The speaker expresses gratitude for the success of the podcast and emphasizes the importance of being authentic when telling one's story. They promise to continue being honest and unfiltered in future episodes.

Reflection and Authenticity

The speaker reflects on their own journey of valuing material possessions and fame. They discuss the relationship between money and happiness, highlighting the trap of constantly seeking pleasure through material acquisitions.

Understanding the Pursuit of Material Things

The speaker delves deeper into the distinction between pleasure and happiness. They share their realization that true happiness comes from being grateful for what one already has and having a positive perspective on oneself and one's relationships.

Pleasure vs Happiness

In this chapter, the speaker discusses their conclusion on attaining happiness, emphasizing that it comes from having a grateful perspective on oneself, possessions, and relationships. They suggest that being grateful for what one already has, without wanting more, is the key to happiness.

Attaining Happiness Through Gratitude

This chapter focuses on the speaker's experience and understanding of people leaving their company. They share their journey of initially taking it personally, but eventually learning not to and realizing the importance of maintaining their company's culture, values, and objectives. They express gratitude towards those who have left and discuss the challenge of letting people go.

Dealing with People Leaving

In this chapter, the speaker discusses the difficulty of firing employees, particularly when they have personal circumstances that make it even harder. They share their realization that making tough short-term decisions, such as letting someone go, is necessary to prevent long-term consequences for the company and its culture.

The Difficulty of Firing Employees

In this chapter, the speaker reflects on the difficult decision of letting go of employees, particularly friends, in order to protect the company and its future. They discuss the internal struggle and the importance of making short-term tough decisions to prevent long-term consequences.

Making Tough Decisions as a CEO

The speaker contemplates the idea of whether their time would have been better spent helping others in need, particularly in third world countries, instead of building a successful business. They discuss the conflict between entrepreneurship and philanthropy, ultimately concluding that by first focusing on self-development, they will be better equipped to make a significant impact in the future.

The Moral Dilemma of Philanthropy

The speaker reflects on the notion that operating differently can lead to different results. They share their experience of being judged for vlogging in public and how embracing their uniqueness allowed them to pursue their goals. The chapter highlights the importance of embracing one's individuality and not being deterred by societal expectations.

Embracing Unconventional Approaches

This chapter discusses the importance of embracing unusual actions and behaviors in order to achieve exceptional results. It highlights examples of successful individuals who started with unusual actions and encourages the audience to embrace their own weirdness.

Unusual Actions for Exceptional Results

In this chapter, the speaker emphasizes the value of struggling on purpose and stepping out of comfort zones. They explain that growth and success come from enduring struggle and encourage listeners to keep pushing through tough times.

Struggling on Purpose

The speaker shares their initial skepticism of meditation but describes a transformative experience they had while trying to be present and focus on the moment. They discuss the benefits of meditation, especially for busy individuals, in finding peace and being able to live in the present.

Finding Peace in Meditation

In this chapter, the speaker reflects on their struggle to maintain relationships due to their inability to fully invest their attention and time, resulting in a tendency to abruptly end relationships when they feel there is no chance of marriage. They also express their selfishness and difficulty compromising, making it hard for them to understand why anyone would want to date them.

The Difficulty of Maintaining Relationships

The speaker clarifies that while they may experience a sense of loneliness as an entrepreneur and CEO due to the nature of their work, they do not feel lonely in their personal life. They emphasize their contentment and happiness with being alone, suggesting that those who are happiest alone can be stable partners in relationships.

Loneliness as an Entrepreneur

In the final chapter, the speaker expresses their gratitude for the therapeutic experience of sharing their thoughts and reflects on the lessons they have learned. They encourage listeners to leave reviews and subscribe to the podcast, promising to return with more episodes in the future.

Reflection and Gratitude

- The speaker starts by thanking everyone for the success of their podcast, which reached number 1 in the business charts on iTunes.
- They reflect on the importance of authenticity and showing the "second dimension" of one's life, as opposed to just a filtered highlight reel on social media.
- The speaker promises to continue being honest and unscripted in their podcast.
- They discuss their personal journey of realizing that material possessions and fame do not lead to happiness.
- The speaker shares their conclusion that happiness comes from being grateful for who you are, what you have, and the people in your life.

