The best of us on paper… It is called The Essentials.

The short version:

• Format: Magazine-size paperback print issue (US letter - perfect bound) on coated white paper (black text on white).

• Inside: 18 essays. And two of them have never been published anywhere else.

• Editions: Color or Black and White. Same 18 essays with the same exact cover.

• Shipping: Free and tracked.

• Orders close: January 5th 2027. No reprints.

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Why this?

We wanted to do something different from what everyone else on Substack is currently doing. Something you can touch and put on a shelf once you are done with it. It is our first print project. Made by us from start to finish. From creating the content inside, editing how things should look, to picking the art.

What’s inside?

Two editions of the same magazine?

Color: Full of copyright-free artwork. From classical paintings all the way to legendary art that you can find in the most famous museums in the world.

Black and white: The same essays and diagrams as in the color version. But without the artwork… Giving you this feeling like you are reading newspapers.

Which one?

• Pick color if you want to keep it on a shelf or enjoy the artwork.

• Pick black and white if you are interested in the text only.

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3. After it is ready, we ship it to you with tracking. With Black Friday coming up, the realistic expectation is 17 - 24 days in total.

Want it by Christmas or to gift it to someone? Order by November 30th at the latest. We unfortunately can’t guarantee when something will arrive at your doorstep.

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Black Friday - Lifetime membership

If you have been with us for some time, there is a Black Friday deal we do every year. It is a tradition at this point. It is a bit earlier this year than we would like, but with The Essentials coming out, we decided to run it at the same time.

Don’t care about the magazine? Shipping not available to your location? This one is for you.

Lifetime membership at a discounted price is available until November 30th.

For anyone who hates recurring payments and sees themselves still reading in a few years. This is the perfect time to switch.

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FAQ

As someone who has read every post. Why would I buy this?

There is no right or wrong answer to this. Two essays in it have never been published. The other 16 are the best (subjective) of more than 150. This is for those who are looking for something away from a screen. Or maybe you just want to support what we do, and this is by far the best way.

Color or black and white?

Both editions include the same 18 essays, so the content is unchanged. The essays are identical. The color edition features artwork on most spreads, while the black and white edition has none and reads more like a newspaper. It is worth noting that we could only print images we had the rights to. The color edition uses copyright-free artwork, not necessarily the images from the original posts.

How long can I buy it?

Until January 5th 2027. After that, The Essentials in its current form is gone. No reprints.

When will it ship and when will it arrive?

We ship to the EU, UK, US, and select parts of Asia and Australia. Printing takes 2 - 3 days. Given the upcoming period (Black Friday and the Holidays), expect 17 - 24 days from order to your door. The US is by far the fastest.

When does the Black Friday lifetime deal end?

November 30th. After that, lifetime membership is only available together with the physical copy.

I am already paying for a monthly/annual subscription. Can I switch to lifetime?

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Disclaimer: None of this is legal or financial advice of any kind.

Most of what you were taught about money, work and life is wrong. Your parents, teachers, friends, coworkers. They all believed it. They got it from someone who believed it too. Repeat anything enough times, from enough different people… It stops sounding like an opinion and starts sounding like a fact. Yet it is still a lie.

What you have been sold.

1. More money = more happiness. Up to a point. Yes. Getting out of survival mode changes everything, and never having to worry about paying rent is something everyone should experience. After that? Not really. It is great not to have to worry about it. Money doesn’t change who you are. It just amplifies who you have always been. There is a reason so many people turn to substance abuse and bad decisions. Money is not a miracle, as everyone tells you it is. What money can buy you is freedom, time, and health, and no one can disagree with that. Unfortunately… Those are three things most people take for granted.

   

2. Get good grades, get a degree, get married, get a mortgage, be grateful… Grateful for what? To live exactly like everyone else around you. It is a scripted lie written for a world that is gone. Yet everyone still follows it because it is the safest path. The reason why no one questions it? Because everyone around them is doing the exact same thing.

3. When someone is busy, that automatically means they are productive. Lie. One from the corporate world where you have to justify your role and its existence and why you have to be there for 40+ hours when now with AI, you can do it in 20 hours or less. The even bigger irony? Your best ideas will never come when you are occupied. Your best ideas always come from a state of peace. The exact same reason a clear mind is the advantage of the next decade.

4. Everyone has ____ so you should too. This is something you want to avoid at all costs. To the point that you want to make it a habit to challenge everything you hear. The most common one? Debt. By far. Ask any younger person out there and they will tell you it feels normal because everyone else has it. Meaning that if everyone around you has debt (maxed out credit cards), you should too… The only question you should be asking yourself is why would you do that? Big lifestyle trap.

5. "Only worry about getting a good salary and you are set"… That is how things worked 4 - 5 decades ago. Not anymore. Salary trades your time for money. Your time is capped. TLDR? Your salary is capped. Not to mention that if you stick to that route, you will often have to remind yourself that you are just some number in a spreadsheet.

6. You can’t do what you love and get rich off it is another common one. How many times have you heard this one? No denying. It might not be the fastest way to get rich. But saying that it is impossible? Straight up lie. If you become top 10% in the field you are interested in, you will definitely be getting paid based on your skill set.

7. Struggle is a terrible metric for whether you have earned something in your life. Since early on in your life, you have been positioned to think that in order to earn anything, you have to struggle for it. Sure. Things worth having in your life don’t come easy. But fully believing that you have to struggle for everything you have right now in your life? Nonsense. It is also just another proof that making the right decision carries more importance than doing the "hard work".

8. You either have it all figured out by 25 or you never will… Another common lie, usually from boomers who played a completely different game than the one you are playing. Reality? Hardly anyone has it figured out at 25. Much less so if they have been trying multiple things (as you should since everyone is offering you a free pass - when you are under 30). Don’t fall for this and burn yourself out over advice from someone who could buy a house in a year from their salary.

9. All the work you do is the same. What matters is that you are doing something… Another one that will keep you mediocre and stuck in the same place for years. There is WORK and there is work. One is much more important than the other. And it is definitely not creating project boards or coming up with the brand name for your business.

10. Sales is a shady profession and should be avoided. Everyone has heard this one, usually with a used car dealer in mind. The reality? Different. Sales are everywhere around you. Every single day you are selling (yourself) to others. Getting hired. Asking for a raise. Making new friends… Your life revolves around sales. And your ability to sell your ideas. Not to mention, if you can genuinely help people and actually understand what you are selling (as a profession)… You are a gift to society.

11. Every single decision you make has to be the right one or at least calculated. Not only is that impossible. But over time you realize that your only job is to make 1 to 3 RIGHT decisions in your life. Everything else clicks into place on its own if you do this right.

12. Your coworkers are your friends. Are they? You will realize this the moment one of them gets a chance to throw you under the bus for a small raise. The real friendships? They usually start after one of you leaves the company. Coworkers are NOT your friends.

13. You should always make sure you give advice to others. It shows what kind of person you are… Giving people advice and thinking that they will appreciate it? Not how it works. The effects are quite the opposite. You will usually end up with someone disliking you or straight up hostile to you. The truth hurts, and people don’t want to hear it.

14. People around you care about your looks, the car you drive, the apartment you live in, the job you do, your taste… They don’t. People around you are too busy being distracted by what is happening in their own lives. Your whole life you have been told that people care and will judge you. It is a big lie. No one cares about you the same way that no one is coming to save you…

15. The initial set of cards you have been given decides everything in your life. It is hard to deny that your spawn location plays a big role. Parents, geolocation, and access to the people around you… Head start for some and disadvantage for the others. Yet you have access to the same information as everyone else reading this. What is your excuse?

16. Next time you hear someone tell you that learning is only for young people or that they stopped learning once their formal education ended... Run. Run as fast as you can. Learning and curiosity are lifelong side quests. This will never click for you until you start to cherish it and understand how it plays a role in every area of your life.

17. Retirement is the end goal. It is something you should strive for because you will finally be free to do what you always wanted. Imagine spending your whole life waiting for retirement to be free to be who you are and do what you want to do. Miserable existence. Huge lie. You can be whoever you want to be and you don’t need anyone’s permission to do what you always wanted to do.

18. Just be a good employee and you will get ahead… You won’t. IF you are not ready to play office politics and sell yourself (your ideas), you won’t be getting promoted. It is all largely about being liked rather than your actual skill set. Loyalty won’t save you either. If you don’t believe us, ask yourself when it ever gets rewarded… Because you know the answer.

19. The mortgage you take out on your house will be the best investment you ever make. The truth? Quite the opposite. There is a good chance that it is your biggest expense. To make it even worse, it doesn’t pay you. Mortgage, taxes, repairs. This is where you have to be careful and not fall for the traps others have fallen into. That doesn’t mean you should not buy a house. But you need to know exactly what you are getting into. The purchase of your property (much more so with the debt) shifts everything in life.

    

20. Life only gets worse after your 30s. That might be the case if you never took care of yourself or did your 20s wrong… Otherwise? It only gets better. Much more so if you are actually playing the games you were designed to win. Betting on your skill set and living a better life year over year (the only metric worth following).

21. "Some people just don’t have talents". Wrong. Everyone has a natural predisposition and talent for something. The problem is that most never give it enough time or exploration to figure out what it actually is. That is why you have to be curious enough to spend time exploring things and pay attention to what others find hard, but you find easy (effortless). That is the clearest sign you have found your talent.

22. Just put all the money you make into index funds and you will be rich one day. Chances of that in the current climate? Minimal. Yes, everyone should invest in index funds. Does that mean that you will wake up one day and be "rich"? Maybe. But do you really want to depend on a number on the screen? Or do you want index investing to be just another vehicle that helps you there? That is the right answer. Cash flow from the business + other investments + index funds = the game you should be playing.

23. The job you have is who you become in the end. You have to define yourself by it because that is what you do. Only true if you want to be miserable. Or you have identity problems. The most interesting people alive are those who tend to be polymaths, experts in multiple things. That doesn’t mean you should not become an expert in your field… It just means you have to realize that there is more to it. Otherwise, you might end up as that guy at the party everyone hates because he only talks about his job.

24. Waiting until you are ready. Where does it get you? Nowhere. Simply because you will never be ready for some things. It is impossible, and it is not how humans work. No one is ever ready to start a business, have a kid, or build the life you have always dreamt about. The only non-lie answer here? Start and figure everything out as you go.

25. Marriage = happy life. It simply doesn’t work like that. There is nothing fixed or permanent about human relationships. It is a beautiful thing if you pick your partner right and set the expectations from both sides. The other type of scenario? Hell for those who didn’t do it right.

    

26. The amount of money you need to start a business in 2026? Minimal. You don’t need thousands, as everyone is trying to convince you. At the same time, we are not talking about buying expensive industrial equipment or renting a warehouse. What you need is a landing page and a fake checkout to see whether anyone would actually buy something from you or not. You do not need a lot of money to start a business.

27. Health doesn’t matter until you get older. It is something you should only worry about later… Your body and your health are the only things that you carry for the rest of your life. Everything else is replaceable. So don’t be stupid about it. Forget about drugs, alcohol abuse, or any other substance. It all comes with a price. And what you do in your 20s comes with the bill later on in life.

28. You have to have social media to stay connected with others and know what is happening in the world. Only true in two cases:

    1. When you are selling something online or

    2. Showing the world what you are building

    
    Otherwise, there are much better ways to stay with your friends than a social media profile. And let’s be honest… Most end up using it to scroll reels and short-form content.

29. Just be yourself. Probably one of the worst lies you can be told… Even more so if you are struggling with something and trying to get better at it. Why would you be yourself and keep doing what you have done for years to stay in the same exact spot?

30. Money is the root of all evil. Not really…

31. Mindset work is all a waste of time, and it doesn’t work. It doesn’t pay bills. No one can disagree with that. At the same time? It shapes you into someone who can take more pain than others. And that over a long enough period of time ends up paying the bills. It is the exact same reason some people stay stuck in the same spot for decades… While others run laps around them.

Disregard what everybody tells you until you have thought it through for yourself. - Max Gunther

32. Hardly any white-collar work is actually important. Most of it? Fake email jobs. Ones you should be (ab)using to get an advantage over others and a predictable cash flow.

33. Be grateful for what you have gotten and don’t ask for more. You should always be grateful for what you have been given. But not pushing for more? Big lie. In every single area of your life where the decisions matter to you, you should be willing to negotiate and ask for more… Always. The difference between someone who gets what they deserve and someone who doesn’t all comes down to this.

