Emma’s Blueprint: 10 Principles That Can Change Your Life

Emma Greed, host of the Aspire podcast, shares her journey from a challenging upbringing in East London to becoming a successful entrepreneur and mentor in Los Angeles. She emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, leveraging existing resources, and embracing one's uniqueness. Emma discusses overcoming perfectionism, the necessity of addressing personal issues, and the power of taking responsibility for one's life. She advocates for risk-taking, hard work, and continuous learning as key components of success. Emma's insights are drawn from personal experiences and aim to inspire listeners to pursue their goals with intention and purpose.

• Emma Greed shares her journey from a challenging upbringing in East London to co-founding a multi-billion dollar unicorn and raising a family in Los Angeles.
• The podcast "Aspire" is centered on intention and purpose, aiming to provide listeners with insights and tools from successful leaders.
• Emma emphasizes the importance of self-belief and the necessity of hard work for achieving success.

"I've built businesses rooted in purpose, but they weren't always my purpose. It wasn't until I stepped into leadership, mentoring others, guiding teams, I actually realized what really drives me."

• Emma realized her true drive was in leadership and mentoring others, which became the foundation of her podcast's mission.

"The road to success starts with yourself. It doesn't matter where you come from, who your mentors are, what's held you back, or what you've done wrong."

• Success is fundamentally about self-belief and personal accountability, regardless of external circumstances.

• Emma discusses the importance of self-awareness, particularly recognizing one's weaknesses and areas for improvement.
• She shares personal challenges with dyslexia and attention span, highlighting the value of admitting limitations and seeking help.
• Emphasizes the transition from perfectionism to embracing one's limitations and leveraging the strengths of others.

"I've sat in meetings and I've masked what I didn't know. And I thought for a long time that not being particularly strong with numbers or with finance meant that I should actually never be allowed to run a business."

• Emma initially believed her lack of financial expertise disqualified her from leadership, but later learned to overcome this by asking questions and seeking knowledge.

"The key takeout here is that you don't need to be an expert at everything. Just make sure that you create awareness of your weaknesses."

• Recognizing and accepting one's weaknesses allows for strategic hiring and personal growth.

• Leverage is a key strategy for career advancement, utilizing existing skills, opportunities, and relationships to progress.
• Emma shares her experience in the fashion industry, where she leveraged contacts and reputation to advance her career.
• Emphasizes the importance of vision and planning in leveraging opportunities effectively.

"I started my career working in a fashion show production company... Ultimately, I used that job to understand fundamentally how the fashion business worked."

• Emma's initial job, though seemingly unrewarding, provided her with valuable industry insights and contacts.

"I leveraged those things about myself into my next position and ultimately found the client base for my first agency business within those contacts that I'd made."

• By leveraging her reputation and network, Emma was able to establish her first agency and secure clients.

• Emphasizing the importance of being excellent in your current role to gain leverage and progress.
• Encouraging the use of current skills and achievements as a springboard for future opportunities.

"The single best way to be noticed and to be able to use the leverage that you might have is for people to notice how good you are right now at what you're doing in this moment."

• This quote underscores the necessity of excelling in the present to create opportunities for advancement.

• Advocating for being true to oneself as a means of differentiation and success.
• Highlighting personal experiences of standing out due to unique characteristics and background.

"I've really understood what it means to be unapologetically yourself."

• Emphasizes the power and freedom found in embracing one's true self, leading to personal and professional success.

"The quote, you might as well be you everybody else has taken is a great quote, because to me, it says that we're all unique, that we can all bring something to the table."

• This quote celebrates individuality and the unique contributions each person can make when they embrace their true identity.

• Discussing the impact of unresolved personal issues on professional and personal growth.
• Describing personal experiences with therapy and the importance of confronting past traumas.

"If I wanted to move forward, I had to do the hard work of healing."

• Highlights the necessity of addressing personal issues to enable growth and success.

"You cannot outrun your past. You can't keep pushing it aside and expect to move forward."

• Stresses the importance of facing and resolving past issues to progress in life.

• Reflecting on the tendency to blame external factors for personal circumstances.
• Sharing the transformative impact of taking personal responsibility for one's life trajectory.

"The power of taking ultimate responsibility for everything changed my life forever."

• Illustrates the profound effect of embracing personal responsibility on life direction and success.

"If you believe that the stories you tell yourself become your reality, then you'll know that the quickest way to change your trajectory is to take responsibility for yourself."