- Happiness comes from being grateful for who we are, what we own, and the people in our lives
- Gratitude leads to growth in various aspects of life, such as finances and relationships
- Happiness is a choice and cannot coexist with wanting more
- Accepting that not everyone will fit your company's culture, values, and objectives is important in business
- Letting go of resentment and negativity is crucial for finding peace
- People leaving a company should not be taken personally, but rather supported and appreciated for their time and contributions
- Firing someone is difficult but necessary for the success of the company in the long run

- The speaker had to make tough decisions at his job at Social Chain due to financial difficulties and the need to protect the company and its culture.
- He struggled with letting friends go but recognized the importance of respecting the hard work of others and the sacrifices his parents made.
- The speaker also reflected on the moral question of whether his skills would have been better used to save lives in third world countries.
- He concluded that in order to help others, it is important to first help oneself and develop skills and influence.
- The speaker believes that a time for philanthropy will come in his life, but for now, he is focused on working on himself.
- The speaker also discussed the idea that operating differently can lead to different results and shared his experience of being judged for vlogging.

- The author discusses the importance of doing unusual things to achieve exceptional results.
- They share personal experiences of being judged for their unconventional actions.
- The author advises embracing weirdness and taking unconventional actions.
- They also emphasize the importance of struggling on purpose and enduring hardships to grow.
- The author talks about their skepticism towards meditation but eventually finds value in it for finding peace in the present moment.
- The author mentions a change in their relationship status due to their inability to communicate and give attention to their partner.

- The speaker ended a relationship because he felt unable to communicate and give attention to the other person.
- He believes he is either 100% committed or 0% committed, and if he realizes there is no chance of marriage, he ends the relationship.
- He is very selfish with his time and attention, making it difficult for him to compromise in relationships.
- He feels lonely as an entrepreneur and CEO, but he is happy and content alone.
- He believes that people who are happiest alone are the most stable in relationships.
- The speaker has enjoyed this therapeutic experience and hopes others have learned something too.
- He asks for reviews and feedback on the podcast and will be back next Sunday.

- The speaker expresses gratitude for the success of their podcast and promises to continue being authentic.
- They discuss the importance of gratitude and how it leads to growth in various aspects of life.
- Happiness is a choice and cannot coexist with wanting more.
- Accepting that not everyone will fit in a company's culture is important.
- Letting go of resentment and negativity is crucial for finding peace.
- Firing someone is difficult but necessary for the success of the company.
- The speaker reflects on tough decisions made at their job and the sacrifices others have made.
- They believe in developing skills and influence before philanthropy.
- Operating differently can lead to different results and embracing weirdness is advised.
- Struggling on purpose and enduring hardships is important for personal growth.
- The speaker initially had skepticism towards meditation but found value in it.
- They ended a relationship due to communication issues and their inability to give attention.
- The speaker is selfish with their time and attention, making it difficult to compromise in relationships.
- They feel lonely as an entrepreneur but content being alone.
- The speaker hopes others have learned something from their podcast and asks for reviews and feedback.

In this Chapter, I reflect on what this podcast hitting #1 on the business podcast chart taught me, I touch on what it takes to find happiness, the benefits of meditation, letting people go from Social Chain and my latest relationship update...
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I had to start chapter 2 with a big thank you to everybody who subscribed, listened, tuned in last week and sent this podcast to the number 1 spot in the business charts on podcast on iTunes.

In the morning, I swore about 6 or 7 times in succession, and then I screenshot it and then I refreshed it to check that I wasn't just delirious and it was still there.

And then I started to go into a period of sort of reflection over the next couple of days based on the type of feedback I was getting from you guys and it taught me a very very valuable lesson.

And before I get started I wanted to share that with you.

And the lesson I've learned is if any of you are looking to tell your story to the world, whether it's in podcast or vlog or whatever form you are looking or medium you're looking to tell your story in, the 1 thing I advise you to do is to be authentic, honest, and give them that second dimension.

