My name is Oliver Medill. Like the author, I am a speaker, a business coach, and an author. I worked with Jim at Speakers International, latterly RogenSi, for several years. Like Jim, I too moved on to set up my own consultancy and have been lucky enough to work with him on many occasions in the years since our early adventures at “Speakers.”

Our friendship started with a shared passion for human development, and we have spent many transatlantic flights discussing various strategies whilst our fellow passengers snored around us. It has been enhanced in later years by a shared fondness for aspiring golf and pinot noir!

My first impression of Jim – an enigma; a mysterious blend of laid‐back and acutely perceptive at the same time. A little detached from the everyday hurly‐burly of a busy agency, he would observe his co‐workers through a filter of curiosity and a sense of the ridiculous – sometimes surprised by something new, sometimes convinced of an earlier theory, but always entertained by what he saw.

I realised gradually that Jim was, rightly, revered as a speaker because of this quirky view on life and human behaviour. Not automatically convinced by commonly held dogma, he would always filter both well‐known practical advice and thorough research through his amused, questing view of the world. The resulting conclusions, rigorously saved for his talks and articles, never for mundane day‐to‐day conversation, appeared like freshly‐minted coins – bright, new, inviting closer inspection, and above all, profoundly useful.

Always energetic, always amusing, it might be easy to think of Jim as just a performer, an entertainer. But this would be doing him a disservice.

The beguiling, laid‐back facade hid a raging and perpetual hunger for new insights and a burning desire to turn these insights into easy‐to‐use strategies. The man believes in and cares deeply about his work and about the audiences he speaks to, whether in person or now, in his first book.

The result? Dynamite.

I feel both flattered and proud to have been asked to write these few words about Unashamedly Superhuman. I gobbled it up. You will find it, in turns, a fascinating and entertaining read. Chatty and conversational, Unashamedly Superhuman is a heady cocktail of personal experiences, ground‐breaking research, and personally experienced advice. A study of human development, Unashamedly Superhuman transcends the line effortlessly between the personal and the professional; a win‐win.

The book is a journey in two senses. First, Jim's journey of discovery – an experiential adventure of pushing himself beyond the limits of what one would normally expect people to endure. Second, the journey of discovery that Jim invites the reader to travel with him. The first journey is a highly entertaining blend of self‐deprecation, surprise, and astonishment of what he has been able to achieve; the second is a masterful distillation of cutting‐edge “how tos,” or “hacks,” explained with clarity and reinforced with hard data.

After the scene‐setting opening section, there are three areas of focus:

• BETTER, which taps into expanding our potential; watch out for the story Jim tells about his experience in Hong Kong, where common sense and the power of re‐framing triumphs over common practice.
• SMARTER, which explores the power of mindset. The line “Strategies, not straplines” sticks in the mind. Look out for the “business card” exercise around purpose too—a game‐changer.
• STRONGER, which offers fascinating tips for using the untapped power of the body to maximise its power and, fascinatingly, for recharging—or recovery. I was particularly drawn to the point that different parts of the day are better for different activities to recharge the body (look out for active recovery and micro‐recovery).

There are different reasons why Unashamedly Superhuman is a must‐read. To begin with, unlike so many books in this field, the many “hacks” for attaining the eponymous superhuman qualities have been hard‐earned by the author himself. This isn't just theory or research.

Next, in my 20 years of knowing and working with Jim, he has, without exception, proved his mantra that every project he works on is the most important thing in his existence, whether it is delivering a speech, hosting a conference, completing an IRONMAN^® triathlon, or writing a book. I know how important this value is to him from personal experience and Unashamedly Superhuman is no exception.

And last, I want to coin one of Jim's favourite phrases: “This only works.” Again, from personal experience I know that every word in his book is about strategies that work. There is no fluff or filler. It only works.

Whatever your BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal – mentioned throughout), Unashamedly Superhuman is your key to reaching it, using your newly accessed potential, your re‐wired mindset, and finally, by following the many “hacks” for empowered physiology and for recovery.

If you apply the learning, this book will change your life.

Oliver Medill
Founder and Managing Director of All About Impact and Author of The Impact Formula