The quality of your attention shapes the quality of your decisions.

I learned this in my twenties, advising leaders in the European Parliament. I'd watch the smartest people in the room receive exactly the right advice, then struggle to act on it. Same pattern, again and again.

Until I understood: it wasn't a knowledge problem. It was a capacity problem.

So I spent the next decade studying what most leadership programs ignore: 15+ silent retreats, intensive work with secular Buddhist scholars, direct mentorship from the pioneers of boardroom coaching.

What I found: self-awareness isn't soft. It's the edge.

This is the paradox of my work. I help ambitious CEOs by slowing them down. Stillness isn't the opposite of performance. It's the source of it.

I work at the intersection of three things most advisors keep separate: inner work (seeing your own patterns), organizational systems (governance, strategy, culture), and peer wisdom (learning from others in the same seat).

Today, I create protected spaces where CEOs can surface what they haven't been able to see: through 1:1 advisory, organizational development mandates, or the Wise Leaders Fellowship, a CEO community that begins with silence.

If you're sensing there's something you're not yet seeing, let's talk.

Leadership means doing hard things in a human way.

Yours,

Nikolas

Nikolas Konstantin 🌱

The Systems Guy • Follow me for systems on health, wealth, and free time ⚡ Cornell MBA • 2M+ audience

Hi, I'm Ben Meer.

Tired of non-actionable life advice, I started writing online in February 2022.

Here are the results:

→ Built social audience from 0 to 2M+ (across IG, LinkedIn, and X) 
→ Grew 0 to 690K+ followers on LinkedIn in 21 months
→ Scaled newsletter—System Sunday—from 0 to 270K+ subscribers

There are 2 primary ways I can help you:

1) System Sunday Newsletter

Most people don't know how to build life systems to accelerate personal growth. So I created a weekly newsletter that teaches these systems (it's free). Subscribe to unlock new levels of wealth, health, and freedom.

→ Try it: benmeer.com/ss

2) Archimedes [Coaching]

Access the most exclusive members' club for LinkedIn thought leaders. Get the proven systems, resources, and community to 10x your personal brand. 

→ Check it out: joinarchimedes.com

——

Sponsorships: partnerships@benmeer.com

Ben Meer

This recent quote from a neuroscientist hit me hard.

It reveals a simple (but essential) truth about your brain:

It can grow, rewire, and adapt far longer than most people think.

In other words, biology isn’t the bottleneck to making progress in life. 

Belief is.

And Stanford Psychology professor Carol Dweck’s research supports this.

She discovered that individuals with a growth mindset:

Make more money throughout their career,
report less stress and anxiety, 
and are more resilient in the face of failure.

Here are 7 practical ways to adopt this growth mindset:

1. When facing a challenge, break it into smaller steps instead of expecting instant progress.

2. When receiving feedback, treat it as data to improve, not a judgment of your ability.

3. When comparing yourself to others, study what works for them and apply it to your own life.

4. When failure happens, use it to adjust your approach instead of questioning yourself.

5. When time feels limited, focus on small improvements that compound over time.

6. When uncertainty shows up, treat it as time to experiment rather than a reason to quit.

7. When defining success, measure it by effort and progress instead of raw talent.

Your current mindset doesn’t have to be permanent. 

Adopt this system, and you can rewire your brain for long-term progress.

Rooting for you. 

Quote credit: Dr. Dominic Ng via Substack
 
♻️ Repost to help others adopt a growth mindset.
And follow me Ben Meer for more practical tips like this.

This 36-second clip hits hard.

It reveals a simple truth about success in business (and life):

The only person you need permission from to achieve your dreams? 

Yourself.

Quick story:

When I was working my 9-5 consulting job, I felt stuck.
Like I wasn’t even close to my full potential. 

So I bet on myself and started posting online (while still working full-time).

It’s the best decision I’ve ever made. 

That choice has led me to build an audience of over 2 million amazing people, become friends with creators I used to admire from afar, and eventually leave my 9-5.

But most of all, it made me feel like I was finally reaching my potential. 

Because here’s the thing about writing online:

It’s permissionless.
There’s no gatekeeper.
You get to choose to start pursuing your own dreams.

So if you’re ready to start your online creator journey,
Jade Bonacolta and I created Archimedes for people who feel the same pull.

It’s a private community where I share the exact systems I used to grow my LinkedIn to 830K+ followers and build a 7-figure creator business. 

Our next cohort starts January 26 and enrollment closes Friday.

👉 Read member success stories and apply today (takes ~3 minutes): https://lnkd.in/gQFp-YaF 

Video credit: Vinh Quang Giang on IG

I can’t stop thinking about this video.

