We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tom English. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tom below.

Tom, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

True success is not a flash-in-the-pan – it has an inherent sustainability to it. And it isn’t one-dimensional (i.e. just about the money); there are various dimensions to it. For example, if I’m financially successful while my family is falling apart then can I really claim to be successful?

When I work with clients I encourage them to define their version of success across multiple dimensions – Self, Relationships, Contributions – which underpin what I call Sustainable Success.

The idea of Sustainable Success is that success is holistic across various aspects of life, and that it includes the following features:

1) Alignment with your values;

2) Consistency of contributions and results:

3) Durability of Self (wellbeing, character, competence), Relationships, Contributions.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

The primary problem that I solve through my business is nihilism, which is a person’s sense that their life has no meaning to it. It’s often a hopeless, even desperate, state to be and one that seems to be relatively common, to a greater or lesser extent, in a world full of distractions, temptations and challenges.

I found myself flirting with nihilism when I was at university several years ago. It was a dark place – and it crept up on me. I feel like I sleepwalked my way into that state as a result of not taking full ownership of my values and not properly defining what I wanted success to look like in my life.

Through a guidance of a wise mentor who helped me to reconnect with my values and gave direction based on timeless principles I was able to overcome this sense of meaninglessness and find purpose, meaning and fulfilment in my life.

From that point onwards I have done a lot of research on values, which is central to overcoming nihilism and despair in life, and created a mentoring programme to give others guidance, frameworks and tools to create lives of purpose, meaning and fulfilment in pursuing their own version of Sustainable Success.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I always think back to Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I read it after I’d finished working with my mentor and it had a transformational impact on my life for its focus on rock-solid, principle-centred values. I feel like it’s a must-read for anyone looking to lay the right foundations for their life and business.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Since starting the business in 2019 my wife and I have had to deal with numerous challenges from almost every direction – the pandemic might even be the least of it! But we’ve overcome each and every challenge – and as we’ve done so my resolve to have real impact through 3 Stewardships has grown stronger and stronger.

Contact Info:

• Website: 3stewardships.com
• Instagram: tomenglish3s
• Facebook: facebook.com/englishtom3S
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomenglish3s
• Youtube: @realclearvaluespodcast
• Other: Podcast: Real Clear Values with Tom English (available on all major podcast platforms and YouTube).

Image Credits
© 3Stewardships Ltd