Sahil never asked them for anything; he never wanted a job at Apple or to pitch a startup idea.</li><li>He just wanted to be around them and learn, absorb.</li></ul>

When Sahil Met Tim

<ul><li>Find a way to bring value; don’t just send a DM asking for an internship.</li><li>Geographical proximity does not matter anymore.</li><li>The opportunity playing field is levelling. The Internet and access to technology are opening up the world.</li><li>Anyone can break into these rooms if done thoughtfully.</li></ul>

How To Approach People In High Positions

<ul><li>Consistently making content in a niche you’re passionate about is the modern-day equivalent of going to the gym at 5:00 AM.</li><li>Writing, recording, putting ideas on the Internet… You can reach anyone in the world.</li><li>The only limit is your consistency, intensity, and focus.</li><li>You get better over time but you have to get into it.</li><li>Sorry to disappoint, but there are no shortcuts.</li></ul>

Make Content Consistently

<ul><li>The Zone of Genius is like a “sweet spot” where your interests, passions, and skills align</li><li>You are playing a game that you love to play and are uniquely suited to win at.</li><li>The Zone Of Excellence is when you have high competence but you lack energy and passion for the things you do</li><li>People stop asking questions when they experience comfort (a steady paycheck, a pat on the back for doing a great job, etc.)</li><li>This kind of comfort and productivity is not bad in itself. If that makes you happy, it’s amazing.</li></ul>

The Zone Of Genius And Excellence

<ul><li>Think about how much of your daily activities are energy draining vs energy creating?</li><li>Build a base of information from which you can evaluate your competencies and passions.</li></ul>

Wake Up Your Zone Of Genius: Energy Draining Vs Energy Creating

Enhance what you are good at, and be consistent.

(0:00) Sahil compliments me (0:45) Crazy coincidence (2:40) Sahil’s been plugging his Twitter since 2011 (3:44) Why Sahil is attracted to motivational tracks (6:31) Obesity research at Nike (11:40) The transition from arrogance to kindness (15:25) Identity (Indian + Jewish parents, nerd + jock) (18:27) 10-year reunion (20:14) Practices that made Sahil more secure? (21:39) Darkest hour friend (25:15) What to say in dark times to a friend? (27:15) How to accept compliments (28:08) “I appreciate you” (30:05) Why Sahil microanalyses life (32:00) Condoleezza Rice (36:29) Cold email (37:38) Going to the gym with Tim Cook (39:20) Why is Sahil so connected to highly successful people (46:30) What can someone do today to show grit and work ethic? (50:02) Zone of genius (59:15) How to single focus (1:00:55) More walks without tech (1:03:10) Connecting with Sahil Sahil Bloom is an investor, entrepreneur, and creator. In less than 2 years, Sahil has gained over 500,000 Twitter followers. But in this episode, we didn't focus that much on his hyper-growth online. Instead, we spoke about how Sahil got mentored by BOTH Tim Cook and Condoleezza Rice, how Sahil became more secure in himself, and what it means to be a "darkest hour friend." Sahil's Twitter – https://twitter.com/SahilBloom Continue the conversation with me... 🎙 Podcast: https://podfollow.com/1532160275 🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/heydannymiranda 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/heydannymiranda 🕺 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@heydannymiranda 🚨 Newsletter: https://dannymiranda.com/tuesday-treasure/

career

Career

podcasts

Podcasts

Subscribe for interviews that go inward with your favorite entrepreneurs, creators, and thinkers.  New episodes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Previous guests include Previous guests include Gary Vaynerchuk, Alex Hormozi, Robert Greene, Seth Godin, Andy Frisella, Chris Williamson, Kamal Ravikant, Iman Gadzhi, Anthony Pompliano, George Heaton, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Miss Excel Kat Norton, Ariel Helwani, James Altucher, Sam Parr, Shaan Puri, Colin and Samir, Gay Hendricks, and 350+ incredible humans.

The Danny Miranda Podcast

#218: Sahil Bloom – Become A Magnet For Success

The person who has learned to consistently put themselves in a strong position can take advantage of circumstances while others are forced into a series of poor choices.  We find ourselves in the position we are today because of the accumulation of the small choices that we've been making for years. Eating a chocolate bar today won't make you unhealthy. Saving money today won't make you rich.

