Accomplish

We all need some tools to help us use our time effectively.

This is my story.

On the 1^st of October, I was in crisis. Google Calendar just 

wasn’t doing it for me anymore.

That’s right, you heard me.

I’d been using it to plan my life for more than a year, but I finally accepted that it was just too clunky when something ran late or plans changed. It was too hard to open each event I’d scheduled for that day, and shift them later, one by one. I tend to get stressed when I’m running late, so I’d end up wasting heaps of time on my calendar and just become more stressed. Not great for productivity.

Google Calendar’s event editing page: very fiddly!

That day, my mentor noticed that I was struggling to use my time effectively; I was complaining that I never had time to go to the gym, and that I frequently found planning stressful. He wisely suggested that I spend half an hour every day recording my achievements over the previous 24 hours, and planning the day ahead. My instinctive reaction was to tell him there was no way I’d have time for that.

He explained that time is the most valuable currency there is, and that I needed to think a bit harder about how I spent mine. I wasn’t totally convinced, but I decided it was worth a try.

That night, I set out in search of my new calendar app, one that would help me make the most of my planning revolution. I found Accomplish. 

Accomplish is an app that combines a to-do list with a calendar. I can make a list of the tasks I want to complete, and easily drag then into my day-view planner. When I tick a task off, it disappears in a puff of congratulations, leaving me pretty happy with myself. If I get to the end of the day and some tasks have not been ticked off, they automatically get returned to the to-do list, so tasks never go missing.

Just now, Accomplish congratulated me on completing a lab tour. Next up, finishing this blog!

The best part is that I don’t have to open a new page or menu when I want to adjust a task. To adjust the task’s position in my day, I just drag it up or down, and I can easily stretch or squeeze it to adjust its length.

I started spending 15 minutes every morning making a list of everything I'd achieved the day before, and everything I planned to achieve that day. Then I'd put it all into Accomplish, and use the app throughout the day.

The new system has been a huge boost,not just for my time management skills, but for my emotional state too, because it means my brain doesn’t need to be in planning mode 24/7. When something I need to do pops into my head just before bed, I can sleep easy knowing that I’ll cover it in my morning planning.  Putting it all into the app also means I don’t need to play Schedule Tetris in my head anymore. If you’re not familiar with this game, it involves holding all the possible arrangements of tasks and activities in your head instead of your calendar, and constantly trying to work out the best schedule, while not forgetting a single one of the 50 things. It’s not a very fun game. 

Putting it all into Accomplish makes my day flexible, so I don’t have to stress out and start playing Schedule Tetris when something runs overtime. It’s also forced me to be realistic about what I can actually get done in a limited amount of time, so I don’t overload my plan and end up disappointed at the end of each day.

The moral of the story is that you should never underestimate the value of planning. Whatever your system, use it to help you get the most value from your time!

Global Goal #3: Good Health and Well-being

I’m working on a startup. I don’t think I’ve mentioned that yet. But it’s about time I fill you in.

Sockos is a social enterprise that I co-founded, along with three of my Global Challenges colleagues. We’re aiming to get people engaged with the UN’s Global Goals, and organisations that work towards them. How? By producing and selling fun, quirky and meaningful socks!

It’s been a wild ride so far, but that’s not the story I want to tell today. I want to talk about Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being. It’s my favourite of the 17 Goals, and I’m about to explain why.

For me, my personal health and well-being are unfortunately often buried under the mountain of other items on my list of priorities. I know that having a healthy body and mind is important, but on a day-to-day scale, everything else just gets in the way. Uni assignments, part-time work and volunteering all have deadlines attached, and immediate consequences if these deadlines are missed.

Taking care of my health doesn’t have any due date, and if I neglect it temporarily everything seems fine - so it makes sense to skip a gym session when I have an assignment due tomorrow. The issue is that temporary neglect can become a habit, and I rarely end up actually going to the gym. Then I start to realise that there’s a problem. My back starts to ache when I’ve only been sitting in front of my computer for 10 minutes, I start falling asleep around 3pm, I’m restless and irritable. 

We all feel a bit like this guy when we neglect our health and well-being

The thing is, health and well-being are essential for productivity and success, across every industry and profession.

It’s the same on a global scale. We need to be healthy in body and mind if we want to maintain peak performance on the road to achieving the Global Goals. And we will need to be at peak performance. The Global Goals aren’t going to achieve themselves.

The World Bank reports that 50% of the differences in economic growth between developing and developed nations are caused by poor health and low life expectancy. That’s huge. Making progress on Goal 3 will improve economies across the world (Goal 8), helping to alleviate poverty (Goals 1 and 2) and address inequality (Goal 10).