Because of Instagram and Snapchat and filters and all these things, we live in a world where everybody is just showing 1 dimension.

They're showing the filtered highlight reel of their life.

They're showing the birthday pie, the Michelin star meal, not the pot noodle.

They're showing going to Paris and celebrations.

They're not showing the night in under the duvet.

And so when someone does show that, it resonates, because all of us still have that second dimension to our lives, but we're not seeing that on social media.

So when someone offers it out, it's incredibly powerful, and it resonates harder than anything else.

This resonates harder than any kind of scripted audio anything I could have done because it's unscripted and it's just a bunch of my thoughts and it's a very personal thoughts, thoughts that you guys probably have about yourselves too.

Secondly before I get started, I wanted to give you my promise.

Because you guys sent this to number 1 and you listened and you gave me your time and attention, my promise to you is I am going to keep doing exactly that.

I'm not going to write anything, I'm not going to script it, I'm going to be honest and I'm going to let you into things that I probably don't let a lot of people into.

And when I tell you about those things, I'm not going to add any fluff, they're going to be real, unfiltered, and as direct and honest as I possibly can be.

So without further ado, this is chapter 2, this is the diary of a CEO.

I hope nobody is listening, but if you are, then please keep this to yourself.

Okay so the first entry in my diary this week is a bit of a continuation from something we touched on last week.

For anybody that didn't listen last week or doesn't know what I'm talking about, I'm talking about the battle that 18 year old Steve had with 25 year old Steve.

I'm 25 now but when I was 18 years old I used to go on Auto Trader virtually every day and look at Lamborghinis and really really fast cars that I wanted when I was rich 1 day and I had this real focus on stuff, money, cars, you know that kind of thing and also I think fame a little bit if I'm being completely honest.

I thought fame was a part of my future And I thought in the same way that I believed money would give me a sense of fulfillment, I thought notoriety and fame would as well.

And so 25 year old Steve, upon achieving the things he had set out to achieve, was in a position where for the first time ever, someone sent me an offer to buy my business and on that day I remember going on auto trader and right move and searching for a Lamborghini in a Mansion in the countryside like 18 year old Steve had always wanted and 25 year old Steve looked at those things and thought what a stupid idea and logged off and So that sent me on a bit of a journey to find out exactly why I started all of this in the first place And I I built business in the first place.

There's a reason there, but I just was confused There's a reason why I jump out of bed and love my job and drive and, you know, I'm so motivated every day.

But I think I still hadn't clarified that to myself because 18 year old Steve had set out the objective which was Lamborghinis and mansions.

And so that sent me on a journey to figure out my purpose and I did that last week, but what I wanted to just close off on this week and what I wanted to sort of be the nail in this coffin or the last sort of comment I make on this topic is Trying to understand why 18 year old Steve valued those things because many of you listening now, I think probably also value material things Especially if you don't have them and especially if you don't have the means right now to get them.

And so what I'm hoping to do is, by touching on this topic, is basically correct you so that you don't have to make the mistake that I made for many, many years.

It got me really, really thinking about the relationship money plays in happiness and I wanted to understand a what role money plays in happiness but how do you make yourself happy and so this week I started thinking and thinking and thinking and reading documentaries and listening to everything I could possibly listening to.

And I arrived at my own conclusion, mainly from listening to Lady Gaga, Russell Brand talk about their own journey to wanting money and fame, getting it and realizing that there was no happiness in that.

And this is kind of inspired by a friend I have.

And this friend, who will remain unnamed because there's no need to roast him, he's addicted to buying stuff, okay?

Every time I see him, which is once in a while in London, probably every other month in London, he has a brand new sports car parked outside.

And I ask him where the other sports car went and he tells me that he got a new 1 because there was a better 1 available and then I'll ask him again next time and he bought a new 1 because there was a better 1 available and then I'll ask him again and he bought It's this horrible spiral and from afar before I knew this guy I used to watch his Instagram and his snapchat and I used to think fuck that guy Must be so happy Because that's kind of the dream you're sold when you log into any social channel is that?

Opulence and wealth equals the good life and the good life equals happiness That's wrong.