Consistently put yourself in a good position

The small choices we make on a daily basis either work for us or against us. One choice can put time on your side. The other ensures to work against you. On the first day, the long-term outcome of your choices will not be noticeable. But as the days turn to weeks, weeks into years, the small choices can create huge results. Compounding results are often only noticed with consistency. The lack of consistency keeps ordinary people from extraordinary results.

Small choices position you for future success

When you excel at the small choices that compound over time, it leaves you in favourable circumstances. But results comes at a price. The price is to consistently continue doing the small choices even if you don't see immediate results.

Excelling at small choices that compound

One of the most beneficial skills you can learn in life is how to consistently put yourself in a good position. Strong positions are not an accident. Weak positions aren't bad luck. 

The Small Steps of Giant Leaps - Farnam Street

Our bodies can influence our brains and behaviour.Presence stems from believing in and trusting yourself. Your presence is your real honest, feelings, values and abilities.If you don’t trust yourself, how can others trust you?<ul><li>If you want more courage and the ability to handle stress better, find and write about your top core value.</li><li>Beat feelings of powerlessness by remembering past wins and other positive events.</li><li>Your posture is evidence of how you feel about yourself, and by improving it, even right now, you will become more self-confident.</li></ul>

Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges

We convince by our presence.

Presence is the state of being able to comfortably express our thoughts. It’s not a permanent mode of being – it comes and goes, moment to moment.When we feel present, our speech, facial expressions and movements align. It’s what makes us compelling. We are no longer fighting ourselves, we are being ourselves.

Defining Presence

Self-assured enthusiasm is a strong indicator of success. This quality predicts:<ul><li>Drive</li><li>Willingness to work hard</li><li>Initiative</li><li>Persistence in the face of obstacles</li><li>Enhanced mental activity</li><li>Creativity</li><li>The ability to identify good opportunities and novel ideas</li></ul>This is contagious and spreads confidence, passion and commitment to people who work for and with them. These traits can’t easily be faked either.

The Elements of Presence

Presence emerges when we feel personally powerful.<ul><li>Through small tweaks in our body language and mindsets, we can self-induce presence.</li><li>Presence is confidence without arrogance.</li></ul>Presence manifests itself in two ways:<ul><li>We communicate passion, confidence, and comfortable enthusiasm.</li><li>Synchrony.</li></ul>

Presence Is Positive Self-Confidence

<ul><li>A bit of quiet goes a long way towards being present.</li><li>Focus more on the impression you are making in yourself and less on the impression you are making on others.</li><li>Confidence is often confused with cockiness.</li><li>True confidence stems from real love and leads to a long-term commitment to growth.</li><li>False confidence comes from desperate passion and leads to dysfunctional relationships, disappointment and frustration.</li><li>Presence is not about pretending to be confident. It’s about believing and having confidence in the abilities you really have.</li><li>Just be you.</li></ul>

Presence Is An Inward Trait

Alignment: emotions, thoughts, physical and facial expressions, and behaviours must be in harmony.If our actions are not consistent with our values, we won’t feel true to ourselves.There is strong cross-cultural support for the universality of these nine emotions:<ul><li>Anger</li><li>Fear</li><li>Disgust</li><li>Happiness</li><li>Sadness</li><li>Surprise</li><li>Contempt</li><li>Shame</li><li>Pride</li></ul>

The Synchronous Self

<ul><li>Emotion is authentic, negative or positive.</li><li>Lying or being inauthentic is hard work.</li><li>Truth reveals itself more clearly through our actions than through our words.</li><li>The body says what words cannot.</li><li>Presence stems from believing our own stories.</li><li> It is the inner self showing up.</li></ul>What is the authentic self?<ul><li>Multi-faceted, not singular.</li><li>Expressed and reflected through our thoughts, feelings, values and behaviours.</li><li>Dynamic and flexible, not static and rigid. It reflects and responds to the situation.</li></ul>

Faking It Vs being Authentic

Self-affirmation is the practice of clarifying your story to yourself, allowing you to trust that who you are will come through naturally in what you say and do.It is about reminding ourselves what matters most to us.Examine a list of common core values:Select the one or two closest to the core of who they are, then write a short essay about why the value is important and a particular time it was important.

