Regrets, new beginnings and goals

TRIBEathlon Podcast

Due to the festive period, there is no new TRIBEathlon episode this fortnight, so I wanted to take a step back in time to one of my favourite episodes. 

John McAvoy is currently a professional Ironman and a Nike sponsored athlete, however he was previously a high profile armed robber who found redemption through the power of sport. Having broken both British and World records whilst in prison he is now forging a new life as an endurance athlete and speaker who is committed to using his story of rehabilitation to help and inspire others to change their lives for the better. His journey from iron bars to Ironman is quite astonishing, and one that is inspiring others to do the same. 

Sid and I wanted to learn more about his incredible story, the power of role models and creating a legacy. Listen to his episode of the podcast here

What I’ve Been Reading

Dan Pink has been one of my favourite authors for years, and I have previously recommended his books Drive, To Sell is Human, A Whole New Mind and When. 

Whilst I am not sure his new book The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward is his best work, it is still packed full of interesting stories and insights about human psychology. “No regrets”, you’ve heard people proclaim as a philosophy of life, but that’s nonsense, even dangerous, says Pink. Everybody has regrets; they’re a fundamental part of our lives and if we reckon with them in fresh and imaginative ways, we can enlist our regrets to make smarter decisions, perform better at work and school, and deepen our sense of meaning and purpose. With Pink’s signature blend of big ideas and practical takeaways, captivating stories and crisp humour, The Power of Regret offers an urgent and indispensable guide for a life well-lived.

What I’ve Been Watching

The Madoff docuseries on Netflix follows the rise and fall of financier, Bernie Madoff, who orchestrated the biggest Ponzi scheme in Wall Street history. 

There are so many interesting elements to how Bernie managed to pull off the biggest financial scandal in my lifetime, not least the regulators appalling failings, greed of investors and the lack of due diligence by financial institutions on behalf of their clients. Ultimately the only people who made money were the lawyers. Whilst the regulators had huge failings, the corporate investors did little to identify the flaws that one man spotted in minutes. A fascinating and devastating story worth watching.  

Quote of the Week

“Regret doesn't remind us that we did badly. It reminds us that we know we can do better." 

• Kathryn Schulz 

Finance Theme I’ve been Considering

Every day we make decisions that have good or bad consequences for our future selves; for example, should I increase my pension contributions? 

Daniel Goldstein makes tools that help us imagine ourselves over time so that we make smart choices for ‘Future Us’. This is especially important when it comes to considering how we think about money. If you want to learn more, he has a great TED talk The battle between your present and future self, which is worth watching a reflecting on.

The Trusted Team

If you read Dan Pink’s book ‘When’ you will learn about the importance of ‘the beginning’ of anything, even if it’s not actually the beginning! For example, football teams that are 1-0 down at half time play disproportionately better and win more often than they should, because half time is an opportunity to begin again. 

He says we should “Start right. Start again. Start together.” What he means by this is we need to start with intention, revisit regularly and also build a tribe of people to support us. This approach is very much in tune with my approach to goals setting and goal achieving. 

Creating the goal is just the start; putting it into action, revisiting it and finding others that can help you that actually ensures you hit it. We have a Trusted Team free taster virtual workshop coming up on Wednesday 22nd February.  if you want our help in setting and succeeding in hitting the goals that will create you a better future. You can register by sending a quick email to [email protected]