I thought this would be a good book to review in January to give some inspiration for the year ahead! The premise of Richard Reid’s book is quite simple. As co-founder of Innocent drinks, he has had the opportunity to meet a huge number of famous people, and has collected their best nuggets of wisdom – what a tempting proposition… I’ll pick out a few of my favourites to talk about to see if I can tempt you to read the whole book.
Treat other people with respect – Bill Clinton
Reid talks about meeting Bill Clinton on the campaign trail. With 8-10 stops per day, and a full on event at each stop, Reid wonders at Clinton’s stamina and ability to be so engaged with the people he meets at every occasion. Clinton’s main piece of advice focusses around others and making a difference to them in your moment of interaction: “I’ve come to believe that one of the most important things is to see people… the person who opens the door for you, the person who pours your coffee. Acknowledge them, show them respect”.
Barriers only exist in your head – Katie Piper
When Katie Piper was facially disfigured in an acid attack, the prognosis for the kind of life she would go on to lead was pretty bleak. Though she received excellent medical care, the assumption from all her good-natured well wishers was that her life could no longer amount to anything, “No-one said a disfigured woman could still get married.. Be a CEO… trailblazer…”. Despite the odds, she went on to become a philanthropist, tv presenter and even return to modelling, changing the face of what beauty looks like, as well as marrying and having children. When asked for her nugget of wisdom, she said, “The whole thing has taught me that the barriers we put before ourselves don’t really exist. The only way barriers exist is in our heads; we create them, we feed them, and we choose to keep them alive. So we can also choose to break them down. Confidence and happiness are not luck, or something only other people can have. They are decisions you make that involve hard work, commitment, and believing that you actually deserve it.”
You can always turn a bad situation around – Jo Malone
Jo Malone, perfume entrepreneur, was faced with challenges from a young age. She grew up in a council estate in Bexleyheath, severely dyslexic and, when she was only eleven, her mother had a serious nervous breakdown. Faced with being put into care if her mother was hospitalised, Jo convinced social services that she could support the family, and to earn money she mirrored her mother’s former career and started making face creams and selling them to wealthy ladies. From that, she has founded two leading fragrance businesses and a small fortune for herself. Her advice: “No matter how bad it is, no situation is ever greater than you. You have three options: you can change the situation, accept the situation, or change the way you see the situation… never allow something else, or someone’s opinion to be the title of your book, ever. I learnt early that when bad things happen, you can either let them beat you or stand and fight and, if you do, you can always turn things around”.
Live in the moment – Jude Law
As well as being an accomplished actor, Jude Law is involved in community charity projects and foundations. Living in the moment for him is as much about making the most of the opportunities to help others, as it is about enjoying every moment of your own life. His nugget of advice comes from his father and has, he says, always served him well: “If you’re going to be late, enjoy being late. Relish the moment, be in the moment, do the right thing in the moment”.
Make the best of what you have – Lily Ebert
Lily Ebert is an Auschwitz survivor, and has spent the remainder of her life telling her story in an effort to prevent the recurrence of any event as atrocious as the Holocaust. She says that when her mother was taken away from her, she left her a small piece of gold, the last remnant of the family wealth. She preserved it, hidden in a morsel of bread, throughout her time at Auschwitz, and now wears it proudly around her neck. She credits her ability to survive as being down to her attitude: “Make always the best from what you have, no matter how little it is. Some in the camp could not make the best of [the bread]… I would always eat that one piece of bread as slowly as possible […] and that helped me survive”.
There are over 60 interviews with some really incredible people in this book, so I’d encourage you to give it a read for some 2019 inspiration!
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