Self Affirmation

Four common narrative themes in elderly people who recall their life stories:Agency: people felt they were in control of their livesCommunion: people describe their lives as being about relationshipsRedemption: people felt that challenges had improved their attitudes or conferred wisdom in somewayContamination: people felt that positive beginnings had turned toward negative endings

Your Life Story

By finding, believing, expressing and then engaging our authentic best selves, especially if we do it right before our biggest challenges, we reduce our anxiety about social rejections and increase our openness to others, and that allows us to be fully present.<ul><li>When a musician is present we are moved, transported, and convinced. They bring us with them to the present.</li><li>Technical mastery is not enough to become the principal dancer.</li><li>When you find your true presence, it is the strength to be there, to be there in a state of balance because you are not trying to protect yourself, you just are.</li></ul>

Acting with Presence

Often our default behaviour when approaching people is trying to demonstrate our own power and control.How people judge each other in first encounters.When we meet someone new we quickly answer two questions:<ul><li>Can I trust this person?</li><li>Can I respect this person?</li></ul>Approach others with kindness instead of toughness.

Stop Preaching, Start Listening: How Presence Begets Presence

We usually think a person we have just meant is either more warm than competent, or more competent than warm, but not both in equal measure.We classify new acquaintances into types.<ul><li>More warm than competent = lovable fools</li><li>More competent than warm = competent jerks</li><li>Incompetent and cold = foolish jerks</li><li>Competent and warm = lovable stars</li></ul>We don’t judge the two equally. Most people prioritize warmth over competence.Your chance of being seen as an unlikeable but effective leader is about 1 in 2,000.

Warmth Vs Competence

<ul><li>Trust is the conduit of influence.</li><li>The only way to establish real trust is by being present.</li><li>Presence is the medium through which trust develops and ideas travel.</li><li>Without trust your great ideas are impotent.</li></ul>

Trust Through Presence

When you listen to someone it is the most profound act of human respect.Real listening can’t happen unless we have a sincere desire to understand what we are hearing.To listen we need to overcome our fear of silence and space.When to stop talking and listen, here is what happens:<ul><li>People can trust you.</li><li>You acquire useful information.</li><li>You begin to see other people as individuals and maybe allies.</li><li>You develop solutions other people are willing to accept and even adopt.</li><li>When people feel heard, they are more willing to listen.</li></ul>

The Art Of Real Listening

<ul><li>When we feel powerful we feel free, in control, un-threatened and safe. As a result, we are unrestricted.</li><li>Powerlessness activates a psychological and physical inhibition system.</li><li>Power makes us approach.</li><li>Powerlessness makes us avoid.</li><li>Presence is the power we confer on ourselves.</li><li>Power can liberate.</li></ul>

How Powerlessness Shackles the Self (and How Power Sets It Free)

Social Power is characterized by:<ul><li>Ability to exert dominance.</li><li>To influence or control the behaviour of others.</li><li>Earned and expressed through disproportionate control over valued resources.</li><li>Social power is limited, requires some kind of control over others.</li></ul>Personal Power<ul><li>Freedom from the dominance of others.</li><li>Infinite instead of zero-sum.</li><li>Access to and control over limitless inner resources.</li><li>Makes us more open, optimistic and risk-tolerant.</li><li>Ability to control our own states and behaviours.</li></ul>If we start with personal power, we may increase our social power without trying

Personal Power Vs Social Power

Personal power is about having the confidence to act based on one's own beliefs, attitudes and values, and having to sense that one's actions will be effective.

Powerful people think and act in a way that leads to retention and acquisition of power.Power can often activate at a non-conscious level.Briefly saying words that connote power like control, command and authority and make you feel present and powerful.The feeling of power can be summoned by little nudges.Powerlessness impairs thought and planning.Powerlessness induces goal neglect. The general phenomenon of failing to remain focused on a goal prevents you from executing the necessary task.Powerlessness makes us self-absorbed.

