It’s easy to get caught up in the grind of improving our skills, but what if the biggest lever for success isn’t the skill itself, but the context in which we apply it? This idea, along with a powerful framework for making better decisions and a clear-eyed look at what it truly takes to build great teams, has fundamentally changed how I approach my career and personal life. It all starts with a bit of strategic thinking & philosophy—learning not just to visualize success, but to prepare for failure.

This isn't just about business tactics; it's about a deeper level of personal growth & self-mastery. By understanding a few core principles, from the value of your environment to the art of building high-performance teams, you can unlock potential you never knew you had.

Plan for Failure to Make Better Decisions

Most of us are told to visualize success, but there’s a surprising power in imagining the worst-case scenario. It’s a method called a pre-mortem, and it’s been one of the most effective tools for making better, less regrettable choices in my life. Instead of just hoping for the best, you actively plan against the worst.

Here’s how it works in a few real-world situations:

• Choosing a Career: Imagine it’s a few years from now and you’re miserable in your chosen field. Why? Maybe the work is boring, there’s no room to grow, or your work-life balance is a disaster. By identifying these potential pitfalls now, you can either pick a different path or create strategies to avoid those problems from the start.
• Choosing a Partner: Picture a future where the relationship has failed. What went wrong? Maybe it was a conflict of values, terrible communication, or completely different expectations for the future. Thinking about these potential red flags ahead of time helps you make a more informed choice or work on strengthening those areas from day one.
• Making a Big Investment: If you’re buying a house or investing in the stock market, imagine a scenario where you lose a significant amount of money. Was it a market crash, not enough research on your part, or did you just overestimate what you could afford? Understanding these risks pushes you to do your homework and minimize potential losses.

While positive thinking is valuable, our brains are wired to avoid uncomfortable thoughts. But facing that discomfort today is exactly what leads to a more secure future. After all, prevention is always easier than a cure. Your ability to have these tough, internal conversations is a strong predictor of your success.

Your Skills Are Worthless, But Your Context Is Everything

This brings me to a hard-learned lesson: your skills don't have intrinsic value. The real value comes from the context you apply them in.

In 2020, after a decade of building a successful social media marketing agency, I stepped down as CEO. I was done with marketing and wanted to explore completely different industries. I hated the professional labels people assign us—lawyer, accountant, designer—because they feel like shackles that limit our potential. At 27, I was too young to be boxed in. The only label I’d accept was “curious guy with a diverse set of skills.”

I was particularly fascinated by the mental health crisis and started diving into research on psychedelics and their potential for treatment. The science was incredible. Then, in a moment of pure serendipity, a business acquaintance texted me asking for a retweet. The link was for the IPO of a psychedelic company I had just spent weeks researching.

He turned out to be the largest shareholder and was working on a similar project. He needed marketing help. We met for lunch, and after a few hours with the team, I was sold on their mission. This was a biotech company, full of brilliant scientists in lab coats but lacking anyone skilled in effective communication & storytelling for the modern digital world. For their IPO to succeed, they needed to tell their story not just to big investors, but to the public on social media. My expertise was a perfect fit.

I offered to join for nine months to build their marketing strategy, define the brand, and assemble a team. My motivation wasn't money; I just wanted to immerse myself in the science. The next day, I got an email with their offer: a potential $6–$8 million in stock options on top of a monthly salary. It was more than ten times what I expected.

That moment taught me four crucial lessons:

1. Skills have no inherent value. Their worth is simply what someone is willing to pay.
2. Value is determined by context. Every skill is valued differently depending on the industry.
3. Perceived rarity drives value. My marketing skills were common in e-commerce, but in biotech, they were like a diamond in the rough. Companies were willing to pay a premium.
4. Value is based on the potential return. In my old job, my skills helped sell t-shirts. Here, they could influence a multi-billion-dollar IPO. The potential financial impact was massive, so my compensation reflected that.

Think about it: a medical writer in biotech earns more than a writer in publishing. A data analyst in finance earns more than one in government. A sales professional in medical devices earns more than one in retail. The core skills are the same, but the context changes everything.

The lesson here is that sometimes the best way to get a raise isn't to get a promotion, but to transplant your existing skills to an industry where they are rarer and more valuable.

A perfect metaphor for this is a social experiment from 2007 where world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell played his $3.5 million Stradivarius in a D.C. subway station disguised as a street performer. Out of thousands of commuters, only seven people stopped to listen. He made about $52. In a concert hall, he earns thousands per minute. I had been playing my violin in a subway station; by moving to a concert hall, I earned ten times more.

A friend of mine, a graphic designer in Manchester making about $44,000 a year designing nightclub flyers, took this advice to heart. He moved to Dubai and started focusing on luxury brands and blockchain companies. His first year, he made over $560,000. This year, he’s on track to clear $1.5 million. Same skill, different context, thirty times the income.

