Anything Above Zero Compounds

0:00Hey there, welcome back to my notebook. Hope you're good. This is the place where every week you just get the real me, my innermost thoughts, the things I'm struggling with, some of the breakthroughs I'm struggling with. started making notes and I haven't stopped since. So much of my success, so much of my learning, so much of my growth has happened through making notes because it just sort of clarifies what I'm thinking and the thoughts that I'm having. And I'm delighted that so many of you have enjoyed these conversations. Honestly, I do not take this for granted. It is the greatest privilege in the world.

0:48I sit here, share my thoughts and you listen to it. If you can just do two things for me, it would make the world of difference. Can you send these to one person? Just ping this notebook to one person and say have a listen to this and almost 90 % of you that are listening right now have not hit subscribe or follow on the app where you're listening to this podcast so if you can do that in just a couple of seconds then it's a game changer for us it takes no time or effort for you and it really makes a big difference so thank you very much in advance let's get to it okay so my notebook starts with a note that I made about the fact that this week I was pretty nervous so this week I flew into Europe to interview Robert Lewandowski for High Performance and that's a big deal for me one of the greatest footballers that has ever played the game and obviously we've been hosting High Performance now for about well over five years and like it does become quite normal to think right I've got a busy day I've got three records I've got to get to London I've got to be prepped I've got to be ready but then also sometimes there's an opportunity to speak to somebody and it just sort of piques you a little bit so I had the same feeling with Arnold Schwarzenegger had the same feeling with Richard Branson Gordon Ramsay Keir Starmer and I definitely had it with Robert Lewandowski and the day before we did the record it was busy because as you know we've created a foundation through high performance so I hope you know getting the messages and lessons of the show into into schools into the ears of young people tens of thousands of young kids are already using what we've called game plan which is our schools program and so I had to do some work for that on the day before and it meant I had to go to London it meant I had a load of bits going on that I couldn't really fully think about the Robert Lewandowski thing and I was so nervous um on the morning of the interview sitting on the flight because I was like I need this to go well and that's why I wrote down a note here saying this is what you wanted and I think it's really important right if there are things in your life right now that you're struggling with maybe the fact that you've got a lovely house and it takes time and attention to look after it maybe the fact that you've been promoted at work which means you've got more responsibility maybe the fact that you've got a couple of kids which means or maybe more which means it takes up a lot of your time maybe you've got a beautiful partner who you want to dedicate loads of time to and serve and love and look after all of those things are things that you wanted right you wanted the success you wanted the relationships you wanted the children you wanted the the lovely property and the nice car and all these other things and i think sometimes we allow life to remind us of all the stress and all the challenges and all the issues and all the problems that come with doing all of these great things and sometimes we have to remind ourselves this is what you wanted so when i'm feeling nervous and a bit overwhelmed and a bit underprepared flying to interview robert levendowski i have to remember like that's what i wanted like i wanted to be tested i wanted to be pushed so in some ways what a privilege right to be tired from the work that you always wanted what a privilege to feel overwhelmed from the things you've been lucky enough to buy.

3:43What a privilege to feel in demand from the friends that want to spend time with you. So much of this stuff has to be reframed. And reframing is such an important element of living a happy life. I'll talk about this in detail on another notebook, but more and more I'm seeing friends of mine, and particularly when I chat to their kids, telling me that like mornings at home are stressful. And you can probably relate to that. Yeah, mornings at home are stressful. You've got kids, you've got to get them their lunch, get them out the door, get them ready for school, get them out of bed, look after them, look after yourself, sort out your partner, get to work on time, all these other things.