And this is what you come to realize I think is that money equals pleasure and Pleasure is like heroin if you have a lovely steak today Tomorrow in order to reach the same height of pleasure, you're going to need to have an even better steak.

And eventually it gets to the point where, in the case of my friend, there's not really any more pleasure you can buy.

You can't top eating at the best restaurant in the world.

You can't top having the best car in the world.

And so what happens is these people become pleasure addicts and this is the trap I nearly fell into.

Had I gone and bought a Lamborghini when I had the means to, I would have become a pleasure addict just like my friend.

And there's a great book I read called The Guide to a Simple Life which talks about the sort of real human psychology behind this thing called hedonistic adaptation, which is our pursuit to attain new things, then when we get them we get bored so we have to go after something bigger, better and shinier, and then we get that and get bored and then we just continue doing that.

It's a constant battle, like with Heron Addict, to beat the next sort of rush.

And so what I realised, upon sort of further contemplation, is that nobody listening to this podcast right now actually wants to be a millionaire.

What we want is what we believe those things are gonna do for us.

We want to feel how we think those things are gonna make us feel because we believe that Those things are gonna make us feel because we believe that those things are gonna make us happy so really what we want is to be happy and This is in my opinion the mistake 95 99 percent of us make in life including 18 year old Steve.

Pleasure is short-lived, pleasure is fleeting.

Pleasure lasts a few days if you're lucky, maybe a week if you're really, really lucky.

Happiness to me is a feeling of contentment and fulfillment and You cannot be wanting for something.

You cannot believe that your happiness will be Dead sort of dictated by the attainment of something in your future whether that's a girlfriend a boyfriend fame whatever it is and be happy at the same time.

What I'm saying is you can't be grateful and searching for pleasure at the same time.

18 year old Steve had confused pleasure with happiness and he'd gone off after pleasure thinking that the more pleasure I got the happier I would be and really the danger I faced was I would become a pleasure addict and there's nothing worse than being a pleasure addict.

So here's my conclusion, Here's how I believe now as of this week we attain happiness in our lives I think happiness comes from the perspective we have on who we already are What we already own and the people we already have around us I think if your perspective is grateful and you are happy with who you are, you are happy with the shoes you have, you are happy with the friends you have and the circles you mingle in, the parties you go to, then I think you'll be happy.

I Think it's impossible to be grateful and wanting for something at the same time.

How can you be and so really the key to happiness is to be Grateful for everything you have now no matter how little or much that is perceived to be.

If you wanna be a millionaire, I think you have to decide on it.

And when I say millionaire, I mean a millionaire in terms of the happiness you thought you were gonna get.

So if you wanna be a millionaire, you don't have to earn anything, you don't have to chase anything or buy anything or save up any type of money.

You have to decide that you're grateful for everything you are now.

And isn't it a bit of a weird thought for me to just tell you that maybe everything you are now and everything you own is enough.

Because we all are on this weird journey of pursuit for more and That's the the journey of a pleasure addict.

What if I told you that everything you have now is enough?

That's what I've been telling myself And I interestingly also believe that when you start to execute gratitude and you become grateful for what you already have, it grows.

If I become grateful for the amount of money I have in my bank account right now, it will grow.

Because I'll start saving it and appreciating it a little bit more and maybe investing it, not spending it on Dom Perignon and nightclubs with people that I don't even know like I used to.

If I start executing gratitude on my relationships, they will grow because I'll be a better friend, I'll be a better son to my mum.

So I think not only will you attain happiness but those things will actually grow.

You either are or you aren't and you can't be grateful and wanting at the same time.

That for me is the conclusion I needed and I had to share that conclusion with you and from here on out all I hope is I'm able to be grateful.

I'm going to make a conscious effort to just be grateful for what I have now and I hope you can too.

Okay so 0.2 in my diary is slightly left field.

I've written people leaving and letting people go And here's what I mean.

So we, social chain now employs over 150 people and sometimes people leave.

And also sometimes we have to let people go.

And I wanted to share a bit of my journey to understanding what these 2 things meant and dealing with them because I struggled with both of them.

On the side of people leaving, I used to take it so incredibly personally.

