The Only Truth You Need To Know!

A huge welcome back. And I want to talk about books. And in fact, I want to talk about one book. That's all I'm going to talk about. Because this book really captured my attention. And as many of you know, I love to read. Some people find reading boring. I find the fact that people don't read or listen to audiobooks or podcasts, I find that strange because all this information sits there and I know so little about the world. I know so little about myself. I know so little about so many things. I want to learn more about more things. And the way to do that is through information. And we are so blessed in this day and age to have access. Many of us have access through digital devices or through libraries to free information. It's mind blowing. So I came across a book recently and I need to tell you about it. I'm compelled to tell you about it. Not every book do I shine so much spotlight on, but this one was so transformational. This is the only truth that you need to hear about your work, your business and your career. This is the only truth. And it's just so important that you listen to this. Please. If you've got five minutes, this is the five minutes you need to spend. If you want a happier life, if you want more connection with the people you love, if you want to be healthier, maybe live a longer life, live a more fulfilled, purpose, centered life. This is the thing you need to know about this incredible book. So first of all, you need to buy a copy. It's called Chasing Daylight and the author is Eugene o'. Kelly. Eugene o'. Kelly. Now, let me tell you about the book. Eugene was the CEO of KPMG accounting firm in America. Pretty big role, pretty full on. And he had a big life, lots of travel, lots of big gigs and soirees, and hung out with Warren Buffett and the likes. But also that came at a cost. As many of you know, when you're dedicated to your work, it takes you away from your good health habits, your family time, resting, relaxing. Of course, we all understand this, but Eugene, he was at one point, you know, in his early 50s and started to see some things change on his face. So his wife said, I think you should go check that out. He. He refused and he headed off to China for a busy business trip. And the thing on his face got worse. So eventually he did go and see his doctor who said, tomorrow morning you need an mri. He went for the MRI and got a call at his office a few hours later to say, you need to come Back for another one tomorrow morning. This next one will have some ink in it so we can see more clearly what's going on in your brain. He goes and does that, then goes back to work again and gets a call saying, can you come in? And he says, look, can it wait for a couple of days or a week? It's busy. And the doctor said, no, it cannot wait. You need to come in. So when he went in, him and his wife were delivered the news that he had roughly about 100 days left to live. He had multiple brain tumors. Now, most of us, if we got this news, would be shocked, overwhelmed, highly anxious, devastated. I don't know the words. I can't describe it right, but you're given a definitive fact that your life is ending in a matter of months, short amount of months. What he was told was, you will likely not face a lot of pain. This particular type of tumor. You will not have a lot of pain. So you've got some time to do whatever you need to do and get your affairs in order. Well, Eugene used this time to, as he did in his accounting time to get really focused on what mattered most. And he ended up writing this book that I know you're going to go and buy. He wrote this book in those last 100 days. This book is a masterclass on how we should go about living our lives and our careers and how those two things intertwine. How your life, your relationships, your health, travel, how that intersects with a really incredible career. So I'm going to share just three of the most profound takeaways, and I'm going to urge you to go get the book yourself, read it, and then drop me a line. In fact, on the podcast now, you'll be able to see in the show notes on Apple and Spotify that there's a thing called fan mail. So you can send me a text. And so if you want to, just send me a text, let me know what you thought of the book. I would love it. So please do send me a text. You see it in the link. It says, send me a text. So go for it. But three things I want to share with you. Number one, learn to slow down. Learn to slow down. Be present. Eugene caught himself being busy being busy in his professional life. He was always running a million miles a minute, putting in extra overtime, saying yes to things, running across the country to sign a deal. That was just what he thought he needed to do. But when he started to reflect on his life, he fully believed that if he learned to slow down in his career, he would have been an even better executive for kpmg. So I want to ask you, how fast is your life going right now? Could you slow down? Look, I'm as guilty as anyone. I'm very focused, driven, competitive, excited about work, excited about helping people, excited about learning. And does it mean that sometimes I go at a high pace? Yes, but I can't sustain it. I know I can't sustain it. So I do put in holidays and my partner. Caroline laughs. You know, when we're on holiday, I'll often be saying, okay, let's take an hour and plan the next holiday. I like to always have something on the calendar. I firmly believe we all need to have breaks, rest, adventure on the calendar. So when I come back after my holiday, I already know I've got the next thing to work towards. So I've got a few really big months right now. A lot of travel, a lot of keynote delivery to large companies and small, traveling to Europe to deliver a couple of keynotes up there, it's full on and then off to North America shortly after that. But I know that there's going to be windows where I'm going to slow down. So when I'm doing a keynote, let's say a short flight up to Auckland, but I'm up there for two days doing maybe a leadership training. I'll book in a massage one evening and slow down and relax and not catch up with anyone for dinner. Just slow down, meditate, journal, breathe, go for a run or a walk. I'm just going to ask you, could you slow