John Mackey is an entrepreneur, conscious capitalist, co-founder of Whole Foods Market, and CEO and co-founder of Love Life. He served as CEO of Whole Foods Market for 44 years and was a passionate advocate of capitalism as a force for good. He will be inducted into the World Retail Council Hall of Fame in 2022. luckHe has received numerous awards and honors, including being named one of the “50 Greatest Leaders in the World” by . His latest venture, Love.Life, aims to bring together the power of nutritious food, holistic medicine and precision wellness therapy to achieve optimal, lasting health and vitality.
Below, John shares five key insights from his new book. The whole story: an adventure in love, life and capitalism. Listen to the audio version, read by John himself, on the Next Big Idea app.
1. Embrace mistakes.
I am often asked if I have any regrets and what I would like to tell my younger self. absolutely You probably wouldn’t listen, but I wouldn’t tell my younger self to change anything. I firmly believe that mistakes are opportunities to learn and grow. The whole storyI am very honest and upfront about my failures because I believe it is important to share the lessons I learned from them.
One specific mistake I address in the book is hiring and promoting the wrong person. Hiring great people can be one of your biggest successes. The intellectual capital you gain from doing so is immense. But at the same time, hiring the wrong person can be one of your biggest mistakes. Making some poor hiring decisions led me to become more self-aware and realize that I’m not very good at it. I’ve always tended to see the best potential in people and needed a bit more skepticism when making important hiring decisions.
If I hadn’t made those hiring mistakes, I would never have learned from them. I would not be the person and leader I am today without my mistakes.
2. Be curious.
Having an open mindset allows me to learn things from others that I would not have been exposed to otherwise, and this mindset has highlighted many important things in my life, including my newfound love of pickleball, adopting a vegan lifestyle, becoming an avid long-distance hiker, and choosing to live in a vegetarian co-op in 1976 (a choice that ultimately led to the creation of Whole Foods).
When I was studying at the University of Texas at Austin, I decided to move into a vegetarian communal housing complex called Prana House. This was in 1976, and I was around 22 or 23 years old. I wasn’t a vegetarian and I didn’t know anything about food, but I was young and curious and interested in all things counterculture. I wanted to try something new and meet cool people.
“If I hadn’t been willing to try something new and join a co-op, Whole Foods Market probably wouldn’t exist today.”
This desire came true when I met my girlfriend, Renee Lawson, who would later become my co-founder of Safer Way and Whole Foods. I also discovered my passion for cooking, enjoyed eating vegetables, and became a food buyer for the co-op. I often say this was the moment my food consciousness was awakened. If I hadn’t been willing to try new things and join the co-op, Whole Foods Market wouldn’t exist today. If you’re open to new ideas, things, and people, you really never know where it’ll take you.
3. Stay strong in your purpose.
Whether you’re talking about leadership and business or your own growth journey, always stay true to your purpose. It’s critical for companies to stay focused on issues that relate to their values. You need to prioritize and focus your attention on areas where you can really make a difference. There are a lot of external pressures on ESG (environmental, social, and governance), and while these issues are important, they’re not necessarily the ones that any particular company should prioritize. More importantly, they shouldn’t come at the expense of the company’s success. At Whole Foods, we focused on agriculture, animal welfare, and aquaculture because those were the areas where we could have the biggest impact.
As an individual, purpose is inextricably linked to being authentic. My purpose has evolved over the years and I have been very consciously aware of that. A higher purpose is dynamic as it can continually change as we grow. I have learned that this change is not something to be feared, as it leads to new ideas, interests, motivations and brings the possibility of making a positive difference in the world in new ways.
4. Expand, not shrink.
One of the great things about being an entrepreneur is the opportunity to create and innovate. With this comes huge opportunity to grow, but only if you are open-minded. Everyone is called to the Hero’s Journey, but many are too afraid to answer the call.
When I feel stressed, I can choose to either fall into fear or expand into love. Fear can be limiting, but it requires a willingness to make mistakes and learn from them. I may feel scared in the moment, but I can always choose to let go and expand into love. As I have grown, it has become my goal to create more moments where I am in a space of love.
“Life is short, but it’s never too late to fulfill your calling and discover your higher purpose.”
Of course, I still feel fear, but I have learned how to make the decision to let go of it quickly. Activities like meditation and breathing exercises take me on a spiritual journey to overcome fear and redirect my attention. We can always choose forgiveness and compassion. Even if I choose fear, I have the power to choose love in the next moment. We have the power to do so.
Life is short, but it’s never too late to fulfill your calling and discover your higher purpose. You never know where it’ll lead, but it’ll be a lot of fun. Follow your heart and let it expand into love and your life will be a wonderful adventure.
5. Play infinite games.
The idea of playing Infinite Game The big theme is The whole storyAn infinite game is a game that never ends. Life itself is an infinite game. It allows us to play, create and love infinitely.
The Whole Foods journey has been so much fun to be a part of, and others will continue to help propel the business forward. But I’m not done with it, nor am I done pursuing my higher purpose. Now, I’m back in startup mode with my new business, Love.Life. This new business has propelled me forward, taking risks, playing, creating, learning, evolving, and growing on a new journey. It’s so exciting to be working with such an amazing team. I also work with several former Whole Foods executives, and we often joke that we’re old friends reunited. The Love.Life team is excited to bring another beautiful vision to life and help people live their healthiest, happiest lives.
Just as Whole Foods will continue to grow and evolve over the years, long after I’m gone, I feel that Love.Life will continue to grow and evolve as well. Love. Create. And Play, Again, Again, Forever!
To hear the audio version read by author John Mackey, download the Next Big Idea app now.