34. Make sure to trust the experts because they know better than you do. Hard one to get over… Until you realize that "experts" don’t know better than you do. Most of them are trained to protect what they have been taught in school and not challenge it or even think outside the box. Next time you go to the doctor, take the advice you were given and run the same questions through AI. Compare the two. You will be surprised. Days of outsourcing your thinking to the "experts" should be long gone.

35. Once you push through something big, the next time it will be easier. That might be the case if you are doing something for the second time and it was not as big as you made it seem. When it comes to the big stuff? Never the case. As soon as you have to keep your head above the water, it doesn’t get easier. You just get more acclimated to it. Nothing else.

36. One big win will change your life. Jackpot propaganda. Crypto millionaires and lottery thinking. Where does it lead you? To the same place where most lottery winners end up. Right back at the same place they started. The moment you stop treating your life as a jackpot… Things start to make a lot more sense.

37. Confidence in life ONLY comes from status, money, or looks. This is something that has been getting a lot of push, and yet it never made sense. The truth? The confidence comes from knowing who you are, what you are lacking, and embracing it with 110% intensity. It also builds a character that others won’t be able to manipulate (this is how you kill FOMO).

38. Always compare yourself with the people around you because that is the baseline. Never do this. The game never ends, which makes this the worst thing you can do. Better off than everyone around you? You will start taking it easy. Currently in a worse position than everyone else? You will start panicking. Neither works in your favor.

39. I am (insert your excuse: too old, too young, too inexperienced, already failed, not enough)… All of those are nothing else but the lies you have been told your whole life. Some because others convinced you. Others because they serve you as defense mechanisms, and you decided to accept them. You are exactly what you think you are. All limitations are self-imposed.

40. More education, courses, knowledge, and information will prepare you better. Reality? The opposite. 48 hours in the arena doing what you were studying beats around 3 months of "studying". Remember what we talked about earlier? You will never be ready enough… Embrace it.

41. Everyone wants you to succeed. Another big one. Many people, and sometimes even your closest ones, would prefer you stay where you have been for years. This is why you have to learn who you should share your information with. Not everyone should know what you are doing.

42. Prestigious job means that you are set for life. In the sense that you will never have to worry about your bills, paying for vacation, or anything else. Childhood fantasy… Until you realize most of the high-earning professionals end up in golden handcuffs because they have spent years competing with their peers on who can spend the most money to look rich instead of being rich.

43. You can’t influence luck because it is random… And others have more of it. Everyone knows that this is not the truth. Luck doesn’t just happen to you. It is more of something you set yourself up for. Remember - luck surface area. The more chances you give yourself and the more you are willing to go out of your comfort zone, the luckier you will get.

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Disclaimer: None of this is legal or financial advice of any kind.

Most people do not listen with the intent to understand - they listen with the intent to reply. - Stephen R. Covey

Everyone you meet is showing you something. Better said, they are telling you who they are. Human nature has not changed in thousands of years, which is exactly why those same signals still work today. You can tell a lot from how someone reacts when they hear no, what happens when they lose, or how they treat someone who can’t do anything for them. Bringing you a list of what we have picked up over the years.

Truths about people (7 of them explaining everything)

1. Emotions are the primary driver of most choices: Whatever choice was made… It was based on emotion, not logic. The only thing logic does is build the excuses for why things were done that way in the first place.

2. Nobody thinks they are wrong: How many times have you heard someone admit out loud that they were wrong? It is very rare. In certain cases, it is even impossible to hear it from some people.

3. Ego (status and prestige) drives the biggest decisions in life: Most people around you live their lives based on how they look to others. The house (you never wanted), the car (you don’t even drive), the fancy title (working at something you hate), the vacation… Most people live someone else’s dream, not their own.

4. Belonging and rejection matter much more than most people would like to admit: There are an enormous number of people who would keep doing the wrong jobs, be surrounded by the wrong people, or even in the wrong relationships so that they are not alone. Massive lifestyle trap.

5. Incentives > loyalty: Everyone is loyal until there is money on the table. Same exact reason you do not want to borrow money from your friends (or lend it to your friends). This might show you their real face.

6. People ALWAYS remember how you made them feel: Big one and one of the things most never figure out. It is never about what you say or how you say it. It is all about how you made people feel. Results? If you have played your cards right, put in a bit of effort, and made it so that everyone enjoyed it. You might have made yourself unforgettable. Or at least you have ensured you are going to get invited again.

7. Watch what people do… not what they say: Promise yourself that you will always do it. Make it a rule. Words don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Much more so when what the other side is doing might be completely the opposite of what they are saying to others. Only one of those things is telling the truth.

To read the people… You have to know their normal

The truth is that you can’t tell if someone has changed if you don’t know where they started or how they got there. This is why before any pattern digging you learn the baseline of the person you are dealing with. How they deal with the things that are happening to them when it is a random day and not some special occasion or when they have to be at their best. Multiple days of the same behavior? Good chance that this is their baseline. Their normal…

Why might you be asking yourself? It is a baseline because they are behaving in the same way in different situations. It is who they are. So when it becomes the pattern? That is a bit of a different story, and it is on you to figure out the distance between the two. Take someone who was always on time but now has canceled multiple times in a row. It is clearly not their baseline. Because you know it is not common for them. Yet it is repeating… Meaning it is a pattern.

Once you see that pattern, this is where it gets important that you stay true to yourself. Do NOT ignore it. Do NOT talk yourself out of it. Do everything you can not to fall victim to your own cope about someone. The truth is that most people do notice the signals and how someone is behaving. Yet they spend months analyzing and rationalizing why they keep spending time with that person. Results? They end up miserable because they themselves have been ignoring the signs that were visible from day #1. You do not want to be one of those.

That is also why you should not treat anything here as a checklist. That is not how things work when it comes to dealing with others and human nature.

How to read people: Stop listening to what they say… Watch what they do

1. Do they listen or wait to talk?

Back to the Covey quote we opened with. Most people don’t listen or even bother to understand the other side. They are just waiting for their turn to talk. This is the easiest one to catch. You will see it within the first few minutes of any conversation. To test this, pay attention to what happens right after you finish your sentence and watch what happens next.

Do they ask a follow-up about what you have just said? Or do they ignore it and jump straight into their own story? It happens to everyone. Everyone does this once in a while. It comes from a subconscious place. Once is not a problem. But when it is a pattern, and it happens often... It is a clear signal that they are treating you as their audience. Someone they can talk to about their problems, life, and everything else that is happening to them. In each case, the conversation is never about you.

You will start to pick up the small details about who you are dealing with. People who listen remember the little things that seem unnecessary to those who only treat you as an audience. It is very rare at this point, and something boomers have done right. If you do it right, you will win people’s hearts and make yourself unforgettable.

What to do about it: Start by running the test on purpose. Mention something specific that has happened to you recently and see if it comes back. Maybe you get surprised, and you get asked a question or two. Maybe you don’t. Reality is that you don’t even have to be asked. Just pay attention to how the other side perceives it and whether they are actually listening to you, or whether it is obvious that they have not registered it the first time. Not sure how it went? Bring it up again next week and see whether they remember any of it. People who can’t listen but can talk for hours are great for occasional social gatherings. But they are useless for serious life advice or anything that actually matters.

2. You can tell a lot about the person based on how they react to hearing the no... So say no

Read more

So, I wanted to project myself forward to age 80 and say, “Okay, now I’m looking back on my life. I want to have minimized the number of regrets I have.” I knew that when I was 80 I was not going to regret having tried this. I was not going to regret trying to participate in this thing called the Internet that I thought was going to be a really big deal. I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not ever having tried. I knew that that would haunt me every day - Jeff Bezos

This one is different from our usual big posts. Yet it is arguably more beneficial than most of what you will find on the internet at this point. Around 6 months ago, we were updating the antidote to a slop collection, and one of the materials we added was Bezos’s regret minimization framework. Let’s be real. There is nothing special about that video. Neither is Bezos saying anything magical or anything you have never heard before. Much less so if you have already been consuming content similar to ours.

Or if you have read books like The 4 Hour Workweek, where Tim Ferriss did a perfect job describing how to operate and build your own version of this. Our goal here is not to put Bezos on a pedestal and claim he is a genius (he actually is...). At the same time, that video was one of those things that left us thinking about it for weeks. It was one of those experiences where you stumble upon something that is life-changing.

Yet it is so simple. And at the same time powerful. You can’t really put into words what it was, but it left a deep mark. Similar to the unwritten rules of life. Once you notice them, there is no going back. It just stays with you. When you watch something so impactful that it leaves you with deep thoughts, even if you are not sure why it hit so hard… It did for a reason. It clearly means that your subconscious picked something up that you are not even aware of. Yet. This is exactly what happened to us with the regret minimization framework.

So what has happened since then? Half a year has gone by. We made it a habit to run every big decision through a few simple questions. Yet extremely effective. All based on the Bezos regret minimization framework we already mentioned. The truth is that you basically don’t need anything other than an answer to a question - would you regret this at 80? We didn’t stop there, and we have decided to add our part to it. Similar to what we did with the original version of the mindset rewiring workbook. Today this framework is part of our daily lives. Whenever we find ourselves dealing with something where we have to decide whether it is worth the pursuit or not... It all comes down to our version of the regret minimization framework.

The questions you should ask yourself whenever you are stuck on a decision:

1. Will I regret this at 80?

2. What is the worst-case scenario of what I am about to do?

3. How long will it take me to recover from that worst-case scenario?

How would it look in practice?

Question: Quit my 9to5 to go full time on my business?

1. At 80? You would regret not trying. There is no denying it.

2. Worst case scenario? You fail. Your ego gets a bit hurt. You lose some money. The best part? You can try again.

3. Recovery? If you have been playing it right, it should not take more than 6 months to get another job and start building the safety net.

Three simple questions. No matter how silly or oversimplified they look... That is all it takes to avoid decades of unnecessary pain and self-rationalization about why you did (or didn’t) do something you should have. This is where you have to do it yourself. Next time something big comes up in your life and you are unsure about it. Run it through all three questions. Experience it yourself. That is the only way to get maximum out of this.

Reality is that we ourselves are often our own worst enemies. We know what we have to do, how we have to do it, and why we have to do it… But never do it. For one reason or another. Sometimes it is fear. Sometimes it’s uncertainty. Sometimes it’s what if? So why not remove all that friction and make your life easier? Time is limited, so it is on us to use it as best we can. With a minimal amount of regrets to look back on. Make it a habit to ask yourself what is the worst that can happen? There is a good chance that it is not that bad… So do it.

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Disclaimer: None of this is legal or financial advice of any kind.

The secret of being miserable is to have leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not. The cure for it is occupation, because occupation means pre-occupation; and the pre-occupied person is neither happy nor unhappy, but simply alive and active. That is why it is necessary to happiness that one should be tired. - George Bernard Shaw

Why is the average person more miserable than ever? Think about it. They have never had more access to life changing information. They have never had more ways to make money, get into the shape they want to be in, or build a group of friends. It is all just a few clicks away… Yet they are still miserable.

The reason? No one ever taught them to see opportunity where everyone else sees a problem. Simple as that. Everyone plays the same game with the same tools. The average person only sees the problems. Winners see opportunities and solutions. Bringing you an antidote to an unhappy life. The negative? The majority will read it and change nothing… The positive? Less competition for you.

1. Clear head

After talking with thousands of people online… It is crystal clear that a clear head is now rarer than anything else. Seriously. It is impossible to deny that we have an epidemic of mental health problems. The reason? Since early childhood you were given the tools you should have never been given. Think short-form content and brainrot YouTube videos (think MrBeast). There is a good chance that you don’t even know better.

Reality is simple. You don’t have patience. You don’t have an attention span. You don’t have the ability to focus. What happens when you don’t have any of those three? You can’t change your life, and neither can you help yourself. They are the baseline.

The good news? It is not your fault. That is how you have been programmed. The bad news? It is your job to fix it. At this point, we are deeply convinced that unplugging yourself and changing those behaviors is the first step toward the life you want to live. The best part? It is not that hard. You want to replace those sources with anything less stimulating. Reading a good book, going for a walk, or just doing… Nothing.

How do you actually do it?

1. Less algorithms.

2. Stop multitasking.

3. No dopamine stacking

   • This means doing two heavy dopamine things at the same time. Pick one… Or even better, neither.