The Simple Math of Self-Discipline

Success isn't magic; it's a byproduct of how you use your time. And the engine of time management is discipline. But what fuels discipline? It comes down to a simple equation I developed after realizing that all the productivity hacks in the world don't work without it.

But first, a dose of reality. If you live to the average U.S. life expectancy of 77, here’s a look at how many days you have left.

Confronting our mortality feels uncomfortable, but it’s one of the most powerful tools for focusing on what truly matters. As Steve Jobs said, "Remembering I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life."

With that in mind, here’s the discipline equation:

Discipline = Value of the Goal + Reward of the Pursuit – Cost of the Pursuit

Let’s break it down with my experience learning to DJ over the last year.

• Value of the Goal: I’m obsessed with music and love how it makes people feel. Becoming a DJ is a high-value goal for me.
• Reward of the Pursuit: I find the process of discovering new music and mixing it incredibly rewarding. The feeling of progress keeps me engaged.
• Cost of the Pursuit: It takes time, focus, and overcoming some anxiety to perform.

Because the value and reward far outweigh the cost, my discipline stays strong, even when motivation dips. To make this work for you, you need to influence each variable:

1. Increase the Value: Get crystal clear on why your goal matters to you. Use visualization—I turn my phone wallpaper into a mood board of my goals, since I look at it for hours a day.
2. Increase the Reward: Make the process enjoyable. I’ve stayed consistent with the gym for three years by creating a WhatsApp group with friends called "the fitness blockchain." We hold each other accountable, award medals, and turn it into a game. This social pact makes the process more fun and engaging.
3. Decrease the Cost: Remove as much friction as possible. When I started DJing, I set up my equipment on my kitchen table, in plain sight, ready to go with the press of one button. If it had been packed away, I’m convinced my discipline would have failed.

This equation is a fundamental part of personal growth & self-mastery. It shifts the focus from relying on willpower to engineering a system where discipline becomes the natural outcome.

How to Build a Winning Team

Whether you're in a startup or a large corporation, your success ultimately depends on the people around you. The best leaders I’ve met have a knack for building high-performance teams, and their approach often defies conventional wisdom.

Ask "Who," Not "How"

When faced with a challenge, our first instinct is to ask, "How can I do this?" The world's best founders ask a different question: "Who is the best person to do this for me?"

Billionaire Richard Branson admitted he couldn't tell the difference between net and gross profit until he was 50. He’s dyslexic and wasn't great in school, so he had no choice but to get good at delegating. His genius wasn't in operations; it was in finding and trusting great people. Similarly, comedian Jimmy Carr points out that school teaches us to be mediocre all-rounders, but the world rewards specialists. Find what you’re good at and lean into it. Let someone else handle the rest. Your company is, at its core, a recruitment company. Your job is to hire the best people and create a culture where they can thrive.

Create a "Cult" Mentality (at First)

The best startups often feel like cults in their early days. PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel said that successful startups are "fanatically right about something those outside it have missed." This initial phase is marked by an almost delusional belief and obsession from the founding team.

A company typically goes through four phases: cult, growth, enterprise, and decline. That initial "cult" phase, where the first ten hires define the company's DNA, is critical. A strong culture will shape new hires; a weak culture will be shaped by them. This isn't about creating an unhealthy, unsustainable environment long-term. But that initial, fanatical devotion to a shared mission, a sense of community, and an "us vs. them" mentality is often what gets a company off the ground.

The Three Bars for Hiring and Firing

Protecting that culture is a leader's most important job. Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary manager of Manchester United, was a master at this. He famously said, "Nobody is bigger than the club," and he wasn't afraid to get rid of star players—David Beckham, Roy Keane, Ruud van Nistelrooy—the moment they threatened the team's ethos, no matter how talented they were.

Hesitating to fire a toxic employee is one of the biggest mistakes a leader can make. Research from Harvard Business School shows that misconduct is contagious; one toxic employee leads to an average of 0.59 additional cases of misconduct. One bad apple really can spoil the barrel.

To make these tough decisions easier, I use a framework called the "three bars." For any team member, ask: "If everyone in this organization had the same cultural values, attitude, and talent as this person, would the average bar be raised, maintained, or lowered?"

• Bar Raisers are the people you promote.
• Bar Maintainers are solid contributors.
• Bar Lowerers are the ones you must let go, quickly.

This simple question cuts through the emotional friction of firing and clarifies who is truly contributing to a high-performance culture.

Be an Inconsistent Leader

Finally, the best leaders are actually inconsistent. They don't treat everyone the same, because people aren't the same. Sir Alex Ferguson knew every detail about his players, from their grandparents' favorite drink to what motivated them individually. He might yell at one player (the "hairdryer treatment") while putting a supportive arm around another. He knew that to get the best out of each person, he had to be a different shape for each of them.

Great leadership isn't about rigid consistency; it's about emotional intelligence and adaptability. It's about being whatever your team needs you to be to help them succeed. This adaptive strategic thinking & philosophy is the final piece in the puzzle of building high-performance teams.