Stop pursuing your dreams.
Many years ago, I had a friend that loved going out in hopes to pursue his soul mate. It’s a good idea to get moving towards trying to pursue what you want. But it would have been easier if he just instead spent time thinking about how to become an attractive man. They call it […]
Why your intention matters more than your actual results.
“It’s the thought that counts!” This terrible excuse (usually for failing at something) may have more truth in it than it seems. Recall, this is a similar concept on premises and book summaries that states that the “why” matters more than the “what.” For example: The ‘what’ is – “He’s successful.” The ‘why’ is – “Because he’s […]
Revealed: The complete secret formula to find your passion.
You don’t. That’s the secret. Very few thought leaders will admit this idea of finding a passion is a terrible idea. It’s because it’s highly lucrative to sell people an easily believable model: 1) Find your passion 2) Then you’ll love what you do 3) Then you’ll get rich Give people some anecdotal stories about […]
Beware of the book summary.
There’s an art to doing a book summary, which I can assure you very few people do well at. Many book summaries have 2 fatal flaws: 1) They tell you the conclusion, 2) They boil it down. Sounds great right? It’s terrible. Because conclusions don’t matter nearly as much as the premises to have reached the conclusion. […]
The 3,253 step process to getting what you want.
Everyone wants a simple process…or a fast process. Generally they want both, at the same time. The “The 5 step process you need to do to make $10k a month in your business!” The problem with the desire for a simple process is the harder it becomes. Interestingly enough, when you have more steps though, […]
If you want to succeed – stop trying to do your best.
Beware of bad advice that gets hidden and wrapped around good advice. Your mind will embrace both ideas, which contradict each other, and result in not being able to progress. People can’t figure out why they can’t execute their plan, why they lack motivation, and so on. But the problem isn’t in a lack of […]
Having inaccurate beliefs can help you reach the next level.
Dan Kennedy talks about you should be interpreting all news as good news, since it’s very difficult to know if something that seems “bad” leads to something “good” later on. You never get any momentum of moving forward if you’re always assessing each thing as “good or bad” and also considering that many things are […]
The 2 precise reasons to know immediately whether to quit or not.
We already know that winners have no problem failing, but considering the difference between failing vs quitting can be illuminating. Quitting means you never got to the end point to know if you failed or not. If the goal is to knock out Mike Tyson, then “quitting” is going to the boxing gym for a […]
The monster opportunity behind being late to the latest trend.
When I’m 1 day late to wish someone a happy birthday, I don’t wish them a belated birthday, I wish them a happy 364 day early birthday. If you’re late to business trends, there’s usually something else that you’re inherently tremendously early for if the original trend is still going. You may have missed the […]
Taking the easy road is the only path of real progress.
In an interview with Tom Bilyeu, Michael Ovitz, a highly successful talent agency owner in Hollywood, talks about how much easier we have it now and subtly hints to the glory (and difficulty) of cranking things out from scratch as he did in the entertainment industry. It’s worth spending a moment to consider the implications […]
How to perfectly define what personal weakness to work on
Wait, didn’t I say to never work on weaknesses in another article? Yes and no. You’d think that if you asked for a laundry list of things, and got 90%, you should be content since you got the majority. In another article I talk about whether to double down on your strengths like many guru […]
The massive opportunity in stagnant and commoditized industries
Stagnant valuable industries that aren’t declining, are usually where we find the home runs for new businesses. People want to enter the obvious industries – VR, High Tech, and Artificial Intelligence. Nothing wrong with that, as there’s tons of opportunity there. But that often comes with the implicit conclusion that there’s no opportunity elsewhere. Go […]
How many more ideas can we come up with?
Seth Godin had an April Fools post where he said he’s out of ideas and totally tapped. Cooking, as an analogy, can have 2 types of ideas. One where you mix up the ingredients creatively, and something new comes out. This is creativity, but what happened when someone discovered pasta. The amount of variables in […]
If you’re not envious of someone you may be insane.
People love to say whatever they want is “very reasonable” and “isn’t too much to ask.” They say stuff like it’s pretty reasonable to: ask for a bunch of coworkers that are competent, expect the drive-thru worker to get your order done right, to expect your CPA to NOT get you audited again, to have […]
Great news – it’s all your fault.