down a little bit? Eugene o' Kelly is stressing in his final days that if we could all slow down, we'd have happier lives and we'd be better at our jobs. The second takeaway is get clear on your priorities. If you are not acting in alignment with your priorities, then you're going to be busy being busy. But your actions reflect your priorities. Do you know what your priorities are? Most people will say family, but most people are not actually spending quality time with them. We're not talking about how your priorities are family. So you have to have the most hours per week with them. That's not what it's about. It's about what are you doing with your family? How are you spending it? How present are you? Am I guilty at times of not being there, fully focused? Yes, I might be there, but maybe my mind's somewhere else. I'm not one of those dads or partners that spends a lot of time surfing on their phone in the company of other people. And if there's visitors around or I'm with someone, I can't be that person that looks at the phone. Nothing irritates me more than being with someone and they're on their phone. It literally gets under my skin. It says to me, you are highly unimportant. I'd rather look at this battery operated plastic device. Right. Please don't be that person to anyone around you. This is a short little trip that you've got here called life. Be present, Learn to slow down and get your priorities right. I want you to be able to name your priorities. Mine? Very simple. Family, fitness, finance, learning and business. That's it. I can name them. They're in my head, they're in my heart. I write them down every day. Family, fitness, finance, learning and business. Super simple. They're in that order. They are my priorities. And every day I ask myself one simple question. How could I be 1% better in each of those priority areas? I do a little check in, get the old journal out and check in. It's very simple, there's no rocket science to it. But it allows me to stay more congruent with my priorities. Do I get off task? Yes. Do I start to put other things in, above priorities? Yes. But that's why I write them down every day. So it realigns. Go. Oy, James, sharpen up. You need to make sure that you're living in alignment with your priorities. And then the fitness piece, that's mental health, that's physical health, spiritual, it's all of that. What are your priorities? Do you know them? I urge you to get clear on them. And I urge you to have a process daily where you check in and ask what can I do today to live into those priorities? For me it's just, how can I be 1% better? Because 1%, that's doable, right? But it stacks up. And last but not least, control your energy, not your time. I read this in the book and I was like, my God, Eugene, who's on his deathbed is literally writing this book for me. I needed to hear this. I for a long time and still to this time I am so focused on time and I'm a massive Nelson Mandela fan and I read something that he had wrote many years ago that if someone was lit it was a character flawless. And it really resonated with me because my grandfather was very time focused as well. Like the post office opened at I think 7:30am and so he'd be there at like 6:59 31 minutes early. So he'd be the first in line to get in there. Look, I have that trait. Is it a strength? Yes. Is it a weakness? Yes. I just refuse to be late for things. If I've got a client, I'm calling in New York for a coaching call and it's at 10am, I'll be looking at my watch and at 58 seconds, so two seconds to go, I'll hit the call button. So at the time that call connects, bang, it's right on the hour. I really have this massive respect for time and respect for other people's time. Why I know I am going to die. I hope it's many, many years in the future. But I know that this is a one shot deal. I'm here to live life and be purposeful with it. So my time is very, very precious. My time is something I really respect and the same with other people's, but it gets in the way. It can be irritating for others, particularly the people closest to me when I'm like, come on, wheels rolling, let's go. It's 11:30, we should be in the car driving. And I always like to plan for the unexpected. There could be a crash on the way. There could be something on the way. We need to plan for that. I'd rather be 20 minutes early to a meeting than three seconds late. I don't want to be three seconds late. I want to be so early. So that book was really, for me, it really, really landed. I need to spend less time being fanatical about timekeeping and just more time on my energy. Hey, yeah, I'm two minutes late. It's okay. But I'm now going to be so present with you for the next 28min. Sorry I'm late. I haven't had to say sorry I'm late and I don't know how long, but it would be good for me and it might be good for you too if you're a bit like me, where you're just always measuring time and putting everything into your calendar and scheduling it, it's a very focused thing to do. It's a great thing in many ways. It can be productive. But actually managing your energy, how you show up in those times that you've got, that's more important than anything, really. Much more important. And I know the people around me would have a lot more fun if I was a little more relaxed with time. So it's a work on for me, that's for sure. Look, this book is amazing. I go to bed at like 9ish every night. This book had me up to almost midnight multiple nights. It's a short book. You'll probably read it in two or three days at most, but so phenomenal. I beg you to buy the book. Go and buy a copy from wherever your local bookstore is or order online. If you can't find it, read it. Take some notes on it and share those. As I said, you can text me now on the podcast directly. It's in the show notes. Send me a text. I'd love to hear what your thoughts are on it. So enjoy the book. I hope something's landed with you right now. But to me, that's the ultimate truth from Eugene o' Kelly that we can have a better life and be even more productive and competitive and effective in our businesses by slowing down, by being present and by managing our energy, not our time. Hey, I look forward to seeing you in our next session, but for now, please get out there and lead your life on purpose.