Powerful Vs Powerless

Power expands our body language. Likewise, our body language can influence and expand our feelings of personal power.Our voices communicate power.Powerful people make more eye contact while they are speaking.When we feel powerful we speak more slowly and take more time, we don’t rush and aren’t afraid to pause. We feel entitled to the time we are using.When people speak at a low pitch they are judged to be powerful by strangers.We want power to, not power over.

Slouching, Steepling, and Body Language

Several scientific experiments lead them to believe that smiling does impact emotions and make a person happier. Our body, breath and movement play a huge role in how we feel.Train yourself through breathing. Inhale quickly and exhale slowly.Benefits of the breathing exercise:<ul><li>Decreased blood pressure</li><li>Reduced anxiety and depression</li><li>Improved optimism</li><li>Emotional control</li><li>Pain management</li><li>Reduced aggression and impulsive behaviour</li><li>Improved addiction management</li><li>Improved work and school performance</li></ul>

Yoga And Breathing Exercises

<ul><li>The way you carry yourself is a source of personal power. The kind of power that is the key to presence.</li><li>Expanding your body expands your mind and allows you to be present.</li><li>We pose in a powerless way much more often than we think.</li><li>High power poses are expansive and open.</li><li>Low power poses are constricted and clenched.</li><li>In tests performed, adopting power poses increased testosterone and decreased cortisol.</li></ul>

The Body Shapes the Mind: Stand Up Straight

<ul><li>Powerful people speak more slowly.</li><li>Slow speech demonstrates a kind of openness.</li><li>In speaking slowly one indicates that he or she has no fear of interruption.</li><li>Speaking slowly allows us time to communicate clearly.</li><li>Expanding your body brings you to the present and improves your performance.</li><li>Your body shapes your mind, your mind shapes your behaviour, and your behaviour shapes your future.</li><li>Let your body tell you that you are powerful and deserving and you become more present, enthusiastic and authentically yourself.</li></ul>

The Way You Speak Matters

<ul><li>Notice situations and people that trigger powerless body language.</li><li>Prepare with big poses.</li><li>In the morning practice, your favourite poses for a couple of minutes to start the day.</li><li>Lists specific tips on preparation before public speaking.</li><li>Stand at work instead of sitting when you can.</li><li>Consider having walking meetings instead of sitting.</li></ul>

Pose for Presence

Be You, Be Bold, Be Positively Fearless. Be Present.

MORE THAN HALF A MILLION COPIES SOLD: Learn the simple techniques you'll need to approach your biggest challenges with confidence. Have you ever left a nerve-racking challenge and immediately wished for a do over? Maybe after a job interview, a performance, or a difficult conversation? The very moments that require us to be genuine and commanding can instead cause us to feel phony and powerless. Too often we approach our lives' biggest hurdles with dread, execute them with anxiety, and leave them with regret. By accessing our personal power, we can achieve "presence," the state in which we stop worrying about the impression we're making on others and instead adjust the impression we've been making on ourselves. As Harvard professor Amy Cuddy's revolutionary book reveals, we don't need to embark on a grand spiritual quest or complete an inner transformation to harness the power of presence. Instead, we need to nudge ourselves, moment by moment, by tweaking our body language, behavior, and mind-set in our day-to-day lives. Amy Cuddy has galvanized tens of millions of viewers around the world with her TED talk about "power poses." Now she presents the enthralling science underlying these and many other fascinating body-mind effects, and teaches us how to use simple techniques to liberate ourselves from fear in high-pressure moments, perform at our best, and connect with and empower others to do the same. Brilliantly researched, impassioned, and accessible, Presence is filled with stories of individuals who learned how to flourish during the stressful moments that once terrified them. Every reader will learn how to approach their biggest challenges with confidence instead of dread, and to leave them with satisfaction instead of regret. "Presence feels at once concrete and inspiring, simple but ambitious — above all, truly powerful." —New York Times Book Review

