Going the Distance—Literally

Posted on by Rebekah Price

How far would you go for the people you love? To the ends of the earth? To Mars?

This week on A Bit of Optimism, Simon sits down with Mike Reiss, the prolific comedy writer and producer best known for his work on The Simpsons. Reiss shares hilarious and wild stories from his travels, including the time he spent in North Korea and Antaractica. Reiss’ tales remind listeners that even the most unexpected and bizarre experiences can lead to great memories and laughter.

Later, they (of course!) discuss Mike’s established career as a writer and story consultant for a variety of projects, most notably The Simpsons. And Simon even finds out the answer to the age-old question: who are the Minions (yes, those Minions) named after? 

“My wife and I have been to 134 countries and then things like that. Like we've been to the North Pole, which is not a country, and we've been to Easter Island, which the thing is 3000 miles in the middle of the sea, but it's considered Chile. So those don't count as countries. And we climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. And I think what's significant about all these things is you don't want to do any of them. I don't enjoy any of this stuff. None of it's my idea. I have a wife who loves to travel and I love my wife. And if I want to spend a vacation with her, I have to do it in North Korea or Libya or someplace like that.”

Mike Reiss

"But I mean, this is the ultimate expression of love."

Simon

"I think so."

Mike

If you have a story about someone you know inspiring people to help others or how Simon’s work has inspired you, send it to us at [email protected], and we might share it here!

Instructor Spotlight: Jerry ThompSon III

Posted on by Rebekah Price

We here at The Optimism Company know that together is better, and we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without our amazing instructors.

Want to get to know us a little better? Meet Jerry the Third, one of Simon’s Master Trainers!

Simon’s Master Trainers are instructors who specialize in presenting and teaching Simon’s content: Check out our live online classes like Start with WHY, Leaders Eat Last, Leading with an Infinite Mindset, and more. Or, to book them as a speaker for your next event, contact our Experiences Team.

Jerry Thompson III (aka Jerry the Third) is an adventurer who has spent the last ten years exploring various fields, including art, culture, and business. He has developed a unique set of skills and perspectives that allow him to solve challenges and help others find fulfillment. As one of Simon Sinek’s Master Trainers, he is a speaker and facilitator who is excellent at captivating audiences and presenting complex subjects in a relatable manner. He believes that adventure can lead to significant personal transformations and encourages his listeners to take their next step towards a more inspired tomorrow.

Read on to learn more about Jerry!

How are you today?

Pretty well, thanks for asking!

What was it that moved you to your line of work?

I like helping people move from where they are to where they want to be. Training is just another way to participate in that transformation 🙂

Tell us about the classes you offer with us, please.

All of them! My favourite however, is our SWW series. It’s such a treat to see a room of literal strangers help each other find their WHYs. Some people don’t realize the experience they signed up for, but by the end of class the smiles and kind words they share about how their classmates helped them let me know they got more than they imagined they would.

What is one thing from your teachings that you wish everybody would learn/know?

Nothing changes until you put these ideas into practice. Start where you are, but start!

What is your favorite saying/bit of advice?

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”

What is something that will always brighten your day?

If I get the chance to cheer-on one of my friends, it’s the best. It’s hard to feel down when you interact with someone striving for their next level. That’s the sort of energy that I like - my friends are super inspiring.

How are you today?

Pretty well, thanks for asking!

What was it that moved you to your line of work?

I like helping people move from where they are to where they want to be. Training is just another way to participate in that transformation 🙂

Tell us about the classes you offer with us, please.

All of them! My favourite however, is our SWW [Start with WHY] series. It’s such a treat to see a room of literal strangers help each other find their WHYs. Some people don’t realize the experience they signed up for, but by the end of class the smiles and kind words they share about how their classmates helped them let me know they got more than they imagined they would.

What is one thing from your teachings that you wish everybody would learn/know?

Nothing changes until you put these ideas into practice. Start where you are, but start!

What is your favorite saying/bit of advice?

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”

What is something that will always brighten your day?

If I get the chance to cheer-on one of my friends, it’s the best. It’s hard to feel down when you interact with someone striving for their next level. That’s the sort of energy that I like—my friends are super inspiring.

If you have a story about someone you know inspiring people to help others or how Simon’s work has inspired you, send it to us at [email protected], and we might share it here!

Friendship in Business

Posted on by Rebekah Price

How do we maintain meaningful relationships that aren’t transactional in a society built on transactions? 

This week on A Bit of Optimism, Simon is joined by his longtime friend, author, entrepreneur, and marketing expert Seth Godin. Over the course of their conversation, they go down the rabbit hole of discussing the impacts of today’s marketing trends on our personal relationships. 

“If you have two friends and you're moving and one friend says, I'll give you $5,000 towards the moving van, super generous. And the other friend says, I'll come to your house, I'll fill up the boxes with you, I'll spend all day with you, I'll load the van with you. I'll drive with you to the new house and I'll help you unload all the boxes. And six months later, both of them ask for a favor. On the same day, you're going to go with the one who gave their non-redeemable time and energy because it's actually worth more than any amount of money.”

