The VOHeroes Podcast

Hey there, hero! The audacity you have. The sheer gall to start something new, something you’ve never done before. How dare you?! And, of course, there is always some hesitancy…some trepidation…some fear. What’s the biggest one? And what do you do about it? (It’s one that a lot of people find surprising, and an unlikely speed bump on your way to that new shiny thing you’re trying to accomplish.) Let’s talk about it in this episode. Do you face this fear when starting something brand new? Do y...

Hey there, hero! No, I’m not talking about a famous court case with the title of this episode. It’s inspired by an audiobook I’m loving called Alchemy, read by the author, Ogilvy’s Rory Sutherland: https://amzn.to/3YVZlUO He’s done a terrific job of putting words to a concept that I’ve felt ever since I pivoted from the (mostly) logical world of tech to the (mostly) magical world of performance. So let’s talk about being at ease with uncertainty, how to be OK with the fact that very little of...

Hey there, hero! As we approach a task, a project, executing a process…we often worry that we somehow won’t do our best. I’m here to tell you that you never have to worry about this again. It’s a bit of a different way of looking at things, but it just might take your confidence to a new level, and offer a bit of relief from doubt. In this episode, I’m going to share a way to look at your level of effort in a different light: assume that you are going to do your very best, automatically, at t...

Hey there, hero! So there’s some new idea or class or skill you’re facing. You’re juuuuust at the precipice of getting underway. How valuable is the simple act of starting that, and not putting it off until later (or not following through at all)? As the Roman poet Horace said in Epistles, "Initium est dimidium facti", he’s reminding us of what James Clear calls “the timeless importance of simply beginning the task at hand.” What’s the translation? "Once you've started, you're halfway there."...

Hey there, hero! I talk about bias for action all the time, and it's not always about being ultimately efficient, it's often about building in slack in case disaster strikes. I recently read an article on Big Think by Eric Markowitz on this idea, and he said something that just spoke to me: "We worship efficiency. We optimize. We squeeze. But when the storm hits — and it always does — what keeps you afloat isn’t optimization. It’s excess capacity. Wiggle room. Optionality. Margin for er...