Portugal, 2013

Winning without Losing

True story: I have recently returned from my first [proper] holiday in around 8 years — 7 whole wonderful (read: scary) days Out of Office. Excluding the obligatory stag-dos, as we all know there is nothing relaxing about those!

Anyway, as with all good holidays, so I am told, you need a good book.

Nothing could have been more apt for my downtime than ‘Winning without Losing’ from Martin Bjergegaard & Jordan Milne.

The book includes wisdom from ‘Role Models’ such as: Tony Hsieh, Jason Fried, Brad Feld and Jake Nickell to name a few.

So profound was its impact, I promptly contacted Martin to seek his kind permission to reprint their ‘66 strategies for succeeding in business while living a happy and balanced life’.

It should be noted that these are literally the tip of the iceberg of the ideas covered in the book, so if this post has tempted you — buy it on iTunes and be enlightened!

15 efficiency boosters

1. Gather a team of great co-founders
2. Don’t sit around and wait. Get out there and start something
3. Pick a timely project
4. Make it a habit to test everything on a small scale
5. Put yourself in a high-energy, inspiring environment with other entrepreneurs
6. Always look for ways to stand out
7. Allow the new IT tools and technologies to do some of the work for you
8. Make sure you spend enough time with your team
9. Hook up with people who share your passion
10. Listen intently to honestly understand the other’s perspective
11. Apply the Lean approach to your daily activities
12. Relax and enjoy the process
13. Dare to follow your energy
14. Meditate for 12 minutes a day
15. Make being fully rested a key priority

5 new ways of doing old things

1. Take walking, running or biking meetings
2. Turn your To Do list into a Today list
3. Build your own circle of knowledge
4. Consciously insert mind-freeing moments throughout your day
5. Don’t try to get everything done, just the few things that really matter

14 time savers

1. Choose the right project
2. Avoid people who drain your energy
3. If you have to get from A to B, be smart about it
4. Deal with conflicts in person
5. Don’t delay tough decisions
6. Clear your agenda of activities that don’t add value to your life
7. Don’t let the details keep you from seeing the big picture
8. Don’t deal with, or be, an asshole
9. Relax and let others contribute
10. Get to the point
11. Take every opportunity to get people excited about your project
12. Be smart about raising money
13. Don’t be a salve to your emails
14. Avoid unnecessary conflicts

5 empowering thoughts for tough times

1. Trouble = challenges = growth = happiness
2. Each setback is a new opportunity
3. Regardless of your current situation, Winning without Losing is possible for you
4. It is all about making many attempts (and perservering on the right ones)
5. People older (and younger) than you are starting up their first business today

10 design elements for a balanced life

1. Pick a business that’s suitable for balance
2. Figure out how to acquire the skills to be prepared for your next venture
3. Split up and protect your day, don’t let work take it all over
4. Think ahead to secure your future balance
5. Always have access to fresh air
6. Live somewhere that excites you
7. Make sure you have enough people to pick from to be able to recruit your perfect co-founders
8. Choose co-founders you genuinely like
9. Make sure you (and your co-founders) are all in
10. Make a simple product, a simple company and think simple thoughts

11 life quality enhancers

1. Do what you always wanted to do right now
2. Notice and appreciate all that went well today
3. Stick up for your balance
4. Live life and get a new perspective
5. Create flow by making shared goals and challenges in your private life
6. Make a gift or donation every week
7. Use your self-discipline to focus on the tasks you are passionate about
8. Make sure your whole team has the opportunity for balance
9. Fine your sense of self-worth fmor more sources than just your business
10. Focus first on your most important friends
11. Take care of yourself first

6 steps to take this week

1. Work one hour, and just one hour, at full intensity
2. Seize the next chance you get for an opportunistic mini-workout
3. Start tomorrow by doing the thing that has been hanging over your head all week
4. Spend 2 hours thinking about your purpose in life
5. Write down what you waste your precious time doing that doesn’t significantly add to either your performance or your happiness
6. Take the day off! Celebrate, digest the Winning without Losing message and rejuvenate!

The ‘66 Strategies’ are Copyright © Martin Bjergegaard and Jordan Milne 2013 and are reprinted here with their kind permission.