FREE RESOURCES FOR THE BOOK

JOIN THE PLAY REVOLUTION

This chapter explores the enormous changes happening in the world of work and entrepreneurship and how to position yourself to benefit from them.

Digital Nomads Taylor & Camille

Hear more about how Taylor & Camille quit their jobs and created an online business that allows them to live anywhere in the world

Charles Handy

Charles Handy CBE is an Irish author & expert in organisational behaviour and management.

Joseph Campbell

Joseph  Campbell, an American professor of literature & mythologist, writer & lecturer. His work covers many aspects of the human experience

Indra Nooyi

Indra Nooyi is an Indian-American business executive and former chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo, who has consistently ranked among the world’s 100 most powerful women.

Peter Gray

Peter is a research professor of psychology at Boston College, and the author of a widely used introductory psychology textbook

Pat Kane

Pat is a writer, musician, curator, consultant, activist and futurist, primarily based in Glasgow and London. He is the author of “The Play Ethic”; a book committed to advocating the power and potential of play

Steve Jobs

An American inventor, designer and entrepreneur Steve was the co-founder, chief executive and chairman of Apple Computer.

  • Watch Steve’s world famous commencement address

Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

  • Watch Sir Ken’s Ted Talk “Do schools kill creativity” which has amassed over 67million views

Brian Sutton Smith

Brian was a play theorist who spent his lifetime attempting to discover the cultural significance of play in human life, arguing that any useful definition of play must apply to both adults and children

CONNECT

Connect with 1000 fellow players in our regular 5-Day Business Startup Challenge  and join the conversation on social; you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn

SECRET ONE: How to work out what you really really want

Here are the resources mentioned in this chapter to help you if you know you want to do something different but can’t for the life of you work out what it is.

Interviews with people in Secret #1:

Sarah Weiler

Sarah went from school teacher to ukulele entrepreneur with multiple side projects along the way.

  • Watch Sarah’s full interview with John here:

Petra Barran

Petra has been instrumental in the changing face of the London street food revolution. The Independent has selected Petra as one of the ‘Ten People who Changed the World‘

Robert Fritz

Robert  is an  author, management consultant, composer, and filmmaker, known for his development of structural dynamics & how relationships impact behavior from individuals to organizations

Abraham Maslow

An American psychologist Abraham was best known for creating “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization

Information for Scanners:

To find out if you are a ‘scanner’ i.e somebody who is a fast learner with multiple interests, and to get personal help to work out exactly what it is you really want to do – here are some useful resources for you:

SECRET TWO: How to choose what to do next

This chapter helps you to choose a direction to investigate further now that you’ve looked at the things you enjoy doing and the experiences you want to have.

Personality Types

Personality profiling is a great way to understand your strengths and weaknesses so you know what you should focus on

(normally £42, use code IDP10j2x to get a 10% discount)

Interviews with people in Secret #2:

Charlie Thuillier

Brothers Charlie & Harry Thuillier created the world’s first healthy ice-cream, Oppo Brothers Ice Cream and have a fascinating tale of how they went from sleeping on the floor of a borrowed office to creating their own successful international food brand.

Arepa & Co

Ernesto Moreno & Gus Salguero created Arepa & Co – London’s first Venezuelan restaurant; they’ve  made it their mission to introduce London to the flavours of the Venezuelan cuisine

Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers was an American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology

Editable Worksheets

  • Download and fill this in to solve your pinball thinking and choose what to do next

SECRET THREE: How to get started right now

This Secret looks at how to put everything you’ve discovered this far into action, launch your journey and get paid to play!

Interviews with people in Secret #3:

Sam Bompas and Harry Parr of Jellymongers

Sam & Harry turned their crazy experiments with food into a pioneering international business

Sonja Lyubomirsky

Sonja is a professor and author of the bestseller “The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want”, a book of strategies backed by scientific research that can be used to increase happiness.

More Inspiration:

Here are some inspiring podcasts for you to enjoy, detailing the journey of 3 entrepreneurs who turned their passions into successful businesses & had fun doing it

SECRET FOUR: How to guarantee your success

Now that you know what you want and how to get it, this chapter explores they ways in which you can guarantee your success by being unstoppable.

 

Interviews with people in Secret #4:

As discussed in this Secret, here are some interviews with creative entrepreneurs explaining how they manage their time and their mindset.

Harry and Charlie Thuillier 

Brothers Harry & Charlie are the creators of the world’s first healthy ice cream, Oppo.

Derek Sivers – CD Baby

The $22 million business Derek Sivers built for fun

Tim Smit

Creator of the Eden Project and rock ‘n’ roll entrepreneur

The Secret of Good Napping

This article shares the secrets of good napping, and the upsides touted by famous nap-takers (not just John Williams from The Ideas Lab, but Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, John F. Kennedy to name a few) and other devoted daytime snoozers.

Here is proof of John’s excellent napping skills:

And if that wasn’t enough, he’s been officially endorsed on LinkedIn for his prowess in the napping department!