It’s proof that anyone can learn how to read faster.

One easy way to 3x your reading speed?

Avoid subvocalization.  

Untrained readers vocalize each word in their head.

The reason is that we grew up learning how to read phonetically.

It’s a problem because you can read faster than you speak. 

Most people speak 50-200 words per minute (wpm), while trained readers can push 700+ wpm (and, as evidenced in this video, even up to 900 wpm).

Yes, you can read without subvocalizing…

Prove it to yourself:

Reread this post while repeating “1, 2, 3, A, B, C.” 

Notice how subvocalization is irrelevant to understanding.

It’s only challenging because of prior habits. But it is possible. 

You just have to keep practicing. 

Learning how to speed read is like the difference between walking and running.

If you’re anything like me, you love a good leisurely stroll.

But it’s also nice to know you can always book it. 

🔖 Save this video to practice your speed reading.
♻️ And repost it if you learned something new today.

Credit: James Lucas via Substack.

Confidence isn’t having all the answers.
It’s knowing you’ll eventually find them.

Things move quickly.
Opportunities don’t stick around.
Waiting for perfect information is a losing game.

That’s where the 70% Rule comes in:

When you have roughly 70% of what you need, act.
The remaining 30% shows up once you’re already moving.

Jeff Bezos swears by this principle. 
Especially because most decisions aren’t permanent,
and momentum matters more than perfection.

One of the strongest beliefs you can develop:

“I can figure this out.”

Not “I know it all.”
Not “I’ve thought of every scenario.”
Simply: “I can figure this out.”

That belief reshapes how you handle:

• Career decisions
• Hard conversations
• Personal growth
• Setbacks you didn’t plan for

So next time you’re 70% ready, take the leap.
Clarity tends to follow action.

♻️ Repost if this hits for you.
➕ Follow Ben Meer for more ideas like this.

A piece of advice I'd give my 20-year-old self:

Focus more on the journey than the destination.

5 tactical steps to fall in love with the process:

1. Slow Down

If you rush into anything, you’ll get unnecessarily stressed and burn out quickly.

Carl Lewis, a 9-time Olympic gold medalist, ran his fastest at 85%.

Remember, “Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.”

—

2. Keep Your Goals Private

When you are pursuing a goal, avoid telling people.

It releases cheap dopamine and tricks your brain into thinking you've already achieved it (lowering motivation). 

Move in silence.

—

3. Practice the Chain Method

Billionaire comedian Jerry Seinfeld credits much of his success to this idea:

Mark an X on a wall calendar for each day you complete a task. 

“After a few days you’ll have a chain. Your only job is to not break it.”

The process is the goal. Outcomes are just a side effect. 

—

4. Remember the Rule of Thirds (h/t Alexi Pappas)

33% of your days will be bad.
33% will be average.
33% will be great.

Nothing is wrong when a day feels bad.
It’s part of the process. Adjust your approach and keep going.

—

5. Focus on Compound Growth

Small actions, consistently applied, yield massive results.

• Knowledge: Read 20 pages daily
• Skills: Practice deliberately for 20 minutes
• Relationships: Reach out to at least one person you’ve been meaning to.

1% daily improvement leads to 37x growth in one year.

♻️ Repost to share this with your network.
➕ Follow me Ben Meer if this resonates with you.

7 powerful ideas to carry with you in 2026:

🔖 Save this post to refer back when you need it.
And follow Ben Meer for more.

7 Powerful Ideas To Carry With You in 2026:

The best days don’t start in the morning.

They start the night before. 

9 evening practices that set you up for success:

1. End your workday with a dedicated shutdown ritual.
2. Plan tomorrow using 3:3:3: 3 hours deep work, 3 shorter tasks, 3 maintenance activities.
3. Write down 1 beautiful life moment.
4. Lay out tomorrow’s outfit.
5. Prep healthy snacks. 
6. Charge your phone in a different room from where you sleep.
7. Do the dishes and tidy your kitchen.
8. Calm your nervous system with 4-7-8 breathing: Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7, and exhale for 8.
9. Prime your subconscious with a question before sleep.

Life gets better when you build momentum the night before.

♻️ Repost if you are going to try one of these habits.
🔖 Save when you want to come back to learn another.

I had to reread this McKinsey stat (it blew my mind):

High performers deliver 800% more output than average employees.

9 proven tips to retain top talent:

1. Overpay to keep your top performers
2. Make recognition the default
3. Listen to what energizes your team and lean into it
4. Address toxic behavior immediately
5. Be soft on the person and hard on the problem
6. Trust people with as much autonomy as possible
7. Implement meeting-free days
8. Normalize frequent feedback
9. Remove friction to let your top people thrive

The age of pizza parties and ping-pong tables as retention strategies is over. 