Health can bring us economic wealth, and so much more

Goal 3 aims to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.”

That’s a big job. But it’s one we can’t afford to neglect.

Josh's Study Tips

Hey everyone! I’m going to do something a bit different this week, hopefully you’re OK with that. 

This morning I was reminded of a document I created a few years ago for the high school students that I tutor, it’s based on the lessons I learnt from VCE; the ones they don’t teach you in class. Reading over it, I realised that there was a lot that I still hadn’t perfected, and I felt it might be valuable for other uni students, or even professional adults. It’s about working smarter, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to work hard.

I could go through and try to explain each point and how it might be relevant to you, but instead I’m going to leave it to your interpretation. Let me know what you think in the comments section below!

Don't be this guy!

Josh’s Study Tips

·      Homework

Ø  Complete everything the teacher sets you. Then do some more.

·      Read!

Ø Books, any kind will do!

·      Before an exam

Ø  Read over your notes

Ø  Complete some revision questions

Ø  Practice exams!

·      Work/life balance

Ø  Balance your study with seeing friends, exercise, and ‘me time’

Ø  Exercise is great for your brain and helps you study. If you’re feeling tired or stale when trying to study, go for a run, bike ride or swim to freshen up your mind!

Ø  Sleep is crucial.

·      Work Environment

Ø  The room in which you study should be comfortable, quiet and free of distractions.

Ø  If you find your concentration waning, change up the scenery!  I find University libraries are a great place to get work done. They are quiet and the peer-pressure makes you study harder.

·      Breaks

Ø  Take a 5 minute break every hour, or when you feel your brain is about to explode.

Ø  Get some fresh air, stretch or listen to some music!

Ø  Try to keep it to 5 minutes, as the longer you are away from the work, the harder it is to get back into it.

Message me if you have any questions throughout the year!

The Sunscreen Song

As entrepreneurs, we often become engrossed in our work. The hours are long, there are endless lists of things to do, but we love every minute of it, especially the bits that most people would call hell. But it’s important to take a step back sometimes, breathe deeply, and enjoy a broader perspective on life. The Sunscreen Song helps me become a better entrepreneur, and a happier human being.

I first experienced this video more than four years ago. Since then, I’ve never gone more than a few months without giving it a quick watch, usually when I’m feeling a bit flat and need a boost. It never fails.

But The Sunscreen Song more than just a morale booster, it’s packed with lessons that have profoundly changed my life. I will elaborate on some of them now.

1. “Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is about as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.” 

I don't think the gum helped with the maths. Do you?

This one resonates deeply for me. I overthink things quite often, and this leads to a lot of worrying. Even though I know intellectually that there’s no point in stressing so much, I sometimes get overwhelmed by events that I later realise weren’t that disastrous, like running late to gym, forgetting to print something that I’d been meaning to, or taking a few hours to respond to all the Facebook messages that came through overnight. Whenever I start to feel myself slipping into stress mode, this line from the Sunscreen song helps me put my worries into perspective, which usually makes them a lot less worrisome.

2. “Do one thing every day that scares you.” 

This is a big one. I think people tend to opt for their comfort zone in most situations, at least subconsciously. Fear indicates danger, so we should avoid doing things that scare us, right?

Wrong.

Again, this one seems obvious, but if we don’t keep it in mind, it doesn’t get done. Maybe you know some people who naturally lean toward the risky, but I think for most, learning to lean into fear only comes with conscious effort; an active move to transcend our default response. Every time I buy a chai latte, an internal debate rages: try the coffee challenge, or not? The challenge involves asking for 10% off, to test your nerves and put a dent in your fear of failure. You might think that after the first few attempts I would be slightly less scared than when I started out, but each time I approach the register the same fear rises in my throat. Sometimes I go ahead and ask, other times I’m too scared. Regardless of whether or not I actually get a discount (most of the time I don’t), I always walk away happier when I go for it.

Wise words from Seth Godin

When’s the last time you made a conscious effort to do something that scared you? How did you feel afterwards?

3. “Don't feel guilty if you don't know what to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.” 

I love this line. I think the idea that you need to decide in your early twenties how you will contribute to the world for the rest of your life is a common misconception within Western society. It’s probably most pronounced at university, where everyone is trying to find something they’re good at, that can also land them a job when they finish, and in turn a career. In fact, the average Australian currently at university can expect to experience 5 different careers across their lifetime! Beyond that, your careers aren’t the only way you contribute to the world. The impact you create through volunteering, travelling, family and friends also matters. Each of these things evolves over time, along with your goals and values, so it’s a little crazy to think that you need to have all these dimensions of your life figured out as soon as your teens are behind you.

