STEP 1 – THE BILLIONAIRE’S BRAIN & JENNIFER
LOPEZ’S VOICE
Are the people you’re listening to worth a damn?
Most people in life are victims of their own making, they focus on the lottery
approach (they hope and think tomorrow will be better without actually taking action)
To lose 20lbs you have to deserve to lose 20lbs (for example by following a strict diet,
exercising daily etc.)
Be aware of your surroundings, become more observant.
There are 3 types of people in the world:
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People that watch things happen
People that make things happen
People that wonder what happened
Everything (progression) starts with awareness.
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Take inventory of your body, what’s its current condition?
Take inventory of your bank account
Take inventory of your relationships
Money is a sign of reciprocal altruism – the most value you create and the more
people you impact the more you’ll get.
Surgeons create more value than cashiers at McDonalds.
The world is far fairer than the media portrays to you. You put in the work, you get the
results (people that deserve more get more).
Bill Gates worked non-stop for 20 years (!) – he earnt the success he received… he
didn’t get lucky with a lottery ticket.
You’re only competing against yourself, not others.
STEP 2 – BLUE-FOOTED BOOBY BIRDS, ESS, & THE
500-YEAR-OLD MIND
Change is the basic law of nature.
It’s not the most intellectual or the strongest that survives, it’s the one that is best able
to adapt.
You must be able to adapt and change (this is the key to success, IQ isn’t everything).
Strength are IQ are pushed as the key to success… they don’t take adaptability into
account.
Species adapt over years and years, you only have ONE life – therefore you need to be
able to adapt quickly (we’re programmed to not change, it’s in our hardwiring).
We have been taught to see everything in black and white (success/failure).
Don’t see a shortcoming as a failure, it is merely an experiment on the path of
success.
“I make more mistakes than anyone and I end up patenting them” – Thomas Edison
Failure moves you closer towards your goal – The Edison Mindset.
With each ‘failure’ you change things again and again until you succeed – you’re
adapting your way to success.
In business adaption is key – successful businesses will fail if they remain in black and
white and do not change and adapt with the times.
Evolutionary Stable Strategies (ESS)
Cut mutually beneficial deals, instead of focusing on black and white e.g. your business
partner not working the exact same hours and days as you (when you’re 50-50
partners) cut a deal – make a mutually beneficial arrangement.
Businesses, marriages, your body….cut deals (ESS) in all areas to continue to adapt
and grow for the long term (look to the future).
Don’t over-adapt (unnecessary adaption).
You will become unstable during the adaption phase
You must show courage and exert toughness while you adapt – be it ending a bad
relationship or cutting ties with a business or business partner.
You do not have time to waste in a paralyzed state (knowing the situation is wrong yet
not adapting).
STEP 3 – SAM WALTON’S NIGHT IN A BRAZILIAN
JAIL, STEALING FROM MCDONALD’S & MICHAEL
JORDAN’S HUMILITY
Without humility you’re not going to get very far in life, all massively successful
individuals practice humility– believe it or not.
We can learn from everyone (although from a lot of people we’ll learn what NOT to do).
You must adopt the ‘Robin Hood Mentality’ and seek out that one golden piece of
information everyone has and add it to your repertoire.
The humility we’re accustom to is outward humility. This is the “Oh, I’m okay at _____
but I’m not great, you’re much better“. This is merely telling people that you’re humble
(whether you actually are or not).
Secondly is the inward humility, this is the constant search for knowledge – the reading
books, the tracking down mentors and the constant repetition and application of new
skills and knowledge.
People that are outwardly humble are often not inwardly humble and vice versa.
Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan was extremely cocky on the basketball court, loudly proclaiming he was
the best basketball player in the world while telling his opponents on the court he’s
going to annihilate them. He did not display outward humility.
Jordan was, on the other hand extremely inwardly humble, constantly seeking
knowledge, advice and criticism from the people that mattered – his coaches.
Sam Walton
Sam Walton, founder of Walmart was a learning machine. He’d spend more time in his
competitor’s store trying to figure out advantages, tactics and techniques that they were
using that he didn’t know of, he ended up in a Brazilian jail for crawling around on the
floors in a competitor’s store to measure the width of their aisles!
A billionaire crawling around on the floor in a competitor’s store on a constant hunt for
knowledge is extreme humility… he did not claim to know it all even though when it
came to discount retailing he must’ve been damn close.
STEP 4 – PICASSO’S RISING TIDE & THE LAW OF
33%
There’s no such thing as the perfect person (or mentor!) seek multiple mentors –
masters in their chosen fields (you wouldn’t go to your business mentor for weight loss
advice, would you? Get a health mentor too!)
Don’t try and start from scratch – it takes too long, you’ll spend far too much time fixing
mistakes and figuring out things that many that’ve walked before you already have.
Instead opt to “stand on the shoulders of giants” – learn through mentors both in
person and through their books (Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com learned
extensively from Sam Walton’s book ‘Made in America’ as Sam Walton had already
passed away).
Divide your time evenly among 3 different groups of people:
Spend 33% of your time with people below you (students)
You’ll boost your self-esteem, you’ll get a chance to help others and you’ll find out just
how well you understand the things you know (as teaching is the ultimate form of
understanding a subject).
Spend 33% of your time with people on the same level as you (comrades)
Help each other, work together and motivate each other – those on the same level as
you will become your close friends.
Spend 33% of your time with people above you (mentors)
Your mentors should be 10 – 20 years ahead of you and have achieved that in which
you’re chasing.
Mentors aren’t always great teachers because they themselves are deep in the
trenches too – therefore it’s your job to learn from observation (they may not be the best
speaker so learn from their actions, their tonality, their movements… focus on
everything).
Don’t be a leach, provide value
A mentor should not only be feeding you valuable knowledge and lessons without
reciprocation.
Help them, give them praise and gifts as you see fit.
STEP 5 – MY POOR FRIENDS & CAMERON DIAZ’S
PARROT
By watching the behavior of those you spend time around you’ll soon begin to pick up
on their habits, remember – strong observation skills are imperative for success.
Poor people are quick to voice their opinion, they’ll give unqualified opinions of their own
but won’t value that of anyone else’s.
Rich people on the other hand are constantly searching for knowledge, they’ll ask YOU
questions on subjects that their more qualified in because they want to gauge your
opinion and learn more from you (successful people are inwardly humble!).
If you want to be successful in a certain area pick up on the patterns of those that’ve
attained said success, we’re not just talking rich in a sense of finance.
Rich in a sense of fitness
Rich in a sense of fitness can come down to extreme cardio endurance, a low resting
heart rate, the ability to bench press 315lbs for reps while maintaining a single digit
body fat percentage.
You’ll find these individuals have far different behavior and habits to those that’re
overweight and struggle to get off the couch.
Perhaps they follow a fasting diet, perhaps they don’t eat carbohydrates after 5pm.
Observe and compare to your ‘poor friends’ in a sense of fitness.
Rich in a social sense
Rich in a social sense can may be those individuals that’re able to win friends and
influence people with ease.
You’ll find these individuals have far different behavior and habits to those that’re unable
to connect or communicate with strangers.
Perhaps they alter their tonality or use open body language. Observe and compare to
your ‘poor friends’ in a sense of socializing.
General ‘rich friend’ habits & observations from Tai
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Rich friends are always quoting those far wiser and ahead of themselves (for
example Tai himself quotes Charlie Munger & Joel Salatin extensively)
Rich friends are great at math (finances come down to math!)
Rich friends seek criticism over compliments.
STEP 6 – SCULPTURE VS. THE LOTTERY & THE
ANTHROPIC MEDIA BIAS
Don’t allow yourself to fall victim to the media bias
The media constantly suggests to us that success happens overnight, that Bill Gates
went from zero to billionaire almost instantly.
That could not be further from the truth. The media shows us what we want to see –
those in the ‘harvest’ of their life, the people that’ve already spent 10, 20 and even 30
years grinding it out to obtain their success.
But we never see that. The media will never tell or show you the 10 dark years that Bill
Gates spent locked in his office working because that isn’t ‘sexy’, it doesn’t sell ratings.
Spend your time building your sculpture of success, chipping away at it day by day to
build the long-lasting results you desire, don’t adopt the lottery ticket mentality and hope
to strike it big one day without putting in the work (you’ve got more chance of getting hit
by lightning, airplane debris or getting eaten by a shark than you do of winning the
lottery!).
You don’t want the quick success (if it were possible)
Quick success does not last – look at those that’ve won the lottery or achieved a fluke of
success, it doesn’t last long because they didn’t earn it or put in the work to obtain it.
Notable quotes
“A fence that goes up fast falls down fast” – The Amish
“You must embrace the 10 dark years” (Bill Gates locked himself in his office from age
20 to age 30, grinding away)
“Step by step you get ahead, but not necessarily in fast spurts. But you build discipline
by preparing for fast spurts. Slug it out, one inch at a time, day by day. If by the end of
the day you live long enough, most people get what they deserve.” – Charlie Munger
STEP 7 – MARTIN SELIGMAN’S SALARY SLAVE AND
LEARNED HELPLESSNESS
Unfortunately learned helplessness, deemed ‘the monkey in the cage principle’ by Tai
Lopez doesn’t just affect animals.
Learned helplessness in all too apparent in people too, given the chance learned
helplessness will paralyze you in your tracks!
The monkey at the zoo is a fantastic example of learned helplessness – the monkey
doesn’t try and do anything for itself, social conditioning has taught the monkey that it’ll
get fed at 6am and 4pm every day, it doesn’t have to do a single thing.
The monkey knows it’s in an enclosure, it’s probably tried to get out a couple of times in
the past.
But it’s come to acceptance with these terms, it’s adopted what Martin Seligman deems
‘learned helplessness’.
