The Diary of a CEO

What's inside

Discover the principles of the most successful corporations and personalities, and learn how to enhance your work and personal life.

Foundation for greatness

Talent alone does not guarantee long-term success. While innate abilities can help you reach certain goals, true game-changers possess a broader skill set.

Work on your personality because it shapes your reality.

Essentially, every exceptional success story rests upon four fundamental pillars:

1. The pillar of identity focuses on self-mastery, the most challenging yet rewarding skill to harness.
2. The pillar of storytelling shows how to persuade, sell, and lead using the power of a story.
3. The pillar of philosophy emphasizes the importance of clear goals and core beliefs that translate into actions.
4. The pillar of the team shifts attention to the people you’re going to work with, which is crucial in any enterprise.

Those who cannot establish dominion over themselves will have no dominion over others. ~ Leonardo da Vinci Steven Bartlett

Further, you’ll find 33 laws to help you strengthen these four pillars and reach outstanding results in both your professional and personal lives!

Work on your outlook

Law 1: Follow the right order

Steven Bartlett believes that you can unlock your full potential by nurturing five core areas, also known as buckets:

1. Knowledge
2. Skills
3. Network
4. Resources
5. Reputation

Direct your actions and decisions to grow at least one of these aspects.

Over time, focus on broadening your expertise and honing your abilities, as these will naturally spill over into more opportunities for connections, financial gain, and a favorable image.

Law 2: Pass ideas forward

The fastest way to learn something is to teach it — the more you explain a concept to someone else, the better you understand it yourself. Thus, practice sharing new insights with friends or a partner so that you can digest and master what you’ve learned.

Law 3: Never disagree

Research shows that disagreement freezes your brain, preventing it from receiving additional information or logic.

In relationships, hearing something like “I disagree” could make your partner unwilling to listen to your subsequent arguments and explanations. Conversely, for smooth and effective communication, establish common ground before building your suggestions around it.

Focus on fixing a problem, not correcting your partner.

Law 4: Challenge beliefs with care

Changing beliefs is never easy, but there are two strategies to become open to new perspectives.

If your friend believes a false statement they heard on TV, never attack their opinion directly. Instead, you can present opposing evidence or ask them to explain why they agree with the statement. Interestingly, when explaining something, once people realize they have no basis for their opinion, their confidence in their viewpoint usually evaporates.

Law 5: Embrace change

Progress is often an ego check. Whenever you see a new way of doing something, you must either resist new ideas and change or be curious and humble enough to embrace it. History shows that change is constant, and being flexible always pays off.