4. Take it a step further - get something like RescueTime (or anything similar that gives you a full overview) and track where your time goes. Whatever doesn’t fit your picture of the life you want… Delete it. One week is all it takes to get a clear picture.

5. Read a clear mind is the unfair advantage of the next decade and start with the mindset rewiring workbook.

2. Discover your purpose (what would you do for free?)

Purpose is something we get asked about a lot, and yet we still have never found the right definition for it. It is so subjective that there is a good chance everyone reading this will have their own version of what purpose means. Some associate it with a feeling of aliveness and being able to recall the moments you felt the most present. Others associate it with going back to childhood and having a sense of freedom. When you were able to pursue (and find) whatever you wanted. Paul Graham might have the best one:

I would not want to work on anything that I didn’t want to take over my life.

It might sound unintuitive, but finding something you are passionate about and falling in love with it is one of the most freeing experiences you will ever have. You know what you are doing is the right thing, and you can’t get tired of it. It just feels right.

The truth? Most people around you will never experience it. They don’t even think about what they are passionate about. And even if they get a glimpse of it… They never fully embrace it. Why? Because they are too busy trying to fit in and please the people around them. Betraying themselves and never fully embracing who they are. This is exactly why most people around you are unhappy and miserable. They never get a sense of why they are here or what their purpose is.

Mostly it comes down to two things

1. They tried to find their purpose by thinking it would come to them by playing defense (it doesn’t work that way)

2. They never tried anything beyond what they were told they should do

Is the point simply not clicking for you? Ask yourself what you would do for free. There is a good chance your answer might be just there.

3. Your mission? Choose it

Keep in mind. Mission is not the same as purpose. Purpose signals what makes you feel alive. Mission is a bit different because it is not a feeling but actually something you choose that aligns with who you are. When it comes to mission, the story is the same as with purpose. Most people simply never find it… Those who do find it set their priorities (mission) wrong. Getting a Lambo. The fancy watch. The apartment overlooking the marina. What happens next? They are successful with their mission. To a point they get enough of that money and realize that their mission is wrong.

The mission has to be something bigger. It has to be something with no ceiling. It has to be the thing that pulls you back every time you fly high and lose yourself. This is where you have to be clear. Your mission is not something vague. Neither is it something you can’t act on because it is not clearly defined. It has to be part of who you are. It is your identity, and it has to be authentic to who you are.

This is why working under a fake mission (most people around you) makes you feel tired. Not just tired. The work itself starts to feel meaningless. You can see the pattern here. What happens when you are working on something that feels meaningless? You become desperate. Desperation? It leads to unhappiness. Unhappiness leads to a permanent feeling of being stuck.

This is why it is crucial to have a defined mission. Something you genuinely believe in and that perfectly aligns with your priorities in life. Want to test yourself? All you have to do is write one sentence. One sentence that clearly outlines what your mission is. If you cannot do it… It means you don’t have one yet.

Purpose vs. mission (how you tell the difference)

1. Purpose is discovered (it is internal). The best way to put it would be that it gives you a sense of belonging and a feeling of being alive.

2. Mission is chosen. You have chosen it yourself and have full control to act on it and measure yourself against it.

This is exactly why you see so many people who know their purpose (they know what makes them feel good) but can’t stick to the thing that will move them forward. On the other side, you have people who are mission driven and go all out… But somewhere along the way they realize that the work they do is meaningless. One without the other doesn’t work. Purpose is just a feeling without a mission, and the mission is just a grind without purpose.

4. Build your tribe (or you will never find it)

Reality is that you will never find your tribe. You will have to build one. What do we mean by that? The chances of ending up in a top group surrounded by the exact people you want to be around, without already being one of them? Minimal. In 98% of cases you have to earn your way into the room by showing others that you are actually… Worth it. Once that part is done, and if you have played your cards right. The next step is letting them bring you in.

Most people around you form friendships in their school days and stick with them for the rest of their lives. To make it clear, there is nothing wrong with that. You want close people you can trust and rely on. The only problem is that it doesn’t take into consideration that you might be spending time with people you should not be spending time with.

What those same people never do

1. Define who they want to spend their time with

   1. Maybe you want someone who is far ahead of you?

   2. Maybe you are looking for peers at your level?

   3. Maybe you want someone behind you because you want to help them?

   4. Or you want close friends that you can trust.

2. Audit what they already have

   1. Put effort into the relationships they already have that are worth more of their time and effort. Big one.

These two factors alone play a big part in who you become and who you end up surrounded by. Knowing who you want to be surrounded by is the first piece of the puzzle. The other piece of the puzzle? Giving them a reason to stay. As already mentioned, you have to bring something to the table. You have to be useful to the others you want to be surrounded by. That is the hard truth… The older you get, the more it becomes clear that past a certain point, most relationships are transactional. It is the truth most don’t want to hear. This is where your ability to be dependable comes through. If you promise someone you will do something. You have to do it.

5. Get out of the house

Life ought to be an adventure, not a vegetation. - Max Gunther (Zurich Axioms)

Make it a habit to touch grass. Regularly. Both in terms of spending time in nature alone with your thoughts and by going outside with your social circle. It is a life-changing habit. Why? It puts you in a perspective where you will find yourself appreciating things for what they are. That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be out every day for hours wandering around looking for your next side quest. But you have to understand that in order to increase your luck surface area, you have to expose yourself.

Much more to the environments you see yourself in and becoming part of. New people, new places, new activities, new things... Those you always wanted to try and those you don’t do enough of. They all belong to this category, and that is exactly what makes it worth it. You have to intentionally put yourself where other exceptional people are spending their time. Similar to the point we made above in our tribe section. Getting out of spectator mode is what separates those who get far from those who wait for life to happen to them. You don’t need anything else to start with just one thing you would normally not do. It can be a random meetup, a class, or a dinner with people outside of your social circle. All of those contribute to your luck and increase the chances of changing things around.

6. Accept that everything worth it in your life will be hard

This is the big one because it removes all the limitations around the word "hard". What does hard even mean? We can all agree that it just makes things worse. When you label something as hard, you have already created a sort of friction. There is a subconscious feeling that you expect it to be hard, and then what happens is that you come up with coping mechanisms to avoid doing what you are supposed to do. This is an extremely common scenario and proof that we can either be our best friends or our worst enemies.

The better way to approach it (and one that most people around you are unable to put themselves in) is the idea that if something were not hard… Everyone would do it. Reframe. Framework… However you want to call it. What happens when everyone can do the same thing? There is less bread on the table for everyone. That is just surface-level thinking, and yet it should be clear what we are aiming at. If you want to go deeper and throw in some Eastern philosophies and ideas, you will come to the conclusion that pain is your pathway to what you should be doing. It points you in the right direction. But one that you are avoiding deep down. They approach it from a point where suffering is a gift that creates opportunities for you.

This is where you as an individual have to realize something. Doing hard things or even embracing hard things does not mean you have to be miserable. It should be clear that suffering and misery are not the same thing. It just pushes you toward finding the things (work, skills, experiences) that give you energy, make you excited to wake up, and give you a sense of belonging. Once you get that framework down and make it part of your identity. It becomes MUCH easier to accept that hard things are worth your time and should be treated as part of your life. Conclusion? There is nobody out there building something real at 2am asking themselves whether they are happy or not. The answer is clear.

7. Recognize that opportunities are everywhere

When we say everywhere… We REALLY mean everywhere. The only problem with the life changing opportunities? They are unexpected. They usually show up when you are already too busy and focused on something else. The worst part? They disappear fast if you do not act on them. Another point worth mentioning is that the biggest opportunities rarely look like a hit right from the start. Skipping that unsexy conference might save you $500. At the same time, it might also stop you from meeting the one person who changes your whole life.

All those opportunities you missed, you will only recognize looking back. The lucky ones are those who managed to spot them as they are happening and give themselves enough space to act on them. The reason we say that opportunities are everywhere is simple. This POV changes how you look at things. Once you realize that anything around you that is slow, overpriced, confusing, or broken is actually something that someone would pay to have fixed. You have a complete mindset shift. There is an understanding that it is someone’s future business… Take Bezos as an example. Reality is that Amazon was nothing groundbreaking when it started. It was an online bookstore. Bookstore. Read it again. Yet as time went on, it changed the whole game and the landscape.

8. No more following the script others wrote for you

The scheme above is what ACTUALLY works and one we covered in depth in our zero excuses post. You want freedom? You want to afford the things others around you can’t? You want to live outside of survival mode and stop worrying about whether you will have enough to pay the bills? It means you will have to take the risks that come with it. You will have to do what others will not. This is where it becomes crucial to understand that following the old ways your grandparents and parents used to live… Doesn’t work anymore.

We live in the modern world. One that is drastically different from what it was 30 years ago. And there is a good chance that no advice from before the 2000s (except advice about human nature… it never changes) is worth taking. You know the script: get a good job, stay at one company your whole life, put everything into the retirement fund and forget about it. We challenge you to look for patterns and notice where that advice still works. Nowhere. You have been warned. Most people around you never figured this out. They keep doing what they have been told, thinking it will get them the life they want to live. That unfortunately won’t happen. Now look back at that scheme again...

9. Zero-sum thinking is for… Losers

The game never ends… I don’t think about winning or losing ever, on anything I do. I just keep playing the game. - Micky Malka

Life is PvP. At the same time… It is not. When it comes to getting a job or competing for something… It is obviously PvP. When it is not? When it comes to relationships, friendships… You get the picture. A big reason people are so unhappy is that they think that is the only way. Better said. The mistake is treating everything as zero-sum when there is something for everyone. That doesn’t mean you should take it easy or let others run over you. That doesn’t mean there is a participation trophy or anything similar. The smarter way to look at it? Remove the ego.

Once you take your ego out of the competition and creation, you can truly start to experience what it is all about. It also gives you a bigger picture… The realization that one person’s success doesn’t mean the other side has to lose. For example, someone you know starts a business and succeeds. Reality is that there is nothing less for you. It doesn’t hurt you or damage you in any way. Quite the opposite. You are just getting another person in your circle who knows how to win and get what they want.

Most people live in a paranoid state where every win for someone else is seen as a loss for them. That is the wrong way to look at a PvP-type environment. Where it gets even worse? When you start noticing that there are people who have been programmed to want the other side to lose. To a point, they want the other side to lose more than they want to see themselves win. Sadly, this is much more common than people tend to think.

10. When everyone is optimizing for a shortcut lifestyle, you play the long game

It is impossible to deny that the last 10 years have been nothing but jackpot propaganda. It is hard to pinpoint exactly why that is the case.

It could be one of three things (or all of them together)

1. Millions of people made the easiest money of their lives overnight betting with crypto.

2. Algorithms completely took over, and everyone now consumes the same content (and compares themselves to it - killing the personal taste(s) and everything else).

3. The course sellers did their job right…

This is where it gets important for you to start doing the opposite. Not in a way that means you stop pushing with the same intensity as everyone else. But by understanding that getting into the right place at the right time… Staying in that game once you find yourself in it, and building something others will never be able to do themselves is what it is all about.

That is the real unfair advantage of the era when everyone is chasing shortcuts and treating their lives as lottery tickets. It removes you from chasing the one big win that will "change your life". It pushes you instead to prioritize multiple smaller wins that build toward something bigger. It doesn’t mean you move slowly or take your time. You want to be relentless. You want to be fast. Never stand in one place. But be fully aware that what you are trying to achieve will take time. Not just time. But also effort, hours, sleepless nights, and everything else that comes with it.

The same idea applies to everything worth building - wealth, skills, friendships, reputation… All the factors that actually impact your life and compound over time. Your mission is to pick something you are going to stick to and build on it. Do the opposite of everyone else, and you will get results opposite to everyone else.

11. Stop endless optimization of every single area of your life

Everyone knows that personal experiments are the key to a good life. Not to mention we were doing it long before Huberman became a thing. To be clear, we are not anti-optimization. Neither should you be. The problem is that it is a very thin line between getting 20% better sleep quality and unnecessarily over-optimizing things that might bring you a 1% - 2% improvement in your overall quality of life. This is the key distinction… And the one most people who get deep into optimization lose themselves in.