Even if the cage was opened, the monkey wouldn’t try and escape, it’s been
conditioned to believe any and all attempts are futile.
It’s in a cage in its mind.
Learned helplessness isn’t only apparent at your local zoo.
People fall into the same mentality.
A series of failures lead to adopting the monkey in the cage mentality.
Perhaps you’ve tried to lose weight a few times and got stuck after dropping 5lbs on
multiple occasions.
Without even considering that you may have miscalculated your calories or not trained
hard enough you throw in the towel, you give up and adopt the ‘no matter what I do the
result will be the same’.
A coach offers to help you with your training and diet.
You dismiss it because you’re convinced that nothing you do will allow you to lose that
additional weight.
A classic case of learned helplessness.
Perhaps you’ve taken on a new sales role at a prestigious real estate company.
You’ve called a number of prospects, none of which are in a position to buy.
You become discouraged and stop following up leads, you’ve convinced yourself that
regardless of how persuasive your opener is and how good the property on offer is no
one is going to buy a house or apartment from you.
You’ve been given a series of red hot leads by your boss but you don’t even follow up
on them, you’ve convinced yourself the result will be no difference.
You tell everyone you’re a hopeless salesman and give up.
Once again, you’re the monkey in the cage. You don’t even try.
Failure Is Everywhere, Don’t Fall Victim to Learned Helplessness
Going back to the weight loss example, when it comes to any fitness or business
endeavor there’s also going to be plateaus – there’s going to be ups and downs.
You’ll progress and you’ll regress at times, that’s the nature of the beast.
Seth Godin refers to the progress made to the breakthrough and have success in any
field as ‘the dip’ you must first endure the dip, a period of time comprised of a hell of a
lot of effort with minimal progress being seen.
It’s all in the mind.
Grind through.
Forge your path forward and make any pivots and small changes based on your results
(or lack thereof).
The people that fall victim to learned helplessness are the people that don’t understand
that it’s never a smooth road, it’s never an easy sail to your desired result.
Put in the work, make changes and don’t adopt the monkey in the cage mentality.
The cage is always in your mind.
STEP 8 – THE INTEGRATED GOOD LIFE & THE FOUR
PILLARS OF EUDAIMONIA
Don’t compartmentalize your life, integrate it
Instead of breaking down our lives into individual sections e.g. work, fitness, social &
happiness it’s far more productive and efficient to begin to integrate and overlap these
areas together to create the life of your dreams.
Many individuals who compartmentalize their life have the “I hate Mondays” and “Thank
god it’s Friday!” mentality.
If you integrate your life correctly you’ll never be concerned about what day it is. Tai
mentions he often measures his success and happiness based upon how long it’s been
since he last checked a calendar (when you don’t know or care what day/date it is you
know you’re on the right track as you’re enjoying every day).
Eudaimonia comes through integration
The 4 pillars of eudaimonia include:
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Health (physical)
Wealth (financial)
Love (romantic & family)
Happiness (fulfilment)
The good life comes through the integration of love and health, of happiness and
wealth (and any other combination of the four pillars!).
For example, I personally have combined my health and wealth pillars together as I
create workout videos and content as a business, integration.
Edge Biological Theory
This theory from nature is a fantastic example of integration.
Where two ecosystems merge you’ll often find the most life (think of a pond and a
forest).
Animals thrive on the border of multiple ecosystems just like we thrive on the border of
multiple pillars via integration.
Travel is stressful, simplify your journeys
Traffic is stressful, period.
Whether you’re listening to your favorite music in the car, playing an audiobook or
talking to a friend the act of having to drive in traffic causes tension and stress.
Reduce your travel and commute as much as possible to assist with integrating your
life.
Tai suggests if possible to live within 2 miles of your office, gym, grocery store and any
other frequently visited/integrated destinations.
Example of integrations
Walking on a treadmill desk
Walking on a treadmill desk while either working or learning is a simple method to
integrate your physical health along with your wealth.
Working out with friends
CrossFit for example is a great example of integration, the community aspect with the
fitness aspect to combine social and health.
Volunteer work
Volunteer work provides fulfillment (the happiness pillar) while also allowing you to build
relationships and socialize with others whom have a similar frame of mind.
Learn while you earn
Listen to an audiobook while working.
STEP 9 – WARREN BUFFETT’S BOOK-A-DAY DIET &
MAKING WAR WITH A MULTITUDE OF COUNSELORS
Successful people read (a lot!)
Buffet and Gates were asked what superpower…. they both said that they would
have the ability to read super-fast.
In the book Screw it, let’s do it by Richard Branson – he explains how important books
are and how he came over his dyslexia.
Alexander the Great had books sent to him thousands of miles away to him while
traveling or in battle.
Learn by others mistakes, not your own
Whatever your goal is, don’t learn by your own mistakes, learn from other people
mistakes. Learning from others is the ultimate shortcut to achieving your goal.
Simulation is both safer and faster.
Overt trial and error it takes time and energy and fatal.
Books are the easiest way to simulate the outcomes and gain the hard experience
from others.
Simulate successes, mistakes, and the future by reading books. It could be anything
from Michael Jordan to Warren Buffet or Elon Musk. You will cut the learning curve
exponentially.
The people that operate alone are… usually poor in all aspects of life. You won’t be able
to be a jack of all trades and specialist in everything without simulation
“Make War with a multitude of counselors” – means that you choose your battles in
your life with the smartest people on your side. With their wisdom, you will be in good
company.
‘Survival machines — humans — that can simulate the future are 1 jump ahead of us
survival machines who can only learn over the basis of trial and error, the trouble with
over trial is that it takes time and energy, the trouble with over error is that is often fatal.
Simulation is both, safer and faster.’
It’s a heck of a lot easier to learn from other people’s mistakes. We all make mistakes,
but it’s easier to learn from other people’s mistakes.
Read selectively
You don’t have to read every page of every book you ever pick up, there’s millions of
books out there and our lifetime is finite… we don’t have enough time to read them all,
so don’t attempt to.
Seek the golden nugget (the Robin Hood mindset for books!)
There’s a cognitive bias on books, the average book only has 1 or 2 pieces of gold,
most books have stories and anecdotes to prove their point and you have to get to the
point following the Pareto Principle of 80/20… 80 percent of the book you read gives
you only 20 percent of the knowledge, and 20 percent of the pages have 80 percent of
the knowledge.
Tai’s method of reading a book is as follows:
The 3-pass method
1st Pass – Previewing the book (5 min) – He reads the Front, Back, the inside jacket,
about the author, table of contents
2nd Pass – Browse through the chapters (30 min) – Try to find one chapter that looks
interesting to read.
3rd Pass – Read One or Two Chapters ( 1 hour) – Read the entire chapter.
STEP 10 – STOIC VS. EPICUREAN ARNOLD’S 1,000
REPS, APACHE COLD SHOWERS, AND THE
SPARTAN WHIPPING POST
Today we’re all too soft, achieving greatness comes down to persevering and
grinding it out, as we’ve already discussed there’s no quick fix for success – you must
sew before you harvest… this may be Bill Gates spending the 10 dark years in his office
from age 20 to age 30 building Microsoft or it may be Thomas Edison’s thousand
attempts to perfect his invention of the light globe.
Philosophy refers us to two different ideologies.
Stoicism and epicurean.
Stoic
Enduring and sacrificing today for a better tomorrow (the ancient investor mentality).
Stoics purposefully submit themselves to unpleasant acts and situations, building their
grit and character in the process.
The Spartans are the #1 example of stoic life.
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Spartan children were given just enough food to survive and grow, while still
leaving them feeling slightly hungry and unsatisfied.
Spartans were encouraged to fight and push their bodies to its limit in daily
training.
Spartans were not afraid to sacrifice themselves in battle, they went all in and
accepted their fate instead of retreating and giving the enemy the satisfaction.
Epicurean
Epicureanism runs rampant today, this is essentially the YOLO mentality.
As they said in ancient times, “Live for now – eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we
die”.
This is a very short-sighted mentality that won’t get you far.
The epicurean doesn’t expend effort in building anything notable as this takes TIME.
The epicurean doesn’t invest their money as this is a LONG-TERM approach to building
wealth.
The #1 takeaway from this lesson is you must toughen yourself up and be willing to
endure adversity both physically and mentally if you want to grow.
Always enjoying yourself and living in the now with the “YOLO” mentality will leave you
with an empty paddock come time to harvest.
As Will Durant said, “A nation is born stoic and dies epicurean”
What does this mean?
Big companies, family estates and the like were created and forged by stoics – willing
to sacrifice and endure adversity to build greatness, this is often passed down to or
inherited by those that’re unappreciative, those that did not and do not put in the work
themselves… the epicureans.
Our world is far too convenient and easy for us, we’re forgoing the toughness we used
to have.
Notable Quotes
“A nation is born stoic and dies epicurean”
“Adversity makes men and prosperity makes monsters”
STEP 11 – THE WHISPERS OF 10,000 GENERATIONS,
DUNBAR’S 150, & EVOLUTIONARY MISMATCH
The instincts hardwired in our brain to this day were passed on from centuries ago, this
is evolutionary mismatch.
The vast majority of health issues we encounter in the modern world are due to
just this – our instincts from thousands upon thousands of years ago.
Food
For example, in ancient times food was scarce – especially sweet sugary foods (think
honey) so when this food was found it was all consumed, as no one knew how long it
would be until you ran into a supply of honey again.
In the modern world, food, particularly foods high in salt, sugar or fat are available
everywhere – yet our hardwired 10,000-year-old brain has no adapted.
This is why when we have ice cream, chocolate, chips or any other unhealthy,
calorically dense food in the house it doesn’t last.
Regardless of how strong your willpower is your hardwired 10,000-year-old brain
is programmed to eat it!