People love to hate on lawyers. Are lawyers greedy evil people or an awesome way to understand a fundamental component of success? Should we hate on them, or realize they’re innocent and not to blame? If you try to entice someone to break the law, it’s actually illegal and called entrapment. It’s not ok to […]
The real reason why successful people wake up at 5am
“Successful people are working when others don’t!” – Not (fully) true. Richard Branson wakes up at 5am. Tim Cook (Apple CEO) wakes up at 4am. Warren Buffett wakes up at 6:45am (and this is considered sleeping ‘late’) Oprah wakes up at 6am. Gurus claim vapid things like “they’re awake while others are sleeping, and that’s […]
The 90 second secret to unlocking creativity in every field.
Some want to have their knowledge take on a life of its own, and come up with new ideas. This creative point happens when you understand your fundamentals. Listen to 100 videos by Gary Vaynerchuk, whom hits the fundamentals over and over in different ways, and when you listen to next one, there’s a good […]
Role models, mentors, and why getting rich doing what you love is likely impossible.
If you love mowing grass, making $150k a year business from it is going to be hard. If you love plastic surgery, making $150k a year business from it is going to be easy as hell. The gurus pounding the idea of visualization, persistence, marketing, and so on need to shut up for a second […]
Being logical and mean doesn’t make you smarter
“It is what it is!” – No shit… “It’s neither here nor there.” – Of course! “It might or might not be a good idea.” – Isn’t everything?! These vapid types of statements are like honey to a bear wanting to prove how dumb others are for using these types of statements. But is it […]
Nature abhors a vacuum.
People often don’t have rooms in their houses that are empty because they’ve already filled it up with stuff. Clean off a shelf? Watch knick-knacks start to pop up on that shelf. If you clean a room in a hoarders home, they won’t have an uncluttered room, they’ll just have a new spot to be […]
Marketing in the fine print.
Most marketers have their great ad headlines and sales copy that looks great, but down in fine print it shows that most people make no money at all (or lose no weight) or whatever the goal of the product is. But what if you can market infinitely better by breaking the Typicality of Results. Most […]
The 7 unconscious reasons you aren’t impressed with making a million bucks.
A lot of times we’re impressed when we hear of someone making a great deal of cash. Tom Bilyeu gives these wonderfully grand introductions for his guests talking about how bad they had it before they made it big. But the details on how they “made it” are what’s important. The reality is there’s 7 […]
Hope is the cocaine of the self-improvement industry.
Who sounds like they might be more successful next year, is it: a) “I’m hoping that next year I’ll find some time to start a business.” b) “I’m certain next year I’ll have more time to start a business.” You tell me. But yet, a lot of gurus sell hope, and it’s a great product […]
Tom Bilyeu’s great advice may inadvertently cripple aspiring entrepreneurs.
“It’s already been done before” – is it a cop out reason to not execute or good reason to avoid a business idea? Some good advice and also the title of Alan Beckers book is “There’s always room at the top.” We hear Tom talk about being the best at a Google talk on YouTube. Tom Bilyeu thinks […]
The hidden costs that your job is costing you.
When you think about retiring, people are told to look at your expenses and say, “I’m spending $5k a month now. So I need $5k a month in retirement income.” But this forgets the fact that all jobs cost money, which is going into your current budget, and making you think you need more post-retirement […]
Car horns suck and kittens can save lives.
Engineers are wracking their brain on how to make a safer vehicles. That’s hard, but thankfully ingesting Truth Cake is far easier and more productive. What’s easy is realizing the stat that many accidents / deaths on the road are attributed to road rage. Car horns are supposed to alert another driver that you’re around. […]
Be aware that many goals are figments of your imagination.
Let’s say your goal is to own your own private jet. Nevermind the idea of whether this a good goal or whether it will “truly fulfill you” – simply look at the goals reality and purpose. The goal of owning your own jet has the reality that you can travel places fast and more easily […]
Failure is always an option, and winners often quit.
“Winners NEVER quit! Failure is NOT an option!” Just kidding – it’s a great option. Beware of the idea that failure isn’t an option. First off, it detaches you from reality, which is never a good thing, because you can’t make good decisions when you don’t have a grasp of reality. Here’s reality: you can […]
You’re only 5 friends, and 3 steps, away from getting rich.
Science or BS: You’re the average of the 5 people you hang around with? It’s a little bit science, a little magic, and a little vague too. Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins’ mentor, said you’re the average of the 5 people you hang around with. The easiest example was to consider those 5 people’s income that […]
Why you’ve got to give up on being the best.
James Altucher talks about “idea sex”, which is simply combining different ideas and skills to come up with something unique. Seth Godin, Jim Rohn (Tony Robbin’s mentor), Tom Bilyeu (founder of Quest Bars), and most all people say that you should be a master of one thing. “When you find yourself on the side of […]
The Paradox of Content
Google, data filtration, paradoxical advice, and the next billion dollar app. Seth Godin, Gary Vee, and many others are talking about how you need to be producing more content and we need more producers and not consumers. The problem is, most people probably shouldn’t be producing content. And really we have too much content as […]
The most accurate, best, and relevant advice that’s totally worthless.