Now you might be asking yourself what exactly the problem with that is? There is a hidden cost attached to it. Attention, energy, and time (the three most important resources you have). Not everything deserves 100% of your focus. Much more so when half of the systems people build usually turn into a sophisticated way of avoiding the actual work that moves you forward. Everyone knows someone who optimized their morning routine but still struggles to do something big and meaningful.

What you will never regret sticking to:

1. Health

2. Work (your business)

3. Relationships

Everything else? Mostly a waste of time if you try to optimize it down to the tiniest details. Just by getting these 3 right, the rest usually takes care of itself.

12. Practice wanting less

The more access to capital you have, the more obvious it becomes that the real happiness comes from wanting less. That doesn’t mean you have to hold yourself back and go at things with 70% of the intensity. But there is an unwritten rule that you have to go through this cycle and come back to the start. Get access to everything you ever wanted… Just to end up right where you began. Remember the last time there was something you really wanted? Used it for a month… And it just ended up being another thing you own?

Figuring out what is actually necessary vs. what is just something you want. When you want more, you will always find yourself operating from a place where something feels missing. Always thinking that you need something more to be happy. Turning yourself into a victim who is unable to escape your own desires. The hedonic treadmill. We would call it spending years just to end up in the same place you were before… People around you? On an endless pursuit of always wanting more. How many times have you heard:

"I just need this… and my life will change" or "let me get this and you will see…"

That never happens. If you are reading our content… There is a good chance you have everything you need for success. It just has to click. Connect this with the happiness part, and it becomes painfully obvious why most people are never happy. It all comes down to thinking they are missing something from their life. Spending days, months, or even years to get it… Just to end up back at the same spot they were before. If you struggle with this or are an impulse buyer… Make yourself a simple promise that before any purchase over $500 (or any other amount you find works for you), you will wait at least 2 weeks. What happens if those two weeks pass and you still want it? Buy it.

13. Be useful to others

There is no single definition of being useful to others, and that is exactly what makes this point beautiful. It might mean starting a YouTube cooking channel and helping others get better at it while "selfishly" doing what you love. It might mean that you spent years being in an industry and made a name for yourself. So why not find someone you could mentor? Teaching, writing, solving problems, making something faster or easier to use… There is an unlimited number of ways you could improve someone’s life. Anything from becoming a regular on a forum where you can share your expertise (and building a name for yourself) all the way to volunteering.

For those who are on the younger side or anyone having a hard time figuring out why being useful to others is an antidote to a miserable life. The answer is simple. It all comes down to putting your attention on something other than yourself. Remember our tribe point? This is one way to look at it, and you can earn your way into the circle of people you want to be surrounded by. Mix that with a sense of fulfillment and something you are passionate about… It becomes crystal clear why being useful to others is necessary. Better said why it is an antidote.

14. Work on your agency (own everything you do)

How would the person I wish to become do the thing I’m about to do? - Steve Siebold

Let’s put aside that today everyone uses the term agency as the ultimate goal. Describing it in a way as a certain state or an idea. We don’t necessarily agree with that, and the real agency comes down to one thing… Taking ownership. When you promise yourself that you will do something, you actually commit to it. When something unexpected happens, you make sure you are in the position to pull through instead of giving up at the first sign of things going wrong. When you finally accept that you cannot control everything that happens to you. That is the real redefinition of agency. Taking ownership of the situation you are in, the things happening to you, and every unpredictable factor that comes into play.

Knowing deep down… That whatever happens next in your life is partly up to you. It is a decision. How you react to it, what you do with it, and whether you choose to take part in it. You choose to take part in creating the life you want to live.

It might sound like motivation slop. But think about it. It is one of the hardest states an individual can reach. It is also another confirmation that life NEVER changes for the better without giving you more tasks, more tests, and more challenges. It is one of those rules you will have to accept. It might not be your fault that something is happening. But it is your responsibility.

Conclusion: The quote we opened with? The reason most people around you are miserable is that they have nothing worth going after and nothing worth being preoccupied with. That is the whole post in one sentence.

Remember our point #8? Ask yourself how you got here. Did you choose it… Or did someone else choose it for you?

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What if you did the exact opposite of everything you do right now? How would your life change? Would it change? What would the results be? You already know the answer. Nothing would look the same.

This doesn’t mean the opposite is always better. Sometimes you will even try the opposite and realize the old way was the better one. All of that is normal. The positive? You will still pick something new about yourself that carries over to everything else you do. The real problem? What happens if you have been repeating the same behavior and doing the same things for years without ever paying attention to it? There is a good chance it is time to start doing the opposite.

Your life on autopilot

Why should YOU question your defaults: Chances are that everything you do right now is part of your routine. You are not even thinking about it. It is part of your life. It is who you have been since the start. Those are your defaults. We all have them. And we all fall victim to our routines. The defaults are just the path of least resistance that somehow gets us results we want. All of them come from decades of doing things your way and repeating whatever got installed in you year after year.

You might be asking yourself… What is the problem? Aren’t routines the way to get the most out of the day? Removing unnecessary cognitive load by making automatic choices? Maybe. If you truly want to live life with the least resistance. What it doesn’t take into consideration is that it leads to a boring and predictable life. One that is not for everyone.

The bigger problem? It leads you to always repeat the same thing over and over again. What do we mean by that? Imagine a scenario where you want to get better at something. But you keep doing the same thing. Over and over again… It should not be hard to see where the problem is coming from. Take it a step further and understand that most people have their defaults set up wrong. That is also why they have been stuck in the same spot for years.

How predictable are you: Time to be honest with yourself. How predictable are you? Do you already know what you will be doing this weekend? Do you order the same thing every time when going out with your colleagues for lunch? Always having the same excuse for why you have not started something you have been promising yourself for months? All of those sound simple. But what happens when you have to answer all of them? That is when you get the feeling that what you have been doing for years might not be right for you.

Completely offloading your life to comfort and familiarity (your defaults). And if you have been reading our website, you already know what never comes out of those two. Progress.

So what happens if you are not happy with your life? Your job? Your environment? And you still stick to the same routine. Doing it over and over again… It doesn’t take genius. Deep down you already know the answer. You start to see how much of your life has been offloaded to familiarity and comfort. What happens when you keep doing the same thing over and over again? You keep getting the same out of your life. Maybe that is what you want… Maybe you already live your dream. Maybe you already have everything you ever wanted for yourself. That is great. But what if that is not the case? What if you are NOT happy with your life, job, environment, or where things are going? Yet you are stuck in the same spot, repeating the same behavior. It should be obvious where the problem is. If you never test your defaults, you never find out if they are actually right for you. That is why you do the opposite. Not because it is automatically better… Because that is the only real way to test it.

Rules of doing the opposite - baseline for everything else

1. What would I normally choose without even thinking about it?

   Any time you are given two choices, a decision you have to make or anything that affects you. You have to ask yourself which one would I pick without even thinking? There is a good chance that is your default. It doesn’t automatically mean you choose the harder option. Don’t make your life unnecessarily difficult for no reason. That should never be your goal. It is something you should actively avoid. Everyone knows that simplification is the highest form of intelligence.

   But when you catch yourself taking the easier path with the least resistance or the most familiar path just because it requires the least effort… That is the sign. One that means you have to start asking yourself, what would happen if I did the opposite? Start from ordering something you never had in your favorite restaurants to going somewhere you have never been. Start small. All those small acts are a perfect way to stop letting the autopilot run your life.

2. Habit of questioning your defaults

   So what separates the people who actually get something out of doing the opposite from those who don’t? It mostly comes down to this. One starts with small things and builds momentum. The other flips everything at once (opposite of their defaults) and wonders why they can’t keep up. Simple answer? Intensity. Breaking out of your defaults and comfort zone is not easy. You are basically reprogramming everything you know about yourself. Why make it harder by doing it all at once? The specific thing you change doesn’t really matter that much. What matters is that you are building the habit of questioning things. To the point where you realize that doing something differently won’t kill you. That pushes you to test your defaults more and more… Until you create enough momentum to go after the bigger things.

3. Honesty and being honest with yourself

   • Step one: Being honest with yourself. Much more so if you want to find yourself in a position that is different from the one you were in yesterday.

   • Step two: You have to let go of the ego and your old limiting beliefs.
     

   Be honest about why you are not doing something. It is a requirement for everything else after in this read. That is the only way you will change your defaults and how things work… If you are willing to accept the truth. No matter how uncomfortable it might be.
   

4. Take full ownership of everything

   Good choices, bad choices… It doesn’t matter. All those defaults and routines you find yourself in? It is on you to take full ownership of it. Why? Because the only way to change the situation you are in is to accept where you are and who you actually are. That does not mean everything that has happened to you was your fault. It was not. But what you do about it is… Your defaults. Your choices. The things you tolerate. The things you keep repeating. Own all of it. When you start testing the things? Own the results as well. The opposite works? Keep it. It doesn’t? Good, now you know. You learned something. Maybe the default was better? Go back to it. The key to making it work is to stop handing off responsibility and actually own what happens to you next.

Doing the opposite (practical examples everyone can relate to)

If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old - Peter Drucker

Lifestyle

1. Falling victim to the routine (living the same over and over)

   → You need 1 to 2 side quests. That is what changes everything. Sports, doing something for the first time, or purposely putting yourself around new stuff (PPE protocol - people, places, environments).

   What you are avoiding: Feeling uncomfortable for the first week or two until you get used to it. This is where it becomes important to remind yourself that nothing worth having comes easy.

Read more

• Big thanks to everyone who has been sending photos of their mindset rewiring workbooks.

• The Antidote to Slop Archive has been updated.

• We have answered every DM so far (if you didn’t get a reply, feel free to ask in chat or bump it up). Will get back to you ASAP.

Progress is man's ability to complicate simplicity. - Thor Heyerdahl

Those who have been with us for years already know that every few months we love to set ourselves a mission. Something we will be occupied with over the next few months and put a number of hours into. Another of our personal experiments. Do this long enough, and you start subconsciously adding more and more new activities, methods, and approaches to your routine. Results? A Frankenstein schedule that leaves you tired before 10am because you have already done more than most people manage in a week. Conclusion? Anyone can add something to their life. Method, activity, protocol. Yet almost nobody knows how to subtract things. Think about it for a moment, and it will become painfully obvious what most people need to do to improve their lives… Simplify it.

You were trained to complicate it

Childhood programming: You were taught that to get more out of whatever you are doing, you should do more of it. More studying. More methods. More of everything. Resulting in you brute-forcing your way to a passing grade. Brute-forcing your way to a job. Brute-forcing your way into relationships… And it works. No denying that. But at some point in your life, you realize the approach is wrong. It runs on nothing but willpower and how much energy you are willing to give.

The example most people can relate to goes back to school days. Back in school, you studied at night in big chunks of 3 to 4 hours. That was your system, and that is how you were taught. Then something forced you to skip the night session and move it to the morning, so you settled on 6am. What happened? You got more quality studying in 2 hours than you used to get in 4. You got better grades than before by studying fewer hours. You never even questioned it, because your whole life you had been told the old way was the right way for you.

Complexity as a status signal: We already brought up how childhood programs you to brute-force everything and to treat effort as the measure of value. The next big part of your life, one that determines almost every area of your life (one way or another)… Your professional career. Whether you are working now, have worked before, or are just starting. You need to realize that white-collar professions are intentionally overcomplicated to justify their own existence and purpose.

Reality check: You don’t need half of the roles that exist today… Cut through the noise and nonsense, and most of them are nothing but fake email jobs. That is even more true now with AI, to the point where the average employee can automate half of what they do in a day. Now let’s take it a step further. Put yourself in the shoes of an average white-collar worker who can’t wait to get home so they can spend the rest of the night watching Netflix, but has to look busy until then to justify the paycheck. That is how most people think…

The results? Unnecessary complexity. Meetings that should have been emails. Endless loops of back and forth that go nowhere. Layer after layer of friction. This is a perfect example of complexity as a status signal. If you are not busy, it means you are not working. That is how most things are treated in a corporate environment. Most of what people classify as work is a performative ritual that lets them get through the day until they can get home and do what they want.

Identity problems

1. Childhood programmed you to believe that brute force = effort = value.

2. Your career has convinced you that complexity is a status signal and that an empty calendar makes you a loser.

Where does this lead you? There is a good chance you are in your 30s now. Finally clear of that noise, being able to see things for what they are. The problem? You never had a chance to simplify your life because, for the first three decades of your life, you were programmed to believe things had to be done a certain way. Your identity is pulled in one direction… To look successful to everyone else, you have to brute-force everything and stack on layers of unnecessary complexity to get things done. Nobody ever told you to stop and think about what moves you forward vs. what wastes time.

