I recently had a message from a good friend of mine who had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and I hadn’t seen for a long time. The message simply said: “I’m having some beers and a curry at my flat at 6:30pm. Fancy coming?”

I live in Norfolk. This person lives in London. I had been recording some episodes of High Performance that day and I’d been on the 5am train. There was a small part of me that thought: “Oh, that’s going to really extend my day. By the time I finish the meal, it’s going to be 8-9pm. I’m not going to be home till about midnight.”

But then I remembered one of the very first things that this person said to me when I started working with them. I had just been given a job as a Formula One presenter and it was my first weekend in the paddock in Australia.

He pulled me aside and said: “This place is mad. Your job is to try and work out who in here is a true friend and a true person and stick to those people. The Formula One world will eat you up if you don’t know who you are and you don’t know who the people around you really are.”

That person was Eddie Jordan, the F1 legend and former racing team boss. I remembered that quote when I saw the message from him. He is a true friend: someone who has been supportive of me over the years and someone who has been through a rough time recently. I got on the train and went to Eddie’s.

We had a lovely evening. We drank some wine and ate some curry. And, along with his boys, we compared tattoos. I recently got a couple of tattoos. On my left wrist is memento mori, or “remember that you die”. It is a daily reminder of our own mortality. I’ve written previously in this column about Robin Sharma, who uses that lovely phrase: “Develop an intimacy with your mortality.” I think it’s a powerful exercise that we should all be doing.

On the other wrist are three letters: “FTB”. The reason is because Eddie Jordan has FTB on his right wrist. So do all his kids. It relates to an old Irish word, begrudgery: a begrudger is someone who’s a naysayer, someone who’s negative, someone who tells you it won’t happen and someone who doesn’t believe in you.  FTB means: “F*** the begrudgers”.

I decided to have the tattoo because, like Eddie, there have been quite a few begrudgers over the years. But probably more than that, it’s a permanent reminder of the relationship Eddie and I have shared.

FTB is one of the many things I’ve learnt from Eddie. One of the most powerful things he said to me was: “Never let the old man in.” Just to paint a picture of what Eddie is like, I was sent a video of him on his 75th birthday. He was wearing a bright yellow Jordan jacket, carrying about 30 bright yellow Jordan balloons and skiing down a black-run ski slope.

That phrase — “Never let the old man in” — epitomises him. He has incredible energy. He has a permanent and persistent drive and excitement about the next deal, opportunity or moment. I think his drive to be successful is as great as it has ever been. This is a guy who has just negotiated the exit of Adrian Newey [the lauded Formula One car designer] from Red Bull and his arrival at Aston Martin.

The biggest thing I learnt from my years working with Eddie is the idea of family first. I have written about it in this column before and I mention it an awful lot on social media. I always make sure that I go home and spend time with my wife and kids, no matter what time I finish work, even if I have to be somewhere else early the next morning. Being present and showing them that love is so important.

I remember going to Eddie’s house when he lived on the Wentworth golf estate. All four of his kids were there with their partners and his grandchildren. They had this crazy, busy, chaotic, exciting and fun lunch. I think, from memory, Rory McIlroy turned up halfway through, along with one of the members of One Direction. That’s the kind of life Eddie lives.

I remember saying to my wife: “That’s how I want us to be. I want us to live this really fun, ambitious, exciting and thrilling life. But I want the core of our family at the heart of it and not be something that gets disturbed.” I see far too often that sort of thing happens.

The final thing about Eddie is I remember him saying to me once: “You need to get going in business. You need to have a business mind. You need to start thinking about what sort of businesses you could run.”

I didn’t have any knowledge or understanding of business. I didn’t grow up in a family or a house where it was a conversation that we had. I didn’t learn anything about business at school, and life as a TV presenter doesn’t equip you for it. But he leaned in and just said: “I’ve made up everything I’ve ever done. It’s all been a guess.”

He grew up in a small house in Ireland and worked in a bank. But he followed his dreams. Eddie managed to take a passion for racing into a small team and then ended up not just in Formula One, but winning races and finishing third in the World Championship in 1999, along with creating a powerful following. He did so because of his passion. He would never have done anything in the world of motorsport if he didn’t love it.

People often wonder why the fans used to flock to Jordan. Not only was Eddie a branding master — as shown by the bright yellow cars – he was someone who shared his passion, showed his passion and made sure that it was reflected in everything that he did through his team.

I don’t think he is celebrated for his business achievements enough. We should all make sure that passion is at the forefront of what we do and that it guides us. I think we all need to be careful in life that we find the true people and the true friends. There are always going to be naysayers. If you could “F*** the begrudgers” as you make this journey through life, if you could make sure that as the years pass you never let the old man or the old woman in, and if you keep the thrill for being alive that Eddie still has as he edges towards 80, I think you will do well.

Jake Humphrey is the host of the High Performance podcast and co-founder of Whisper Group.