Work is one of the themes that runs through Nectar of Time. Below is everything in the Nectarium that touches on it.
Where it comes up 6
Within this theme 38
Concepts 8
- Flow
Tamir's name for Sheela's spirituality: being in the zone through work tied to a purpose. Sheela partly corrects him, saying she simply does what comes her way, for its own sake and for…
- Hustle Culture
The grind ethos (no sleep, no days off, sell, sell) that Tamir says has infected entrepreneurship. He supports deep dedication to a craft you truly choose, but not because someone told you…
- Work as meditation
Sheela's form of spirituality. She skipped the commune's meditations and treated her work building Bhagwan's dream as sacred. Bhagwan backed her, telling people who complained to leave her…
- Resolve as the ultimate test
Tamir's view that the ultimate test of any model of self-improvement is resolve in the real world. In sales you find out very quickly whether a book you read actually makes a difference.
- Verbal diarrhea people
Colin's sales slang ('VD people') for those who talk endlessly and never act. His test is the old line that you judge a tree by the fruit it bears.
- Bubble economy
Japan's late-1980s economic boom, the backdrop to the shadow's critique of workers who run on stress and have no emotions.
- Pet Rock
A novelty product: a rock in a box with fake grass and care instructions. Colin tells it as the story of a man who ignored everyone calling it stupid and became a multimillionaire by…
- Integration of immigrants
Colin's view that European countries such as the UK and Sweden did the right thing letting migrants in but failed to integrate them, which led to clashing values. He thinks immigrants who…
People 6
- Colin Gerrard
UK-born entrepreneur who built companies and led sales teams around the world (Belgium, the UK, sourcing in China). He also directed the award-winning short film 'Eli', made the earlier…
- Bill Gates
Colin uses him twice. First, he didn't invent DOS but bought it and built Windows from it, which shows that the work behind an idea matters more than the idea. Second, his goal was never to…
- Isaac Newton
Colin holds him up as someone who actually mattered, in contrast to influencers. When he hit a problem he couldn't solve, instead of complaining he went into another room and invented…
- Albert Einstein
Mentioned with Newton as having done his key work before 26. He's also credited with the line that insanity is doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different outcome, which…
- Gary Vaynerchuk
Cited by Tamir as the voice of hustle culture, boasting he took no days off between 20 and 30; Tamir questions trading away one's youthful 20s.
- Woody Allen
Colin quotes his line that 80% of success is just showing up. Tamir adds that being physically present doesn't mean you've actually shown up.
Quotes 5
I'm going to tell you two things, boy. Don't ever grow old. And don't wait for anything 'cause it's not coming.
What do you think, you can just exchange your fun coupons for time now, for your youthful 20s?
Basically, it was the same answer in every single book. And it was pretty simple. Have a good attitude. Don't give up. Work hard. You'll be successful.
A lot of people think that if they jump off a cliff and build the plane as they're coming down... a lot of times they don't build the plane, and then they just crash.
Some new product comes along and you go, I thought of that 10 years ago. Yeah, but what did you do about it?
Insights 8
- Get to know someone before you motivate them
Generic motivation can backfire badly, because what fires up one person breaks another. To find someone's authentic self and motivate them, you first have to know their story.
- Actions speak louder than words
Your authenticity as a human being lies in what you do, not what you say. Colin thinks this old truth matters more now than at any time in history.
- Work for a beloved's dream can be meditation
Spirituality doesn't have to look like sitting or dancing meditation. Sheela found jumping up and down boring, but working toward the dream of the man she loved was sacred to her, and…
- Act for joy, not for blessings
Where Tamir sees purpose-driven flow, Sheela describes something simpler: she does what comes her way without deliberating yes or no, helps others because it gives her pleasure, and seeks…
- Nothing is coming; go get it
Nothing you're waiting for is coming on its own. The right mindset is to go and get what you want, not to expect something you haven't earned.
- Sacrifice for your craft, not theirs
Being great at something does require intense sacrifice, but only make it for a craft you truly want, not because someone told you to grind. Have an honest conversation with yourself about…
- The work behind the idea makes it
Everyone has great ideas, and Gates didn't even invent DOS. What separates success from 'I thought of that ten years ago' is the work you put behind the idea.
- Success is common sense
Success comes down to two words, common sense. It gets drowned out by the voices of people who hurt you or by authority figures, not by any lack of books.
Practices 2
- Ask 'What's in it for you?'
In interviews Colin told candidates exactly what he was after, then asked what they were after, to judge whether they were too ambitious or not ambitious enough. Asking yourself the same…
- Dinner without business
To find out what makes an employee tick, take them to dinner and don't talk business at all. Ask about their life, and only at the very end ask about their goals for the year.
Stories 7
- Grandfather's two pieces of advice
Colin's father died when he was two, and his grandfather looked after him until he was about nine. On a walk shortly before he died, his grandfather stopped and told him: don't ever grow…
- Sheela doesn't meditate, leave her alone
Sheela was bored by the meditation exercises and found her work more fun than 'jumping up and down'. Commune members complained to Bhagwan that Sheela didn't meditate, and he told them to…
- The salesman who didn't want to be manager
In one of Colin's offices in Belgium, during a struggling telecoms campaign, one salesman was the only one hitting numbers. Colin pulled him aside and praised him lavishly as his next…
- Five self-help books experiment
A salesman who was doing badly kept telling Colin that Tony Robbins had changed his life. So Colin bought five random self-help books, Robbins's among them, and had his staff read and swap…
- Million-dollar number one single
Colin overheard two men at Soho House in Los Angeles: 'Give me a million bucks, I'll give you a number one single.' He thinks they're right and that the music industry is about money, which…
- Motivating people by knowing them
Colin says daily 'sell, sell, sell' meetings are the worst thing you can do, because you don't know what motivates each person. Some of his staff did brilliantly after he screamed at them…
- The noble builder
A builder friend of Colin's in the UK thinks building a house is a great thing, because it will be someone's forever home and a family will live in it. Colin respects him enormously and…
Films, music and art 1
- Birth, School, Work, Death
Colin quotes the British phrase 'birth, school, work, death' for the old pre-arranged life, and adds that in between you're supposed to have fun with your mates and family.
Organizations and movements 1
- Microsoft
Colin's example that it was the hard work behind the idea, not the idea itself, that made Windows run on most of the world's computers.