Long time ago, I saw a YouTube comment where the guy was grumbling that the speaker didn’t ever seem to get to the point and that it was a bad speech. I agreed with him. Then I came back 2 years later and had my mind blown with the exact same speech. Here’s what happened… […]
There’s no secret to success?! Wrong…
“There’s no secret to success, it is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell. “There are no secrets [to success]. Be humble. Be hungry. And always be the hardest worker in the room.” – Dwayne Johnson Telling someone that hard work is the answer is like saying, “You can get […]
Why you need theoretical, non-actionable advice.
When’s the last time a craving really took you down the right path? A fat body craves sugar. A junkie craves another hit. A narcissist craves another compliment. The gurus that want to sell you something usually want to sell you “actionable advice.” Since that’s what we crave – not more of this ‘worthless’ theory […]
Revealed: Work on your weaknesses or double down on strengths?
Gary Vee says stop working on your weaknesses and double down on those strengths. James Altucher says he had to work on speaking to crowds and had to work on many his weaknesses. This gets ridiculously convoluted. So here ya go, Double down on your core strength, and work on whatever weaknesses the core is […]
The internet murdered the underline
It’s neat to think about that writers in the past used bold, italics, and underline to emphasize things in different ways. But writers on the internet can’t use underline anymore because it’s implied to be a link to click on, more so than it’s something that’s important to call attention to. Maybe underline wasn’t ever so great or needed, […]
Finding gold in garbage.
I watched a video by Gary Halbert, arguably the best copywriter that wrote “The Boron Letters” that shaped a lot of the way direct mail ads were written. As a kid, I’d read these letters selling me the best speed reading techniques, kung fu secrets, and ancient wisdom from Zen monks. The video I watched […]
Gambling vs Investing and how words expose expectations.
Your language colors more than you think. If you use $1 in hopes to turn it into $2, it’s an: a) Investment if the odds are in your favor b) Gamble if the odds are out of your favor Consider the workaholic that works so much and makes so much money that he doesn’t have […]
The paradox of brain chemistry of masochists
If hurting your self is inherently painful, but if you like hurting yourself on some sort of level, what does the brain chemistry look like for a masochist (is it all cortisol or dopamine)? There’s a lot of studies on this that are pretty interesting. Vote Up +0 Vote Down -0You already voted!
Stop wasting your time and watch a cat video!
Simplifying everything allows for the greatest progression many times. Let’s simplify the world economy… Corporations buy time (employees), mark it up and sell the time back to you (time saving devices), or they sell you drugs (dopamine), which is what you’d do with your time. You’re spending money on either: 1) Dopamine from 2 means […]
The biggest secret on beating an industry monopoly.
Britannica, the most successful encyclopedia business for 244 years failed, not to World Book, but to the internet. Yellow Cab, failed not because of their competitors, but (likely) to Uber / Lyft. Walmart closed stores, not because of K-Mart / Sears, but because of Amazon. Ted Levitt (the Harvard profession that coined the word ‘globalization’) […]
Why focusing on your goals makes some people lose.
People talk about success comes with hard work. Keeping your eye on the prize and the ultimate outcome. And the journey is more important than the destination. These things might be true, but I think another way to rethink this into something more concrete is to consider what it takes to win the game you’re […]
How to properly become a selfish philanthropist
There’s studies that show that as people start to give their money or time away to some sort of charity that the money tends to come back to them even more so. There’s lots of “eerie” stories of random charity coming back (eg. giving $5 to a hobo and then finding a $20 on the […]
The ultimate paradox: The lazier you are, the richer you are.
Relax your way to riches! You need to start realizing how the laziest people are the richest. If you don’t know what the best business to get in is, someone else will tell you, but you’ll find yourself chasing your tail. I was reading a real estate investment book written by the successful Dave Van […]
Why knowing the difference between an Equinox vs a Solstice matters so much.
It doesn’t matter. That’s why. And that’s why you likely we never fully understood the difference between the two things. When things don’t matter to us, it’s hard to learn. Obvious? Not really… It matters deeply to someone about to take a test if they care about their grades though. So when I mean it […]
Statistics, stories, and death of the book summary
Statistics don’t seem to work well in the human mind, it has to create it’s own conclusion from the stories of something actually happening. It’s far more powerful if I tell you 3 stories about how someone not wearing a seat belt all died vs saying “After surveying 1000 accidents, 95% of the time, seat […]
Why learning from others mistakes doesn’t prevent us from making mistakes.