Simon Sinek

Simon and Seth discuss the nature of friendships and whether they are transactional. Simon argues that true friendships are not—people don’t keep score of what they have done for each other. Seth adds that the most important relationships are fueled by a liminal space of trust and possibility. They agree that our time, energy, and emotions are valuable because they are finite. In the same way, we can seek out projects that evoke deep emotion and are not transactional. The ingredient of love comes with sweat, energy, rigor, sacrifice, pain, laughter, and inspiration. 

It’s important to “get real” in our friendships, meaning both people should be clear about what kind of change they seek to make and what kind of interactions they want to have. For Simon and Seth, their friendship has been built on honesty and selflessness in their actions, which makes each other feel appreciated and supported. Plus, they trade and admire unadulterated and honest input, even when they don’t necessarily agree.

For more from Simon and Seth Godin, check out this episode of A Bit of Optimism:

If you have a story about someone you know inspiring people to help others or how Simon’s work has inspired you, send it to us at [email protected], and we might share it here!

New in The Optimism Library: March 2023

Posted on by Rebekah Price

Looking for an easy way to grow your human skills and help your team thrive?

The Optimism Library is an ever-growing collection of recordings from our very best live online classes. Everything is available on demand, so your whole team can learn at their own speed and convenience. Our goal in creating this product was to provide an easy, affordable, and flexible way to learn.

With over 40 classes in The Optimism Library, the content covers a wide range of topics, including communication, leadership, productivity, mental health, and mindfulness. And the best part? New content is added every month, so the Library grows alongside you.

Speaking of new content… let’s talk about the newest addition to The Optimism Library!

Lori Zukin‘s class “Make Meetings Productive and Efficient” is a great pick for anyone looking to improve the effectiveness of their meetings. Lori is an experienced facilitator and communication consultant, with multiple classes in our Live Online Classroom.

In Lori’s class, individuals will learn how to prepare for meetings, create agendas, facilitate discussions, and follow up on action items. She emphasizes the importance of clear communication, active listening, and time management to ensure that meetings stay on track and achieve their objectives. Participants will learn how to identify and address common meeting pitfalls such as lack of engagement, tangents, and unclear action items.

This class is perfect for anyone who attends or facilitates meetings, whether they are in person or virtual. Participants will come away from the class with a better understanding of how to plan and run effective meetings, resulting in increased productivity and engagement for themselves and their teams.

Enroll in The Optimism Library

If you have a story about someone you know inspiring people to help others or how Simon’s work has inspired you, send it to us at [email protected], and we might share it here!

The Help Others Industry

Posted on by Rebekah Price

There’s an entire section in the bookshop called Self-Help, but there is no section called Help Others.

We need to build the Help Others Industry.

Let’s build it together!

We seem to be pretty obsessed with ourselves. We are looking for love, the perfect job. We want to get into shape and look after our mental health. We are meditating, doing yoga, hiring trainers, reading books, taking classes…anything so we can be the best versions of ourselves.

But there’s a problem. 

Human beings are social animals. We aren’t like great white sharks who roam the oceans alone. Animals like that should be the primary targets for the self-help industry. We, in contrast, have friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, and spouses. We work in teams and live in communities. We can only succeed, in EVERY aspect of our lives when someone else is there to help us. But our society doesn’t really reward helping others. Almost all the incentives in our companies are based on individual performance. It’s like we forgot that our success is almost always dependent on the support, help, and advice of at least one other person in our lives. Always.

We are so focused on advancing ourselves we aren’t building the skills to help others or how to ask others to help us.

There is a great irony; If we actually help others overcome their challenges, if we help others find what they are looking for, especially when their challenges and ambitions are the same as ours, we are actually more likely to find what we are looking for.

This is why I founded The Optimism Company – to teach the human skills we need to do better and help each other. And one of the ways we are doing it is with this new blog.

This is a space for stories of all kinds. Every week, we will share content meant to spark inspiration, encourage collaboration and, of course, spread optimism. You will get ideas and tools to help hone your human skills to help others and better ask others for help.

And if you have a story about someone you know inspiring people to help others or how my work has inspired you, send it to us at [email protected] and we might share it here!

Until then, take care of yourself and take care of others.

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Help Others Industry

If there’s one thing we know, it is that the best things in life are shared with others. If our message has inspired you and you want to follow along on our journey to build the Help Others Industry, we’d love for you to sign up for our mailing list for inspiration and updates on new classes, exclusive content, and more:
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Curiosity is essential
                for progress.
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We fully agree, so we like to reward curiosity.
Use code GETCURIOUS for 20% off your next purchase.

A spark is something quite small and, by itself, not very powerful. But a spark has the ability to ignite. An idea is like a spark; alone it is just a set of words, but it too can ignite. A great idea can inspire others to dream bigger. Let us all work together to ignite something greater than ourselves.

Let us all be a Spark of Optimism.