• Emphasizes the role of mindset and personal accountability in shaping one's future.

• Emphasizes personal accountability as a key to growth and empowerment.
• Discusses the importance of owning one's choices and the impact of taking responsibility.

"I took responsibility for the time that I woke up in the morning, for the number of letters that I would write to prospective employers."

• Highlights the proactive steps taken to gain control over one's circumstances.

"Taking responsibility means owning your choices. Every mistake, every failure, it's yours."

• Stresses the necessity of accepting responsibility for personal failures and successes.

• Focuses on the importance of controlling personal actions and mindset.
• Encourages distinguishing between what can and cannot be controlled.

"You can control your vision, your energy, your standards, how you show up every single day."

• Lists aspects of life that are within personal control and how they impact daily life.

"But you can't control other people's opinions. You can't control the pace of somebody else's journey or every twist and turn in the market."

• Acknowledges the limitations of control and the futility of attempting to manage external factors.

• Discusses daily habits that contribute to personal growth and satisfaction.
• Emphasizes the significance of morning and evening routines.

"Make it a practice to speak to yourself well and with intention."

• Highlights the importance of positive self-talk and its impact on personal well-being.

"How you start your day and what you choose to do before you go to bed is your choice."

• Stresses the influence of daily routines on overall life satisfaction.

• Advocates for taking risks as a necessary component of personal and professional growth.
• Describes risk as a bridge to becoming who you are meant to be.

"Risk is a requirement. Playing it safe is the real danger."

• Encourages embracing risk as a means to achieve significant life goals.

"Every person you admire has a trail of bold decisions behind them."

• Points out that admired individuals often have a history of taking significant risks.

• Discusses the necessity of hard work and its relationship to success.
• Balances the importance of work with the need for self-care and life balance.

"I probably work an unhealthy amount. I sketched out the outline for this show at 11pm on a Friday night."

• Illustrates a strong work ethic and commitment to professional responsibilities.

"There is a smart way to work really hard. And killing yourself without any big picture in mind will never be satisfying."

• Emphasizes the importance of working with a clear goal and purpose to avoid burnout.

• Success often requires enduring less fulfilling roles as a stepping stone to greater achievements.
• Maintaining curiosity and a willingness to see the bigger picture can provide leverage in seemingly mundane tasks.
• The importance of not becoming disillusioned with the process of paying dues is emphasized as essential for progress.

"Remember, don't get disillusioned with the work, but know that it's an essential part of getting to where you want to go."

• This quote underscores the necessity of perseverance and maintaining focus on long-term goals despite immediate challenges.

• The concept of trade-offs is crucial; achieving everything simultaneously is unrealistic.
• Prioritization involves saying no to activities that do not align with your goals, except for those that provide life meaning.
• Clear communication about priorities and trade-offs is vital to manage expectations.

"You can have it all, but not all at once."

• This highlights the need to make conscious decisions about what to prioritize, accepting that some desires may need to be deferred.

"The thesis here is that something's gotta give and that you can have it all, but not all at the same time."

• This reiterates the necessity of prioritizing what truly matters and making peace with the decisions about what to sacrifice.

• Emphasizes the importance of being in a constant learning mode to achieve greatness.
• Learning involves exposure to new ideas, challenging existing beliefs, and applying acquired knowledge.
• Practical tips for continuous learning include creating micro-learning moments, asking better questions, and surrounding oneself with teachers.

"The more you learn, the more you earn."

• This Warren Buffett quote emphasizes the value of continuous learning as a pathway to success.

"Learning for me is finding lessons in the wins and the losses, surrounding myself with people that challenge me, and staying open even when I think I already know the answer."

• This illustrates the comprehensive approach to learning, highlighting the importance of openness to new ideas and learning from experiences.

• Knowing your limitations and hiring experts to fill gaps.
• Leveraging existing relationships and opportunities for advancement.
• Embracing uniqueness as a personal strength.
• Addressing past issues to move forward.
• Taking responsibility for one's life and decisions.
• Focusing on controllable factors and taking risks.
• Recognizing and accepting the necessity of hard work.
• Making informed trade-offs and prioritizing effectively.
• Maintaining a commitment to lifelong learning.

"The best pathway to your success is starting with yourself."

• This encapsulates the overall message that personal growth and self-awareness are foundational to achieving success.