Common examples

• Fitness routine: why have 4 compound exercises and 2 accessories when you can run 1 compound and 7 accessory movements? More is better, right?

• Sleep routine: why go to bed every day at 10pm and wake up at 5am, when you can go to sleep at midnight, wake up at 7am, drink 5 coffees and a Red Bull?

• Work routine: why pick Pomodoro, turn off all distractions, and work for a few hours? When you can watch 4 motivational videos and daydream about the car you want?

By now it should be obvious where we are going with this. Bad programming gets into every area of your life and everything you do. To the point that you can’t see another way. It becomes part of your identity and drags you into a helpless phase where you never stop to reflect on what you are doing. Because as far as you know… It is the right thing to do.

Review system and the REAL feedback: That moment when you turn 30 and realize the game they set you up to play was rigged from the start. The truth is that in most people’s cases, that realization never comes. Without it? You are just another donkey chasing the carrot, spending years of your precious life and all your energy to end up in the exact same spot as everyone else. Never once stopping to notice that you should relentlessly pursue simplification and play to your own strengths. Another problem in this scenario? You have been collecting tons of data on yourself throughout your life… You just never learned how to use it to your advantage.

Why the feedback is… Fake

• Treating tiredness as a good metric: Wrong data set. The older you get, the less sense it makes, because you get more tired. It proves you did a lot of something. It doesn’t prove any of it mattered. Everyone uses this as something to be proud of.

• Your system works: You got the grade. You got the job. You got what you wanted… Proving to yourself that a brute-force approach in life works. The problem? You never isolated the variable that got you there. Maybe it was only the effort. Maybe it was one specific thing you did that took 10% of your time. You do not know what it is. Yet you gave credit to the approach because of the outcome. 

• Removal test: This is where simplification gets taken out of the equation again. Everyone is adding new methods, new routines, new supplements, new things to try… No one thinks about what to remove from their current routine while keeping the same output. You don’t even get feedback on how things work when you remove them. Only when you are adding more and more. Which means that your entire routine has never actually been tested.

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The relentless simplification framework

Keep in mind

Before you touch anything, you need a clear overview of what you are measuring. KISS. Maybe you are looking for more revenue. Maybe it is more attention and focus. Maybe it is how often you reach for your phone… All of these are fair game to focus on. The only requirement is that you know exactly what you are trying to achieve. The sad reality is that most people never get that far.

What follows is the general structure for approaching it. Pick one thing. Run it through the framework and simplification process. Get the answers you need. Then run the next one. The worst mistake you can make is to overdo it and find yourself again in the same place you were before. Avoid it at all costs.

Two questions that decide everything

• Can I remove this without limiting my output?

• Would I do this today if no one had ever taught me?

If the answer to the first is yes. You already know what to do. Cut it out. ASAP. If the answer to the second is no, there is a good chance you are doing it out of habit. Not because it works.

How to do it

• Start by listing everything you do, think about, or worry about. If that feels overwhelming, pick one area of your life and focus only on that.

  • You can’t do everything at once, and that is exactly how people end up with nothing.

• Change only ONE thing at a time. Not three. Not two. And don’t cut a few small ones. You will get lost and won’t be able to pinpoint what brought you results.

• Give it a timeframe and watch the outputs. Two weeks minimum for daily habits, and at least three or four rounds for weekly or monthly habits. Anything shorter and you will not have enough data.

Start with what you do every day

• Go after the things you do every single day. Anything with a chance to compound over weeks, months, years. Do some basic math, and you will find that cutting 30 minutes a day gives you around 180 hours a year. That is close to a month of working days returned to you for doing nothing more than stopping something you should not be doing in the first place.

• Daily → Weekly → Monthly.

  • Focus on the small, reversible stuff first. The more of those you clear out, the more free time you will have.

  • Recurring choices and activities you make have to become your defaults. You should not spend more than 15 minutes thinking about them or making extra decisions around them.

Reading the output

• Output stayed the same or improved → whatever you cut was not bringing you anything good anyway. Now it is on you to figure out how to keep it out and not fall back into your old ways.

• There are exceptions - things that take time to pay off. Training, people, or just trying to get better at what you do. No matter what kind of change you make, it will take weeks to catch up with you.

• Output dropped → put it back and return to step one. This will happen… It is part of the game. Now you know something you didn’t know before.

• Automations → still running and delivering the same results as they did a month ago?

• Outsourcing → still delivering you the same value? Yet it has freed up the hours?

Why "cut everything" is terrible advice

The entire post reads as if you are supposed to cut things out entirely. That is not wrong, but that is only half of the story… You don’t have to remove everything. Some things need to be reduced. Tell someone to remove every meeting from their day and ask yourself if that is realistic. Most likely not. Tell them to cut from 5 meetings per day to 1 or 2, and you have already changed how they live. Reduction is just another path to the same destination. Simplification. Anyone telling you that you have to go all in is selling you something. Extremes sell better than anything else… Yet it doesn’t mean they are right.

What you actually have (4 options)

1. Delete it: Delete for two weeks and see how things work out. If everything is the same or the output is the same, you got it right.

2. Reduce it: You want the smallest version that still works (and gives you the same output).

3. Automate it: Everything that can be done by AI and other automations, or without you spending your energy, should be done that way.

4. Outsource it: Don’t want to do it, and AI can’t take care of it? Outsource it.

The order here matters far more than most people realize. Suppose you automate something or pay someone else to do it for you. The chances are you never ran it through the deletion phase first. This is exactly why the order is set up this way.

Simplicity is a great virtue but it requires hard work to achieve it and education to appreciate it. And to make matters worse: complexity sells better. - Edsger W. Dijkstra

Additional reading on how to simplify your life:

• Spending your money for the maximum return

• Unconventional quality of life improvements

Delete

Arguably the best one. There is nothing to buy, nobody to hire, and no system to build or maintain to get it working. All you have to do is stop doing what you are doing and see if the results change. That is it. You cut something, and nothing changed in your output? You know the answer. The funny (or sad) part is that most people never even try, because removing things that brought them a certain level of success feels like losing. You were taught your whole life that adding is how you get more output.

Where to start:

1) Anything that has to do with the scroll: Start by getting rid of all your notifications. Leave them running only for those who ACTUALLY matter. Once that’s done, move on to deleting the apps that burn hours of your life every day and get you nowhere. All it takes to see a shift is to start paying attention to your phone’s screen time report. It is also one of those rare cases where you can see the exact number before and after you cut it.

2) Decisions that don’t matter: Anything reversible and anything with no long-term impact. There is really no reason to spend 2 hours deciding where to eat your dinner or which movie to watch on Netflix. This is one of the curses of modern society, where we end up spending hours on things that should not take more than a few minutes.

3) Losers, complainers, drainers: Should be pretty obvious what this one is about. Remove them from your life. It is also one of the hardest ones on the list, because it takes the right state of mind to pull off. It is also something you will not do often, but every once in a while. The question you should be asking yourself is how much of your headspace someone occupies and why.

Some people don’t take up much of your time but they do take up a lot of your mind - and that’s a much more expensive resource. - Chris Williamson

4) Guilt yeses: One of the most underrated items on this list. Learning to say no to the things you never wanted to do in the first place is a skill in its own right. And it belongs in this deletion category. The more you start doing things that are true to you, the better your life gets.

The only way to get more out of this:

• Do you know your non-negotiables? This is the key to a good life and not something to take lightly.

• For every opportunity that requires a lot of your time, ask yourself: Will this move me towards the life I actually want to live?

5) Will I regret this: One of the most powerful things you can build into your decision framework is asking yourself this question before taking on anything that will cost you more than 2 to 3 hours of your time. It might be less for you, or it might be more. But we have found this to be a good balance point that pushes you in the right direction.

Reduce

Similar story to the above, but from another angle. This feels like a compromise, like you are giving up on something. Most of the things you do cannot go to zero. You can’t stop answering emails unless you are trying to get fired. But you can answer them twice a day in two communication blocks instead of every 5 minutes. This is exactly what most people get wrong. They try to reduce everything straight to zero. Cut it all out at once… Fail. That leads them to decide the whole idea does not work for them. All of this is based on a wrong conclusion and approach. The goal of reduction is simple - find the smallest approach that still works.

All of this should take a day or two max. What we mean is that you want to batch the decision so you are not burning time thinking about it every single day. Spending a day thinking hard on 2-3 things you can reduce vs. spending 30 minutes a day for a month. There is a massive difference.

Where to start:

1) Meetings (or anything else that was fabricated to make you look busy): Most readers will not be able to remove them completely… But everyone should at least try to reduce them. Anyone who has worked in a corporate job knows meetings waste time. They are designed to make you look busy. Spending 30 minutes on something that could have been an email instead? You have got better things to do with your life. Don’t forget to run something like RescueTime to get an honest picture of where you are and where your hours are going.

Necessary reality check:

• Pull last month’s calendar and measure how many hours went to meetings (or anything else that you do regularly).

• Ask yourself how many of those could have been an email instead. Good chance the answer is most of them.

2) Spending your hard-earned money: That doesn’t mean you should live like a monk or get obsessed with being frugal and penny-pinching. But never underestimate the amount of energy that goes into wanting things and falling into the routine of buying what you do not need. At the end of the day, your happiness comes down to 3-5 things, and 80% of it comes from them. Your living space, your bed (you spend a third of your day in it), and your main hobby.

3) Distractions: What you need to learn is how to focus on one thing at a time. No multitasking, unnecessary context switching, or anything else that falls into this category. Great work comes from ruthless prioritization and knowing what deserves your attention. Your phone is both your best friend and your enemy.

Psychologist Gloria Mark, timing office workers with a stopwatch for a 2004 study, found they switched tasks roughly every three minutes, and that by 2012 the interval had shrunk to 75 seconds. By 2022, David Epstein writes, it was about every 45 seconds.

4) Content you consume: Only the vetted stuff should be consumed, and everything else should be ignored. Especially the algorithm-driven material and social media (if not curated properly). Old books, non-AI newsletters, personal RSS feeds, essays. Everything else usually is not worth your time, with a few exceptions. A clear mind will be an unfair advantage over the next decade.

Automate

This used to require a developer and (often) a big budget. Not anymore. Now you can kill most of what you repeat every week in 48 hours using tools everyone already has access to. Why do most people skip it? Because one automation only saves about 20 minutes a week, which feels like nothing. Run the numbers on that, and you get roughly 17 hours a year just on that one thing. Stack a few of those, and it becomes painfully obvious why you want to automate.

Nothing in this section is permanent. Get comfortable knowing you will have to revisit and change all of it as your lifestyle changes.

1) AI and YOU: The weekly report you run, the research you have to do on your product, scanning Slack for context, or anything else you have decided to use AI with. Look at these tools as background operators. Things that help you become more efficient and free up time for what you prioritize above everything else. One way to look at it is from the perspective of what you do not want to do but have to do. Framing it that way forces you to prioritize and get things done even on the days you are not feeling it.

2) Your money: Set up the auto investments and split everything automatically. Investments, savings, business costs, and bills. Set it up once, then forget about it. This removes the energy of the decision and kills any late fees. It is one of those rare automations that compound literally, and everyone will notice the improvement in their life.

3) Anything that is being done regularly: Haircuts (set up a specific time with your barber and make it recurring), grocery orders, a robo vacuum handling the house. Set it up so you don’t have to think about it.

4) Default to whatever buys your life back (your time): Time is one of the most valuable currencies in the world, and once it is spent. It is gone. One way to simplify your life is to always default to whatever gives you more time back. Things you buy, the things you spend your energy on, the things that make you healthier (the longer you live = more time you have). It also pushes you to stop prioritizing things that should not get even a thought of your day.

5) Routine: Same wake-up time every day. Same bedtime. Strict workout schedule. Strict business schedule. The more you manage to pull it off, the easier your life gets. Make it a habit to have a pen and paper and write down everything that has to be taken care of in the next couple of days.

The more details of our daily life we can hand over to the effortless custody of automatism, the more our higher powers of mind will be set free for their own proper work. - William James

Outsource

Most people never even consider this one because they assume it is ONLY for the rich. Wrong. If your hour produces more than the task costs to hand off to someone… Outsource it. Quick math: $10K a month is roughly $60/hour. Every hour you spend on a $20 task is costing you $40. Doesn’t take a genius to realize the math is not working in your favor.