I hope you enjoyed the video and this post, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section, and as summer approaches, don’t forget to wear sunscreen!

Invent the Future

As entrepreneurs, we’re constantly trying to predict the future. We want to be ahead of our competition; leaping onto the next big trend before it gets big, spotting the opportunities that are on the verge of ripe. But is it possible to predict the future? Is there any point trying?

Doesn't look too difficult

Today, global progress is faster than ever, and increasing at a greater rate than ever before. Everyone knows that 100 years ago heavier-than-air flight was in its infancy, 50 years ago the mobile phone was barely a dream, and only 10 years ago no one had ever heard of Instagram. According to the World Economic Forum, the current pace of advancement, not just in technology, but also in the way we think, will “fundamentally transform the way we live”. That’s a pretty big call.

I’ve always been amazed by the pace of innovation in recent history, but I’ve never been able to imagine what effects this will have in the future. My personal experiences have consistently defied my expectations, and I think that’s a beautiful part of life. If life were predictable, not only would it be boring, but we’d stagnate intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.

I’ve never been able to predict my personal future, but I’m only a hilarious uni student. Maybe someone a lot smarter than me has worked out how to forecast the future of humanity?

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Dennis Gabor is pretty smart. Did I mention that he won a Nobel Prize? He wrote that rational thinking, by the world’s greatest minds, and even by the most powerful computers, can never predict the future. All they can do it map out the current probability space of possible future events. That sounds impressive, but doesn’t even resemble predicting the future on a macroscopic scale, as the probability space of tomorrow (or even an hour from now) will be immeasurably different, once one of the infinity possible options in today’s probability space has materialised.

Imagine this tree diagram, but with infinity branches!

So it seems the future can’t be predicted, but how much power do we really have in shaping it? The world is such a gigantic, complex, unpredictable system, and we’re all just one person. Well, each of us is just one person. You know what I mean.

Another very smart person is Donella Meadows. She beautifully encapsulates the relationship between the individual and the intricate system that is the rest of the world: “The future can’t be predicted, but it can be envisioned and brought lovingly into being. We can listen to what the system tells us, and discover how its properties and our values can work together to bring forth something much better than could ever be produced by our will alone.”

I love this quote, because it simultaneously empowers the individual, and reminds us to appreciate that things larger than ourselves also shape our future.

Assuming I haven’t yet gone overboard with quoting smart people, I’ll share my favourite one from Gabor: “The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented.”

I’ve come to the conclusion that predicting the future isn’t the question. The question is whether we have the courage and imagination to dance with the possibilities, to appreciate the power of the world to change us, and our power to change the world.

Motivation

Hey everyone!

I know it’s been a while, but I’m back for another semester of Global Challenges, which means another 12 weeks of blogging fun! Starting today, I’ll be posting every two weeks, exploring a bunch of my thoughts and experiences around entrepreneurship. Hopefully the insights that emerge will be relevant and at least a tiny bit helpful to you, whether or not you consider yourself an entrepreneur.

Today I want to talk about motivation. It’s a relatively crucial prerequisite for achieving just about anything, so I think it’s worth spending a few hundred words on. I’ll try not to ramble.

We all find ourselves lacking motivation at some point. It’s a fact of life. We rediscover our mojo eventually, but we’re not sure how, or what we should do differently next time. I don’t think there’s a silver bullet, but from personal experience I’ve learned that spending time with the right people can make a huge difference.

From here

On Tuesday night, Global Challenges students across the three cohorts were lucky enough to hear from the incredible Ian Mason: an entrepreneur, Y20 delegate, and all-round fantastic guy. He’s not a ‘motivational speaker’, but I left the dialogue that night feeling inspired, reinvigorated, and ready to tackle the adventures that lay ahead.

Don’t go thinking it needs to be a big event you attend, or an accomplished speaker you hear from. A conversation with a parent or friend can often give you the boost you need. 

When I’m feeling tired, stressed and a bit lost, my instinct is to keep to myself, and wade through my problems alone. That (almost) never helps. I find myself dwelling on my lack of productivity and motivation rather than doing something about it, and I close myself off from anyone who might be able to offer support.

To break away from my default response, I try to spend an hour with a friend each day, and in that hour I focus on them; giving myself a break from the pressure and guilt of whatever I need to get done that day. Check out the Conversation section of my post about meditation if you want a bit more detail on the power of a good chat.

It might seem like this mindset puts the responsibility for your motivation on others, but that wouldn’t be fair. It’s up to you to surround yourself with the right people, and be open to the support they offer. Both of those things are a lot harder than they sound, and I’m not an expert in this field by any stretch of the imagination, so you might want to do some further research. I’d suggest starting with this article from Forbes, or the fantastic book 'Mindsight', if you’re up for a longer read. 

