Episode 23

Michael Bungay Stanier: How to start doing something that matters

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How many of us set goals for ourselves? It might be in one of those dreadful HR processes at work. Or a memorable event during the year, like New Year or your birthday. We write them down, sometimes share them with family and friends, work at them. But how many of them help us really get somewhere?

Too often we settle for the status quo, or baby steps. But what would it take to do something that really matters in life. To develop goals, worthy goals, that are thrilling, important and daunting.

In this discussion, Michael Bungay Stanier or ‘MBS’, the author, coach and speaker, shares the highlights of his book How to Begin: Start Doing Something That Matters. He sets out a process to find your worthy goal, commit to it and cross the threshold to begin. He challenges us to avoid a life half-lived. To unlock our greatness to work on the hard things.

The best bits of these conversations are captured in my newsletter Flashes+Sparks.

Further resources

Michael Bungay Stanier is the author of six books which between them have sold more than a million copies. He’s best known for The Coaching Habit, the best-selling coaching book of the century and already recognised as a classic. Michael was a Rhodes Scholar and plays the ukulele badly. He’s Australian and lives in Toronto. Learn more here. Michael founded Box of Crayons, a learning and development company that helps organisations transform from advice-driven to curiosity-led.

Check out his:

“A life lived in fear is a life half-lived.”

Michael Bungay Stanier, Founder, Box of Crayons, and author

VIEW RUNNING ORDER

03.04 An urgency to change.
05.20 A life well-lived.
07.45 The hardest part of coming up with a worthy goal.
10.15 Qualities and risks.
12.14 Inner work.
14.18 The paradox of structure and innovation.
16.22 Empowerment and accountability.
18.09 Scaling the ideas in an organisation.
20.16 This not that.
23.10 Leaving people behind.
25.48 How to begin.
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