We have talked with hundreds of people at this point who are sitting on $20 an hour tasks, telling themselves they cannot afford to outsource it. Only to find out they are making 5 figs a month. It mostly comes down to programming and inner beliefs. The same ones that keep people doing $20 tasks forever because they are uncomfortable admitting they are past that phase. One way to get the most out of it is to look at it this way: whatever tools or AI can’t handle goes to people.

Where to start:

1) House cleaning: There is no going back once you do it for the first time. Anything you don’t enjoy should be handled by someone else, and this is arguably one of the biggest ones you should attack. The only requirement is that you decide what you will do with your free time once you find someone to take care of this task.

2) Time-heavy tasks that can’t be scripted: Anything AI can’t do (yet!) should be sent to the VA. Don’t trust the VA to do it right? It is time for a specialist. There is really no point in spending hours on something others can do in 1/5 the time. Keep this up long enough, and it becomes obvious that everything in your business that is not the business is basically wasted time. Because every hour you free up by paying others to do it for you means more time to focus on revenue work that matters.

How to get started with this:

• Focus on small tasks that break your focus but still take 10-15 minutes regularly.

• Before handing anything to your VA (or specialist) → record yourself doing it and create a checklist they can follow.

• Be quick to fire if things are not working out.

3) Pay for the knowledge: Luck surface area is one way to describe it. A more precise way would be to call it speedrunning your own experience. No right or wrong answer here. What we can all agree on is that experts know far more than they share publicly, and one way to access that REAL knowledge is to get close to them. Most think this step is about adding things, but it is more about simplifying things for yourself so you don’t get stuck in the loop of nothingness.

200 free hours a year (if you do this right)

The modern world hates an empty calendar

The modern world hates free time and an empty calendar. This is especially true when most of the things on your calendar (what fills it) do not necessarily do you any good. Now throw someone who is not self-aware into the mix, and there is a good chance the calendar gets filled with things that don’t belong there. You cut meetings to free up time, and the old programming immediately pushes you to fill that space with other stuff that may or may not get you where you want to go. This is where it becomes obvious that you will need defense mechanisms to protect that time. Non-negotiables are one name for them. The other half of the story is that you have to be realistic and set your expectations. Because everything you cut will try to get back into your life one way or another.

You will slip

It is unrealistic to claim you will never slip and fall back into your old ways. Not with everything, but definitely with some parts of your life. Usually it is the phone and saying yes to things you should not be saying yes to. Automations are a different story since they are not based on your willpower but on a machine. This is where it becomes crucial to build your own fallback system, something you can lean on to get back on track. It is worth mentioning that you shouldn’t be afraid of having a bad week. Yet you should be afraid of never getting back on track after one. Our advice? Simplify it as much as possible. Build your own checklist so you know what you implemented, how you implemented it, and why. Reflect on it 1 or 2 times per year, and you have already made it much harder to slip.

What happens in the next 365 days

• Run the math on everything you do

  • If cleaning takes 2 hours a week and you can pay someone else to do it. You are looking at over 100 hours a year back. The same logic applies to automations, eliminating meetings, or anything else. You could gain 200-300 extra free hours a year if you do this properly.

• The signs you are looking for

  • More free time on your weekends.

  • A calendar filled with meetings (not just meetings, but you get the picture) that ACTUALLY matter, not unnecessary yaps that take time.

  • Fewer decisions to make, but with a bigger impact on what you are doing.

  • The key areas of your life (health, money, time) are simplified, leaving you more space to make the right decisions.

• What those NEW hours are actually for

  • Building the system you enjoy and can get the most out of. Imagine freeing up 200 hours and then filling your calendar with the things that should not be there. Getting back into the patterns you should not get back to… So the best thing you can do is to decide before you even cut it.

And remember… Never let yourself end up a victim of your own schedule and the lifestyle you are living.

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Disclaimer: None of this is legal or financial advice of any kind.

• The Mindset Rewiring Workbook is now the Mindset Rewiring Bundle.

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Welcome reader! How many times have you found yourself enjoying something without being able to explain why? We all have. Some side quests life leads you to. Some you go looking for. Either way, they all shape your life. You could even call them medicine for your soul. So here is what nobody tells you about them.

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What no one told you about side quests

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Additional reading on side quests and how life works:

• The pursuit of happiness

• The boring stuff that actually works

1. Side quests are the antidote to a mediocre life. One that can leave people feeling stuck in a boring, predictable, monotonous routine for the rest of their lives. The solution? Side quests. The more side quests you discover that align with your personality type, the better your quality of life will be.

2. The ONLY prerequisite for side quests is being open to them. Without being able to be silly, wrong, or illogical, you won’t get anything out of them. The other part of the story is your creativity. If you find yourself stuck or paralyzed, unable to figure out what your next side quest should be... It might be the perfect time to pay attention to what sparks your curiosity.

3. The key to a successful side quest career is keeping a personal quest log. Whenever you think of something that might be interesting to do, write it down. The next step? Break that quest into smaller, actionable steps. That way, when you are ready to start - you have already solved the hardest part... Which is knowing where to begin.

4. The biggest enemy of a life-changing side quest is the algorithm. Why? Because it constantly feeds you content it already knows you love and are interested in. Result? It limits your ability to even think about something outside the box, which might be something you actually need.

5. Wondering how to figure out what side quests are worth your time? Look at these components: novelty, variation, randomness, and goal-orientation. All those factors are controllable.

6. A big reason why side quests are necessary is that they will help you when things get rough. When you start doubting your big vision and yourself. They keep things playful. Light. They might even make you forget about the problems you are dealing with.

7. The side quest that doesn’t get enough attention is the one where you actively pursue communities and groups that share your interests. Are you into nature? Find a group that does the same activity every week. Are you into old racing cars? Time to figure out how to get access to them and start connecting with others who share the same vision as you. This is one of those side quests that will ultimately lead you to a social life others can only dream of. It all comes down to selfishly pursuing the things you are interested in.

   Build a life you don’t want to escape from.

8. There is a big difference between “traveling” and traveling. “Traveling” for most people means going to the same spots everyone else posts on Instagram. Traveling for real adventurers means pursuing things you can’t experience at home. One makes you look like everyone else. The other makes you appreciate the life you are living. The difference in the quality of the side quest? One you will forget about... The other you will never stop thinking about.

9. Every single thing you are even a little bit passionate about should be an excuse to dig deeper and find something that inspires you to take on more side quests related to it. Interested in ancient Greek? Spend a month watching every documentary and getting your hands on must-reads. Woodworking? What’s stopping you from getting cheap tools and trying it yourself? This is also one way to achieve a permanent state of happiness and fulfillment.

10. Keep in mind. There are spontaneous side quests that usually happen when you decide to push yourself out of your comfort zone. To the point that they appear out of nowhere and lead you to a completely different perspective on life. And there are optimized side quests you are purposely involving yourself in. YOU want both.

11. Side quests can be cultural, social, physical, creative, or adventure-based. It is up to you to figure out what you are missing in your life and what you need more of. What you want to do is the opposite of what you are currently doing. Spending the whole day in the office? Adventure. Most of your work is monotonous? Creative. Weekends usually your lazy days? Physical. All it takes is 2 to 3 side quests to have a complete change in your lifestyle.

Not all those who wander are lost. - J.R.R. Tolkien

12. The clear sign that you are side questing correctly is feeling uncomfortable at first. This is normal. It should feel that way. No one ever taught you to enjoy going to the movies alone or to organize a group chat with people you recently met to hike a local hill. The more you expose yourself to those uncomfortable situations, the easier it gets.

13. The problem with modern society is that everyone has been programmed to believe you should optimize only for your career and status, treating every other adventure as a distraction. That’s exactly why we have so many rich people who feel miserable 24/7.

14. A side quest everyone should pursue is figuring out how to contact the people who are best at what you are interested in. Exceptional people. You should do everything you can to figure out how to get the answers you are looking for from those people. The answers you get will change how you do things.

15. With most side quests, you are unsure whether they are worth your time. Ask yourself - what is the worst that can happen? Will it waste your time? Will it put your life in danger? Will it cost a couple hundred bucks? Will it lead you to something you never thought about before? Positives and negatives. Write them all down, and the answer will become obvious.

16. Whenever you feel that tight knot in your stomach as someone else talks about their side quests and what they have enjoyed... It is a clear sign to invite yourself the next time they do it and to experience what your body is telling you... That it is the right thing to do. It is one of those unwritten rules of life we take for granted. Listen to your body and your intuition. Most never do and spend years wondering why they don’t know what gets them going in life.

17. Most of the biggest career changes started as side quests. Allowing yourself to pursue activities reshapes who you are. Not only that. They also help you see opportunities and connect patterns others don’t. It might not make much sense. But it makes perfect sense when it comes to making money and pursuing something bigger out of your life.

18. Properly chosen side quests should feel effortless. A feeling of time slowing down. A feeling of full energy. A feeling that you don’t have a single worry. If you can check all three... That is a good indicator that you have found something worth living for.

19. Entrepreneurship is a REAL side quest that no one talks about. It is not for everyone. But if you do it well enough and long enough, and feel the spark and purpose in it... It will help you find your true self and what you are made of. It is the most beautiful side quest you can go on, and one that has the potential to change your life and the people around you.

20. Random drives in the car without a destination or goal do more for your mental health than most therapists.

21. Want a hard side quest that not many can do? Say yes to everything. Make yourself a promise that you will have a day when, no matter what kind of opportunity, question, or challenge happens… You will say yes to it. Want to take it a step further? Say yes to everything for a week. You will be surprised by how far this takes you and what kinds of opportunities start to appear out of nowhere.

22. Hotel lobbies are among the best places to visit, no matter what city you are in. They are also great places to start your side quest adventure. Or you could do what we did and give yourself a side quest to explore all of them in your city. There is something special about them.

Identify 3 people who made your current success possible but whom you have never properly thanked. Thank each one of them personally, not via text or email. If you cannot see them in person, you must instead do so via phone so they can hear your voice. - Ambition Project

23. What side quests are NOT and will never be: doomscrolling, watching endless streams, shopping, or online gambling... They are lifestyle traps.

24. A side quest you will never regret doing in your life is hitting up a random opera or symphony. There is something magical about experiencing it live and seeing what it is all about. It also shows why the brightest people throughout history have always loved classical music.

25. Whenever side quests start to feel like a grind or come too close to self-improvement... There is a good chance it is time to stop what you are doing and find something new.

26. A big reason most people become boring is that they put all their effort into ignoring their true calling and side quests. Turning their whole personality into Netflix shows and endless consumption. Completely ignoring the fact that the pursuit of figuring out your passion and the side quests that make you feel alive are things worth living for.

27. The side quest you will never regret is spending the weekend experiencing Twin Peaks for the first time or watching True Detective (season 1). Those are the side quests no one regrets embarking on. Seriously.

28. Spending an hour crafting the perfect day is the kind of side quest that will give you more of what you want than months of unnecessary goal-chasing.

29. A side quest of visiting museums can lead to finding an art piece that captures your attention and draws you in until you can’t stop thinking about it. It is the art you should study deeply. Remember the name. Take the photo. Download it to your phone. There is an underlying motive or a symbol you need to figure out that will unlock an insight you never knew you needed... It is one of those things you can’t explain until you experience it, and the only way to do so is by side questing.

30. One beautifully underestimated side quest you should take regularly is to take a different route home. Forget being the most efficient and enjoy the surroundings.

31. Anything that appears randomly multiple times throughout the day is a sign you should pay attention. It also clearly confirms that a side quest is coming your way, one you should not ignore. Appearing multiple times throughout the day without any connections? Not a coincidence, but a reason for YOU to act.

32. Taking a class in acting and improvisation should be a side quest everyone does at some point in their lives. It teaches you a lot more than acting. It teaches you how to present yourself to others and what it takes to get your idea across.

33. One way to improve the quality of side quests is to learn to be a tourist in your own city. Visit places you have never been before, do things that tourists do, and in the end… Realize that you live in the place others take vacations to visit. It is one of those things most of us take for granted. Yet there is hidden beauty in being a tourist in your city.