books

Books

MORE THAN HALF A MILLION COPIES SOLD: Learn the simple techniques you'll need to approach your biggest challenges with confidence.   Have you ever left a nerve-racking challenge and immediately wished for a do over? Maybe after a job interview, a performance, or a difficult conversation? The very moments that require us to be genuine and commanding can instead cause us to feel phony and powerless. Too often we approach our lives' biggest hurdles with dread, execute them with anxiety, and leave them with regret. By accessing our personal power, we can achieve "presence," the state in which we stop worrying about the impression we're making on others and instead adjust the impression we've been making on ourselves. As Harvard professor Amy Cuddy's revolutionary book reveals, we don't need to embark on a grand spiritual quest or complete an inner transformation to harness the power of presence. Instead, we need to nudge ourselves, moment by moment, by tweaking our body language, behavior, and mind-set in our day-to-day lives. Amy Cuddy has galvanized tens of millions of viewers around the world with her TED talk about "power poses." Now she presents the enthralling science underlying these and many other fascinating body-mind effects, and teaches us how to use simple techniques to liberate ourselves from fear in high-pressure moments, perform at our best, and connect with and empower others to do the same. Brilliantly researched, impassioned, and accessible, Presence is filled with stories of individuals who learned how to flourish during the stressful moments that once terrified them. Every reader will learn how to approach their biggest challenges with confidence instead of dread, and to leave them with satisfaction instead of regret. "Presence feels at once concrete and inspiring, simple but ambitious — above all, truly powerful." —New York Times Book Review

Amy Cuddy

Presence

Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges

What advice will resonate varies wildly from person to person. Podcasts like the Tim Ferriss copycat shows, are already widely recommended. In the oversaturated genre of self-help podcasting, it can be hard to find shows that provide space for sharing opinions, rather than establishing a single ideological platform. Here are nine self-help podcasts that will inspire you to rethink how you currently live, without requiring you to drink butter or pay $100 to enrol in an online mentorship program.

Finding A Needle In The Haystack

Dr Laurie Santos, the host of <a href="https://www.happinesslab.fm/">The Happiness Lab, </a>is a Professor of Psychology at Yale. Although many of her episodes focus on improving the mental health of college students, her discussions on stress are applicable to anyone participating in the rat race we call society.   Dr. Santos knows how to make a compelling speech. She presents a comprehensive tool kit in a format that will appeal to those resistant to other forms of “New Age” thinking, making concepts like meditation accessible to those who need it most.

The Happiness Lab

With a no-frills formula focused only on tried and true advice, <a href="https://www.npr.org/lifekit">NPR’s Life Kit series</a> is essential self-help listening. The show’s topics are diverse, ranging from how to talk to kids about our turbulent news cycle, to how to find yourself a mentor or get more sleep. I stumbled across Life Kit while waiting for the right moment to tell my then manager that I was leaving my job — and also the country — in a matter of weeks. The timing was everything: too soon and I might be passed up for useful training; too late and I wouldn’t be able to smoothly transition my replacement

Life Kit

The pace and consistency at which <a href="https://www.richroll.com/category/podcast/">Rich Roll releases his podcasts</a>, many of which are over two hours long, could be viewed as a reflection of his dedication to long-distance running. At 53, Roll is a plant-based ultramarathon runner whose popular podcast recently surpassed the 500-episode mark.  Roll provides a platform for scientists, athletes, and thought leaders to share their views in a conversational setting that finds a balance between relaxed and rigorous. Roll is an excellent interviewer, putting his guests at ease, yet never shying from challenging their ideas.

The Rich Roll Podcast

Russell Brand’s development from promiscuous addict to spiritual guru is too bizarre to believe. His personal evolution was documented quite publicly, and it is perhaps because of this exposure that thousands have followed him into this new realm of “consciousness.” His experiences inform his discussions on the show, which feel intuitive and provoking in a way that appeals even to those who aren’t a fan of his political ventures. <a href="https://luminarypodcasts.com/listen/russell-brand-395/under-the-skin-with-russell-brand-luminary-exclusive/d55de7eb-6f34-48e6-aee4-48703f8fb675?country=US">His recent conversation </a>with Brené Brown is one of his best, the flow of their discussion revealing new elements to two personalities we thought we had figured out.

Under the Skin with Russell Brand

Hosted by Dr. Dominique Broussard and Terri Lomax, <a href="https://herspacepodcast.com/">H.E.R Space </a>intends to give women of colour a resource to inspire them through conversation. An acronym for Healing, Empowerment, and Resilience, H.E.R addresses universal issues, such as one’s life purpose, through a lens of a particular experience. It’s a valuable and refreshing approach, as these existential topics often aren’t discussed alongside the nuances of gender or race. Broussard, who is a psychologist, and Lomax, who is a motivational speaker, make for an effective hosting duo.

