Welcome to The Happier Newsletter, a weekly newsletter where I provide actionable ideas to help you build a happier, healthier, and more meaningful life.
What’s On Today
- Steven Bartlett: Business and Life speaking tour
- The Chips of Life: Gamble Wisely
- More Takeaways
Steven Bartlett: Business and Life speaking tour
I recently went to the Business and Life speaking tour by Steven Bartlett, and let me tell you, it was nothing short of transformative.
The event was a mix of inspiring stories, learning, and fun, and by the end of the night, we all felt smarter and uplifted.
If you don’t know who Steven Bartlett is, he’s an Entrepreneur, speaker, investor, author (most recent book: The 33 Laws of Business and Life), Dragon on Dragon’s Den and the host of Europe's leading podcast 'The Diary of a CEO'.
All of this only by the age of 31, which is just mind-blowing because that’s exactly my age and I sure have not accomplished as much as he has.
But rather than sitting here bitter and resentful, I find it motivating and inspiring to see what you can accomplish in life if you put your mind to it and really go after the things that matter most to you.
Here is the one key takeaway that resonated with me the most.
The Chips of Life: Gamble Wisely
Every morning, you receive 24 chips, with each chip representing an hour of your day. After using 8 chips for sleep, you're left with 16.
How you invest these 16 chips on life's roulette table each day shapes everything: your relationships, physical and mental health, and professional ambitions.
Your sole influence on the world lies in how you manage your time; it's your only currency.
Every day, as the wheel spins, it reveals the returns based on your chip placements.
You might allocate 2 chips for quality time with your partner, 8 for work, 2 for the gym, and 1 for walking your dog. When these align with your values, you reap great rewards.
However, if you place chips without intention, you lose them forever; they're wasted.
It's crucial to be deliberate because your control and influence revolve around how you place these chips.
In a lifetime, you have roughly 500,000 chips. At 30, you're left with about 325,000, and at 50, around 200,000.
How will you invest the remaining chips on life's roulette table?
Choose your gambles wisely!
More Takeaways
Some of the other key takeaways that really resonated with me:
- Craft a Personal Mission Statement: Crafting a personal mission statement can help you find purpose and meaning in your life, and align your actions with your core values and aspirations. It is like a compass guiding all your decision-making in life.
- Stack Skills: Learn two skills that are rare and complementary. An example of skill stacking is that of Natalie Portman who is an actress. She quit acting for 4 years to study psychology, because she knew that this knowledge would give her an advantage to better understand her characters. This complementary skill improved her acting skills tenfold, making her stand out from the competition.
- Paint the Back of the Fence: The small things matter, even if they’re unseen. Both Steve Jobs and Elon Musk sweat about the small things because they know that if you do, the rest will follow more easily and can compound over time.
If you want to learn more about business and life, I highly recommend you check out his podcast and book! In particularly, his podcast is a must listen!
- Podcast: The Diary of a CEO
- Book: The 33 Laws of Business and Life