I used to, because it was so closely connected to my ego if someone told me they wanted to leave social chain I think I would make excuses as to why they wanted to leave I would try and sort of attribute it to external factors beyond my control And I thought that social chain because we tried so hard to make it this way Was the greatest place to work on the planet and I still believe that but I've come to learn something else And I've come to not take it so personally and that is that When you create a business There are some things which you can't compromise these things are I guess your culture your values your objectives We're able to be flexible on a lot of other things and create a tailored experience to the people we have but those things You cannot compromise on and because you can't compromise those things you create an environment where not everybody will suit your culture Not everybody will espouse your values and not everybody will share your objectives with their personal objectives.

And so sometimes you have to part ways and back in the day I remember a guy, 1 of our original team members called Nick, who now works on Team 10, some of you guys will know him, when he told me, when I heard that he was leaving for Team 10 I think I took it pretty personally and I regret the way that I Responded or I know I regret the way I felt because I think in some respects I I Tried to fight it to some level or I tried to control the situation a little bit too much when I really should have just, you know, let him go with much more class and professionalism.

And to be honest, when Nick told me he was going, I did fully support him.

I told him immediately, you've made the right decision, etc, etc.

But I think somewhere deep within me, if I really, really look at it, I also took it quite personally.

And I did for the first few people that told me they were leaving.

And I think that's because I was trying to control the situation.

Someone once said to me, you can't find peace in the midst of struggle for control.

I think we try and control people so much in our lives, whether that's romantic partners or colleagues or employees, whatever it is.

I think I resented the situation a little bit.

You always lose when you hold resentment.

And this kind of like links to a point about forgiveness that I wanted to, I'll sort of divert slightly and I'll come back to this point.

But someone once told me that forgiveness is letting a prisoner go and realizing that the prisoner was you the whole time.

Someone once told me that forgiveness is letting a prisoner go and in doing so, realizing that the prisoner was you the whole time.

So many of us walk around with resentment and grudges and negative feelings and when you run a business where you are guaranteed bullshit regardless, the last thing you need to do is carry around bullshit and resentment and grudges and negativity from the past because you're gonna fucking overdose if you do that, right and so This quote told me a very very taught me a very very valuable lesson Which is when you hold negativity within you towards somebody towards a situation it Weighs you down and it sits in your head and the only way to find your peace is to let that prisoner go and as you See him running off into the distance You realize that the prisoner was only yourself not the other person because if they held no grudges they held their negativity And so yeah going back to my point There are key things we cannot compromise on which are our cultures our values our objectives And if someone doesn't suit those things, as a CEO, I would be disrespecting everybody else that's bought into our cultures, our values, our objectives by trying to change these things to suit a person.

And if you compromise these things, if you compromise your culture, your values and your objectives, you have none.

They immediately become completely pointless, because these are the very sort of staple things that your business needs to have its own, to be defined, right?

And so now, when someone tells me that they're leaving, which doesn't happen often, to be completely honest, I think, versus every other company that has employed probably 200 people in total, not all of them are still within our team now, but I think we have a very very low rate of people leaving, that's my opinion, because Social Chain is such a wonderful place.

For anyone that doesn't know, you have unlimited holidays and working hours and...

Not unlimited working hours, of course not unlimited working hours.

You have, you know, limited working hours.

You have a bar in the office, you have food, you have great team members that are all young, and you have autonomy and these kinds of things.

But regardless, people are still going to go because The experience we provide has to be held to those 3 things culture values and objectives and we can't compromise And now I'm much better at accepting it and whenever someone tells me the most important thing is I genuinely don't take it personally.

I of course always want to understand the why because I want to see if we can do anything better, but I also understand that everybody has their own journey and I just want to support them and I also now get a bit of excitement from seeing what they do next because I feel so connected to them.

And lastly, I feel a tremendous amount of gratitude towards them for the time they've given us, the laughs, the jokes, the love, and that's that.

And I'm so grateful I've come to that point because now it means I maintain great relationships with people when they move on to their next journey.

And the last point which is a little bit more contentious is about letting people go.

And this is when you have to fire someone from the company because of whatever reason.