H.E.R Space

Elizabeth Day’s<a href="https://howtofail.podbean.com/"> How to Fail</a> explores self-improvement through her interviewees’ worst moments, asking us to find lessons in our challenges. Her attempts to humanize the rich and successful work for the most part, although many of her guests overlook the benefits they’ve received coming from a privileged background. But the show offers an alternative look at career development, with Day’s experience in media giving it substance. Whenever I ask friends to recommend self-help podcasts, How to Fail is invariably mentioned.

How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

<a href="https://drchatterjee.com/blog/category/podcast/">Dr. Rangan Chatterjee</a> broke into the mainstream following the success of his bestselling books on stress and nutrition. What makes him effective as a podcaster is not merely his eloquence, but also his softer approach to interviewing. Where other hosts dictate into the microphone, Chatterjee questions everything, facilitating discussions with a unique mixture of scientific scepticism and New Age optimism. This style makes the topics he covers accessible to those at the beginning of their health journey, yet the discussions contain a depth that will attract even self-help veterans as well.

Feel Better, Live More with Dr. Chatterjee

If you’re the sort of person who looks for life inspiration by scrolling through Instagram, then<a href="https://extraordinaryroutines.com/podcast"> Routines & Ruts </a>will speak to you on an aesthetic level. But don’t let its cutesy imagery fool you; there is much concrete value in this new self-help podcast. Host Madeleine Dore is the woman behind Extraordinary Routines, an interview project examining the everyday patterns of the creatively inspired. It is a well-executed concept that is original enough to make the dull reality of other people’s daily routines intriguing

Routines & Ruts

After listening to too many self-improvement podcasts, you may find yourself disillusioned by the advice — because, let’s be real, not all of us feel will better after taking a cold shower. <a href="http://www.yaywithme.com/helpmebeme">Help Me Be Me,</a> a self-help podcast that doesn’t make unrealistic promises knows how you feel. With over 150 episodes on topics like tackling shame and overcoming loneliness, Help Me Be Me believes that feeling overwhelmed by self-help advice can be alienating and risks driving you even further from the life changes you want to make.

Help Me Be Me

Joe Rogan has made podcasting the largest media, much bigger than traditional broadcasting. Let us explore what's in it.

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Marketing & Sales

technologyandthefuture

Technology & The Future

The Podcasting Ecosystem

From How to Fail to NPR's Life Kit, here are nine self-help podcasts that will inspire you to rethink how you currently live.

9 Self-Help Podcasts That Will Actually Improve Your Life

<ul><li>Hire smart, hire right </li><li>Quality isn’t the only thing, it’s part of everything </li><li>Empowerment not employment </li><li>The right tools & perks make a difference </li></ul>

Creating The Right Customer Support Culture

Customer support is about creating a great customer experience that helps customers get stuff done as easily as possible. The secret to a great customer experience? It’s creating the right support culture. A great customer experience starts with creating the right support culture. A great customer experience starts with creating the right support culture. A great customer experience starts with creating the right support culture.

Customer Support: What it is

The number one component of creating an amazing culture will depend on the people you hire. These are the characteristics I look for when hiring:<ul><li>They have something to prove</li><li>They are service orientated</li><li>They “go over and above”</li><li>They have a curiosity for technology</li></ul>

HIRE SMART, HIRE RIGHT

For many candidates, especially those that are new to the workforce, their technical skills may not be very apparent on their resume. I love the example of the baseball Player Jose Bautista. He turned heads in 2010 when he hit 54 homers and won the Homer crown. I'm looking for people that may have been underutilized in their past roles or who are looking to start a different career. I 'm

The Right Candidate is Hidden

Quality isn’t something that is static. You need to maintain high standards of quality all the time and reinforce them. I was chided at times by our Support lead as I would review most of our support tickets that came in. I did this as I wanted to ensure that our response was professional and appropriate. Set the bar high when it comes to quality and ensure that it remains there as it’s easy to let this slip away if you aren’t vigilant — especially as your company grows.

