I’m lit from within. Let me know what you think via twitter at @jamiesmartcom, on my Facebook page here, or in the comments below.
1. A quote I’m resonating with this week
I don’t know where this is from, but I was talking about it with a good friend of mine last night, and it struck me afresh:
“What’s in the way, is the way.”
2. A result I’m thrilled with
I learned this week that my book RESULTS has become a Sunday Times Bestseller, thanks in large part to your help. “Sunday Times Bestseller” status is the UK Gold Standard for book sales, and RESULTS sold 3436 copies in the 4 week period they tabulated. This is an incredible result. As you may already be aware, my vision is of a world where every child is born to parents who already know (and grow up in a society where everyone else already knows) that clarity is the mind’s natural state and that innate psychological wellbeing exists within all of us. Sunday Times Bestseller status gets us one step closer to that, but even more importantly…
3,436 copies of the book means that 3,436 people are going to be touched in some way, and those ripples will spread through their lives, their families and their workplaces.
When I read the reviews on Amazon (it’s already got 20 5-star reviews), I’m blown away. People who have never been exposed to my work before are getting impacted just from reading the book. Here’s one example (from an Amazon Vine reviewer, people who get sent books by amazon specifically so they’ll read the book and post a review):
“This book gave me something in the first few chapters that I’ve never received from a self-help book before just by reading it. And that is peace of mind, self-validation and a tangible real way forward. Most self help books come as lectures or exercises and even the simplest ones still say that transformation will take continued and sustained effort. This is true but secretly we all want a magic pill. I think Jamie Smart has come quite close to one”
If you want to get your copies / get more copies, you can still select your RESULTS Reward Package at www.JamieSmart.com/getresults
Once again, thank-you. This incredible result is in large part down to the relationship I have with you and the other members of our tribe.
3. A concept that I love
My buddy Sam Jarman (author of The 3 Principles of Golf) was one of the participants at last weekend’s programme I ran with my dear friend and colleague Garret Kramer. The programme was called The Principles Behind Extraordinary Results, and Sam gave an amazing example of Survivorship Bias. Here’s the story he told (I cribbed it from Wikipedia): During World War II, the statistician Abraham Wald took survivorship bias into his calculations when considering how to minimize bomber losses to enemy fire. Researchers from the Center for Naval Analyses had conducted a study of the damage done to aircraft that had returned from missions, and had recommended that armor be added to the areas that showed the most damage. Wald noted that the study only considered the aircraft that had survived their missions—the bombers that had been shot down were not present for the damage assessment. The holes in the returning aircraft, then, represented areas where a bomber could take damage and still return home safely. Wald proposed that the Navy instead reinforce the areas where the returning aircraft were unscathed, since those were the areas that, if hit, would cause the plane to be lost. I love this example, and Wald’s insight. Aren’t people excellent?
4. A meme that’s cracking me up
The “You had one job” meme is making my laugh a lot, and has special resonance for me this week. Enjoy!
5. This week’s 3 minute miracle
Warning: Extremely explicit and offensive lyrics. This is 2-minutes of “Gangsta rap” from way back in 1998. The rapper Lamont Coleman (aka “Big L”) was incredibly influential, and in this you can hear why. If you look past the sexism, violence and profanity, what you hear is an extraordinary gift for rhyme and rhythm (the riff at 1:46, for instance, is breathtaking in its virtuosity). Big L was gunned down by persons unknown in a drive-by shooting in Harlem. He was aged 24, but you can hear his legacy in most of the rap music of the last twenty years. Often imitated, never bettered. Here’s Big L – Freestyle 98 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ek7Kts-87Q
Thanks and big love,
Jamie