The Power of Everyday Innovators

The Power of Everyday Innovators

Why you don’t have to be a global game changer to make innovation a part of your life and career.

OPENING QUOTE:

“Most of us think of innovation as this big topic that's out of our reach. Inventing the electric automobile or SpaceX or something and we say, "Great for Elon Musk, but I'm a normal person. How does that apply to me?" I tried to flip that whole concept upside down. This is like innovation for the rest of us. Again, helping everyday people become everyday innovators.”

—Josh Linkner

GUEST BIO:

Josh Linkner is a creative troublemaker. He started his career as a jazz guitarist and then went on to become the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which sold for a combined value of over $200 million. He is also a deeply experienced business leader, venture capitalist, top-rated keynote speaker, New York Times bestselling author, and professional jazz guitarist. He is a world-renown expert on innovation, disruption, and hyper-growth leadership.

Learn more about Josh Linkner:

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CORE TOPICS + DETAILS:

[7:04] -- Lifelong Learning in a Busy World

How to read in the rat race, and why you should

Josh mourns the statistic that 50% of adults haven’t read a book since they graduated college. Whether it’s books, podcasts, YouTube videos, or some other source, lifelong learning is 100% essential to being an everyday innovator. You don’t have to be holed up in a study poring over books for hours— find small moments in your day to learn something new, and your creativity will blossom.

[12:23] -- The 30 Days Rule

Try it, experience it, and move forward

You don’t have to commit to some monumental life change in order to transform your trajectory. Interested in something? Commit to 30 days. At the end of that 30 days, determine whether you want to commit to another 30. Breaking up your passions into manageable time periods will help make life changes feel less monumental.

[12:44] -- The 5-Minute Creativity Ritual

Josh’s jet fuel for a day of innovation

Every day, Josh starts with a 5-minute ritual designed to supercharge his daily creativity. Minute one, he guzzles inputs. Watching a performance, reading a poem— anything to inspire. Minute two, he goes through the highlight reel of his recent successes and future goals. This is the confidence boost. Minute three, he thinks of solutions for a problem unrelated to his life and business. Recycling plastics, for example. This is the mental stretching exercise. Minute four is the time machine. Go forward to a future where you’ve achieved everything you ever dreamed. How did you get there? Finally, minute five— take 60 seconds to consider an active problem in your life. It could be personal or business-related. This is a one-minute sprint to consider how you’re going to work towards solving that problem today.

That’s Josh’s 5-minute creativity ritual. What’s yours?

[22:00] -- The Story of Big Little Breakthroughs

How Josh unlocked the secrets of CEOs, billionaires, and celebrities

All over the world, people do amazing things— some in the public spotlight, some away from it. Josh interviewed dozens of them to determine how they structure their days to allow for small breakthroughs that lead to big rewards.

[25:42] -- The Power of Just Starting

Start with bad, and get a little bit better

Imagine you and another person both see an opportunity. You have more money, more smarts, and more resources overall. You take some time to start mapping out the options, determining the best path forward, weighing the risks and rewards. But the other person just starts. They start with what they have, and it’s terrible, but each day it gets a little less terrible. By the time six months have gone by, that person with no money or resources will be ahead of you.

[27:20] -- No Money, No Time, No Innovation?

“I don’t have the resources to be creative.”

Josh shares the funny but true statement, “If the amount of resources that you had equaled your level of creativity, the Federal government would be the most creative organization on the planet and startups would be the least.” Resources don’t create innovation. Innovators do.

[34:14] -- The View from the Peak

What to do, and not do, when you’re at the top

Josh shares with us the peaks and valleys from his career, and one key takeaway is the importance of not learning the wrong lessons from your successes. Don’t become full of yourself— recognize the combination of luck and perseverance that got you there, take a moment to celebrate, then move on to the next challenge.

[38:45] -- You Have More Time Than You Think

Don’t let what you have to do stand in the way of what you want to do

As Josh and Paul close out their conversation, Josh reflects on how anyone can find a moment every day to be the truest, most authentic versions of themselves. No person alive has days filled front-to-finish with only the things they want to do. But we can all find the time, whether it’s five minutes or five hours, to pursue the things about which we’re the most passionate.

RESOURCES:

[0:36] - The Power of Playing Offense, by Paul Epstein[2:18] - Disciplined Dreaming, The Road to Reinvention, and Big Little Breakthroughs, all by Josh Linkner[6:04] - Think Again, by Adam Grant[6:09] - Soundtracks, by Jon Acuff[6:14] - The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, by Robin Sharma[6:23] - Atomic Habits, by James Clear[33:46] - Curtis Martin’s TED Talk

FOLLOW:

We'd love to hear your thoughts on today’s episode. Feel free to DM Paul on social or shoot him an email at [email protected].

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Learn more about Josh Linkner:

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ABOUT PLAYMAKERS: IMPACT UNLEASHED:

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Take a seat at the table with leadership expert, sports industry veteran, bestselling author, personal transformation coach, purpose igniter, and your host Paul Epstein in this inspiring, yet immediately actionable podcast. From stories of total defeat to the thrills of unimaginable achievement to the practices of mastering the inside game, each show will share a high-energy, prescriptive blueprint to unleash impact and drive success, significance, and purpose no matter your starting point.

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ABOUT THE HOST:

Paul Epstein may not be a hard charging running back on the actual football field, but his list of high-profile wins in the world of sports will have you thinking that he could be.

Paul has spent nearly 15 years as a pro sports executive for multiple NFL and NBA teams, a global sports agency, and the NFL league office. He’s transformed numerous NBA teams from the absolute bottom in league revenue to top-two in financial performance. He’s broken every premium revenue metric in Super Bowl history as the NFL’s sales leader. He’s opened a billion-dollar stadium, helped save the New Orleans NBA franchise, and founded the San Francisco 49ers Talent Academy.

He's since installed his leadership and high-performance playbook with Fortune 500 leaders, Founders and CEOs, MBAs, and professional athletes.

Now, as Founder of Purpose Labs, keynote speaker, bestselling author, and host of the Playmakers: Impact Unleashed podcast, Paul explores how living and working with a focus on leadership, culture, and purpose can transform organizations and individuals anywhere to unleash their full potential.

Learn more about Paul at PaulEpsteinSpeaks.comOrder Paul’s new book The Power of Playing Offense

CREDITS:

Paul Epstein: Host | [email protected]Connor Trombley: Executive Producer | [email protected]