34. Everyone tells you that there are no limitations when it comes to side quests and how old you can be to do them. At the same time, have you ever seen a 57 year-old sleep in a hostel somewhere on the other side of the world? We haven’t either. Side quests change based on your age and priorities... So it is on you to figure out what you should do and when.

35. Never underestimate the value of being a beginner at something and staying comfortable in that phase until you put in the hours. This might not make sense, but it is a prerequisite for an interesting life and a long list of side quests.

36. Everybody has their own version of what they need to start doing side quests. The reality is that it is much less than we make it out to be. For most things, you don't need much more than goodwill and some willingness to take a bit of a risk.

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37. The key to a fulfilling side quest that leaves you with insights is recognizing its underlying purpose. It has to be self-motivating. Understand why you are doing what you are doing and how it impacts you.

38. Everyone talks about high agency, but no one talks about what it takes to achieve it. Jobs studied calligraphy. Feynman picked locks and played bongos. Da Vinci studied anatomy and hydraulics, and painted… It should be obvious what you should do.

39. One of your side quests should be to promise yourself that you will reach out to the author and thank them for their work whenever you finish a book. Maybe even ask a question or two about things you find interesting and that make you think. You will be surprised by how many of them will actually get back to you and thank YOU.

40. The side quest that will give you a complete outlook on a new life and make you appreciate everything you have is volunteering. Nothing makes you more human than seeing someone else appreciate everything you take for granted. Humbling and often necessary.

The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek. - Joseph Campbell

41. There is a beautiful side quest called observing the people around you. It will make you realize you are likely underestimating your capabilities and what you can achieve. It will also make you realize that someone who is much less capable than you is living the life you should be living.

42. Knowing how to be a memorable host and what it takes to be one is a side quest everyone who wants an above-average social life should take on. There is an art to it, and it is one of the rare things boomers did right. Just look at what J. Paul Getty used to do and how it worked out for him.

43. One of the highest-leverage side quests comes down to quitting one thing. Alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes, or your phone before bed… Easily accessible vices. Anything you do automatically without thinking about it, but deep down you know it is not good for you or takes something away from you.

44. There is a hidden beauty in doing things alone. Watching a movie, eating dinner at a nice restaurant, sipping a cold drink on the rooftop of your favorite bar, going to a library, and walking around your favorite part of the city. It never clicks for most people that there is beauty in it. Yet once it clicks, you can’t go back. It is a side quest in itself.

45. It is your duty to have a good quality of life, and one side quest you should embrace is figuring out your go-tos. The things that, no matter what mood you are in or how you feel, will give you the sense that it was a good decision. They might range from always ordering a gin and tonic when unsure what to drink, all the way to eating a ribeye. Find your go-tos… It will make your life easier. Better. Simpler.

46. Sitting in front of a wall and doing nothing is one of the side quests you should give a try. A much better choice than wasting your precious life scrolling through social media. Extra points if you replace it with something more serious. Such as TM, and make it part of your life.

47. An important side quest most people never give themselves enough time for is figuring out how they should study and what it is all about. It is a sad reality that most people never learn what works for them or get the chance to figure it out. You should be spending an enormous amount of time finding the study method that works for you… It is an important, life-changing side quest you will use for the rest of your life.

48. Get rid of everything you do not use. Take a weekend to put everything that is taking up your space into one corner. The next step? Start taking pictures and posting them on your local marketplace. Not only will you free up space, but you will also make enough to buy yourself a nice dinner. An underrated side quest that will make you appreciate what you have even more.

49. Sooner or later, you realize that every side quest you give yourself brings you closer to understanding what your main quest actually is. Everyone who has done a few of them knows that years later the main quest emerges from one of them.

50. Writing is one side quest everyone should try. It not only enriches your thinking and how you perceive things… It also makes them reality. Sort of like you are programming your own future and what you will become.

51. Off-radar weekends, when you completely unplug from your usual life and only do the things you WANT to do, are the side quests not many take on. Take a few weekends like those each year, and you will never feel burned out or like you are losing control.

52. Being specific in how you communicate is the side quest that will give you an unfair advantage in an era of social-skills incompetence.

53. The beauty of doing multiple side quests and allowing yourself to pursue them comes down to optionality. When you have the option to choose what you want, because you know what is good for you and where you want to go… You are experiencing something not many people ever get.

54. Side quests are nothing but a collection of the things you devote your free time to. Questing for knowledge, for what makes you feel alive and purposeful. This helps you experience new things and understand their value and importance. Side quests indirectly help you escape mediocrity and become a better human being.

    ---

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Disclaimer: None of this is to be legal or financial advice of any kind.

Real self-improvement advice has to be tested and tailored to you. It has to be personal. It is the only way to avoid optimizing for something that was never meant for you or that goes against your personality. What is this article about? Our personal experiments (methods, activities, lifehacks…) over the last few years. What works, what we manage to stick with, and what we plan to do.

Generic self-improvement… Doesn’t work

The older we get, the more obvious it becomes that self-improvement is a waste of time for most. What we mean is that the real way to get the most out of it is to figure out how to incorporate new variables into your current structure. That might not be true if you’re in your 20s and don’t have a structure yet, so you are free to make whatever big (or small) change you want. But once you have a setup in place, the drastic changes that most self-improvement requires and most people look into... Aren’t realistic. Because they require more than what most can give.

Let’s say you decide to go for something drastic. What is the first obstacle you will deal with? Timeframe. The next one? Your ability to pick up the variables that moved you forward (mostly because there are a lot of them at the same time). What happens when you decide to make a drastic change? Chaos. A few years back, everyone was pushing people to go into monk mode. We are not saying there is anything wrong with that. Especially if you can make it work. But imagine telling someone who spent 80% of their time on their phone to go cold turkey and quit... That's something you might or might not be able to stick with.

We are not saying this is the wrong approach to self-improvement. But we are not fans of this approach either. Our recommendation is to avoid big, drastic changes if you can. A better way to approach self-improvement (personal experiments) is to play with low to medium level (effort) variables you can stack many times without making drastic changes. Yet once you stack 2 or 3 of them in the right order, they compound and become drastic. Those are the ones you can incorporate into your life and keep for years. Yet each has a direct impact on your quality of life.

The Guinea pig approach and designing a life that works

I am a human guinea pig and a professional dilettante. - Tim Ferriss

The only way to achieve your perfect self-improvement state is to maximize happiness and operate at 100% of your energy. It comes down to positioning yourself so that every day you feel ready to work, take on new challenges, or attack things bigger than yourself. It starts with figuring out your perfect day. This is an extreme oversimplification, but the main idea still holds. Those are sort of the requirements.

How do you expect to get the most out of your life if you do not know what is working for you? It would also be dumb not to recognize that nothing in your life is fixed and that things change over time. What worked for you before might not work in the future. That's one of the main reasons this website exists. It is for those tired of conventional methods and unafraid to do what others around them won't.

The next logical conclusion is that only through continuous personal experimentation can you figure out your next step. Not necessarily the next step, but what is worth having in your day-to-day routine… And what is something that might work for others and not for you.

Our perspective here (and on self-improvement) is as simple as it gets. Your daily life needs a good balance of proven frameworks, methods, activities, and things you know will NOT let you down. The ones that work for YOU. Mixed with the new things, variables, and experiences that will allow you to reach the next step. After a certain period of time, they will give you enough data to show you how inefficient they are for you, to the point where you can remove them from your life.

This is the optimal way to change your life without doing something drastic for 3 months and burning out. What you want is a well-proven mix of what works for you and new methods that MIGHT work for you, and you need to test them.

The only way to know if a habit is working or if it is a waste of time

There is no easy answer, and it’s even harder when you are testing multiple things at once. Want to make it extra hard for yourself? Start looking into the data and studies on what you are testing. That approach will lead you down a path of unnecessary optimization and small moves that waste your time.

How do we approach testing things out? MED - minimum effective dose. That means if the smallest effort we put into something produces the expected (or better) results, we stick with it. Next on the list is sticking to one variable (max two) while you test something.

Let’s say you are trying to figure out your diet and how to lose weight. What happens when you change 10 variables, going from snacking all day to intermittent fasting? From 40 grams of protein to 160 grams of protein? From eating only certain types of food? One (max two) experimental variable at a time, no matter how boring it is. Only by isolating it will you know whether it works. The last piece of the puzzle is doing it on a short base cycle… But not too short. That usually comes out to 5-6 weeks (around 40 days), which gives you enough time to figure out what is working and what is a waste of your time.

Our approach is that there are no big commitments without testing first to see how they work for you… Or they don’t. This is what most people don’t consider, yet it plays a huge role. And it’s one of the biggest reasons most people never manage to stick with anything when it comes to self-improvement and changing how they do things.

How we test things:

• MED (minimum effective dose) - you want simplicity.

• One or max two variables at a time - forget about doing 10 different things at once and expecting that you will be able to figure out where 80% of the results are coming from.

• At least 35 - 40 days to see whether something is working for you.

Our habits, routines, and lifestyle experiments from the past 12 months

Read more

• The Mindset Rewiring workbook is becoming a "bundle". With over 5k downloads so far, we have decided to add two more items to make things easier. The update should be out next week. September will also be the last month to get the workbook on Substack, as we are moving it off here.

• Be sure to check out the inner circle, as there are new updates.

  

• If you have questions or want feedback, please use the chat. We do not offer standard Q&A for paid subs, so this is the alternative. If your questions are more private or you want to keep it low-key, you can also send DMs. We try to get back to every paid subscriber within 24 hours (many of you can vouch for that).

When was the last time you asked yourself what your perfect day looks like? This post is for those already hitting most of their goals but still feeling like they aren’t getting where they want to be. Most know what gives them energy and makes them feel alive. Yet their Monday doesn’t match that scenario... Or any other day of the week. Maybe the holidays do… The ones you count down to. Living like that day in and day out kills dreams. When your ordinary weekday feels so far from your perfect day, that is a sign something is off. You are optimizing for the wrong things. At least that was the case for us.

The best thing you can do to fight it? It is NOT by chasing another goal list or finding a new hobby that relaxes you. It is about figuring out the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. This post isn’t for people who want a beach lifestyle and think everything will magically work in their favor if they don’t put in any effort. This is not a routine template you have to follow. This is a practical approach (template) for people ready to improve their lives. Their ordinary days and how they do things. Not the vacation days. Not the weekends. But the actual random Monday everyone hates.

You get 25,000 days (if you are lucky)… Most of them feel the same

Time is a limited resource, and the more fun you have in life, the faster it starts to feel like it is passing. The above days equation only holds up if you are lucky and your health serves you well. This becomes painfully obvious once you hit your 30s, when weeks start to feel like days. Throw in more obligations or the things you are passionate about... You have the perfect combination to wake up one morning and feel miserable because you feel like you don’t own your schedule.

Chasing goals works for some. Creating systems works for some. Everyone is different. What no one considers is that neither of those necessarily brings you closer to the life you want to live. Yet we spend hours optimizing for them and trying to figure out how to get more out of those.

The painful realization is that your most common day (weekday) is the opposite of what you want. Building the life you don’t want to live to impress the people you don’t want to impress. So why waste your precious time building a life you don’t want?

Perfect day you can't repeat? It is just a holiday

Everyone knows it is one of those days when you are on vacation and everything seems to go your way. You don’t have to check in to work, no alarm clock, no boring emails, and no coworkers you don’t want to spend time with. It is a perfect day… After all.

The hard part is that you cannot delete work, alarms, emails, or other people from your normal weekday. You could, but that means quitting and rebuilding your life. A complete 180 that most people aren’t ready to make.

What you should do is start getting a clear picture of what the perfect day means for you. Consider both the vacation-type scenario where no one is bothering you and the one that still replicates everything you do throughout the week. Start from the perspective of how to make it better and fit your vision. This only became obvious to us once we did it and compared what we do day to day with what we want (our perfect day). Our exercise is an eye-opener because it exposes how you are living day to day and how big the gap is between your ideal scenario and where you are right now.

The strategy that works is the one you can stick to. Not just that, but the one based on your perception of the perfect day and what it means to you. From a psychological perspective, the weekday version makes sense because it is designed to work on a random weekday. No vacations, no weekends, or any other requirements. Your perfect day (or as close as you can get) should be something you can replicate on any random day of the week.

