Interview with Peter Mukherjee, the Author of A Few Wise Words
Peter shares the ups and downs of his life and how he now takes control of his destiny with newfound wisdom.
You can find these heartfelt conversations on Medium and my website.
Dear readers and writers, in this episode of my interviews and conversations series, I would like to introduce you to a writer I have had the pleasure of knowing for some time.
is an accomplished writer and the author of A Few Wise Words, reflecting insights from his interactions with successful people. Last year, one of Peter’s stories went viral on my publications as it was insightful and relatable to everyone. Peter has also become a founding member of our Substack Mastery Boost Pilot. Non-members can read this story on our community blogs.Hi Peter, let’s start the conversation with your background.
Hi Mehmet, thank you for this opportunity. I have done a lot of things over the course of my life. Unfortunately, my education didn’t get off to a good start. While I was hugely passionate about studying architecture from a young age, my father had other ideas. He wanted me to study medicine.
In the end, after a pretty complicated period of my life, I would do neither. I started in Sales in my early twenties (which was a steep learning curve!) and then progressed into Sales and Marketing Consultancy a few years later, which was a very exciting period of my life and involved a lot of travel.
In my mid-thirties, I then decided to pursue an entrepreneurial route, which took me a full cycle from business start-up to building a respected brand, to creating an international franchise network, to AIM listing, to acquisitions… to eventual management buyout just two years before the banking crash in 2008 when, sadly, I had to close the business down.
I picked myself up and then reinvented myself as a professional photographer, turning a passion of mine that I had developed during my years of travel into a new career. I started shooting for photo libraries, including Getty Images, and this then progressed into commercial photography, specializing in architecture and interiors.
I adore photography, especially of nature, which has taken me all around the world to lots of exciting places. I still do some commercial photography, but much less these days, because I have since discovered another passion of mine: writing.
In late 2020, I published my first book, A Few Wise Words (Volume One), which was a mission to meet with many of the world’s most successful individuals — from gold medal-winning Olympic athletes to billionaire entrepreneurs — and talk with them about their lives.
The book would convey their stories of success, their wisdom, and most valuable advice, which I could then share with others, primarily our younger people, to help them excel in their own career journeys, too.
I am currently working on Volume Two of the book series and have another couple of books in mind as well. Thank you for guiding us with the writing, publishing, and marketing aspects of this exciting process.
What do health and well-being mean to you?
I am a great believer in the importance of looking after your body and mind. These are two of the most precious assets that we possess, so we need to keep them both healthy and fit. This means good food, exercise, healthy practices, mindfulness, meditation, and other spiritual activities, as well as a positive outlook on life.
What are your hobbies, or what excites or entertains you?
I love photography, especially being out in nature with my kit, often just getting lost in a wilderness somewhere for a couple of weeks at a time, taking nature images. I enjoy being a dad now and sharing the outdoors with my son. We often go rock pooling and snorkeling together, and he is now following my love of scuba diving, too. Today, I love writing, and this has become a new passion of mine.
I am excited about my author journey and working on my A Few Wise Words project, which involves yet more travel to meet lots of very interesting people around the world.
What are the top three books that affected your life?
Morality by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Stealing Fire by Stephen Kotler and Jamie Wheal, and Atomic Habits by James Clear — these are recent books; of course, there are many more classic reads that have also impacted me in the past. Unfortunately, I have dyslexia, which makes reading and writing a challenge for me a lot of the time, and I have to work hard at both!
Why do you write on Medium?
I like writing on Medium, although I have not had time to write as much as I would like to yet; however, I do intend to do a lot more. Essentially, I suppose Medium provides a straightforward platform to express myself through my writing in a way that I can also develop my craft while feeling that I can do so impactfully at the same time.
Do you write on other platforms like Substack? If so, how do you find them?
Yes, I have just created a Substack account and made the A Few Wise Words publication and newsletter, which I am proud of and enjoying developing immensely. I love writing notes at the moment because it helps me to exercise a new writing muscle: short-form writing!
A Few Wise Words | Peter Mukherjee | Substack
Welcome to your new travelling companion! Tap into the wisdom and advice I've gathered from years of talking in-depth…afewwisewords.substack.com
What are your values as a writer?
For me, authenticity is everything as a writer and author. The biggest concern that has shaken my values was the use of AI by many new writers. While I may use AI for research and as a super-search engine, and some help with ideation, I still refuse to use AI tools to ‘write’ content for me. The only extent to which AI might be used in my written work at this stage is for spelling or grammar checks — e.g., Grammarly.
I still have a real issue where an ‘author’ publishes a long-form piece of content that has been largely created by AI and doesn’t say anything. It may have taken minutes to artificially create, as opposed to many hours of ‘human’ writing.
But the reader is often being duped into believing that this ‘brilliant writer’ has spent hours crafting this wonderful piece. For me, it’s akin to looking for a ‘shortcut to success’ because they simply aren’t prepared to put the work in and think it’s clever to publish something that may be impactful that they largely didn’t write while saving themselves a lot of time in the bargain.
I love writing. I want to create and do the hard work. It’s much more fun, and it challenges and stretches the mind. It’s a real creation. I don’t want to start a marathon and then jump on a skateboard, chuck it away before the finish so no one will see it, and then say at the end, “Yay! I’ve just covered 26 miles in a very impressive time; look at me, folks! Gosh, that was hard work!”
How do you connect with your readers?
