8 Speeches That Will Fire You Up on a Slow Day

Some days you spring out of bed ready to take on the world. Others, you feel like the human equivalent of cold porridge.

Sometimes the right words, at the right moment, can change the course of your entire day. So here's your cold porridge playlist for the brain: eight talks that'll fire you up - and, because I can't help myself, what each one means for the way you run your agency.

Watch one, then do the Rocky dance, then call that client back.

1. Reshma Saujani: Teach Girls Bravery, Not Perfection

The founder of Girls Who Code on how so many of us are raised to chase flawless when we should be chasing brave. She noticed her students would rather show a blank screen than half-finished work that might be wrong - showing how perfectionism stops us before we've even started.

For agents: this is the whole "post the imperfect video" argument in one speech. Done and a bit rough beats perfect and invisible, every single time.

2. Brené Brown: The Power of Vulnerability

A researcher sets out to study human connection and accidentally discovers that the bravest thing any of us does is let ourselves be properly seen. Wobbles, warts and all. One of the most-watched talks on earth, for good reason.

For agents: this is the entire case for getting your actual face on camera. The agent people trust is the one brave enough to be visible.

3. Rory Sutherland: Life Lessons from an Ad Man

The advertising legend with the best point in marketing: you could spend a fortune making the train faster, or you could serve free champagne on board and have passengers wishing the journey was longer.

For agents: you're not always selling a better house - you're selling a better feeling about it. Reframe the value. That "tired" terrace isn't tired, it's a blank canvas. Perception is the product. (Watch this one, and then watch it again and again.)

4. Phil Hansen: Embrace the Shake

An artist develops a permanent tremor in his drawing hand and is told he's finished. Instead of fighting the limitation, he works with it and produces the most creative work of his life.

For agents: stop using "no budget, no team, no fancy kit" as the reason you can't market well. Constraints aren't the enemy of creativity, they're the spark.

5. Andrew Stanton: The Clues to a Great Story

The Pixar brain behind Finding Nemo and WALL-E on why some stories grab you by the collar and others bounce straight off. His golden rule is brutally simple: make me care.

For agents: most property marketing lists features and forgets to make anyone FEEL anything. Three beds, two baths, ample parking - and not a flicker. Lead with the story instead. Who built it, who loved it, who'll be happy there next.

6. Drew Dudley: Everyday Leadership

He tells the story of a tiny, daft, throwaway kindness he didn't even remember doing... but one that turned out to have changed a complete stranger's life. He calls them "lollipop moments."

For agents: the little human touch you've forgotten by lunchtime is often the thing your customer or colleague never forgets. The reassuring call, the card, the "saw this and thought of you." You're handing out lollipop moments every week - you just need to start doing it on purpose.

7. Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts

A devastating case that the best person in the room often isn't the loudest one in it. Cain argues we've built a world that worships the big personality and overlooks the people who listen hard, prepare properly and think before they speak.

For agents: gold for anyone who reckons you need a big gob to win instructions. The agent who actually listens at the kitchen table, and remembers what was said, wins the trust the showman never earns.

8. Conan O'Brien: Dartmouth, 2011

Delivered weeks after losing his dream job in the most public way imaginable. It's very funny... and then it knocks the wind out of you. His point: the plan falling apart was the making of him, because it pushed him somewhere far better than the plan ever was.

For agents: the deal that collapses, the instruction you lose, the year that refuses to go to script - that's not the end of the story; it's usually the start of a better one. Disappointment isn't a full stop - it's just a plot twist.

On those cold porridge days - the ones where your legs feel like they've been set in concrete trousers - reach for something that will lift you from your funk.

There's a thread that runs through all of these talks - be seen, tell honest stories, do the small things and trust that they will add up to something bigger in time. And when it all goes sideways, keep going.

Cheering you on as ever

Toby