The pandemic has brought the performance of government leaders around the world into sharp focus. But there is another, even more important factor in determining our success or failure.
One of my personal values is to live deliberately. But what does that mean and how do we do it? For me it starts with two beliefs and ends with a little trick.
I tried too hard to be clever when I was young. If I could turn back time I’d focus more on not being stupid. But I’m not Cher. So I’ll do the next best thing: Learn from my mistakes and avoid remaking them over the next 41 years.
I can be a bit obsessive. A good friend once told me: “I love how you don’t just do things, you over do them.” The first time I quit drinking, I stopped for 12 years. When I decided to finally “lose the weight” I lost all 12kg in just a few months.
Suicide is the biggest cause of death for men under 35. That might be just words to some, but to me it’s flesh and blood. I remember hearing my uncle took his own life. I was 10. After college I found the body of a housemate. He had shot himself.
When your youngest daughter asks over dinner why we should study history, you know you’re about to have a wonderful family conversation. Does history repeat itself? Can we predict the future? These are great questions that are worth talking about.
Picture a public figure you hate. Don’t pretend you don’t have any. Now imagine you unlock your phone and open your daily news feed...
Right there on the screen it’s confirmed: Every terrible thing you knew about this person had actually been twisted or made up. You had grown to hate them but turns out they are perfectly fine. The worst of the things you thought they had said and done, they never did!
The 80s gave us big hair but also big ideas like The Law of Two Feet: If you're not learning or contributing, use your two feet, go someplace else. True to it’s roots, it has the power to tear down the manmade Berlin Walls that keep people trapped in unproductive meetings all day.
The pandemic and lockdown has posed many serious questions to society. One question that is less critical in the bigger scheme was nonetheless important to me personally: Could I run a half marathon inside my garage?