This is something I am still learning about. It is important for me because, as an author, I want my books and my articles to be ‘discoverable’ through others recommending my work. So, this is still a work in progress for me.
I recognise that one has to win readers and followers by delivering high-quality and meaningful writing, so I will always invest a lot of time in writing something because I want people to enjoy my work (hopefully).
Why did you join ILLUMINATION, and how do you find it so far?
I joined Illumination because I wanted to know that I had access to the largest possible audience for my articles. I have also, for a long time, appreciated the value of the publication and how it supports its writers (and readers).
Who are some writers you follow on Medium or Substack?
On Medium and Substack, I follow Sinem Günel, who has taught me a great deal about writing over the last few years and with whom I have become well acquainted. I also follow you, Dr Mehmet Yildiz, who has been both inspiring and very helpful in my writing journey. I am a big fan of Veronica Llorca-Smith 🍋, who has also been a great support to me and is a huge inspiration for many. More recently, I got to know Sara Redondo, MD, who writes brilliantly about health and is also growing rapidly on Substack. But there are many others as well that I love to follow — too many to mention them all here.
What are the top five stories that you want to share with your audience (and why)?
Yes, I’d like to introduce some of my articles on Medium/Substack. The first is my most successful one to date (with 95,000 Medium member reads so far). The second is a favourite because it revolves around love for our kids and is a story that involves my son. The other three I also simply enjoyed writing…:
Whenever I Forget Someone’s Name, I Always Use This Brilliant Hack
I Tell My Kids I Love Them Every Single Day
People Don’t Buy Your Product; They Buy You.
Imagine Being Struck By Lightning Once. How About Seven Times?
Passion (part 1): Why revealing your passion is crucial to your future success
What are the success factors for you as a writer?
I suppose having a real impact on my readers: publishing an article that gets lots of nice comments and publishing a book that attracts lots of good reviews is a measure of this for me… I also have an ambition to sell a lot of books over the next few years and to be appreciated for the content I am delivering.
What do you recommend to new writers?
Be authentic! Be consistent, persistent, and curious to improve your writing always. It’s an art when it’s done purposefully and from the heart. Writing is one of the purest forms of expression of the real you. Keep it real and authentic.
Don’t fall into the trap of wanting to take shortcuts (using AI) as a means to build an audience — do it the honest way since you will, in the long run, find it far more fulfilling.
You will learn how to write more quickly, and you will be able to stand out in years to come as genuinely, honestly, and commendably completely authentic!
What are your plans as a writer or as a professional?
I have been around for a long time now. I have enjoyed a rich life full of amazing experiences and have also seen many highs and many lows. We learn so much from all of these things.
I want to now enjoy ‘writing’ as my new passion and to develop it further so that I can have maximum impact on my readers (including helping those with big aspirations to excel in their careers through A Few Wise Words). I have three more books I want to write.
I am gradually retiring from professional photography to make room to do this. Thanks for this opportunity, Mehmet. It is a great pleasure to be part of the ILLUMINATION community on Medium and Substack.
Many thanks to Peter Mukherjee for giving us a glimpse into his life. You can connect with him on Substack, the Illumination Slack Workspace, and LinkedIn. You can subscribe to his new publication, A Few Wise Words, and gain insights from his inspiring content.
A Few Wise Words | Peter Mukherjee | Substack
Welcome to your new travelling companion! Tap into the wisdom and advice I’ve gathered from years of talking in-depth…afewwisewords.substack.com
You may also check out this video interview with Peter, conducted by Sue Reid.
A Few Wise Words
A recording from Sue Reid's live video
Meaningful relationships, health, and well-being are essential to me and my readers. Therefore, I focus on it by writing and curating insights from other writers, practitioners, and thought leaders.
I recently authored a book titled Train Your Brain for a Healthier and Happier Life and shared some sample chapters on this platform. You can find links to ten chapters through this introductory story:
Early Access to “Train Your Brain for a Healthier and Happier Life”
Why I wrote this comprehensive book and how readers can benefit from it to improve their cognitive performance and…medium.com
Congratulations, ILLUMINATION Health and Wellness Network 🌟
I’m pleased that our Health and Wellness Network was announced as a bestselling publication on Substack in March 2025. Thank you for your excellent support in growing this network. These funds will go to our Substack Mastery Boost Pilot program to empower writers, readers, and editors of the program who keep the community vibrant. I wrote a story about this on Medium to guide freelance writers yesterday. To celebrate this milestone, I provide a 50% discount to free subscribers who want to support our work and help this community grow and become sustainable.
And I am pleased that two our founding members Dr Mike Broadly, DHSc and Aiden (Owner of Illumination Gaming) were also recognized as best-selling authors on Substack this month. You might check Aiden’s latest tutorial, which mentions it.
Thank you for being part of our joyful and exciting journey.
I invite you to subscribe to my newsletter, where I offer experience-based content on health, content strategy, and technology topics to inform and inspire my readers.
Content Strategy, Development, & Marketing Insights
What a beautifully honest and inspiring conversation. Peter’s journey is a powerful reminder that resilience, passion, and authenticity are what shape meaningful success. As a doctor myself, I was especially struck by the part where Peter shared that his father wanted him to study medicine, something I saw in many of my university peers as well.
Peter, your book sounds like a true gift that I’m sure will resonate deeply with readers from all walks of life, I wish you all the very best with it. Dr Mehmet, thank you for creating a space where stories like this can be shared and celebrated. It truly warmed my heart to see two of my favorite people on Substack come together in this post.