Use these 9 tips to invest meaningfully in your highest performers,
and they’ll reinvest in the business tenfold.

♻️ Repost to champion high-performing teams.
🔖 Save this cheatsheet for later reference.

How to accelerate your career in the first 6 months of 2026.

Read these books for a personal MBA:

How to accelerate your career in 2026:

This quote from a doctor hit me hard.

5 easy ways to walk more (even if you’re busy):

1. Take Walking Meetings

In the words of Nietzsche, “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” 

Ideas win in our knowledge economy.

Let’s normalize walking meetings, not hours of sitting at a desk.

—

2. Use a Standing Desk

Our ancestors used to hunt mammoths.

Now we sit at desks all day.

Humans aren’t built for this…

87% of those using a standing desk report increased energy.

Simply, we’re wired to be alert when standing.

—

3. Set a Pomodoro Timer

Take a quick stand break every half hour with a Pomodoro timer. 

I like Focus To-Do, a Chrome extension.

Set a timer in the app for 25 mins working, 
5 mins standing or walking.

You’ll guarantee more movement before the day’s end. 

—

4. Engineer Your Environment

Create intentional friction in your day that forces you to walk more:

• Take the stairs over the elevator
• Park further away than necessary

Build an environment that fosters healthy behavior by default.

—

5. Track Your Steps

Try a wearable device (FitBit, Oura Ring, Whoop, Apple Watch) or your phone (most have built-in trackers).

A daily reminder of your step count will motivate you to get moving. 

In the words of Peter Drucker, "What gets measured gets managed."

♻️ Repost to champion a healthy lifestyle.
➕ Follow Ben Meer for more content like this.

9 timeless pieces of advice to level up in business (and life):

♻️ Repost to share this wisdom with your network.
🔖 Save to reference back to in the future.

9 timeless ideas to level up in business and life:

I’ve worked with 1,000+ professionals over the years.

Here are 10 subtle habits that drive career success:

1. Focus on getting stuff done and being easy to work with.

2. Build unshakeable self-worth with a job that pays you for the value you create. 

3. Remember that what you work on and who it’s with is more important than just working hard. 

4. Become a generalist by building a powerful stack of complementary skills. 

5. Use the 4-bullet update (what was asked, what you did, the risks/blockers, and what you’d do with more time) to impress your manager. 

6. Embrace your unique quirks—they aren’t flaws—they’re your competitive advantage.

7. Cut out any gossip or complaining, including the individuals who always bring it up to you. 

8. Prioritize your brain health by hydrating, taking long walks, eating nutrient-dense food, and having a strong appetite for rest. 

9. Remember names you come across. You will stand out. 

10. Always lift others up and celebrate their wins: success is never a zero-sum game. 

The biggest career breakthroughs rarely come from one bold move.

They come from stacking these small, subtle habits over time. 

♻️ Repost these practices so your whole network can grow.
➕ And follow Ben Meer for more content like this.

Your resume gets you hired.

But being easy to work with? That’ll get you promoted.

8 underrated ways to make your coworkers' lives easier:

1. Make things happen. People who solve more problems get promoted more often.

2. Schedule meetings that automatically give people back their time (Ex, 25-minute meetings instead of 30). 

3. Default to adding a 1-line summary in the TL;DR of longer emails. Your colleagues will love you for the time you save them.

4. Make cross-department connections. Open your network to different teams to create more company-wide collaboration.

5. Always look to help others succeed without wanting the credit. Your reputation will build organically. 

6. Find a small way to make everything you’re a part of 1% better.

7. Recognize the efforts of others, express your appreciation, and reciprocate when someone does it to you. Psychological safety comes from a culture of recognition. 

8. Be the one who befriends the office newcomer. Whether it’s answering a specific question or helping them remember a colleague's name, you're their go-to person.

In a world obsessed with being “impressive,” the real advantage is being useful.

♻️ Repost to help create a better workplace.
➕ Follow Ben Meer for more content like this.

The highest form of currency in business (and life):

Respect.

But most people try to earn it the wrong way.

They show up only for big moments or think they need to be the smartest person in the room.

Those who have respect understand where it actually comes from:

• Making people feel seen, heard, and remembered.
• Putting your phone away during every conversation.
• Cleaning up after dinner parties when you don’t have to
• And the other 16 actions in this cheat sheet. 

Respect isn’t won in the big moments.
It accumulates through small, consistent action.

