How to get through life and The S factor we're all sleeping on...

As a podcaster, I’ve had the privilege of hosting some pretty epic humans.

Despite their wildly different journeys and achievements, if there’s one common thread I’ve found among them, it would be resilience.

Take Jeff Griffin, who lost his legs in an accident early in his life and yet managed to become a Paralympic medalist.

Or Dr James Doty, who rode the dot. com boom to a $75 million fortune, only to lose it all within six weeks while racking up $3 million in debt. Instead of blaming life he honored his prior philanthropic commitments, making a real mark in his space.

Reflecting on how each of these people and many more who have inspired me, I’ve come to realise that getting ahead in life is not necessarily a ‘business’ game; it’s an emotional game.

Here are the top factors that drive resilience from my learnings and observations:

Changing perspective: People who are resilient somehow see things that most people don’t. While tough times can break most, these guys have an uncanny ability to just zoom out and look at a situation from an entirely different lens- one that involves asking themselves, “What opportunity for growth lies here for me?”

Detachment: It’s not the situation itself as much as how a situation is interpreted that invites suffering. A big part of resilience is detaching from ideas, beliefs, and even material assets- something that’s become even harder to do in today’s construct.
But accepting what is rather than clinging on to what used to be, seems to be one of the core traits of resilient folks.

Emotional regulation: This is the core of it all. A person’s ability to manage stress, stay optismic, and rise above adversity plays a huge role in resilience. Without this, even the smallest challenges can seem like hell and lead to a downward spiral.

A sense of purpose: Having a strong why helps to push through the shit that life throws our way. Althought sometimes people voluntarily put themselves through shit to fulfill their purpose. Like another one of my guest’s, Leah Chowdhry who swam the English channel, battling salty water, jellyfish and sheer exhaustion for over 14 hours- all to raise funds for an Indian charity.

The message is clear- the key to navigating challenges and hardship comes down to mastering our minds and emotions.

Crack that and you’ve cracked everything else.

That is the ultimate test of life.

The S factor we’re all sleeping on

Of all the things our world is advancing in- AI, space travel and finding ways to make coffee ridiculously expensive -human connection seems to have taken a complete backseat.

Online bullying, cancel culture, and loneliness are on the rise while people are craving to be just heard and seen like never before.

An untapped power that can solve half the problems? Empathy.

We often brush it as a ‘soft skill’ that HR loves to throw around. But in all honesty, empathy is anything but soft. It’s the glue that holds relationships together and the magic ingredient that makes the hard things work- both in life and business.

I had an absolute blast diving into this topic with Mimi Nicklin, who is an empathy advocate who travels the world educating people about how truly life-changing empathy can be.

In this episode, Mimi emphasises:

👉🏻How empathy can accelerate your career
👉🏻The difference between empathy and sympathy
👉🏻The importance of listening
👉🏻The impact of empathy in the workplace; and
👉🏻How to balance empathy with making tough decisions.

Go ahead and learn a thing or two about being a better human.

In case you missed me last week

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