Quality

Here are a few examples of what we mean by “going the extra mile”. If you see them, call them out and celebrate them:<ul><li>One of our team members wasn’t happy as he couldn’t find the valuable information he needed to help resolve a certain issue that came up. He decided to come up with a better solution.</li><li>One of the support magicians did some extensive research and testing that was needed to resolve an issue.</li><li>Your customer support team should be properly Onboarded before tackling customer issues on their own.</li></ul>

Go the extra mile

Here are some of the important concepts that helped foster empowerment within the team:<ul><li>Support magicians were given super human powers by naming them. The team liked the messages they would receive from customers.</li><li>The ability to influence the product roadmap makes your team more aware of where improvements need to be made.</li><li>One of our magicians wanted to conduct a Bi-Weekly educational Webinar for customers. This has become a permanent part of how we help our customers.</li><li>Create career paths and not dead ends.</li></ul>

EMPOWERMENT NOT EMPLOYMENT

You need to have the right tools in place to make your team efficient. Free lunches are a great perk as you don’t need to worry about your lunch that day. Unlimited vacation policy is a powerful perk though. Team Outings are also part of team bonding outside of the normal work environment. Free lunches are a great perk as you don’t need to worry about your lunch that day it also encourages people to spend time together socially.

The Right Perks

Remember to focus on hiring the right people, establishing the right Metrics and fostering a close relationship with other teams. Our next challenge will be to ensure that we maintain this culture as grow.

The Secret Sauce

You’re frustrated. You don’t have a lot of time. You just want to get the answer and move on with your day. But you can’t. You need to contact someone in Customer Support. We’ve all been there. This…

The teams that struggle the most seem to be playing a big game of broken telephone. A recent survey by Useriq backs this up with 25% of the survey respondents not knowing their churn rate. If you have any doubt in your mind, tell your leader and push for action. If you are in either of these functions, take a moment and ask yourself — do you really understand what the other department does and what they are measured on?

Broken Telephone

<ul><li>For a CSM, losing a customer can be catastrophic for the company but also give that CS person a black mark on their career.</li><li>For a Product Manager, a failed product release can also put the future of the company at risk and setback its career progression.</li></ul>Before you send an incriminating e-mail where you slam someone or a team, have a direct chat with the individuals that are affected. Let them know what you're going to say and ask them for their input. Bad things happen so instead of humiliating someone, let them know in a respectful way.

Under Pressure

How to align -- or at least start down the path of working in a more structured way:<ul><li>Establishing a regular cadence of meetings between representatives of CS and Product that has a specific agenda and outcomes</li><li>Documenting and communicating the goals and metrics of these two groups and having some common metrics</li><li>Setting the right expectations internally and with customers on what will be released</li><li>Providing CS with proper training on how to discuss what’s being released and what isn’t</li></ul>

Communication ≠ alignment

<ul><li>Go through the roadmap to see if anything has changed. Discuss what has been moved up or pushed back.</li><li>Discuss high priority customer features and confirm the prioritization and next steps</li><li>Confirm what is in the next release and the impact that this will have on customers</li><li>Go through any major bugs so that Product understands the impact of these bugs and confirm a resolution path</li><li>Cs teams should make a point to highlight both the positives and the negatives. Engineers tend not to get a lot of credit for their contributions.</li></ul>

Best joint meeting practices:

To get product and CS on the same page doesn’t mean setting up a weekly meeting between these functions or a joint slack Channel. A good starting point is to review the current agenda and purpose of the regular CS/Product meeting. CS teams need to embed themselves more into the production process and really understand how decisions are made. This will help CS set the right expectations with customers and prevent further miscommunication and games of broken telephone.

Having the CS and Product on the same page

CS can ensure feature requests are submitted correctly. They can train themselves on how to properly communicate product changes to customers. CS can prevent unnecessary friction with Product by pre-emptively reviewing the feature requests and bugs that are being submitted. They can also make certain that items are prioritized correctly, have the right amount of details (such as Screenshots), and are classified appropriately. CS needs to stand behind its product team and support it.

How can Customer Success can “be a better bestie”?

These were a few of the responses to the question “what are the misconceptions that Product and Customer Success (CS) have of each other” that we discussed at a recent PulseLocal NYC meetup hosted at…

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