Sleep
We’re programmed to sleep when it’s dark and rise when it’s light, the vast majority of
sleep issues are caused due to the suppression of melanin due to light.
Using your phone, computer, watching TV or using any form of technology emits blue
light – suppressing melanin production.
Put down your electronics an hour or two before going to bed or use blue blocker
glasses.
Conquering your 10,000-year-old hardwired brain
We can’t beat the hard wiring of our brain, as the saying goes “Nature laughs last”.
The best thing we can do (and that you’re doing now) is understanding the cause.
That’s half the battle won! Once you know you’re pre-programmed to demolish all
sugary food in sight due to the previous scarcity of it you’ll know not to buy or store any
of the corresponding foods in your house.
Don’t allow your instincts and gut feeling to always take over, as we know when it
comes to food your instincts are not working in your favor…
However, when you feel as if you’re about to get hit by a car or you need to move out of
the way quickly we don’t have time to stop and think where and how we’re going to
move – we need to let our hardwiring take over and get us to safety.
With the knowledge of your 10,000-year-old mind you can get a lot done, it can work for
you to an extent… but if you don’t understand your hard wiring and you let it take control
you’re in for destruction.
Recommendations
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Set up an automatic savings plan into a high interest savings account or index
fund – this way you’ll be ensuring your money is invested before you’re able to
spend it.
This is part of adopting the stoic investor mentality, as we’re hardwired to think in
the short term (epicurean).
Don’t have junk food in the house, if it’s not there you can’t eat it!
STEP 12 – MIKE’S STACK OF RESUMES, MY 96YEAR-OLD GRANDMA, & YOUR EULERIAN DESTINY
You must be able to describe what you’re doing with your life in 12 – 20 words.
For example, Tai Lopez’s sentence is “Spreading good ideas using mass media”
Joel Salatin was “Give the world the gift of good food”
Keep it simple, Warren Buffett may say “I’m going to value invest money”
The 5% rule
You must be in the top 5% of your chosen field, if you’re in the top 8% you won’t cut
it… the world is too competitive.
People aren’t good at a lot of things – you’re likely good at one or two things. For
example, Michael Jordan tried his luck at baseball and couldn’t make it past the minor
legs
Don’t fall for American Idol syndrome
Know, focus and build upon what you’re good at, don’t spend time trying to bring up
your weaknesses.
If you’re going on American Idol and you’ve been dancing for years and have had
strangers compliment on your dancing abilities don’t go on the show and audition as a
singer just because you think you’re good at it – build upon your strength (dancing).
As Tai says you must be in the top 5% to make it, if you’re in the top 5% of dancers
you’re going to make it big, if you’re in the top 10% of singers you may be able to make
the cut on a local scale (e.g. your town) but when it comes to the global scale the world
is too damn competitive.
Finding your eulerian destiny:
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What did you grow up around?
What have you had strangers feedback/compliments on?
What have you been doing for the past 10 years? (the 10,000 years or 10 dark
years)
What can you talk about effortlessly to your friends and family? (e.g. sports,
gardening, politics)
Find where the above four points meet in the middle, this will give you a great idea of
your eulerian destiny.
Recommendations
Complete the Myer-Briggs type indicator and know your strengths and weaknesses
STEP 13 – THE AMISH VACATION, TAP DANCING TO
WORK, & AVOIDING WHAT YOU LOVE
Don’t fall into the vacation mentality
You must be like the Amish and create a life that you do not need a vacation from.
Integrate enjoyment, health and social aspects into your job and daily life so you’re not
hanging out for your few weeks of vacation once a year.
Although the Amish live a very simplified life they have 1/5th of the rate of depression
we have today.
Have down time, not vacations
You don’t have to work 24/7 for 365 days a year, we all need down time.
Vacations are separate, a getaway from your life (if you have to go on vacation you
probably shouldn’t come back!)
Down time is integrated into your life, for example the Amish don’t work as hard on the
weekends as they spend more time with their families.
In Thailand the relentless work ethic of the Thai people in their Muay Thai training
camps is put on hold on Sunday as a day of rest without exception.
Chase what you like, not what you lust
Doing what you love for a career is a big mistake, as lust wears off – you should
pursue what you LIKE.
This is also known as American Idol syndrome – we try and pursue what we love
because we think we’re good at it… when we should often pursue what we’re
compatible with while also liking it.
For example, Michael Jordan lusted after baseball, however he wasn’t best suited to
baseball and opted to pursue a career in basketball (as he had the height etc. to assist).
The rest is history…
Successful people aren’t necessarily ‘lucky’
It’s often a case of WHO happened rather than WHAT happened.
For example, Tai met Joel Salatin.
Tap dance to work principle
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You must be waking up genuinely excited for how you’re going to spend your day.
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If you’re waking up excited about your life consider re-aligning your actions with
what you like, not what you love
Refer back to finding your eulerian destiny
As Jeff Bezos says you can innovate your way out of most problems
STEP 14 – THE SHAOLIN MONK & TOUCHING AN
ELECTRIC FENCE
Everything is your fault
As the Shaolin Monk told Tai it is always your fault.
If you get mugged it’s your fault.
If you can’t afford rent it’s your fault.
If you encounter a multitude of health problems, once again it is your fault and your fault
only.
The message stressed in this step is to prepare yourself for events or
circumstances you may be put in.
The Shaolin Monk was of the mentality that if you got mugged it was your own fault
because you didn’t know how to defend yourself and fight off the attacker. If you spent
the last few years mastering the art of Kung Fu you would not have been mugged.
If you can’t afford rent it’s your fault because you’re either wasting your money on luxury
instead of placing a roof over your own head or you’re not hustling enough to bring in
money.
Health problems such as diabetes and obesity are your fault because of the decisions
you’ve made in terms of diet and exercise.
Prepare by eating clean and getting off the couch.
Prepare for the dark clouds
As John Wooden the famous basketball coach said, you must prepare for the dark
clouds…
If you don’t prepare for the dark clouds (the anticipation of future events) you’re in for
a rough time.
It’s either in your head or it’s in your heel
Should the dark clouds reveal themselves and you’ve prepared then it’s in your head –
you’ve simulated the scenario before and you know exactly what to do.
If you’ve failed to prepare then it’s going to hurt, it’s in your heel.
Your skills are your tool kit
The bigger your tool kit the more versatile and adaptable you will be, the more often
you’ll have it in your head as opposed to in your heel.
Rich people have a far larger tool kit comprised of both soft skills and hard skills (how to
win and influence people etc.) than those that’re poor.
The balance
You must have a healthy balance of both optimism and pessimism…
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You must be optimistic in the long term
You must be pessimistic in the short term
Like animals on a farm, surrounded by an electric fence you too must know your
boundaries, too often we overestimate certain abilities (American Idol syndrome) but we
also at times underestimate our abilities!
Understand your boundaries and prepare for the dark clouds in all pillars of your life
including:
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Social
Physical
Interpersonal
STEP 15 – DESCARTES & SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH
A CALCULATOR
The only thing certain in this world is mathematics
We think that there are many certainties in this world, there are many things that are
possibly incorrect.
The smartest people are unsure, numbers are calculations are the only certainties.
Don’t make blind decisions, each and every decision must be in line with your
goals.
For example, if you’re an athlete then you’re going to be making a very poor decision if
you’re choosing junk food over a quality lean meal.
Calculate the pros and cons of your decisions, that’s how billionaires operate.
For example:
Pros of starting your own business
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Unlimited revenue potential
No one to answer to
Ability to create the future of your desires
Cons of starting your own business
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Increased stress
Unstable & uncertainty of business
Working around the clock
Weigh up the above, perhaps you’ve got a high tolerance to stress, have lots of
additional time to devote and want to increase your income exponentially, in which case
starting your own business does seem to be the wiser decision (however, someone who
cannot deal with stress and has a family or a large quantity of bills requires the certainty
of a secure job.
Recommendations
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Pros and cons list
Familiarize yourself with the certainty bias
Practice math
STEP 16 – ROUSSEAU, THE RENAISSANCE MAN, &
IRON SHARPENING IRON
Simulation is the key to success
Don’t jump straight into the cockpit of the jet and fly away, you’re most likely going to
crash.
Spend as much time as necessary in simulation.
A great example of simulation is the preparation a UFC fighter goes through before they
enter the octagon to face their opponent in a scheduled bout.
They don’t just jump into the octagon and pray that they’ll be able to land a good strike
or takedown…
They simulate for months beforehand by:
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Watching tape (footage)
Sparring
Getting in opponents to simulate the style and moves of their opponent
Getting in opponents that’re a similar height and weight as their opponent
You must become a renaissance person
A renaissance man or polymath is multi-talented.
Today people look up to those that’re good at one thing e.g. musicians, in times gone by
the renaissance person was looked up to.
Read and learn skills in all areas of life such as:
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Learn another language
Learn to play a musical instrument
Read more books on a variety of topics (health, science, math)
The many benefits of increasing your knowledge and broadening out include:
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Becoming a more interesting person in conversation
Knowing both sides to an argument to truly differentiate pros and cons
Iron sharpens iron as a friend sharpens a friend
It’s all about the materials
The more materials in your kitchen the better the meal you produce.
A top tier chef will be outperformed by an amateur if they have a sufficient amount of
materials.
Subject matter knowledge is a material, the more unique materials (music, art, science,
health) you add the greater a chef (renaissance person) you become.
Don’t be a jack of all trades
As the saying goes, a jack of all trades is a master of none.
You must become a master in your chosen, aligned field and then support this mastery
with your other areas of knowledge.
In my case:
My tower (mastery)
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Fitness & nutrition
My supporting beams
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Web design
Calligraphy
Photography
Gardening
STEP 17 – ELON MUSK‘S 14-HOUR WORKDAY VS.