We see successful people all the time talking about the mistakes they made, and usually have a course to help you “avoid the mistakes they made.” But why do we see all these successful people talking about having made the mistakes to begin with? Was there no “home study course” back in their day for […]
The top 4 tricks for DIY brain surgery. And #2 will surprise you!
The death of depth is going to catch up with us and our desire for speedy hacks and “top 10” lists. Neil Patel gave a presentation on building online businesses and in the Q&A afterwards, someone asked, “How do you do Adwords?” Which is a great question really, but it’s terrible in this environment, because […]
The truth can be very misleading.
In an interview with Neil Patel, in regards to producing content that spreads, the interviewer says, “It’s quality that matters, not quantity.” This is true and is likely the right advice, but it’s not very good advice. The issue is that you often only can start to get quality from creating quantity – this has […]
The internet is lying to you.
Consider the question your asking google. If there’s a money trail, the answers you’re getting are likely useless. Books may win yet another battle over free web articles. If you ask, “Do I need an attorney for XYZ” The answer is ALWAYS yes, because every attorney website will pop up giving you free “helpful” advice […]
You don’t need self improvement mumbo jumbo.
You also don’t need a shovel to dig a hole when your hands will do just fine. Digging faster with your hands can happen for numerous reasons: If you were born with big hands If you work out, you’ll scoop out dirt faster If you’re a good planner, you’d dig near the coast in sandy […]
Cookies and privacy policies are killing people.
Things wasting time without any value are damaging to humanity.
This currency is poised to go up more than Bitcoin.
Businesses that help save time will be the ones that succeed.
Why some self-improvement stuff is awful.
Make sure you’re hearing the right advice for where you are in life.
Working hard can actually be the worst thing for getting started.
Quality is born from doing lots of bad work because it’s easy to be a critic.
Need help with your launching your startup? Get a girlfriend.
Your end goal can be achieved faster if you know what it really is.
Tony Robbins’ untold secret on why wild goals are easier to achieve than realistic ones
Your wild goals allow you to see your real goals, which are actually easiest to achieve.
You don’t want to know the answer.
We love answers. We love “getting it.” We love breakthroughs. We love having the answers. But don’t we also say “ignorance is bliss,” and notice that intelligent people are more likely* to be depressed? What about when you discover that you’re the reason for all your failures as Tom Bilyeu (co-founder of Quest Nutrition) suggests? Or […]
Invisibility: The secret key to happiness.
We all know that people generally feel better when they have a different perspective on things. Here’s some examples: You know that bully just has personal problems they’re struggling with. The guy that cut you off in traffic just didn’t see you and would never have done that if they saw you there. Your boyfriend […]
Color blind?
Mindmaps, a brainstorming method where you draw out ideas (this is so simplified, it’s not even accurate), maintains that you need to use different colors of ink when you’re writing out the words. The theory is that different colors of ink activate extra parts of your creative mind to help see issues from different perspectives. […]
Your problem likely isn’t your problem.
The problem you’re trying to solve currently is most likely not your actual problem. Someone thinks, “Can’t find a decent girl!” and thinks the problem is the girls. The problem is they suck and can’t attract decent girls. Someone thinks, “I need help with reaching clients!” and thinks the problem is marketing. The problem is […]
Did humanity really win World War II?
The total worldwide population of Jews is about 15 million. The total casualties in World War II was 50-80 million. Would more lives had been saved if we didn’t try to stop Hitler from killing all the Jews? Do we do more damage solving problems than just leaving a problem alone. Vote Up +0 Vote […]
Finding the shortcut is harder than going the long way.
People want to find these shortcuts, and I’m not hating on shortcuts and expounding how “hard work beats shortcuts” or some hollow inspirational one-liner. Tell that to someone that’s worked their ass off for 40 years and gotten no where that they want to be. Hard work doesn’t always work. So work smart then? No, […]
Knowledge is potentially destroying progress.
Knowledge and free speech is potentially crippling the progress of humanity. If in 1970, you learned by books and maybe a teacher. In 2018, we learn by podcasts, forums, videos, blogs, and books. The problem is a lot of information is 1) repeated already, and sometimes inadvertently since people don’t always know if someone else […]
You need unqualified mentors.
If someone is able to mentor you, stop quizzing them to see if their advice is “worthy” for you or not. Very few people are likely personally offering to help you, and you’re likely not so inundated with helpful people that you need to start eliminating the people that have worthless advice because they’re not […]