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Dr Richard Guyver joins us on #founderhacks this week to discuss keeping your head during times of stress.
Richard is a serial entrepreneur who started his journey by building a multi-site dental practice who has since diversified in to healthtech as an advisor and investor. He also trades currency in his spare time.
Seen.
"Don't sit on the beach"
Richard has a quote stuck on his wall which he stole from a kite surfing video on YouTube. The video contained an interview with a kite surfer asking for his advice on how people should get in to the sport. His reply was, "don't sit on the beach".
Richard uses this quote to remind himself to do things he might not otherwise do; to remind himself that life surrounds us with all types of lessons that can be found in all types of places. For him, there's an art of stitching all these lessons together in his own unique way to get more out of life, to deal with adversity and to build cornerstone beliefs on which to build great businesses.
Read.
Responding rather than reacting
Richard's all time best read is a book named, "The Hour between Dog and Wolf" by neuroscientist and former Wall Street trader John Coates.
The title of the book comes from a French expression dating back to medieval times to describe the moment at dusk when the sky darkens and you can no longer tell the difference between dog and wolf or friend or foe. The book shines a light on how the human mind and body work together during the decision making processes that take place during high-pressure and high-stress moments. It also looks at how decisions can lead to self perpetuating outcomes that can ultimately change the body’s chemistry.
Richard is a man who likes to understand things before he excepts them. The things he learned from this book helped him get better at stepping away from an impulsive thought or emotion to better understand its source. This in turn gives him time to reflect on a situation before acting on it and to ultimately improve his decision making ability.
Learned.
There are no silver bullets - or are there?
In 2008 when Richard started his first business times were tough economically. His business was losing money and Richard was on the hunt for a single silver bullet that would magically turn things around. Despite his efforts, he sadly couldn't find one. What he did discover instead however was a realisation that improvement could be found in every corner of his business and that it was far easier, and more effective, to try and improve 25 parts of his company by 4% than to improve 1 part of it by 100%.
Was this realisation a silver bullet in itself?
Life is full of paradoxes isn't it?
And finally.
A brief excerpt from Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If" which famously talks about keeping your head whilst all around you are losing theirs,
"If you can fill the unforgiving minute,
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And - which is more - you’ll be a man, my son".
Don’t forget to check out the accompanying podcast version of #founderhacks for a tantalising live experience of team atomex!