THE 4-HOUR WORKWEEK
The mentality of the 4-hour work week is BS.
You should be aligning yourself with a career or endeavor you enjoy, you should be tap
dancing to work every day.
Embrace the grind
You’ve got to love the grind because the grind is life.
If you’re not enjoying the grind you won’t be enjoying life.
Thomas Edison said he was glad that the 8-hour day didn’t exist when he was
working as if he had succumbed to working only 8 hours a day he wouldn’t have
achieved much.
Today people are trying to get away with only working 4 hours a week!
Work efficiently, but don’t try and work for such a minimalist amount of time.
Just grind it out
Elon Musk, the first man to build not one but THREE companies valued at over a billion
dollars each believes in working 14-hour days.
He knows if he wants to be successful and maintain a lead over his competition he
needs to be putting in more hours than they are.
Think about it.
While Elon’s competition is working 7 hours a day he’s working 14 hours a day.
What takes Elon 6 months to achieve will take his competition an entire year!
SpaceX, Tesla and Solar City would NOT be where they are today if Elon followed a 4hour work week style approach to business.
You can’t outsource everything
A big part of the 4-hour work week mentality is outsourcing as much as possible, now
this is where I (and Tai) disagree.
Certain tasks like graphic design and marketing can be outsourced, but don’t be so
quick to outsource the core of your operation.
Picasso didn’t outsource his painting, Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t outsource his
bench press.
Do it right, do it yourself and embrace the grind while you do it… because it’s life.
STEP 18 – MAN-ON-THE-MOON CONTRAST KEEPING
EASY THINGS EASY
Feeling overwhelmed by a job or goal you’ve got to get done? Using the contrast bias
can make it that much more manageable!
Tai refers to his use of the contrast bias as ‘man on the moon principle’, and it is just
that – if man went to the moon which was a task that took thousands of PhDs, years of
research and simulation not to mention an estimated trillion dollar then the thing you’re
setting out to do is damn easy in comparison.
Think making $1,000,000 is impossible?
Man went to the moon. It’s possible.
Think running a 4-minute mile is impossible?
Man went to the moon. It’s possible.
$1,000,000 a year is still a big goal though, so by breaking this goal down further again
we’re able to see it as achievable.
$1,000,000 a year is $3,000 a day.
$3,000 a day, assuming you work 10 hours a day is $300 an hour.
Aiming to earn $300 an hour is far more realistic and achievable to our minds in
comparison to making a million dollars a year.
If you allow your mind to become overwhelmed and defeated from the beginning then
you’ve already lost.
Don’t overcomplicate things
Don’t waste time on trivial tasks, instead use this time to achieve your big goals
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Don’t research 101 product reviews when purchasing small items
Don’t write lengthy emails when you can make a quick phone call
Don’t spend too long deciding what to eat, keep it simple
Don’t give yourself 101 clothing options when going out, keep it simple
STEP 19 – AMAZON.COM & THE $32,000 BRAIN
BUDGET
Take an audit of your financial life
Before any improvements can be made you need to take an honest look at where
your money is going.
Look at your bank statements, your credit card bills…
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What percentage of money are you currently spending on headless luxury?
What percentage of your money are you spending on bettering yourself?
What percentage of your money are you saving for a rainy day?
Imagine your life is a soup, snippets of knowledge are the ingredients
Knowledge acquired from books, mentors and seminars are all proverbial ingredients in
the soup of life – the more ingredients you have in your kitchen the better your soup will
be when served.
Lack of knowledge = minimal ingredients.
Regardless of how talented a chef you are, with 2 ingredients your soup isn’t
going to be anything extraordinary… however the average person who spends time
and money acquiring new ingredients (via purchasing books, seminars and hiring
mentors etc.) can create an award-winning dish.
Money can kill you, or it can save your life
Money can improve your life or it can destroy your life, this is up to you and your
decision on how you spend it.
Money spent on skills and knowledge is money well spent (this will pay dividends!).
Money spent on objects that will rust, rot and depreciate (e.g. luxury cars and expensive
clothes) is a poor long-term decision.
Use the law of 33% when it comes to your finances
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Put 33% of your income into savings
Put 33% of your income into your learning & education (books & seminars)
Put 33% of your income into your entertainment
Spend wisely
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Buy used books instead of new
Don’t buy your car brand new (Warren Buffett bought a hail damaged car to save
$30,000)
Don’t overspend on clothes (paying for big brand labels)
Get information online (Wikipedia)
Go to the library and borrow books
“Don’t invest in things that rust, rot or depreciate… invest in things that will be worth
more later or cause YOU to be worth more later”.
“Don’t be penny wise and dollar foolish”.
STEP 20 – RICHARD BRANSON’S HURRICANE & THE
IMAGINARY WORLD OF KANYE WEST
The definition of an entrepreneur is a man that remakes the world in their own image.
Envision your ideal life
What does your ideal life look like? What do you love to do in your spare time that
you’re not getting paid for?
For example, perhaps like Richard Branson (before he founded Virgin Airlines) you’re a
keen traveler.
Perhaps you’re a fitness fanatic and love taking part in obstacle course races like the
Spartan Race.
Instead of being so rigid and working the 9 – 5 day in day out only to pursue your
hobbies in your spare time (remember, this is Picasso’s Dichotomy) you can
integrate your hobbies into your life in a financial sense.
Richard Branson chartered a private jet off an island during unfavorable weather and
pulled a profit, prompting him to found Virgin Airlines due to his love for travel and the
opportunity his identified in the market.
Reverse engineer your ideal life and make it happen
Tai Lopez loved reading books however this took away time from his other (financially
beneficial) ventures.
Tai reverse engineered and make his book reading hobby into his ideal life.
A book club, a website, social engagement with customers…
Reverse engineer your own ideal life – if you’re an avid traveler perhaps this is a
travel blog monetized with Google AdSense or Amazon Affiliate products… if you’re a
keen obstacle course racer perhaps this is founding a local obstacle course racing
event in your own town before eventually branching out and expanding over the United
States.
Envision your world, reverse engineer how you can pull it off then get out there and
make it happen like Richard Branson & Tai Lopez did.
STEP 21 – ANTICIPATE AND TYPE PEOPLE WITH
THE P.A.S.E. SYSTEM
The P.A.S.E system is a simplified personality test, similar to the Myer-Briggs type
indicator that can be used to identify the dominant traits of individuals.
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Practical – Aren’t very flexible. They are very planned. They like numbers,
money, things on schedule. A little slower to act.
Action – Spontaneous, Enlightened, high energy, self-starters, hardly ever
finishers. Not very patient. Aggressive.
Social – Go with the flow with things, relaxed, hippie like, they like being around
people, a little flaky, Spontaneous, don’t stand up for themselves often.
Emotional – Decipher people, intuitive, analyze people, driven by fear and are
often offended by others easily. Afraid to change.
By knowing the P.A.S.E results of both yourself and others you can adjust the way you
speak and the words you use when talking to individuals based upon their ‘power’
words. For example, if you’re predominantly an A (action based) individual words such
as ‘Let’s go!’, ‘Let’s make it happen!’ and ‘Go, go, go!’ will get you motivated to start an
endeavor while these words will fall on deaf ears if used predominantly on a social
based personality type.
Identify the personality type and tailor your dialogue and wording to suit.
Casanova, most well-known for his pursuits with women was able to talk and interact
with everyone from women to kings because he knew by identifying the personality
traits of the individual he was talking to he could become the social chameleon by
bringing out that side of his own personality too… as the saying goes “birds of a
feather, flock together”.
STEP 22 – THE SEVEN-FOLD PATH TO THE OBVIOUS
SIGNS
Our 500-year-old mind is locked into the ‘black and white mentality’.
Be a truth seeker:
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Find a problem (be it with your health, wealth or happiness)
Take action to fix it
The majority of people talk about things which makes them feel as if they’ve
already done something about it (which results in them never taking action!).
Don’t be a zombie chasing a mirage, remember the serenity prayer:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Take some time to assess the obvious signs in your life:
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Do you look healthy naked? (or are you holding excess amounts of body fat?)
Is your bank balance an indication of where you should be? (are you struggling to
save?)
Are you a social person? If so do you have many friends to go out with on a
Saturday night?
Before you take action or deem your current situation inadequate you must define your
end game.
If you’re an introvert and you’re building your business and physique with laser-like
focus you may not be pursuing an increased social life.
As Charlie Munger said “Avoid extreme ideologies, they’re almost always wrong”.
Humans take action to increase pleasure and steer clear of discomfort.
Follow the 7-step method:
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Ask a question
Research the answer
Sample answer (hypothesis)
Test
Observe
Step back & assess
Make war with a multitude of councilors (get the opinion of smart/qualified
individuals)
Be persistent! Leadership and tenacity are the two most predominant traits of self-made
millionaires
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50% of individuals quit after 1 failure
80% of individuals quit after 2 failures
95% of individuals quit after 3 failures
“Every mans’ argument sounds great until you hear the other side.”
Recommendations
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Read the serenity prayer, print it out to remind yourself if need be
STEP 23 – LANDING YOUR PLANE ON THE GREAT
WALL
Life will deal tremendous blows to you in the form of death of loved ones, loss of
finances and entropy over time.
Prepare yourself, be ready to run the proverbial marathon that life may throw at
you at any time!
You must have force of will and faith (feel success before you grasp it).
Preparation and expectation are key to overcoming adversity – when you’re expecting
things they are not as dramatic.
When problems arise such as a concrete wall blocking your path you must innovate
your way out, there’s always multiple ways such as:
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Over the wall
Under the wall
Through the wall
Around the wall
STEP 24 – GANDHI’S FUNERAL, STEPHEN COVEY’S
WARS, & FLURRIES OF ACTIVITY
It’s normal to endure some low levels of depression in life, it’s a sign your life is
insufficient and you need to assess and fix some areas.
