Tuesday 21 August 2012

A Brief Chat With Nigel Marsh

'His 2010 speech on life, the universe and everything at Sydney's 2010 TED Conference had an instant global impact and remains Australia's most watched TED talk with well over a million hits. He is the co-founder of Earth Hour and past CEO of a number of high profile advertising agencies.'  Proclaims Nigel Marsh's biography on his publisher's website. He is a man of many talents and writing is certainly one of them.


We were lucky to have the energetic and entertaining Nigel drop by the store last week, shortly following the release of
Fit, Fifty and Fired-Up, the autobiographical sequel to the bestselling Fat, Forty and Fired - just in time to be the perfect gift for Father's Day.

"If Lara Bingle can have a tv show about her life," he told us with a cheeky smile, shortly before agreeing to answer some of our questions, "Then I can release one book every ten years."


Your latest book Fit, Fifty and Fired-Up finds you at quite a different point of your life from where you were for your last book, Fat, Forty and Fired. What was the main difference for you between theses two decades?
Chekov once said "any fool can face a crisis, its day to day living that’s the real challenge”. Fat, Forty and Fired was about a year. Fit, Fifty and Fired-Up is about the rest of my life...

Why do you think we as a society seem to be moving further away from maintaining a good work/life balance?

Its so easy to unwittingly get addicted to being busy - especially with today’s technology. Unfortunately it usually takes a major event like a bereavement, illness, divorce or redundancy to force us to pause and reflect on the lives we’re living.

What advice would you give to people who are thinking of following you off the hamster wheel to chase their dreams?
Don’t! Well not because I did anyway. And not until you’ve properly thought through all the implications of taking such a decision. I’m not saying anyone else should do it. Fit, Fifty and Fired-Up is just my story.
For many people leaving their job would be the very worst thing they could do. I’m a huge believer in implementing small changes. Over time they tend to have a far greater and more beneficial effect than the unrealistic grand gestures.



Signed copies of Fit, Fifty and Fired-Up are available in-store now for $29.99.
You can also listen to Nigel's TED Talk on the Allen & Unwin website.

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