Nuggets of Wisdom from a Happy Sexy Millionaire
One of the best advices I received recently from not one but a number of leaders was to read ”Happy Sexy Millionaire“ by Steven Bartlett. The book did not disappoint. I spent 4.5 hours this weekend listening to it on my audible, and I wish I had taken a pen and paper during our walk to write all of the nuggets of wisdom, all the realisations, even contextualisation of behaviours I had from experiences from my formative years… and perhaps some “aha” moments into my future.
Contrary to my expectation, the book is not about understanding business and how to lead organisations. It offers a bit of that, and more. It is an honest, almost unapologetic yet humble take on life, fulfilment, happiness and coping with the narratives of our generation. If anything, I would recommend this book to anyone who has the curiosity to get to know oneself more, anyone who dreams of becoming one of the happy sexy millionaires out there… with a heart!
If you don’t have time in your hands, I hope that these quotes from the book will at least help trigger some thoughts and reflections. It only took 4.5 hours to finish the book, but the reflections and constant nudging in my head and my heart pulsed through my week. These quotes highlight my most relevant takeaways, among a hundred things that I’m still processing.
“Time is both free and priceless. The person you are now is a consequence of how you used your time in the past. The person you’ll become in the future is a consequence of how you use your time in the present. Spend your time wisely, gamble it intrinsically and save it diligently.”
“At the most fundamental level, we all just want to be happy. We mistakenly think stuff, status, and external approval will get us there. But it‘s the intrinsic things like friendships, internal fulfilment and our honest passions that ultimately hold the key to happiness.”
“If you truly care about being happy in your life and successful in your work, you have little choice. You have to become the author of your own ‘script’, one written by your heart, not one directed by your society.”
“Everyone buys books, few ever read them. Everyone wants growth, few accept pain. Everyone wants to be happier, few ever change. Intention is nothing without action, but action is nothing without intention. Progress happens when your intentions and actions become the same thing.”
“Be grateful, for gratitude can bring life to life, it can turn a meal to a feast, resentment to love, a grudge to forgiveness, an enemy to a friend, a disease to hope and you to enough.”
“Maybe you’ve always been happy, but the world, social media and external comparisons have convinced you that you can’t possibly be.”
“Fundamentally we’re all the by-product of not what has happened to us, but how we chose to handle it.”
“They trap you in the toxic narrative that quitting is a weakness, an easy way out or, worse yet, that quitting is failure. I assure you — quitting is for winners and quitting is a skill.”
“The only worthwhile comparison is YOU yesterday vs YOU today. If you want to be happy, you have to focus on that.”
“If it‘s true that we can become more than we are right now, we must surely be less. It‘s all a f*#%king lie. You are enough and you always were.”
“If you want to improve your mental well-being, try living a little more human.”
Steven brazenly addresses some fundamental flaws on how we have shaped our concept of purpose, on how we are wired to conform, on the scarcity that plagues our mindsets because of how we let the lies of social media define the standards. At the very tail end of the book, he also touched on a sentimental aspect of humanity, about the things many people in terminal conditions reflect on.
“Things you will regret:
Allowing your potential to be trapped behind stranger‘s opinions
Spending more time thinking about the past than living in the moment
Time spent with people that don‘t want the best for you
Neglecting family
Not taking risks”
The saying might be true, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but perspective sure is no respecter of age. If there is such a thing as renewing the mind and re-examining old truths, this book sparked new insights into myself, how I’m wired and how I can revisit old dreams with a new heart.
