Derek Sivers is a successful programmer, writer, entrepreneur, student of life and was the brain child behind CD Baby, a start up which went on to change recorded music and set him up as a very successful entrepreneur.

His blog is not fancy, nor is it regular however it’s certainly profound. One of Derek Sivers’ most popular posts was the dancing guy leadership lesson which showed that it’s not the person that starts the movement, in fact the most powerful thing is the second person, the first follower who begins the movement towards a trend.

With that in mind Derek’s latest post thought is provoking. Called the /now page movement, he said quite often people ask him what he’s doing. So he decided to add a /now page to his website to publicly declare what he’s currently working on, and help keep him focussed on the main game. If he chooses to decline an offer, he simply points people to his /now page which explains what his priorities are and what he’s working on now.
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His post went out this week and within hours, 8 more people had created a /nowpage on their website. By the time you read this there will no doubt be many more. Sivers creates his own movements and this is an interesting premise to keep you focussed and know how to say ‘no’ nicely.

Recently I interviewed the CEO for Johnson & Johnson Australasia, Phil Lynch. Phil is an impressive leader and has lead Johnson & Johnson towards a culture of innovation that is not only working but is being awarded and demonstrating significant business improvement across the whole company.

During the interview, I asked Phil about the success of the Leading Innovation program he put in place over the last couple of years at Johnson & Johnson. He said that although it started as an innovation process to get creativity and innovation working throughout the company, the outcome has been business improvement in every area of the organisation.

Each employee is encouraged to look at what they could do differently, better or more productively, and as a result they’ve found improvements not just in product but in administration, procurement, finance, logistics and customer service, not to mention staff morale figures are through the roof! Phil reported during the interview that their staff engagement scores were now up 30 points to in excess of 90 points. They have also recently won a business award for being the most creative FMCG brand in Australia.

​Innovation is not just creativity, it’s business improvement, and soon on the Mojo Radio Show you’ll be able to hear Phil tell his whole story.

Recently while speaking in Melbourne to a group of very switched on CEOs, I got a question from the floor:

“I get my mojo working, start to create great habits and rituals but then after a number of months,
I fall off the wagon and find myself back in the hole.
What can I do?”

I heard a great podcast interview recently with a meditation expert who said that many people believe meditation is about clearing the mind and having no thoughts. As such, people get frustrated when thoughts come in and out of their mind while meditating. He said it was impossible to stay on track 24/7, 365 days of the year and that the trick with meditation was to acknowledge the thought/s but then know how to start over.
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This is a great solution to the frustration that comes when we fall off the wagon in any endeavour in our life, particularly with things like diet and exercise. Chances are it may happen and if it does, the real art is knowing how to stop, get yourself in check and start over. Be gentle with yourself and know that starting over is part of the process.

Yesterday I had the real pleasure of a face to face interview for next week’s Mojo Radio Show with Marco Mendoza and John Corabi from the rock band The Dead Daisies. These guys have played with the best…. Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and the list goes on.

There was a moment in the interview that stopped us in our tracks. I had asked Marco about his sobriety and the moment he made the decision to change his whole life. It was his dark circumstances that caused him to finally surrender. Surrender to the good the bad and the really ugly of his life and to who he really is as a man. Just accept it all for what it is.
As a result, he became a better writer, performer, dad and husband.

​In the book, The 5 Regrets of the Dying, it says the number one regret of those who are terminally ill is that they were not true to themselves and did not live the life they wanted, instead living their lives to meet the expectations of others. To actually surrender to ourselves is extremely powerful. The full interview is out this Monday as we start Rocktober.