Let me know in the comments section below if there are any other resources that help you stay motivated!

From here

Living for the Present

Pop the myths about RedBalloon with Josh Zail

Mission (The Why):

RedBalloon’s mission is to “discover and deliver the best personalised experiences and gifts that inspire people to give, share and live.” They pioneered experiential gifting in Australia , bringing to life the notion that incredible experiences bring more happiness than a wrapped box.

Selling happiness is a great strategic move, but with RedBalloon it’s not a hollow platitude. Founder Naomi Simson is “committed to making the world a happier place”, and RedBalloon’s products are specifically chosen to deliver maximum happiness. This is a company with a clearly defined purpose and vision, which makes it a company worth talking about.   
                             

Everyone loves happiness

Philosophy (The How):

RedBalloon are known for their experience vouchers, and those vouchers are the engine of their mission, representing their core philosophy of giving, sharing and living. “Moments that start with RedBalloon stay with you forever” reads their Instagram tagline, and by delivering unique and challenging experiences, RedBalloon ensures that the moments it delivers to its customers become cherished memories.

Legal Structure (The What):

RedBalloon Pty Ltd is a Proprietary Limited Australian Private Company. Since my last post was about a charity , I’ll give you a quick refresher on the legal jargon.  RedBalloon is a company owned by a small number of ‘shareholders’, and doesn’t sell its shares to the public. And it’s Australian. Yay.

Stuff it does (The More Interesting What):

RedBalloon sells presents. But not just any presents. From skydiving and riding in a supercar to spa treatments and wine tasting masterclasses, there’s an experiential gift for everyone! I’m trying really hard not to sound like an ad here, but it’s tough to describe the experiences without getting a little bit excited.

Tell me that doesn't look like fun

The website contains enough details to satisfy even the most neurotic shopper. For each experience you’re told ‘Why you’ll love this’, ‘what’s included’ and exactly what you’ll need to do ‘On the Day’ .

RedBalloon even suggests ‘Gift Ideas’ to suit any recipient, price range and occasion. The suggestions include experiences and products, and my favourite department is the ‘Personalised Gifts’, where you can make your mark on everything from a box of chocolates to a set of golf accessories.

They've made shopping for gifts so easy it’s actually fun, when typically, the process of finding and purchasing a great present can be a daunting task, especially around the holiday season.

What they do well:

RedBalloon doesn’t advertise, at least not like most companies. They now feature on Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, and Twitter, but they’ve never been big on traditional advertising media like TV, radio, newspapers or billboards. So what was their marketing strategy before the social media era?

Word of mouth. No other company I’ve seen has done so much with this age-old medium as RedBalloon. Today, despite their extensive digital marketing campaigns, RedBalloon still relies heavily on word of mouth. Creating an incredible customer experience has been the centrepiece of their strategy from the start, and that’s what gets people coming back for more, and raving to anyone within earshot.

Whatever the experience, RedBalloon makes sure you have a bucket of fun 

Room for Improvement:

Although all of the experiences look incredible, I think RedBalloon could do better at the budget end of the spectrum. The cheapest one I could find was a Half Day Caving Experience at $80, which is probably great value, but still a fair bit of money. I think if they expanded their offering of budget options, RedBalloon could capture a lot more business from the cash-strapped university student demographic who want to impress with a gift, but are reluctant to part with $80.

 

Opportunities (Exciting stuff on the horizon):

RedBalloon launched operations in New Zealand only a month ago, yet they’re already sizing up their prospects in a much bigger market: Asia. Their business model relies on offering a wide range of high-quality experiences, which means they’ll need to form relationships with plenty of reputable tourism providers in the area. They’ll need to recruit some local know-how to help them navigate the foreign terrain, but they’ve already practiced the technique, hiring a former tourism NZ employee to head up Products and Partnerships across the Tasman. If they can build a team with the right expertise and connections to cultivate a reliable network in Asia, the potential windfall is huge.

Unfair Advantage (why it deserves an entire blog post):

RedBalloon value and respect their customers and their employees, treating them as people, rather than assets or statistics. Named in the top 50 ‘Best Places to Work’ in Australia from 2009 to 2015, and last year becoming the first Australian company to make the international list of Most Freedom-Centered Workplaces, RedBalloon gets ahead by valuing its people.

RedBalloon employees are encouraged to put their unique personalities into their work. 

RedBalloon’s commitment to people courses through the company’s DNA and finds expression in every facet of their operations, from the way they treat their staff, to the products they deliver, their focus on customer experience, and their mission to provide ‘good times’ and incredible memories.