This is the single hardest part of my job.

I still haven't figured out how to fully deal with this.

I remember the first time I had to do it and the guy had been with us for several, several months.

In fact, he told me that he was the sole provider for his whole family.

His dad had a disability, his brother couldn't work because he was disabled and so the job at Social Chain was the only source of income he had and knowing that obviously made my first experience incredibly tough and I, God, I thought about it, I pondered it, I took it home and The thing that was most liberating was me telling myself that if I didn't make this short-term tough decision to let this person go I would have to make an even tougher long-term decision, which is standing in front of the whole team and letting them know that because I wasn't courageous or focused enough to make tough short-term decisions, the whole company has to end because I let the company get to a point where it had fallen into, you know, financial difficulty or, you know, you know, there would have been a revolution because the culture had been destroyed.

And so that's the decision you have to make as a CEO.

It's your job to protect the company and to protect the people and sometimes you have to make short term tough decisions to prevent yourself from making a long term, much tougher 1 which is telling the company it's over because Steve Bartlett couldn't be tough.

Letting my friends go has been the single hardest thing I think I've done in my life.

Letting people go that I have strong personal friendships with outside of work is something I will never figure out and almost because of the amount I care I don't think I'll ever figure out.

You know it's incredibly hard, it's incredibly hard but you have to remember that the most important thing and the reason why you're here every day is to respect and to progress the efforts of everybody else in the team who has given everything and yourself.

I honestly, I remember having a conversation with myself 1 day when I had to let a friend go and I remember telling myself that I was disrespecting all of the hard work my mum and dad put in, all of the sleepless nights they had with me, if I allowed this to continue.

I was disrespecting Hannah Anderson who works in the media team, her parents and the bet they took on social chain when they allowed her to come here and work here.

And when I think about it that way it actually becomes quite a straightforward thing to do but never easy and I struggle with it completely.

I hate it, but I also know I have to do it, and I never avoid it, so yeah.

Okay, so the next point in my diary is, again, totally left field.

It's about philanthropy, and this is something that I've thought a lot about over the last couple of years and this week it was kind of returned to my conscience because of a very very amazing young lady in our office called Bethany and Bethany at the moment is raising, she's raised money for charity but she's also sending 120 shoeboxes to the Gambia and this week she inspired me and she rallied the office into pulling together these amazing shoeboxes which have gone out to children in the Gambia, which honestly fills my heart with joy because I know how much these boxes will mean to kids out there.

I've been out to various places in Africa over the last couple of years, and I remember going to 1 orphanage in particular where the kids require $400 and that'll take them from being a two-year-old to an 18 year old and pay for their whole education along the way.

If they don't get that $400 then they won't be educated and they'll be basically kicked out on the streets.

And so the point is 1 of the debates I've had within myself over the last couple of years is this.

I'm gonna try and articulate this as well as I possibly can.

I know that with the skills I have when it comes to people skills and business and projects and you know ambition and all these skills that How do I put those skills to?

Saving lives when I was 18 years old instead of building a business, could I have saved lives?

And my answer is, of course I could have, right?

Could I have saved 10 lives, 100 lives, 1,000 lives out in that part of the world where kids really really really need support and help.

And so my answer is yes I could have if that's what I've been doing for the last 5 or 6 years.

What I've been doing for the last 5 or 6 years essentially is building a company, A great company that obviously has had a very positive impact for all the reasons I stated in chapter 1 Because we've developed young people we've given them opportunities.

They wouldn't have otherwise had including myself But I've always had this sort of like moral question what would have been a better use of time?

Had I committed the last 5 or 6 years of my life to just saving people's lives in third world countries where they need nutrition and they need clean water and these kinds of things.

What would have been a more worthwhile journey?

And I used to say when I was 18 years old, I used to tell all of my friends that at some point in my life, I'm gonna stop what I'm doing, I'm gonna get up and I'm just gonna go.

And I'm gonna go and help young kids and young people and people in Africa and around the world.

Obviously I was born in Africa, I was born in Botswana just near South Africa so you know and my mum's Nigerian, my dad's English, I have an affinity to the plight of the African because of that, as we all do for whatever reason.

