Dr. Jason Fox is a motivational speaker, leadership advisor and philosopher. In other words, he's got a big grain and an even bigger beard! He helps gronks like us here at The Daily Talk Show make sense of the world. Jason is also a bestselling author, working with Fortune 500 companies around the world.
Jason's Website:
www.drjasonfox.com
Verbatim from the transcripts — each quote links to the moment.
“You play it to kind of continue the play.”
“Only that which can change can continue is one of the first principles of infinite play.”
“How frickin' hard is it to just choose one word?”
“I'm constantly surprised by how stupid I was 2 weeks ago.”
“The fortune is an interesting word, right? Because it comes from the Greek god Fortuna.”
“I think, you know, I think what we're seeing here is a nascent form of neo-masculinism.”
“Not practising is the key to being a really good speaker, I believe.”
“I feel like we're hurtling ourselves towards extinction and, uh, we're bringing every beautiful species along with us.”
How do I deal with feeling nihilistic about issues like climate change?
Bring meaning back through gratitude for small things, and try to hold both scepticism about the future and genuine hopefulness simultaneously (metamodernism / ironic sincerity) rather than collapsing into either pure nihilism or naive eternalism.
Should I brand myself as an 'expert' or 'thought leader' online?
Be wary of superficial branding (bios, logos, polished claims of expertise); real authority comes from the work itself speaking for you, and it's healthier to stay curious, loosen your grip on a fixed identity, and let your actions demonstrate growth rather than claiming mastery.
How should I pick a word to guide my year instead of a New Year's resolution?
Avoid eternal, generic values like love, happiness or balance; instead reflect on your personal patterns, tensions, hidden commitments and growth edges from the past year, and choose a word with enough 'fuck yeah' social stickiness that friends will remember and check in with you about through the year.
How do I balance pursuing a business/income with living an 'infinite game' philosophy?
Acknowledge the tension honestly ('both-ending' it) rather than resolving it — offer generosity where possible (e.g., free access for those who can't afford it), and question whether constant hustling to earn more to buy more is actually necessary, favouring simpler sources of meaning like gratitude and time with friends.
How do you know if a psychologist is a good fit?
Look for whether you feel comfortable and can open up naturally with them, and be wary if they identify strongly with one rigid school of thought rather than listening with curiosity and offering new perspectives.
Jason recounts his history of annual 'one words,' including Rogue, Kingly, Prime (too abstract), Pirate (lots of 'fuck yeah' quality), Gentleman/Gentleman Pirate, Jester, Wizard, and Fool, explaining the reasoning and lessons behind each, before revealing he's oscillating toward 'Bard' (having briefly considered 'supervillain') for the coming year.
Jason recalls his first business card labelled him an 'efficacy expert,' and because people didn't understand the term he printed its definition on the back, illustrating how far he's come from self-styled expertise.
Fox recounts wearing a vest that was too short for his torso, exposing his shirt above his belt mid-speech, and choosing to openly acknowledge it rather than pretend it didn't happen, which audiences found endearing.
Fox describes a friend who signed with a literary agent in New York but whose later chapters changed in tone once she felt the pressure of success, prompting the agent to flag that the writing had lost what got her signed.
Fox describes a man who sent him a fully personalized video email referencing his book, which was so effective that Fox later met up with him in New York.
Tommy mentions watching an old TED-style talk/video of Fox from years earlier, prompting Fox to reflect on how digital footprints and old content shape people's current perception of him despite personal growth.
Drawn from the episode transcripts.
It's an annual online program (chooseoneword.com) with around 75 videos and 6+ hours of content designed to help people reflect deeply and choose a single guiding word for the year ahead, rather than setting conventional goals or resolutions.
From episode 563→According to Jason Fox, drawing on the book Finite and Infinite Games, a finite game is played within fixed boundaries for the purpose of winning, while an infinite game is played with boundaries for the purpose of continuing the play itself — Fox applies this lens to life, business and Dungeons & Dragons.
From episode 563→Fox advises against choosing permanent values like 'love' or 'happiness' and instead suggests reflecting on personal patterns, tensions and growth edges from the past year to find a word with enough 'social stickiness' that friends remember and check in on throughout the year.
From episode 563→According to Dr. Jason Fox, rather than worrying about which school of thought (Freudian, Adlerian, etc.) a psychologist follows, look for whether you feel comfortable with them, can open up naturally, and whether they listen with curiosity rather than relying on dated dogma.
From episode 292→He describes creating 'avatars' of himself to relay content occasionally, disables most notifications and YouTube comments, checks platforms only once or twice a week, and questions whether chasing algorithmic engagement ('winning') is worth it, prioritizing deep work like book writing instead.
From episode 292→Dr. Jason Fox explains that as soon as you consider yourself successful, you have something to lose, which can cause you to chase arbitrary metrics (like Basecamp's Jason Fried did with a user-number goal) at the expense of integrity; he suggests focusing on relative progress instead of fixed success markers.
From episode 292→Fox describes metamodernism as a stage beyond postmodernism where people can hold seemingly contradictory positions at once — being sceptical and intelligent while also sincere and optimistic — rather than being stuck in postmodernism's endless ironic critique or modernism's black-and-white sincerity.
From episode 101→He adopted 'wizard' as his word of the year and created an autoresponder ('Wizards Never Late') explaining he is slow with email and directing urgent matters to his partner Kim, which removed the anxious burden of feeling he must respond immediately and let him focus on higher-leverage, one-to-many work.
From episode 101→Mentioned on 20 episodes Dr. Jasonwasn’t on.
Referenced by Josh Janssen regarding 'meta-modernism' ideas about engaging with hysteria to learn and understand.
Josh references a prior guest's concept of 'second simplicity' as relevant to how comedy material develops.
A smart but 'woo-woo' leaning acquaintance Tommy mentions who is also on the Co-Star app.
Named as the next day's guest, to discuss choosing one word for the year instead of a goal.
Josh mentions Jason Fox is coming on the show on New Year's Eve and references his concept of 'second simplicity.'
Mentioned as someone with expertise (a philosopher) who could help with organisational/workplace culture questions.
Past guest referenced for his ideas on how clothing/visual presentation changes psychology and communication.
Friend of the show whom Josh is filming a video with; he reads books using a grey lead pencil technique.
Every episode featuring Dr. Jason Fox on The Daily Talk Show.
Dr. Jason Fox joined Tommy Jackett and Josh Janssen on Episode 563 (30 December 2019) — "Choose One Word With Jason Fox". It's New Year's Eve and we're joined by Dr. Jason Fox! Jason works with the world's biggest brands including Microsoft, BUPA, PWC, KPMG, Sony and Honda, pioneering leadership and motivation design in the workplace. We chat about eternalism and nihilism, choosing how you show up in the world, le...
Dr. Jason Fox joined Tommy Jackett and Josh Janssen on Episode 292 (26 February 2019) — "Improv with Dr. Jason Fox". we're joined by our mate Dr. Jason Fox. Jason is a motivational speaker, leadership advisor and philosopher who helps two gronks make sense of the world. We discuss: - The different types of psychology - How Mr. 97 felt about his first date - Dr. Jason Fox vs Jason fox - Collaboration - Measur...
Dr. Jason Fox joined Tommy Jackett and Josh Janssen on Episode 101 (4 June 2018) — "Dr Jason Fox | complex AF". Dr Jason Fox — like all of us, he wears a few masks — Motivational Speaker, Bestselling Author, Wizard-Rogue & Leadership Advisor. On this episode of The Daily Talk Show, Josh & Tommy navigate the world of complexity, with Jason as a guide.