Final Thoughts:

With the benefit of hindsight, RedBalloon seems like a genius idea, but when it was founded, it represented a quantum leap in gift methodology, and a huge associated risk. Naomi Simson and the team at RedBalloon have passed the startup test with flying colours, and I can’t wait to see where this exciting enterprise floats off to next. 

Australia’s First Social Enterprise

Take a tour of The Big Issue with Josh Zail

Mission (The Why):      

The Big Issue was Australia’s first social enterprise, and its mission is to improve the lives of the homeless, marginalised and disadvantaged.

Philosophy (The How):

The Big Issue empowers and engages disadvantaged Australians with a range of job opportunities and support programs. It doesn't rely on government funding or private donations, and it doesn't encourage the people it helps to rely on handouts. The Big Issue has a simple yet profound philosophy: “We help people help themselves.”  

Legal Structure (The What):

Big Issue In Australia Limited is an Australian Public Company, but more importantly, it’s a charity. If you want to get specific, it’s a ‘Public benevolent institution’ and an organisation ‘Advancing social or public welfare’, but I think we’ll stick with ‘charity’ to keep things simple.

While ‘Social Enterprise’ is a label a company may use to describe itself, it’s important to understand that ‘charity’ is a legal term, and a company has to fulfil strict criteria in order to register as a charity in Australia.

1. The company must be a not-for-profit, meaning it isn’t run for the benefit of the company members, directors or other shareholders.

2. It needs to have a ‘charitable purpose’ from the specified list of 12.

3. Its charitable purpose has to provide some sort of benefit to the wider community/general public.

4. It needs to fulfil a bunch of administrative rules, including compliance with the governance standards, having an ABN, not being a political party and not being involved in criminal activities.

Stuff it does (The More Interesting What):

The Big Issue Magazine was the first social enterprise in the Big Issue family, and is probably the most widely known. It’s a fortnightly magazine sold by homeless and disadvantaged people on the streets of Australian cities. A copy costs $7, and half of that goes directly to the vendor. More than 9 million copies have been sold on the streets of Australia in the magazine’s 20-year history!

Following on from the success of the Magazine, The Big Issue Women’s Subscription Enterprise  provides employment for homeless and marginalised women, packing copies of the Magazine for distribution to subscribers.

The impressive list of social enterprises that have been launched by The Big Issue goes on, from the Community Street Soccer Program to The Big Issue Classroom and The Big Idea.

What it does well:

­The Big Issue is the perfect example of a social enterprise having positive impact while doing business, rather than earning a stack of money doing business, then creating social impact by giving some of it to charity.

When The Big Issue succeeds from a business perspective, it’s achieving its social mission: the homeless, disadvantaged and marginalised benefit directly. It’s an ideal alignment of the economic and social missions; the enterprise doesn’t have to neglect one in order to further the other. The Big Issue has cleverly negotiated two of the biggest challenges faced by every social enterprise, putting it in prime position to lend a hand to those who need it most.

 

Opportunities (Exciting stuff on the horizon):

The Big Issue just keeps growing, heading off in new directions but always staying true to its mission. One exciting new project is Homes for Homes, which deviates from the path of providing employment to the disadvantaged, but I think that it has potential for huge impact. This video is much more interesting than my rambling, so I‘ll just let you watch it now… 

 

Unfair Advantage (why it deserves an entire blog post):

A few weeks ago, I bought a copy of The Big Issue Magazine. I bought it because I felt sorry for the vendor, and I wanted to do some good. I shoved it into my backpack, satisfied that I’d done my good deed for the day, and immediately forgot about it.

Yesterday I spotted it hiding in the corner of my bedroom and, since I was writing a blog post on the enterprise, figured it couldn’t hurt to have a read. I was blown away by the quality of the articles, and the overall professionalism of the magazine. This is The Big Issue’s Unfair Advantage. There are plenty of companies that produce riveting magazines, and quite a few that have real social impact, but only The Big Issue can do both. 

The quality of the Magazine makes perfect sense given that social benefit is maximised when business is booming, yet it still surprised me. Reader Kath Jones captured it pretty well when she posted on The Big Issue facebook page “Thank you TBI, you improve the lives of more than just your vendors.”

Final Thoughts:

The Big Issue is just a magazine, and yet somehow it’s so much more. When you buy the Big Issue it’s not about purchasing a magazine, it’s a chance to Meet the vendors, Play some street soccer, Learn in a classroom workshop, and Change a life. It’s a great read, and an opportunity to get involved with an organisation that’s having real impact. Now that’s a social enterprise.