But I also have a strong affinity to anyone that's suffering around the world.

And so because being an entrepreneur and a business person is seen as being, I guess, a very selfish thing, It's seen as being a pursuit for like self, you know, like trying to get as much money as you possibly can basically, trying to make yourself rich.

It almost in the stereotype acts as a direct opposite to philanthropy and selflessness, right?

People think being an entrepreneur or a CEO, it's got this such sort of negative connotation around it because of like greedy bankers and all of these kinds of things.

So that's the struggle I've had over the last couple of years in terms of my personal sort of moral compass.

And here's the conclusion I've arrived at.

So I'm not saying this, and I had to double check, I wasn't just saying this to make myself feel better.

I had to double check that this was the truth and here's what I believe is the truth.

In order to help other people you must first or it's at least easier to first help yourself and when I was an 18 year old kid living in Mosside which for any of you that know is a terrible fucking area, with relative poverty and a lot of crime, I had no money, I couldn't feed myself, and so to think that I would have been able to help a large amount of people in another part of the world is probably unrealistic at best but probably wouldn't have happened.

And even the ambitious self-believer within me likes to think, you know what, you would have been able to help at least somebody but it wouldn't have been a huge amount of people at least by focusing the last 6 years, let's say on Myself on developing my skills on developing my sales ability developing my understanding of how the world works, my political understanding, becoming more sort of worldly, let's say.

Ooh, that's the first time I've used that word, worldly.

I'm now much better placed to add a tremendous amount of value to that part of the world.

And also I've managed to build up a little bit of influence amongst like my own personal platforms and my social media channels and around myself.

So I would be much better placed now to help those people because I focused on myself first.

And I think that's an important message to give to any young people that have a burning desire to have a great impact on the world.

I believe that the first person you've got to develop if you want to develop or help anybody else is yourself.

And by the age of 40 or 50, with the things I would have managed to learn, what I would have achieved, the contacts I would have made, my understanding of how business in the world works will leave me much better place to help hundreds of thousands of people, if everything goes to plan, than I ever would have been had I started at 18 years old, just knocking on doors.

There's a reason why the most successful people in the world, when they turn their hand to philanthropy, can have an amazing impact.

Here is a guy who built Microsoft, a huge huge company, got himself to be tremendously wealthy, and then was literally able to cure diseases single-handedly because he did that, and continues to attribute sort of like all of his personal wealth to, contribute all of his wealth to helping causes around the world.

So I believe that a time in my life will come for philanthropy.

I don't know when it will be, but I'm doing the right thing at the moment by working on myself first Okay, so the next point in my diary is a very very short 1 and it's I just wrote in my diary weird wins and what I mean by this I was I think it was Thursday this week when I wrote this in there But I just I needed to write this down somewhere because I think there's a thought in it My point was that people who operate differently get different results and I remember when when I started vlogging and people used to stare at me when I walked down the street and I used to feel their sort of judgment and Their eyeballs on me and it almost compelled me to just put my camera back in my pocket But in that moment, I remember reminding myself that the reason they're staring at me is because I'm doing something unusual.

I'm doing something that most people don't do and when I think about all the people that have been able to change the world or achieve unusual results, They started with unusual actions.

You think about, you know, Steve Jobs building small computers in his car when everyone else was out partying with their friends and, you know, doing those kinds of usual things.

So Steve Jobs went on to get unusual results.

You think about all of the great pioneers in this world, the greatest pianist in the world, the greatest football players in the world, they spent their time practitioning doing weird things, right, unusual things.

And it's only those that do The exceptional things or the unusual things that get the exceptional results.

They are exclusively reserved for those taking exceptional actions And I just want to share that with you.

And I'm trying to, I think by doing that, remind myself that whenever you do something, which is unusual, whether it's working very, very, very late and hard, whether it's walking down the street or walking through an airport holding a camera and talking to yourself, whether it's what you did when you were 18 years old where you literally trapped yourself in a room for what I can only describe as 3 years trying to build a website.

See all The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett transcripts on Applepodcasts

E2: Happiness, Meditation & Weird Wins