Work sucks, doesn’t it? Even if you have a job you love, it’s still generally not a good as, like, not work. The best, most satisfying day you’ve ever had at work, when everything went your way and you felt motivated, creatively satisfied and valued, was probably only about 80% as enjoyable as a day where you slept until ten, had a fry-up then got blind drunk playing Tekken.
Nevertheless, work is an inescapable element of life, so we might as well make the best of it and try to kick as much ass as possible. Promotions, big money, fame and fancy cars potentially lie ahead, but then so does madness - it’s important to maintain a balance between working like a machine and looking after oneself.
There’s a lot of cheesiness out there, and definitely some cheesiness in the accounts below, but if following them might give you that necessary tiny nudge every so often, just that little hint or clue or lift to keep going, then the whiff of stilton is all worth it.
1. Tim Ferriss (@tferriss)
Angel investor and part-time breakdancer, Tim Ferriss is best known as the author of The 4-Hour Workweek, a guide to freeing up huge swathes of time in your life. Ironically he puts out loads of stuff, enough that it can feel a bit overwhelming keeping up with all his output. However, among other things, he tweets useful, interesting extracts from his podcast, often featuring really impressive guests.
2. Tony Robbins (@TonyRobbins)
There are thousands of accounts on Twitter that offer motivational one-liners, but you might as well get them from the man who made such things famous, self-help guru Tony Robbins. The physically enormous motivator, with his head like an Easter Island statue, heads up companies that generate something crazy like US$6bn per year, so knows what he’s talking about.
3. J. Money (@BudgetsAreSexy)
Financial tech consultant and personal finance expert J. Money (a) has a mohawk and (b) wants to help you save cash and free yourself from debt and stuff. No point in working like a mofo if you fritter away all the money you make from it, right? He is also the creator of the no-nonsense website Why You’re Poor.
4. Michael Hyatt (@MichaelHyatt)
Leadership mentor and author of Your Best Year Ever, Michael Hyatt offers a lot of advice on avoiding productivity traps, staying out of bad habits and not neglecting the non-work areas of your life. Also, he’s got a big-ass dog, and big-ass dogs are always good internet.
5. Leo Babauta (@zen_habits)
Hella mindful vegan Leo Babauta quit smoking thirteen years ago and just kept going - he’s since tripled his income, erased his debt, written books and run ultramarathons. “It is a journey with no destination,” he says, constantly achieving loads but happily sharing his failures as well.
6. Bruce Van Horn (@BruceVH)
Business coach Bruce Van Horn thinks people need to take control of the story of their lives, changing their own narratives. He managed to beat cancer, so there might be something to it…
7. Health & Fitness (@HealthTips)
You can’t get shit-all done if you’re physically falling apart. Small changes can end up making massive differences to what you’re capable of.
8. 1000 Life Hacks
Plenty of life hacks are rubbish, but the occasional one, like number 341 here, seems pretty useful. BRB NEED THE TOILET
9. Andrew W.K. (@AndrewWK)
Andrew W.K. is the greatest man in the world, and his Twitter feed is constantly life-affirming, incredibly motivating and just awesomely fun. There’s plenty of substance there as well - W.K. is very open about mental health struggles - but lots of partying.
10. Adam Grant (@AdamMGrant)
Business psychologist Adam Grant shares lessons from his New York Times bestsellers on how to succeed in the world of business like an ass-kicking, no-shit-taking success story. Follow his advice and you’ll be wearing one of those shirts with a different coloured collar in no time.
11. The Minimalists (@TheMinimalists)
Proponents of a less-is-more lifestyle, The Minimalists offer endless advice on de-cluttering your life and focusing on what you need and enjoy. One of them looks a bit like Christopher Walken. Fun!
12. Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar)
The Chief Digital Evangelist for Salesforce (nope, no idea) is big into self-improvement and the idea that people make their own luck.
13. Big Think (@bigthink)
As accounts posting thought-provoking quotes go, Big Think (“Get smarter, faster, for success in the knowledge economy”) is pleasantly light on sunsets and heavily filtered landscapes.
14. The Universe (@mikedooley)
Mike Dooley has been tweeting inspirational, motivational “Notes from the Universe” for years now, and seems like a lovely dude. It’s really sincere, and cheesy as hell, but a lot of what he puts out is about being a bit more proud of stuff you do without thinking about it, and that can’t be a bad thing.
15. Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama)
The Dalai flippin’ Lama, innit. He does loads. Take a leaf out of his incredibly old book, eh?
16. Laura Stack (@laurastack)
Laura Stack has tweeted literally over three thousand productivity tips. That is mind-boggling. Imagine how much work she could have got done if she didn’t do that.
17. Jocelyn K. Glei (@jkglei)
Glei hosts the podcast Hurry Slowly, about pacing oneself in order to ultimately do a better job of things as well as finding more meaning in those things.
18. Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock)
Nobody gets more shit done than The Rock. His Instagram game beats his tweets in terms of firing you up, but even the littlest smidgin of Rock is powerful.
(Image: Unsplash)
