The Slingshot Principle – why the worst-case scenario is the best-case scenario
The Slingshot Principle. Steve Jobs is famous for telling us that we ‘can’t connect the dots going forward’. The Co-Founder of Apple was dropping out of college but took a course in calligraphy when exploring things. He later reflected how valuable that class was in shaping the creative fonts that would go on to distinguish Apple’s typefaces going forward. The funny thing is, no entrepreneurship or business course will ever teach or emphasise the importance of calligraphy. When Jobs was later ousted from Apple, he went on to create another incredible company - Pixar, which was responsible for timeless classic films like Toy
Astro the Dog – the dog who runs your life
Have you ever been terrified by the prospect of speaking to a pretty girl or guy at a bar? When I was a teenager, I was terrified of awkward silences and speaking to girls. Not just a bit scared or apprehensive, but terrified. For podcast episodes on Astro The Dog see episodes #011-#013 of the With Joe Wehbe Podcast. Youtube Episodes: #011 Part One #012 Part Two #013 Part Three In saying that, I was generally a very confident public speaker After all, I did this from a young age. But I’ve met other people who are very confident in conversation but their ultimate
The Law of Ensuement – Direct vs. Incidental Goals
The greatest things in life cannot be pursued directly. They must happen incidentally. The greatest rewards in life cannot be pursued - they must ensue. I call this, ‘The Law of Ensuement’. The Thousand Doors Theory My central framework for journeys through life is understood as the Thousand Doors Theory. The theory suggests, we use the Thousand Doors System to reach the most remarkable places because the most remarkable places live in the unknown. When we turn down one ‘door’ or one opportunity in life, we so often fail to recognise that it is the First of a Thousand Doors - the other nine-hundred and
How to think through boxes
This piece extends from Without-The-Box Thinking and unpacks a second-step, How to think through boxes. You are best served reading that piece first. As I always say - “All advice is bad advice”. All that changes is the degree to which advice is bad. Because, no matter how wise or without-the-box the thinker you receive advice from, no one is you. Therefore no one can ever give you advice that is absolutely perfect - they will always be giving you some form of box. Even Without-The-Box Thinking is bad advice, for it is a box itself. Welcome to the Matrix! The irony of Without-The-Box Thinking
Don’t hold your goals like Gollum
They should be goals and not GOLLUMS. You don’t want to end up like the one formerly known as Smiegel, from The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkein. “Strong opinions, loosely held” As Paul Saffo from the Institute for the Future is credited as saying. Well, the same should be said of our grand dreams and goals. Strong goals, loosely held. You see the principles of the Minimum Viable Lifestyle (MVL) and An Audience-of-None defend us against the traps of over-investing in grandiose dreams, if those dreams rely on external factors beyond our control. These questions are interested in, What is the least
Forget GROWTH, focus on BETTER
Why do we celebrate the “Fastest growing company”? Why are we excited by the “fastest growing economy”? We talk about growth as if it were something that is always good. What a silly rule-of-thumb. Is there an award for the fastest growing cancer? Andre the Giant grew fast and large. And he was lost early. Why ‘grow’ when we can be ‘better’ instead? What if you GROW your audience but at the cost of quality? What if you GROW your business but distance yourself from the customer, and tank the culture? What if you GROW your economy but life, in trying to keep up with rising costs, becomes
What was the best day of your life?
What was the best day of your life? If you’re struggling to bring something to mind, don’t feel bad. I’m drawing blanks myself. Maybe it was a retreat I did at school in 2011 that opened me up to self-awareness. Maybe it was one of the days I spent in Nepal in 2018. Or maybe it was when the St George Illawarra Dragons won the 2010 Grand Final, after so many years of near misses. Actually, something is coming to mind. It was my 21st birthday. 2nd October, 2015. Originally I thought I didn’t want the hassle or attention of a big party. But I changed my
Maslow’s Hierarchy, the Comfort Ladder and the Luxury Trap
For corresponding podcast episodes check out #016-#018 of the With Joe Wehbe Podcast. Youtube Episodes: #016 Maslow's Hierarchy, #017 The Comfort Ladder, #018 The Luxury Trap My Dad gave me a nickname growing up… Princess The Princess nickname referred to my cushioned upbringing and complete inability to get my hands dirty. To this day, I am not a hands-on guy, and I don’t do physical labour well. So it’s pretty emasculating to compare myself to my grandfathers, who were both hard-working immigrants who DEFINITELY got their hands dirty. Growing up I was ever-grateful that they paved the way for our family in Australia, not me,
The Glossary Exercise: Words that mean too many different things to different people.
Charity Wealth Success Career Work Happiness Depression Comfort Freedom God Investing Take a second and ask - what do these words mean to you? I find these words to be some of the most significant words, concepts and ideas in our culture, but equally, that people all have a very different idea of what each term means and refers to. This becomes a problem when we are having a conversation and assume that our conversation partner uses the same definition we do. It makes sense to 1) write your own glossary of these words, as well as 2) figure out the glossary of someone else you are in dialogue with. Take note of the following
Who’s responsible for the Culture?
It was a Sunday afternoon in Sydney, I was sitting in a group of my closest friends and I was not saying a single word. They were talking about life at their workplace - a big, global company, and concentrating on all the negatives. Some crazy things had been going on. Conditions and pay had changed due to the COVID-19 outbreak globally, and there was a scandal in the news that implicated everyone in the company. You see in this scandal, everyone in the company had cheated on a compliance test - everyone from management down to the juniors and grads. I sat there