Nir Eyal

Nir is the author of “Indistractable” and gives solid advice on how to control your attention and choose your life

Dan Pink

Dan shares the scientific secrets of perfect timing, the new world of work and gives advice to writers

SECRET 5: How to play for profit….and purpose

This Secret shows you how to tune your projects towards something people might actually pay you for.

Interviews with people in Secret #5:

David Crane

David turned a passion into a business and created a bestselling ‘Smoke Free’ app with over 4million downloads

Sophie Boss

Sophie runs “Beyond Chocolate” with her sister, aimed at helping women to stop dieting and overeating and finally enjoy food food without guilt and lose weight

Listen to Sophie talk about the early days of her business on its creation and development

SECRET 6: How to play the fame game – and win

This Secret is all about making your project stand out, recognising who your ideal client is, and finding the best way to communicate with them

Interviews with people in Secret #6:

David Pearl

David is a former opera singer and copywriter, turned experiential events organiser. He runs over 800 events for companies such as Disney, Zurich and Dell Computers, and puts on award-winning shows through his company, Opera Circus, which combines opera, circus and theatre together to bring amazing experiences to people.

Watch/Listen to David as he talks about improvised opera and singing in the boardroom!

Watch my video:

‘Branding without the BS’

Recommended services for blogs and websites:

www.mailerlite.com (email marketing)

The Josh Spector Podcast for Email Marketing advice

www.namecheap.com (domain names and web hosting)

www.siteground.com (domain names and web hosting)

www.wpengine.com (WordPress hosting)

 

SECRET 7: How to create an irresistible offer

This Secret is about working out your offer to sell to the people that you want to work with, and how to offer it to them.

Interviews with people in Secret #7:

Adam Wilder

Creator of ‘The Togetherness festival’ – Adam wanted to bring people together and have meaningful connections, developing emotional fluency, boundaries and exploring the foundations of how people connect with one another.

 

Freelancing and consulting service websites

Upwork  www.upwork.com

Fiverr  www.fiverr.com

People Per Hour  www.peopleperhour.com

 

More from John on WHEN you should quit your job. . .

…and he has a lot of great advice on pricing too…

Plus we have featured some other examples of people who consult to corporations, run online businesses or have managed to create a successful personal brand around their expertise.

 

Kat Williams 

Kat Williams found the standard offers of the wedding industry so uninspiring when planning her wedding, that she decided to share alternative ideas and inspirations on a blog and on social media. In 2019 Kat published her book, Rock N Roll Bride: The Ultimate Guide For Rock N Roll Brides, which instantly went to #1 in Amazon’s wedding category.

 

Richard Atherton 

From management consultant to thought leader humanising the workplace, Richard Atherton is co-founder of FirstHuman, a company that he launched to work with corporations in a much more personal way.

 

SECRET 8: How to win your first playcheque

We have some fantastic interviews with people explaining how they won their first ‘play’ cheques.

Dan Barker

 

Rik Spruyt

 

Saskia Nelson

 

Stony Grunow

 

Susan Gregory

 

And another gem from John..

John Williams – the fast way to start your own successful business [#18] The Ideas Lab Podcast

SECRET 9: How to play full-time

This secret is all about how to scale up and get paid to play full-time.

Listen to inspiring videos here:

 

 

 

Leslie Scott

– the creator of ‘Jenga’ – a game of physical skill that’s actually fun if you lose!

 

Damian Barr

– the Literary Salon owner, which brings the world’s finest writers to the world’s loveliest venues to read from their latest greatest works and share their own stories.

 

SECRET 10: How to play your way to the rich life

Create wealth by adding genuine value to the world, and getting paid to do so.

We have listed some interviews here from successful entrepreneurs who have scaled and continue to lead a rich, playful life, as well as some resources to help you to manage money, support your travels as your business grows.

Let’s listen to Tom Hodgkinson, as he talks about his journey from worker to idler, why idling takes dedication, and how to write a book in your sleep.

Here’s author, Emma Johnson, who started the blog ‘singlewealthymommy.com’ which is the number 1 blog for single mothers around the world.

And Mark Walsh, who raised over £90,000 for his conference on Embodiment

 

Access links to learn more about managing money:

Video: Mike Michalowicz aka The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur – how to make your business pay

Video: Amber Dugger – Putting profit first in your business

Website: YNAB (YouNeedABudget.com)

 

Inspiration on how to create a portable business and be a Nomad/Location Independent:

The Ideas Lab Podcast:

John Williams – 3 Keys to be able to live and work anywhere in the world

 

And here are more details of programmes from The Ideas Lab, on starting and scaling your own business.

Join me over on the website at;

www.TheIdeasLab.Org

Or the friendly Facebook group:

Facebook – John Williams F Work

 

Turn your ideas and expertise into #1 businesses, books and brands.

ABOUT WARCHILD

Ten per cent of ongoing author royalties for this book will be donated to War Child UK, the international charity that protects children living in the world’s most dangerous war zones including Iraq, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Syria.

War Child UK protects children from the brutal effects of war and its consequences. Its work with former child soldiers, children in prison and children living and working on the streets gives them support, protection and opportunities.

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