The sign of a well-lived life is the funeral test… how many people will attend your
funeral? How many lives have you impacted and touched? How many people would
genuinely be sad come your passing?
Nelson Mandela’s funeral is a prime example of a life well lived.
Parkinson’s Law states when we’re given X number of tasks and X amount of time to
achieve them we’ll stretch out the activities to cover the time (this is the salary slaves’
flurries of activity).
Be a war winner – get to the end state goal, don’t just run around busy with flurries of
activity that are not getting you closer to your goal.
“Think with the end in mind”
“Win wars, not battles”
You have 4 battles in your life
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The health battle
The wealth battle
The love battle
The happiness battle
True happiness comes from the process of building momentum and winning battles, not
from the end-state itself.
e.g. you’ll be happier when you’re 35 years old and grinding away on the path to
success as opposed to when you’re 50 and have ticked off the vast majority of your
goals.
The biggest tragedy in life is being good at the wrong thing… awareness of your
strengths is key.
STEP 25 – JOEL SALATIN ON NATURE LAUGHING
LAST, THE RESPECT OF SEASONS, AND THE
TERRIBLE TWOS
Nature will always laugh last…
We will encounter 3 main sources of pain in life:
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Our own decay (entropy)
Forces of nature (bacteria, natural disasters)
Other humans (love & relationships, betrayal)
You must realize that you are part of a world much bigger than your own – you are not
the center of the universe.
If you want to set yourself up for success then choose one thing (the right thing) and
stick with it – as JR Simplot said “hold onto your taw”
Warren Buffett & Bill Gates grinded away for decades, holding onto their one thing for
years and years until thy tasted success.
The rule of 72 states that it takes around 12 years to double your success.
Just like the weather we humans encounter seasons in our own lives:
Fall
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The harvesting period
Often short in comparison to other seasons
Enjoy it!
Spring
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Planting season
Try and test continuously
Winter
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It’s dark, but it too shall pass
Read more, sleep more, replenish, eat
This is a great time for the acquisition of new knowledge
Summer
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The time for action
Put in all the work now
Sleep less, get more done while the season permits it
You cannot skip seasons, embrace the good and the bad of each season (e.g. the
darkness of winter and the lack of sleep in summer).
The grass is always greener on the other side when it comes to the seasons, but
remember each season only lasts for so long.
STEP 26 – BELTS, SUSPENDERS, FAILING TO FAIL,
THE SIX SIGMA HEARTBEAT, & HOW TO NOT CRASH
YOUR F-22
Mistakes are costly, they cost money, lives and time.
You don’t have to make a lot of mistakes! Learn from the mistakes of those that have
walked before you(read books!).
The belts and suspenders mindset means always have a backup, a contingency
plan.
Never allow a SPOF (single point of failure).
Here’s a few examples of creating redundancy and eliminating a single point of failure:
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Hiring multiple contractors
Carrying a spare tire/battery
Having multiple sources of income
When you outsource or delegate (e.g. to an accountant) don’t expect everything to be
going perfectly – ensure you still keep your finger on the proverbial pulse and continue
to check up on progress.
Write things down, regardless of how good your memory is things WILL fall through the
cracks (and as Murphy’s law states they’ll always be the important things).
Both your energy and your time are finite, remember this.
Use the military F22 approach and plan for 3 scenarios to ensure you’re ready
regardless of the outcome (this will also reduce your anxiety and stress levels)
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Scenario A – best case
Scenario B – most likely
Scenario C – worst case
Life comes down to ideas, plans and execution – ideas are easy, plans are slightly
harder but executing is always the hardest.
You must be an executor.
STEP 27 – THE FRONTMAN & THE TWO WAYS TO
PICK YOUR TRENCH MATE
All great accomplishments and tasks take a team of people.
When selecting individuals for your team take into account:
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Integrity
Loyalty
Complimentary
References
Don’t seek out those with the exact same strengths and weaknesses as
yourself… you need people that’re the opposite to fill in the weak points (that at
the same time won’t be competing with you on your strengths).
Get acquainted over time, there are many people that’re great at interviews (many
hedge funds and top tier positions require several individuals and meetings over the
course of a year to get a good understanding of the potential candidate).
STEP 28 – LAO-TZU’S AND JOHN WOODEN’S
TERRIBLE HORRIBLE NO GOOD VERY BAD DAY
You must do things before they become difficult in all areas of your life:
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Get a six pack and build muscle before you’re overweight and struggling to get off
the couch
Save money while your income is high, not while you’re between jobs
Buy car insurance before you’ve been in an accident
Backup your data before your hard drive fails
“Do what is difficult when it’s easy” – Lao Tzu
“Jump in and take action and you’re half way there” – The Amish
Spend time preparing for tomorrow today…
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Decide what you’re going to wear
Back your back
Prepare your meals
Your pain threshold will be lowered over time as you get yourself into the habit of doing
things now (this also reduces your stick-ability factor).
STEP 29 – STEPHEN HAWKING, ENTROPY, &
REMEMBERING THE FUTURE
We must understand that time will never reverse.
Entropy, the gradual decline into disorder (things becoming more chaotic as time
passes) will affect us all.
As Stephen Hawking says, there are 3 types of time:
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Psychological time – the time you spend at work, with friends etc.
Cosmological time – the universe
Thermodynamic time – energy etc.
As Seneca said in ‘On the Shortness of Life…
“Life is long, if you know how to use it.”
Fight off entropy by investing in yourself.
Focus your energy and time improving your life in all aspects (health, wealth).
Failure to take action and better yourself will leave you a victim to entropy – with
decaying wealth and decaying health.
We are not guaranteed tomorrow so don’t always plan so far into the future – live
immediately! (expectancy is the enemy).
Transcend time by becoming interested in psychology & knowledge.
Read books and learn from the ancient greats to become timeless.
STEP 30 – PETER DRUCKER, THE CLUTTERED ATTIC
AND THE INVENTION OF RULES
Different levels of knowledge
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Known knowns (things we know that we know)
Known unknowns (things we know that we don’t know)
Unknown unknowns (things we’re oblivious to)
Warren Buffett recommends we get rid of one big idea every year in order to clear
ignorance from our brains.
For example:
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Sport is a waste of time
Art serves no purpose
These are both incorrect, ignorance beliefs that we forge in our minds.
The mind is like an attic, it gets full over time and can only hold so much so we
must intermittently clean it up (and what better way to clean up then to get rid of
useless, ignorance ideas and thoughts).
Ask yourself why three times when interpreting or trying to understand your disabling
ignorance and made up rules.
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Why am I a vegetarian?
Because eating animals is bad
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Why is eating animals bad?
Because it’s in-humane
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Why is it in-humane? etc.
This process allows us to either get to the bottom of our logical beliefs or to identify and
discard our disabling ignorance.
STEP 31 – DELEGATING TO SHALINI & SAM
WALTON’S OVER-THE-SHOULDER STYLE
You must be able to manage people, not just things.
the 2IC at McDonalds gets paid more because they are managing people e.g. the fry
cooks and the cashiers.
The fry cooks and the cashiers get paid less because they are only managing things
(e.g. the cash register or the grill).
Want to build success and wealth?
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Learn to manage people first
Learn to manage wealth second
Management MUST be active – you cannot expect to delegate a task and receive
anything other than a disaster without checking up and at least a small degree of
insight and knowledge yourself.
For example, when you take your broken car to the mechanic you wouldn’t just tell them
to ‘fix whatever is broken’ because you’d likely get ripped off! Have knowledge and
insight – e.g. “I think the fan belt is slipping, please confirm this and give me a call with a
quote to repair it before you proceed with doing any work.”
You cannot delegate what you don’t know, be it mechanics or computer
programming (no one has your best interest at heart as much as you do).
You must at some point in your life become a ‘jack of all trades’ and know a bit about all
of the important things you’re outsourcing in life (taxes, car repairs, plumbing, web
design).
Have an ‘over the shoulder’ approach to managing… don’t micro-manage everything
a person does but at the same time don’t turn a blind eye.
“Trust… but verify”
Proper management allows you to leverage both your own time and energy.
STEP 32 – SLOT MACHINE PROBABILITY & CHASING
THE MIRAGE
A strong conviction based on your own beliefs, made up rules or your gut feeling can be
your downfall.
You must go with the odds, the numbers don’t lie (emotions and cognitive biases can
easily intervene with your decision making, so test the numbers!)
The desert is FULL of the bones of those that chased the mirage, the elusive big
pay day, the high risk, high reward option that realistically never pays off…
Pick the certain 1 in 10 odds over the elusive 1 in 50 odds every single time, don’t
chance it.
STEP 33 – TEACHING PIGS TO FLY & PUSHING ON
STRINGS
The application of knowledge is key, not the acquisition.
It’s easy to learn things, it’s much harder (and less common) to go out and
actually apply them.
A pig is someone that doesn’t know and doesn’t want to know.
An innocently innocent person is someone that doesn’t know but wants to know (thirst
for knowledge).
Just like you cannot teach a real pig to fly, you cannot push on a string (strings can only
be pulled!).
You can’t teach someone that isn’t ready to learn so don’t bother… sometimes you
need to wait and let them come to you.
“There’s a fine line between impatient and too patient…”
Refer once again to the serenity prayer:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
A proverbial pig can be seduced via reward (on your terms) or via pain & discomfort.
STEP 34 – BILL GATES & THE TEN DARK YEARS
The mass media (television, radio. magazines) constantly shows and tell us about those
individuals that’ve reached the ‘fall’ season of their life, aka. the harvest.
