Numerous studies have now conclusively proven that there is one characteristic above all others that can predict your long-term success in anything you choose to do. If you develop and train this characteristic then you become far more likely to achieve any goal you set for yourself.

It's called grit.

But what is grit? How does it differ to resilience? And what can we do to build and enhance these behavioural characteristics?

What is grit?

Grit is the ability to push through...

I get asked a lot to write about my experience with intermittent fasting and how I shred my body fat. Now with a few weeks of holiday I’ve finally found a spare hour with my laptop to finish this post for those of you that have been waiting for it. So here goes…

Why I decided to lose my body fat

First, let me say that I don’t really care too much about what I weigh. I care about my health and how I feel about my body, and so my body fat percentages, blood work, and my...

Today is R U OK day, and I’m compelled to write. A lot.

A great friend once told me: “whatever you feel, say it”.

Short and simple. But it actually goes much deeper when you live it properly. What it really means is: “whatever you feel, be vulnerable and courageous enough to act on it.”

It’s amazing how most of us hold back what we really think. We don’t always call out bad behaviour when we see it. We don’t give someone that special...

I recently completed a two week 130km round trip trek to Everest Base Camp, and it was an epic experience. It was one of the best adventures I’ve done, but what really added to the experience was having reasonably severe altitude sickness for about 36 hours.

Pushing through that sickness was physically the hardest thing I’ve done. But in the process I learnt a few very important things about myself, and one thing in particular that I need to change about my psychology before it...

There is a new programming language. Except rather than being used to program software, it’s used to program the human mind — the founder’s wetware — and to engineer emotional states.

This programming language comprises methods, routines, and functions that can be called upon and routinely executed to help founders achieve #peakfounder state, and optimise themselves for success, at work, home and play.

The concepts listed below are not taken from clinical psychology....

I’ve always loved the concept of time. From an early age I was fascinated by Einstein’s theory of Special Relativity and the concept that time is relative, not absolute.

I remember my mind being blown when I learnt that the fundamental perception of reality that ‘cause precedes effect’ is actually not true, or at least it’s entirely dependent on your frame of reference. Put another way, it’s possible for the light to go on before the...

Over the last 5+ years of wearing various hats in the startup community, I have met thousands of startup founders, and worked closely with hundreds of them, across every stage of the entrepreneurial journey, across some different demographics, from across a few different countries.

Working so closely with so many founders, often at the most difficult phase of their startup journey, you start to notice patterns of behaviour and common traits of successful founders vs not-yet-successful...

Almost exactly a year ago I setup a public webform asking anyone and everyone to provide me with personal feedback and advice. The point of this blog is to share that experience and what I learnt from it.

Why am I writing this post?

I am definitely not writing this post for myself, and I think the reason it’s taken me so long to actually publish this post is a signal that I really didn’t want to write this. I have no idea if it will actually help anyone. But several...

Two days ago I returned from the first ever Advance Queensland Venturer Program, and now that I am back, I feel like Neo in the Matrix.

What we did

19 of us from across Queensland — mostly startup community leaders mixed with current founders — took part in a 7 day adventure (4 of the days without any comms), that included 50 kilometres of kayaking in the sea around the Whitsundays, a sailing challenge on Maxi yachts, multiple dawn mountain hikes and yoga sessions,...