Especially when no one is keeping score. 

♻️ Repost to help others earn more respect.
🔖 Save this post to return to it in the future.

One of the most valuable skills in business and life?

Storytelling.

So I gathered the 11 core storytelling tactics to level up. 

Because this skill isn’t just reserved for movies, TV, or fantasy novels. 

It can show up in every area of your life:

• The interview for your dream job
• A first date with the person you have a crush on
• A big pitch to a new client you want to win
• A cold email to someone you admire
• A room full of strangers you want to befriend

Whether it’s in the boardroom or at the bar,
Storytelling is a universal skill that quietly gives you an edge.

I’ll leave you with this quote from award-winning author Philip Pullman, 

“After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.”

🔖 Save this post so you can keep coming back to it.
♻️ Repost to share these lessons with your network.

1 in 3 adults report feeling lonely.

Here are 6 fun nights to make getting together easier:

Kudos to Colby Kultgen for this awesome carousel.

🔖 Save this so you can plan one of these nights.
♻️ Repost to encourage more in-person connection.

Nights to Plan With Friends by Colby Kultgen:

The secret to how NVIDIA's CEO leads a $4.5 trillion company:

No task is below your pay grade.

And here are 9 more tactics to upgrade your leadership skills:

1. Overpay your highest performers. Their outsized impact always exceeds the investment.

2. Share praise publicly, give constructive feedback privately.

3. Elevate others into leadership roles to promote autonomy and develop future leaders.

4. Guard your mornings from meetings to protect time for deep work.

5. Find advisors who offer outside perspectives. Even the best leaders have blind spots.

6. Schedule priorities on your calendar. They'll actually get done (unlike to-do lists).

7. Set firm boundaries that don't allow poor behavior. Your team rises (or falls) to the standards you enforce.

8. Create psychological safety so teams feel comfortable taking the risks that fuel innovation.

9. Leave the role better than you found it. Leadership positions are rented, not owned.

♻️ Repost if this video hit for you.
➕ Follow me Ben Meer for more insights like this.

Credit: Stanford Graduate School of Business on Youtube.

3 ways to use AI Agents to supercharge your decision-making:

Airtable just launched a new product: Superagent.

(It’s so powerful.)

Most AI tools can only do one research step at a time.

Superagent can deploy multiple specialized AI agents at once to research, analyze, and return a structured Super Report you can actually make strategic business decisions from.

The result is time saved and deeper insights.

I’ve been blown away by its ability to: 

• Compare industries and competitors before making big bets
• Stay on top of daily news, risks, and emerging opportunities
• Evaluate job offers and negotiate with real market data
• And so much more.

What stood out to me most is that this tool isn’t just another “deep research” tool. 

You go beyond surface-level responses and receive a rich, in-depth, and interactive output that’s unlike any other AI output I’ve seen. That’s exactly what makes the Super Report special.

Try these 3 prompts to make smarter, more confident decisions:

1.“Research the latest trends in [Your Industry] and our top 5 competitors, then generate a Super Report with charts and actionable insights.”

2. “Summarize today’s key news in the [Your Sector] industry and outline any new opportunities or risks I should know about.”

3. “Evaluate a potential job offer for a [Role] at [Company]. Analyze total compensation, long-term upside, risk, and market benchmarks and recommend negotiation strategies.”

Use these prompts directly in the chat box, and you’ll make better decisions with less guesswork in no time.

Try it today (and get your first 2 months free with code BEN2FREE): https://lnkd.in/g5BkYNkn 

Can’t wait for you to check it out. 🙌

#SuperagentPartner

Brand partnership • The Systems Guy • Follow me for systems on health, wealth, and free time ⚡ Cornell MBA • 2M+ audience

I grew my newsletter to 250k+ subscribers.

Here’s 4 tactics I used (steal them to grow yours):

1. Create a free lead magnet
2. Optimize your social media bios
3. Build a referral engine
4. Swap with other newsletter creators

One last thing…

Beyond these tactics, the most important part of your newsletter growth journey is choosing the right place to start. 

The best platform to start and grow a newsletter?

My answer is simple: beehiiv.

It’s the all-in-one system that combines publishing, growth tools, and monetization, so you can build, scale, and earn from day one. 

You focus on your content, and they handle the rest.

Start your newsletter today with 30% off your first 3 months using code MEER30: https://lnkd.in/gavjE_YQ

♻️ Repost if you learned something with this one.

#beehiivPartner

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The Battle

Nikolas Konstantin 🌱

Ben Meer

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The Battle

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Ben Meer

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Ben Meer's LinkedIn Performance

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