For example, the success of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates & Michael Jordan is constantly
being pushed, yet there’s never any mention of their grind and endurance in the
other seasons. We’re not told about the 10 dark years that Bill Gates spent locked in a
cubicle from age 20 to age 30 building Microsoft, during which time he didn’t take a
single day off, not one!
We don’t see Michael Jordan’s failure, frustration and doubt during his rise up…
all we see are the 16 Ferrari’s in his driveway.
As Malcolm Gladwell said in the book ‘Outliers’ it takes 10,000 hours of focused work to
become great at your chosen craft.
Tai prefers the term ’10 dark years’ as the rushing of work to try and reach the 10,000hour mark will not result in the mastery of a set time period (10 years).
Even though now you and I both know the grind is necessary and that the billionaires
and icons such as Bill Gates didn’t achieve success overnight we’re still conditioned by
the media that we can expect the quick success. That’s not the case.
We must stop placing unrealistic time frames on large goals &
accomplishments – 2 weeks to shredded abs or a 100k a month business in 3 weeks
are marketing ploys invented to lure in suckers. Don’t be the sucker.
A great quote from Greg Plitt that ties in with this Step is “There’s no such thing as a
quick fix to a long-term problem“.
STEP 35 – IGNORING THE NINETY-NINE, & THE ONETENTH RULE
The One-Tenths of Greatness
The one-tenth rule states that you can only replicate about one-tenth of the success of
your mentor.
For example, if your business coach is making $100,000 a month online you’re likely
only going to be able to replicate one-tenth of that, in which case you may be able to
make $10,000 a month online.
As you can see this is why it’s extremely important to go straight to the top.
Forget the average or above average mentors, if you want great success you need to
seek out those obtaining extraordinary results.
For example, if you’re learning basketball from a college basketball player you can
expect to raise your skill level to one-tenth of theirs, but if you learn from Michael Jordan
directly and obtain a skill level one-tenths of his… well then you’re going to be far better
than almost every basketball player out there!
The 99%
99% of people out there are not worth listening to, as harsh as it sounds they do not
have your best interests in mind, nor do they have the knowledge or skill to mentor you
to achieve the level of success you’re after.
But on the flip side…
When you find the 1% you must listen and learn intently.
There’s No One Person
Life is made up of the four pillars, there is no one perfect mentor – the perfect business
mentor likely isn’t going to be the perfect health mentor for you. Acquire multiple
mentors to ensure you’re covering all pillars to obtain the good life.
STEP 36 – THE SUCKER IN THE ROOM & THE
LOLLAPALOOZA EFFECT
The nature of life is competitive, this isn’t necessarily negative… it’s just how it is.
You are the only person that truly has your best interest in mind. You must
remember this as now you’re aware of cognitive bias and can use them to your
advantage you must remember that at the same time others are trying to make your fall
victim to cognitive biases, whether this be to help them or for their financial gain.
“if I don’t love me who will?”
“if you don’t know who the sucker in the room is, you are the sucker.”
Charlie Munger coined the lollapalooza effect – this is the combination of multiple
biases combining into a force too strong for the majority of us to resist, regardless of
how strong our willpower may be.
An auction is the perfect example of the lollapalooza effect, as it incorporates the
following biases:
•
•
Scarcity bias (there’s only one item and a limited amount of time to bid/buy it)
Social proof bias (there’s other people there interested in purchasing and bidding
on the same items as you)
•
•
Authority bias (the auctioneer is physically positioned higher than you and is seen
as an authority)
Reward bias (the ‘feel good’ moment and dopamine release upon ‘winning’
regardless of whether this comes as a result of paying above market value)
STEP 37 – WHY RESTAURANTS FAIL
The 3 classic factors of production include:
•
•
•
Land (or in modern times, your social network)
Labor (your team)
Capital (the cash you have or the investors funds you have access to)
A successful business MUST have a balance of the 3 classic factors.
Take a look at local and international businesses that’ve failed, examine them and you
will soon see why they failed – there will be an identifiable imbalance in the factors of
production (quite often it’s a lack of capital!).
As Sun Tzu says in the Art of War, you must know your terrain to gain the positional
advantage.
When examining a business niche before entering take a look at the competition and
how you stack up in terms of the 3 classic factors of production:
•
•
•
Do you know more people than your competition?
Are you or your team more skilled than theirs?
Do you have more available capital or investment funds than your competition?
If you don’t have a compelling advantage in at least one of these three points that’s
not a deal-breaker, it’s simply time to delve deeper into a more specific niche (don’t
compete directly).
The more you learn the more you earn, labor isn’t only about the man-power you have,
it’s about working smart.
Do not spend excessive amounts of time attempting to build upon weakness, instead
focus on patching your weaknesses and building your strengths.
Don’t succumb to the epicurean style of living “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we
die” instead opt to live in the now while simultaneously investing in the future.
STEP 38 – THROWING IDIOTS TO THE CROCODILES
The world is made up of two types of people – allies & competition.
“Mother nature does not see all people equally.”
You’re constantly in competition, whether you see it or not… for example:
•
•
•
•
Sports
Business
Natural disasters
Viruses
Charlie Munger says you ideally want to compete with a bunch of idiots when it comes
to business.
Competing against geniuses is hard, as we discussed before you must have a
competitive advantage in at least one of the three factors of production (land, labor,
capital).
Mexico grows oranges, they’ve got the right climate… it’s their competitive advantage.
They don’t try and grow apples in Mexico because it’s too hard, why bother when others
already have the competitive advantage to do so?
Imagine your business is a castle… your competitive advantage is your moat.
Your moat must be a big advantage in terms of either land, labor or capital to stop your
competition stealing your business model & customers.
You must have stable people for allies – they don’t have to be super successful
themselves, they just need to be stable (not insecure back-biters etc.)
STEP 39 – ALIENATING THE 82% WITH YOUR MESSY
MESSAGE
We think we have unlimited choices when it comes to our career, we don’t have many in
all actuality (do what you’re good at!).
If you can engage/convert 18% of prospects you’ll be very successful.
e.g.
18% of people that browse buy from you.
18% of visitors request additional information.
Hell, McDonalds is a fast food giant and they’ve only just got 10% of the market share
“Think globally and act locally” < focus on a small niche and solve a realistic problem.
Don’t be afraid of alienating those outside of your 18% target, you can’t please
everyone.
“Make your mess your message”
Life is an aggregation of disappointment, don’t give up you must believe in the
inevitability of your success like Michael Jordan did.
Every bit of adversity, every challenge you encounter is your mess… turn this into
your message.
STEP 40 – PRACTICAL PESSIMISM, PARIS HILTON’S
GRANDFATHER, & CONTEMPLATING THE
DOWNSIDE
Read biographies before you go to bed, they’ll help eliminate the media bias and will
give you courage (unlike mass media).
“When the tide comes in you’ll see who’s swimming naked”
You must have long term (end game) optimism as faith is a necessity for success.
Don’t fall victim to American Idol Syndrome – thinking you’re good at something you’re
not (get feedback from strangers to nip this in the bud)
Fear is functional – while you remain optimistic in the long term you must
be pessimistic in the day to day operations.
All emotions have functional uses – fear, anxiety, confidence… harness these for good.
Contemplate the downside like the F-22 fighter pilots… what could go wrong?
Develop multiple plans based on these.
STEP 41 – SAM CHUPP & MAKING, WATCHING,
WONDERING
Money can’t buy life, it’s only 25% of the equation (1 of the 4 pillars of the good life).
There’s 3 types of people in this world:
•
•
•
People that make things happen
People that watch things happen
People that wonder what happened
Raise your awareness level so you’re not wondering.
Know what all the buttons on your computer do, you’re using it daily so you must know
about it. Know about your car, know about all the things you frequently use.
Curiosity is the catalyst for success – Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates… all the
visionaries in the world started off with an unmatched level of curiosity.
Be impressive… know things.
Ask why three times to get to the crux of any issue.
Don’t put things off ’till tomorrow.. you’re the youngest you’ll ever be right now.
STEP 42 – DONUTS, A $250,000 CHECK, AND
GENERAL EISENHOWER
Prioritize things that’re important to you, for me that’s health and fitness (and as a result
of this I wake up at 4am to hit the gym!)
As the old saying goes “First things first”
Your brain has finite willpower – get the hard stuff ticked off your to-do list
first… don’t do the wrong thing at the wrong time.
This is also known as a technique called “eating the frog” (getting the uncomfortable
and hard thing out the way before proceeding with your day).
Keep track of what you need to do – use a daily to-do list or planner if need be.
Don’t stay committed to things that are no longer a priority (this is a cognitive bias, ).
The only laws that are certain are the laws of nature & physics… there’s no rule
saying you must read a book from start to finish, do what suits you and works best.
There are many imaginary/limiting rules out there created by our own mind and
society… break them if need be.
STEP 43 – 20% WEIRD FACTOR, THE CABBAGE
MIND, & THE TREACHERY OF SCOUNDRELS
The majority of happiness comes from human interaction.
Most people can get away with a 20% weird factor (be it due to the way they dress
or mannerisms etc.) but above 20% is trouble.
Insecure/weird people are often backstabbers… proceed with caution.
You can be a nudist or you can be a Buddhist but you cannot be a nudist Buddhist.
STEP 44 – SIX PACK OF THE MIND
You must control your mind before you control your body (e.g. you must build a mental
six pack before a physical six pack).
Think about the things that’re most important to you – spend time thinking about
these things instead of what you’re going to wear or any other trivial things.
Too many people are penny wise and dollar foolish, they’ll pinch pennies and buy milk
when it’s on special but then they go and blow hundreds of dollars on designer clothes.
Opt to be dollar wise and penny foolish… invest your money and spend wisely but
don’t be afraid to pay for convenience when necessary (e.g. going to the closest petrol
station).