4:12But if those mornings are stressful, what is the point of life? And what I mean by that is that that is living and it can't be stressful. It can't be horrible and hard work. You can't just look forward to getting to Saturday morning because that is not living. We have to find the joy in the doing, in the being, in the normal everyday stuff. Because most of your life is spent trying to get your kids out of bed and ready for school. Most of your life is spent trying to get through your to-do list. And if all of that just brings you sadness and not joy, then what sort of a life is that? And it is absolutely possible to find joy in the busy, to find joy in the stressful, to find joy in the overwhelming if you look for it, if you decide that your house is going to be a fun house in the mornings, if your kids are going to get out of bed with you being ridiculous and goofy with a big smile on your face, playing a song or doing a dance because it's so important that those everyday things are things that you enjoy right next note this was an interesting one actually i was thinking about when i left being a football presenter and started really going hard on making podcasting successful and i think about to how few of the people that i spent years and years working within television ever sent me a message ever said congratulations ever liked one of my social posts ever put an encouraging comment on there.

5:33And it reminded me of this great phrase, pay attention to those who don't clap when you win. Pay attention to those who don't clap when you win. I just think you need to see those people because when you have something great happen to you in your life or when something happens that you're proud of, why are they not clapping? Why are they not cheering you on? Why are they not pinging you a little note? Why are they not in your corner? Why are they not publicly congratulating you? And I'm not saying this is about you needing praise or needing congratulations. this is about you making sure that you surround yourself with the right people who lift you up and by the way talking about clapping can i just remind you please to cheer for yourself on the journey not just when you win you know when you go and watch um an athletics competition do they just cheer as the runners cross the line in the 100 meter sprint or are they cheering the whole way at a football match are they just cheering when the whistle goes at the end of 90 minutes or are they cheering throughout the whole match you know and i know that we cheer other people on the whole time they're competing and the whole time they're performing.

6:30Well, what about yourself? Why aren't you cheering yourself on all the time? Why are you waiting until you're successful before you congratulate yourself? Just being in the fight, being in the race, doing your best, pushing forwards, trying to make a difference, that deserves your applause, okay? Like you are still here, you are still moving forwards. So just stop right now, wherever you are, driving, walking the dog out for a run, whatever, and just remind yourself that you've done brilliantly because life is bloody difficult. There are constant challenges. There are constant threats. There are constant fears.

7:02It's not easy, but here you are. So can you start cheering for yourself all the time rather than just when you win because you're doing your best. And as I've told you previously on this notebook, anything above zero compounds. So it's not about you doing a world changing things. It's about you just being a little bit better because anything above zero compounds. So just look to be a little bit better. I got a message this week and I wanted to talk about it. It came from a lady called Sophie. And she sent me a very simple message on Instagram. Hey, Jake, I'm loving the notebook. I wish I didn't live with fear.

7:40I wish I was like you and just enjoyed every second. Okay, Sophie. Well, as I've just told you at the start of this conversation, I very much felt the fear this week when I felt that I hadn't prepared and I was out of my comfort zone. Can I just say, please, and I want you to hear this, right? nobody has no fear nobody has no fear i would just rather be a failure than a coward and it's as simple as that and i would rather you were also a failure than a coward because i don't want you to get to the end of your life with the ghosts of missed opportunities floating around saying oh why didn't you just go for it so if there are things in your life that you're not doing because you're scared i'd rather you went for them and failed i promise you it's far more exciting and a far more interesting journey to do that.

8:21Nobody is living with no fear. Anyone that says they are, they are lying to you. People just aren't showing you their fear. They're showing you their successes all the time. Every day is scary. For me at the moment, there are three or four massive things happening in my life that can go one way or the other, right? And that is definitely scary, but also that is the human existence. Like, isn't it meant to be like this? It is magic that life throws us the good and the bad it challenges us it keeps track of us it disappoints us it thrills us it amazes us that is how it should be like I had um a good couple of friends playing for Scotland this week who just had that amazing result against Norway and made it to the World Cup massive congratulations to to anyone listening to this in Scotland and I texted those those guys both of whom have had a hard couple years and they both replied and said this felt amazing and I tell you now it wouldn't have felt amazing as amazing if they hadn't had a hard couple of years so this is the way life is this is the rich tapestry why should it be easy why have you made a story in your head that life should be easy and if life's hard you're on the wrong path it's not true you're on the right path but life's hard because it's life and people chase resilience i talk about the importance of resilience but just remember that resilience doesn't feel good being resilient doesn't feel good because it means you're doing hard things so if you're doing hard things, if you're not feeling great about it, if you're having hard days, then that is life, that is fine, you are winning, that is the lived experience, keep doing that stuff.