“Go deep but not as wide” when it comes to relationships (double down and value your
best friends above your acquaintances).
Don’t be afraid to put all of your eggs into one proverbial basket so long as you keep
close watch on the basket.
Understand opportunity cost… you can do anything but you can’t do everything
(going to the movies costs both your money and your time which could be spend
on a variety of other things).
STEP 45 – BONE THUGS-N-HARMONY & THE
TYRANNY OF THE 1ST & 15TH
1st and the 15th of each month are typically dates that bills and rent are paid.
“Every person wants to rise above the crowd”… few actually take action to do so, you’re
already ahead!
Own the land you’re on, it’s an appreciating asset and will greatly reduce the number of
bills you have.
In the past the way of thinking in business was conquering, factories, big corporations
etc. today we’ve moved into the age of the entrepreneur investor.
These are the new rule of money, the 9 – 5 is no longer the standard (or at least it’s
beginning to die out!).
You must be willing to sacrifice today and forego the instant gratification, be willing to
drive an old and run-down car today so in the future you can drive 3 super-cars.
You must be willing to read a book or write a paper while everyone else is gossiping or
watching a movie.
Stress isn’t necessarily bad, it can be used as a driver to propel you toward your goals.
STEP 46 – ALLAN NATION‘S 1,000 SHEEP AND NOT
DOING IT SMALL
You must be running an operation that can be scaled in order to have impact.
Figure out your methodology and do it from the beginning before ramping up!
If you were on a farm you wouldn’t want to start with 500 sheep, you wouldn’t know
what you were doing, you would want to start with 5 sheep but build the system already
as if you had 500 – that way when you’re ready it’s a matter of continuing as normal
with your systems.
Practice on 5, but make it practical for 500!
It’s all about systems!
STEP 47 – THE 5% TWEAK, NOTHING JANKY, &
WHEN GOOD ENOUGH IS PERFECT
Perfectionists Vs. Momentum Builders
There’s neither a right or wrong, they’re merely two different types of people (I’m a
momentum builder).
Building momentum is hard, making a 5% adjustment and just get started
The first million is the hardest.
The first few pounds of body fat are the hardest.
Focus on your 3-foot world (the things directly around you) like a Navy SEAL and
things will begin to come together for you.
Don’t do anything janky
Janky meaning rushed or unfinished, e.g. don’t hang a picture crooked on the wall or
only half screw in the bolts for your new computer desk.
Get things done fast but get them done in a complete fashion so you don’t have to go
back and fix it up later.
STEP 48 – MICHAEL JORDAN SWAGGER &
AMERICAN IDOL SYNDROME
Michael Jordan was extremely cocky and confident but his coaches continue to say he
was the most teachable person they’d ever seen (he listened to the 1% and ignored
the 99%).
You must tune out the noise that is the 99% if you want to become successful.
Learn from the 1% – the subject matter experts. Knowledge from them will build your
confidence.
Don’t fall victim to American Idol syndrome and become delusional, thinking you’re good
at the wrong thing.
You can’t fool people (there’s no A list actor or singer that isn’t extremely good!)
You must do things that no one else is doing while maintaining faith that it’ll pay off in
the long run (end game optimism).
Do the work then reward yourself and enjoy your accomplishments – “Pat yourself on
the back on Friday, not Monday”
There’s a line between confidence and arrogance, don’t cross it as this is known as tall
poppy syndrome (people don’t like this and will cut you down).
STEP 49 – WHY JAY Z AND WARREN BUFFET LIKE
BASEBALL
Warren Buffet believes the only way to learn is by mistakes, but no one said they have
to be your own mistakes!
Make less mistakes than your competition (if they’re making 100 mistakes you can
only afford to make 20 mistakes).
Don’t be like a baseball player attempting to wildly swing for a home run on every
ball.
The bases of progression:
1st base – stopping the negative momentum
2nd base – momentum beginning to turn to positive
3rd base – you’re making progress, others are beginning to notice
home run – you hit your goal!
Once you’ve got through it all you can swing again, utilizing your new-fond momentum
in order to get a home run!
Keep your mistake factor as low as possible – learn from books, from other people and
simulate as much as possible as we all know mistakes can be costly (financially, lives
etc.)
STEP 50 – MASTERING THE WRONG THINGS & BLUE
EYESHADOW NUMB-NUTS
Don’t be so quick to delegate things you don’t understand.
Become a master – master your mind, your body and your environment.
Understand inversion
Instead of thinking about how to ne successful think about how not to be successful
e.g. instead of thinking about how to lose weight think about how to not lose weight
•
•
•
You won’t lose weight by eating junk food
You won’t lose weight by eating large portions
You won’t lose weight with an exercise-free lifestyle
Master the right thing but don’t be so stubborn about the path you take to get there.
Be stubborn about the end goal, not the means of achieving it (this is falling victim to
another cognitive bias).
Look for people with blue eye shadow when you’re looking for help – these are the
people with scars and bags under their eyes… the experienced veterans.
Seek the right balance of doing it yourself vs. outsourcing.
Don’t give vendors second chances… only family deserves a second chance.
“Hire fast, fire fast”
“Only masters are remembered” e.g. Alexander the Great, Picasso, Bill Gates…
STEP 51 – CHATTING WITH WITTGENSTEIN’S LION
Ideas form EVERYTHING – everything great starts in the mind (the idea of electricity,
technology etc.)
If a lion could speak we wouldn’t understand him – although the vast majority of
communication is non-verbal.
For example, I can’t understand or speak Chinese but I can pick up on tonality, body
language, expression, volume etc.
80% of communicate is non-verbal.
“Being understood is the foundation of persuasion”
You cannot afford to be egocentric.
Getting what you want in life comes down to effective communication.
You must become a master of the soft skills of communication:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tonality
Body language
Volume
Adjusting tone
Smiling
Timing
STEP 52 – PARETO EFFICIENCIES & THE BUSINESS
TRIPLE ENTENTE
A pareto efficiency is a win/win situation.
“Don’t go to war unless you have to”
Everything you do should focus on the win/win.
There are 3 levels of business in existence:
Level 1 business
•
•
•
One party wins at the expense of others
There’s often an uproar against these businesses
Examples include fast food and thieves
Level 2 business
•
•
•
•
Not too good and not too bad
Neutral thoughts on business
Examples are coffee shops and discount retail stores
A “good” business to own
Level 3 business
•
•
•
Win/win businesses!
Customers LOVE to give you money
Oprah and best-selling authors are examples of level 3 business
Avoid the win/lose business scenarios.
Always have a safety net in your business and your life, be conservative with your
estimates and calculations.
STEP 53 – THE SECOND RULE IS NEVER FORGET
THE FIRST RULE
You must set out to create and then capture value.
You cannot expect to be successful if you merely create but do not capture, that’s
the equivalent of a world class artist doing a painting then never revealing it to the
world.
The 2-step process to success is therefore:
•
•
Create value
Capture
The more value you create the higher the potential for demand – there’s not a lot of
demand for people juggling chainsaws on fire because they do not provide much in the
way of value.
Ensure what YOU are doing is creating value (this is called veracity testing).
The world responds to seed (you taking action and putting in the work) not need (your
selfish desires and demands).
STEP 54 – CHESS-LIKE ASSIDUITY & ARMCHAIR
MEDITATION
You must be able to sit in a chair and think.
Don’t fall into the trap of working IN (day to day) your business instead of ON (growth)
your business.
You must have the correct mix of being balanced in your thinking – focus on the
moment but do not forget where you want to be in the future.
Chess-like day dreaming involves thinking ahead and thinking deeply.
Think in ‘moves’ as if you were playing a game of chess.
Choose an issue in your life – ask yourself a deep question, answer it, go deep on the
answer etc.
Focus on each move and one problem at a time.
We’re all able to diagnose problems correctly… that’s easy.
BUT
We can’t find a solution because we’re too deep into the problem itself this is why
multi-level (move based) problem solving is necessary.
STEP 55 – THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY
UNSUCCESSFUL PEOPLE & THE TARDY TREE
SLOTH
Learn to invert your thinking.
As Sherlock Holmes said “remove all that can’t be true and you’ll find what is true“
For example, if you want to be successful in business look at how NOT to be successful
in business & do the opposite.
Think about it…
How could you get unhealthy fast?
•
•
•
Eating junk food
Eating too much
Minimal exercise
How could you lose money and be poor fast?
•
•
•
Spend more than you save
Make poor investments
Not value money
How could you find yourself in a terrible relationship?
•
•
•
•
Ignoring the obvious signs
Not looking at how compatible you are
Rushing into a relationship for the sake of it
Not listening to the advice of others
Sloth & unreliability according to Charlie Munger is the #1 way to ensure you’ll be
unsuccessful.
You MUST know yourself.
STEP 56 – FLOATING ACROSS THE PACIFIC ON A
RAFT AND WHY SITTING BULL LIKED TO BE SHOT
AT
Don’t float in the wrong direction like the average person
•
•
The average person is getting fatter
The average person saves $2 out of every $100
You must be brave and courageous in life, know when to hold them and when to fold
them (courage doesn’t mean going all out and making irrational decisions!)
In order to gain courage, make sure you’re reading biographies of the greats (Arnold
Schwarzenegger etc.) before you go to bed.
Take cold showers to toughen up!
Subject yourself to uncomfortable situations like the ancient Spartans and stoics – the
average millionaire has more courage than the general population.
Listen to the wise words of the courageous Chief Tecumseh:
“So, live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and
Demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life,
Beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and
Its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,
Even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and
Bow to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and
For the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks,
The fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and nothing,
For abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.
When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts
Are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes
They weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again
In a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”
STEP 57 – UNSTUMPABILITY & SHERLOCK HOLMES
SLEUTHING
Be unstumpable – aka. a subject matter expert.