9:52If you're not doing the things that are scary, because they're scary, or if you're not feeling tested or challenged because you need to be resilient, then I think you need to up the game, switch things up. And talking of the game, this is quite a deep episode this week, isn't it? I wrote in my diary this week because I just felt like I've been chasing something that doesn't exist, right? There was a time where I wanted to have the biggest podcast on the planet. And I think I was talking to another podcaster about this this week. And we both agreed that maybe that shouldn't be the aim. It's not a great aim to have because we never complete the game.

10:24Like the game of life is never complete. And this, I guess, goes back to the point I made earlier. Like if you're not enjoying it, what's it all for? There is no moment of completion where suddenly everything makes sense and you're joyful and you're relaxed and you're happy. and if you ever do get that at the very end of your life when you're retired and you're financially secure and you've bought a house in spain and you sit back in a chair sipping a a cold cerveza and you realize that you've won well you might only get a very short period feeling like that and was it really worth spending the previous 60 years of serious depressing anxiety to get to that point i don't believe so so i actually don't think we ever complete the game so i don't think that life is about reaching a point of fulfillment or joy or happiness life is about finding those things in the everyday and the final point that i just want to leave you thinking about is this idea of holding your beliefs lightly if i could give you one piece of advice that i think will stand you in good stead it's holding your beliefs lightly because for so long we lived in this world where we had our viewpoint and i had a conversation about finances with my brother the other day and we come from quite different viewpoints when it comes to success and wealth and finances and things actually i don't think we do i think we come from a very similar point of view but we just have different thoughts on it and it reminded me that I like his point of view is totally valid and my point of view is totally valid just because it's not his just because his isn't mine it doesn't make it less so and there was a long time where leaders in in the world felt that they had to be the ones with a playbook and a plan and an opinion and a view and an idea of the direction and I don't think it's right I think the very best leaders are the ones that actually turn to their teams and the people around them and go where what direction do you think we should go how do you feel that we should be viewing the world at the moment i would honestly encourage you to listen to the most recent episode of the room where it happened with darren hardman who's the uk ceo of microsoft who talks about the fact that his belief was once the time you clock in and the time you clock out is how you value your life and then someone had a conversation with him and said don't forget about the other 50 of your life which was his family and darren grew up in a working class area of manchester where his dad left every morning at 5am to go to work and so Darren thought that that was how you that was how you judged your impact on the world and he's changed completely because he holds his beliefs lightly how can you ever grow if you don't hold your beliefs lightly and the world is changing at such an incredible rate of knots okay that the learned the educated those who have the belief system set in stone are going to be perfectly equipped for a world that no longer exists The only way for you to stay relevant and to stay impactful in the future is to be an explorer.

13:08And the only way to explore is to hold your beliefs lightly. So think like a scientist, right? Scientists are among the cleverest people on the planet and they look to be proved wrong every single day. Because when they're proved wrong, it means they've learned more. And when they've learned more, they've grown. So hold your beliefs lightly, please. Remember that you do never complete this game. It is never over. therefore you need to try and find the joy in the everyday the simple everyday and sometimes it's tough but when it's tough it means that actually what you're experiencing is a resilience and everyone needs it because everyone is scared of something but once again i would rather be a failure than a coward so go out there chase what you really want do it with a smile on your face you're far more likely to get there if you do pay close attention to those that don't clap when you win and when you have those good moments it's very important and remember to clap for yourself not just when you get to the end and you think you've won because i've just told you you never complete the game clap for yourself on the journey because anything above zero compounds and i am here cheering you on thanks for listening hit subscribe see you next time