You must strive to know everything in your field, a heart surgeon doesn’t fix broken
bones but you’d still expect them to know how many bones are in the human body.
Be sure that you’re able to answer the hardest 3 – 5 questions about your
subject/industry.
For example, when it comes to the fitness/health industry this may be along the lines of:
•
•
•
•
Does calorie counting actually work?
Are there any benefits to following a fasting diet?
Why should I do HIIT (interval training) instead of steady state cardio
What is protein synthesis?
I would expect a fitness author, a personal trainer and a nutritionist to know the answer
to all of these questions.
In order to become more aware (and unstumpable) you must be curious.
Every great person started off with curiosity.
Be like Sherlock Holmes and investigate/sleuth everything – what do the buttons on
your phone do? How many lights are on your cars dashboard?
Before seeking a relationship or investor invert the situation and ask yourself:
“Would I invest in me?”
“Would I marry me?”
STEP 58 – DEATH BY FAKE PRAISE AND CHARLIE
MUNGER’S GRANDFATHER
We all only get a few opportunities in life – when you see a big opportunity in life you
MUST seize it as chances are there aren’t many more coming your way.
Do not be patiently impatient (PI).
Opt to be impatiently patient (IP).
Fake praise will be your downfall – if you’re being told you’re “good” then you’re in for
trouble as good is the enemy of great.
You don’t get remembered for good work, you get remembered if you’re the best.
Fake praise won’t get you a pay rise, fake praise won’t get you a promotion, fake praise
won’t get you remembered when the history books are written.
As Seneca said in On The Shortness of Life “be frugal with your time, not your money”
In order to seize and conquer the few colossal opportunities you do encounter you can’t
just be good, you must be great.
Be great BEFORE you are met with opportunity, be ready at all times.
For example, if Arnold Schwarzenegger was skinny when he met Joe Weider he
wouldn’t have gotten in competing, acting and the like – there’s no time to say “give me
10 years to build muscle” – you must already have the muscle!
As the old saying goes “be so good they can’t ignore you”
STEP 59 – THE DILIGENT CELEBRITY & MEETING
THE KING
Exercise diligence and skill over time.
“See you a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand
before mean men. ”Proverbs 22:29
Your tool belt must be comprised of an event amount of hard skills and soft skills.
Hard skills are tangible skills such as:
•
•
•
Programming
Engineering
HTML web design
Soft skills are the intangible skills such as:
•
•
•
•
Speaking
Persuasion
Likeability
Timing
You should seek out ‘local celebrity status’ this is the earned respect of your peers –
this could be your football team, your family or your neighbors depending on the
scenario.
You cannot be like a computer programmer and have no intangible skills (and only
know programming) at the same time if you’re great with soft skills you must link these
with several hard tangible skills.
STEP 60 – THE DUTCH BIG GULP
When it comes to drinking beer there’s two types of drinkers… these are the sippers
that take their time to savor the drink, the opposite is the gulper.
The gulper has trained themselves over time to consume a large amount of liquid in a
short amount of time, bypassing the natural tendency of our throat.
You must be impatiently patient when it comes to knowledge and
accomplishment like the gulper.
You cannot afford to be patiently impatient like the sipper, thinking you have a
lifetime to accomplish your goals because we do not know how many days we have left.
Don’t act as if you were immortal and have time to sip away at knowledge and
accomplishment.
Seneca said it best in ‘On the Shortness of Life’:
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“You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire”
There’s no guarantee you’re going to outlive a healthy 95 year old just because you’re
25 (we’re not guaranteed a set number of days or years left to live).
Don’t become too soon old and too late smart.
STEP 61 – THE $495,000 HONDA ACCORD
“You can do anything but you can’t do everything”
EVERYTHING has a cost, regardless of whether there’s a monetary cost there will
always be a time and energy cost.
Your time and energy are far more precious than your money, as you can make
more money – we all can… but as Stephen Hawking has discovered we can and never
will be able to generate more time or go back in time.
It may cost $10 to go to the movies but that is far from the actual cost of attending the
movies.
Say you’re a hedge fund manager that makes $1M a day…. spending 2 hours at the
movies just cost you the $10 cost of the movie ticket and 2 hours of your time worth
$83,3332.00.
That’s not even the total opportunity cost as we haven’t taken into account projected
value… perhaps this hedge fund manager makes 10x return on each hour spent
working over the course of 10 years… the long term cost of that movie was 8.3M!
Become a matter of opportunity cost by looking to the future.
“It’s not what you spend it’s the value you’ll get”
This is why sometimes it’s worth buying the most expensive option, in the case of
hardware tools it pays to get quality that’ll last and do a better job.
Don’t spend large amounts of money on things that RRD (rust, rot or depreciate).
Spend your funds on investing in yourself and assets that will appreciate over time.
You must deploy your cash into investments as wealth is created by spending money
(if you leave your cash under a mattress it’ll slowly but surely get eaten away by
inflation).
Knowledge that adjusts our instincts is the type of knowledge you want.
Everything is quantifiable:
•
Your waist size
•
•
The balance of your bank account
The number of friends you have
STEP 62 – $20 BILLION GIFT FROM STRANGERS &
BUILDING FORGIVENESS INTO THE LAND
Sadness comes in the form of regression. (this is due to the contrast bias)
Keep a little bit of fear in your life, it is essential if you wish to guard the success
you’ve already obtained(don’t become too comfortable and rest on your loins!)
Build a life with a wide margin of safety (for example, have multiple income streams,
have 2 baby sitters available… it’s all about redundancy of systems)
Build good will in other people – help them, give them gifts etc. as this is known as
‘building forgiveness’.
Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in jail, however he had built a ton of good will and
forgiveness in others prior to going to jail, upon his release everyone helped him spread
his message!
We all generally life long enough to experience a form of ‘hell on earth’ when we do so
it’s imperative we have built up that forgiveness to help us through.
Build forgiveness with your body by going to the gym.
Build forgiveness with your bank account by saving and investing instead of
squandering your income.
Build forgiveness with your joints by stretching and performing yoga on a regular basis.
“Do what’s hard when it’s easy”
STEP 63 – ALEXANDER THE GREAT’S AGGRESSION
AND THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR AGE
Tomorrow is never promised – ensure you’ve got a goal set for today.
When you’re rising up you cannot afford to take a day off, do a bit of practice towards
your craft every single day.
Don’t be too patient, your birth certificate age doesn’t guarantee how long your life will
be.
Start as if you were going to die tomorrow but pursue big things as if you were
going to live forever.
Begin impatiently but understand that the end goal takes time (in all things health,
wealth, love and happiness).
Fear is conquered by adopting the abundance mindset, but remember we are not
abundant in time.
You must have the courage to overcome the fear of death or it will take you.
STEP 64 – FORGETTING WHO’S IN THE ROOM
It’s not what you say or feel… it’s what you do.
What you think may change what you do
BUT
What you do will change what you think
“Sometimes you don’t have anything to add” – know when you’re in a room full of the
33% of better above you and listen intently.
Pay attention to who is in the room with you, for example your response would be
different if your broke your leg depending on who is there with you…
If you were with a room full of babies you’d have to help yourself (33% below you).
If you were with a room full of friends they would assist you (33% on your level).
If you were with a room full of medical doctors you’d shut up and listen and let them
help you (33% above you).
Don’t fall victim to the ‘everything is a nail when you have a hammer’ mentality, change
based on who you are with.
STEP 65 – THE PIERIAN SPRING & FROM WHENCE
COMETH THE PRIDE
It takes in excess of 14,000 hours to become an expert at something so limit your
convictions… you’re not an expert just yet!
Read more, constantly be on a quest for new knowledge.
Be about results, not the method used to get them.
You must earn your chaps and get your scars before you’re a know it all – don’t become
delusional before then.
STEP 66 – ELVIS PRESLEY & THE PERSISTENT
WIDOW
Show up every single day, as to get what you want you must be persistent.
Sticking to things is the name of the game.
Don’t fall victim to the media bias (it didn’t take Bill Gates a day or two to attain his
success… he locked himself in a cubical for 10 dark years without taking a day off!)
You must have adequate knowledge and adequate potential along with the dedication
to take courageous action consistently – this is the recipe for success.
As Bruce Lee said “I fear not the man who has practiced 10000 kicks once, but I fear
the man who has practiced one kick 10000 times.”
STEP 67 – ANNIHILATING THE AMYGDALA & MPFC
MASTERY
Get things done, don’t strive for the absolute level of perfection because you’ll never get
anything done! The only time you need utter perfection is if you’re in the airline
business.
Negative comments to some degree are a given (you can’t please everyone as we all
see things in different ways – what some will perceive as good others will perceive as
bad).
Social pressure triggers fear but you cannot please all the people all the time.
Don’t be afraid to spend a lot of your income on knowledge and gaining wisdom, no
one has ever reached their death bed and exclaimed “Oh I wish I didn’t spend so
much money on books!”
Your brain is ultimately re-wired via exposure therapy – get out there and put yourself in
those uncomfortable situations and they’ll soon become normal (the re-wiring is taking
place!)
Money can be earned… time and energy cannot be earned or re-run.. they’re ultimately
finite.
Don’t wish for an easy life, don’t wish for everything to be given to you as
ultimately happiness is found in the struggle.
“The hard is what makes it great” this is memory happiness.
Read These Books
Throughout the 67 steps Tai mentions a large number of books, however the books
listed below are discussed the most and from my experience (reading and owning them)
have provided the most value.
• Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Charlie Munger
• Made in America by Sam Walton
• The Everything Store by Jeff Bezos
• On The Shortness of Life by Seneca
• Screw it, let’s do it by Richard Branson
• A billion the hard way by J R Simplot