Random Monday? That is your goal. It would be a lie to say it will always be the case. Life happens to all of us. Your strategy and planning should focus on balancing what you know you can achieve with low effort (fits your perfect day) with what you know you can still pull off with a bit more effort (think weekends). Find the middle ground between the two and come up with the scenario you know you can do for the most part.

Where most perfect day strategies fall apart

1. Work: We already mentioned that a realistic perfect day has to include everything... You work Monday to Friday at the office? Those hours stay in the picture. You might be coming up with your perfect day, but you can’t ignore those working hours. You are not looking for another holiday or something to fill the gap. If you are now barely making ends meet, it would be dumb to think that your perfect day would be off work. Maybe that is the case. But at the same time, it may not be the best choice. Neither is it a realistic one. Work plays a big role in your life, and if you are one of the lucky ones who find something that inspires them, it will change everything for you. You want to have some form of work in your schedule.

2. Relationships: Another area you want to cover in depth. For example, dinner with friends that leaves you feeling energized and ready to take on other challenges. Add it to the list. Going to the gym with your group? Add it to the list. Anything that gives you a sense of fulfillment and aligns with your perfect day involving others should go on the list. Social connections and relationships play a huge role in life, no matter how social (or antisocial) you are. They have to be on the list one way or another when it comes to your perfect day.

3. Health: You either get this, or you don’t. Include things that improve your quality of life and make you happier by default. Your perfect day should include an activity or two that helps you be healthier, look better, or be more productive. Walking 10k steps or eating a healthy meal (or not eating anything bad for you) should be the least you can do.

4. Environment: Big one. Go in depth with this one. From where you spend most of your time to how it looks. Want to go a level above? Start by describing the weather outside and what YOU want. All that sounds ridiculous until you realize the environment either creates you or breaks you. There is power in being surrounded by the things that align with your vision. From the place where you are reading this, the people you surround yourself with, to where you spend your free time. They all shape you. Directly or indirectly. This is why you want a clear vision of where you want to be and what you want to be associated with.

5. How you feel (mindset): Don’t be afraid to express yourself as you write things down. Does your perfect day involve having coffee in the morning and doing something you love afterward? No problem. How does it make you feel? Energetic? Excited? Ready to work on something you are passionate about? Write it all down. All of those indicate what is worth your attention. They show how the things that bring you so much joy (make you feel optimistic) should be positioned in your life. The more you stack and optimize those, the smaller the gap will feel.

A Monday you would actually want again

The only way to get something out of this is to open your Apple Notes, Obsidian, favorite notebook, or anything else that you are using to take care of your notes, and start writing things down. This should be the next phase once you have a clear overview from the previous step and know which activities you have to do and which you want to do.

Why Monday? It is simple. Can you have a perfect Monday? Often the most chaotic day for most people, Monday means you can make any other day of the week perfect. The only requirement is that you start writing down your vision and engineer what your perfect day would look like. Do this hour by hour so you get a clear picture of what you want and what it looks like. Action by action. Activity by activity. This will force you to think clearly and prioritize what matters to YOU vs. the noise.

This is how it should look:

• 7:30 - Wake up. Decided to stick to no phone, made a coffee, and headed out for a short walk.

• 8:15 - Turned the laptop on and got ready to work. Decided what to work on and sat down to focus.

• 9:00 - Time for another coffee before taking any calls.

The metric to focus on is the repeat test. What do we mean by that? To get the most out of this exercise (or any other), it is crucial that you can always answer "Yes". If someone asked you whether you would repeat this same day tomorrow, your answer has to be "Yes". If the answer is "No" you have done your planning wrong. This is why it’s important to start including things that might not make sense at first (such as work or things that might not feel 100% comfortable) to form a big picture.

How to get the most out of this

• Forget about engineering another holiday day or taking it easy.

  • Weekends are already a dream scenario, and holiday setup should be off the table.

• You want a breakdown from the time you wake up until you go to sleep.

• Feel free to create your own template. Whatever works best for you and gets this out of your head and onto paper. It works wonders. For us.

• Forget about dumping three hours into one block. Yes, you might work three hours in one block. That doesn’t mean you didn’t enjoy a cup of coffee in between or do 10-20 minutes of stretching/walking. Write it all down.

• Remember the framework? Work, relationships, health, environment, how you feel…

• To get the most out of these exercises, you want clear answers about the music you hear throughout the day, what you wear, what you eat… Everything. It is all part of your environment. All of that will click later, and you will see why we are pushing you for these answers.

  • Keep it simple. Write down how you feel and how things make you feel.

• Write this from the perspective of having unlimited money. This helps you get a clear sense of what you want without self-imposed limitations. It will also help you to design the life you want to live with far less than you think you need. Because you are not operating out of desperation and neediness.

  • We have covered this in depth in our mental models.

• There is a big difference between writing about the perfect lazy day and writing about a perfect day. Make sure you do not fall into the first category. Because in that case, doing this exercise is a waste of your time.

• Prepare yourself for draft versions 2 or 3 to be the best. The initial draft will likely be way too unrealistic. The next one will be more realistic and better. The third one should usually be the best. Can you do them on different days and at different times? This is the best approach. Each time you do it, you will get a different set of answers, depending on how you felt and how your day was.

• Want to take it even further? Write down everything you are NOT doing that you usually do. Are you used to commuting 2 hours every day? In this version, you are not anymore. You are not commuting. What about constant meetings that go nowhere? In this version they are gone, or at least useful. Write down the things you are NOT doing. You want to do this because they are usually the easiest to fight or change.

This shouldn’t take more than 60 minutes. But you have to approach it with focus and 110% of your attention… Make sure you use one of your unfair advantages.

Pages that do the exercise for you (downloadable template you can use)

The Unintuitive - Perfect Day Exercises

311KB ∙ PDF file

Download

A downloadable version of the predefined template.

Download

Track the week you already live

Give yourself at least a week to get the most out of the audit. Over the next 7 days, track everything you do. This is not an easy job. But it is the only way to position yourself and figure out what is robbing you of your perfect day. It might be the commute, it might be working for someone else, or you might be wasting your precious time on things that shouldn’t get your attention. There is a good chance it is a mix of all three.

• Take a week. Pay attention to every single thing you do. What time you wake up, how you feel, what you are eating for breakfast, music you are listening to… You want to log everything.

• DON’T change anything from what you usually do. This is the most important thing this week. Whatever metric you change will pull you further away from what matters. If you usually go to bed at 11 pm, now is not a good time to start going to bed at 9 pm.

• No vacation weeks, holiday weeks, or anything else that is not how you spend most of your year. You want the ordinary week.

• Apple Notes, pen and paper, or anything else that works for you. This is how you want to log your stuff. For most people, checking in every few hours will be the easiest way to approach this. One sentence per block (activity) should be all you need. Don’t make it hard for yourself. Keep it as easy as you can.

  • If you find yourself enjoying this process and gaining insights you never thought of before... This is a sign that you should not take this for granted and with 2 to 3 right moves you might change your whole weekday structure.

• Score each day from 1 to 10. Why did one day score 2 points higher than the day before when you did the same things? You will realize how you felt and what caused that feeling. It is one of those obvious signs you should pay attention to, and one reason creating a perfect day comes down to small things you can change.

• Be 100% transparent and honest with yourself.

The week you lived Vs. The Monday you designed

Once you finish your current week’s audit, compare your perfect day with where you are right now. Compare it hour by hour. Cover everything that is written down and how it made you feel. The goal is to run through every day you had this week and compare it with your perfect day. How they differ, what you have done differently, and the overall score. This will help you spot patterns so you can chase what you want and build a perfect scenario you can replicate every day.

Once you are done with that part, it is time to figure out what already matches between your current typical day and the perfect one. It might be the walk after lunch, the relationship with people you care about, or a simple coffee in the morning. There are no rules for this. Everyone will have a different answer. Your only goal is to figure out what already matches and what you should not change. Don’t skip this step. It is without a doubt one of the most important steps in the whole exercise because even a small change can affect your quality of life.

One way to approach this is to identify the biggest obstacle. An activity that is the furthest from your perfect day. That is the one you are looking for, and if you manage to fix it, everything else will slowly start to shift in your favor.

Fix the hour that looks nothing like the life you want

Once you have a clear overview of the difference between the two, start with the lowest-hanging fruit. If you know you are doing something that isn’t necessarily good for you, or you are doing it out of habit, now is the perfect time to start and re-engineer your daily reality.

Basic example: Let’s say that in your perfect day scenario you have 20 minutes of reading a book. Maybe on a weekday, the first thing you do when you get home is pick up your phone and let yourself fall victim to the algorithm. Instead, you remind yourself what you want out of life and pick up a book. It sounds overly simplified… But it is how you should approach this.

5-10 small changes like this compound and lead you to a new lifestyle. This is where it is important to understand that some fixable things require low effort and some things will take time, if not years. It also makes sense to sort things into what you can start fixing this week and what will be a long play.

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FAQ

How detailed should it be?

Be very detailed. You want to be able to picture every detail. Map it out… Or whatever you want to call it. If you can’t picture what you are wearing, what you are eating for breakfast, or how you are spending your time... It simply means you are not done. You also want to avoid vague answers at all costs.

My lifestyle has completely changed, and my idea of a perfect day is different from what it used to be. What do I do now?

That is normal, and this exercise was never meant to be fixed. Things change, your lifestyle changes, and your priorities change. Does your idea of the perfect day feel completely different? Print the new version and give yourself some time. Audit. Think about it. This progression, including distancing yourself from your original plan, will happen more and more as big life changes occur.

What if my day is full of things I don’t want to deal with, but I have to (kids, family, job)?

That is the whole point. It is also a reminder that to achieve your perfect day without special reasons (holidays, weekends...), you will have to figure out how to make it happen. Building the perfect scenario around your obligations is something not many people succeed at. Take for example a job. If you know you have to be at work at 9 am, and it takes you an hour to get there... There is a good chance that, with your current setup, you will not be able to avoid it. But instead, you should think about how to get the most out of it. Maybe call someone you care about and ask how they feel and what is going on.

How do I check my progress or know that I am doing the right thing?

The key is not to treat this exercise as something you do once and forget. The best approach is a weekly 20-minute check-in where you reflect on what moved you closer and what pulled you back. Reflect on how you are sticking to the routine and whether you are seeing progress.

What if the people in my life don’t share the same idea of the perfect day as me?

They never will. Why would you want everyone to share your idea of the perfect day? Keep in mind that your version is the one you are being honest with yourself about. Not something others think is right. But something you want deep down. This is also where the real relationships with those who are good on paper become obvious.

What is the best way to start closing the gap?

1. Identify the biggest obstacle and solve it.

   1. Once you do that successfully, things will start to shift in your favor because you removed the biggest friction.

2. Your environment (change it)

   1. Start changing the small, meaningful things you can control. When it comes to the environment and how we define it. We could further break it down into physical, digital, and social. All you have to do is fix one thing in one of the three we mentioned, and you will notice the difference.

3. Look for the things you do not want to do but do regularly because you don’t have a choice.

How to know it’s working?

The success of this exercise only becomes apparent after you realize that, instead of having 0 days that look close to your perfect scenario, you have 1 or 2. It might not sound impressive... Yet that is what you are looking for. The more realistic case is that you no longer dread any days and that the gap is smaller, or at least that more of the day’s activities look like the ones you want. Your goal should not be to believe that you will achieve success in the next month or two. It should be that you find yourself living more days and doing more things closer to what you WANT to be doing. That is the real metric and the only measurement of success worth paying attention to.

The next thing that will happen is that you might miss a weekly check-in and the time will pass… You will forget what you were even doing or what your perfect day looks like. This is normal. Start again by auditing your day. Another thing you could do is pick one or two things from your perfect day and do them. Get back into the moment. Remind yourself why you are doing everything you are doing.

The people who will get the most out of this are those who actually do everything we outlined here and take their time. This is not an easy exercise. It is more of a process. Write out your Monday, think about how your perfect life should look or where you are right now as you write this. The positive? It is not complicated, and it doesn’t require anything you don’t already have. A printer if you want to make it easier for yourself and use our template…

To build your perfect day, you need to know what it looks like. Have an overview of the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, and how each change affects where things are moving. Be honest with yourself, pick one thing, and start playing with it. Over time, you will notice that things start to work in your favor, and you will be in a different position than you were before doing this exercise. You might even live your perfect life…

Enjoy your weekend.

Disclaimer: None of this is to be legal or financial advice of any kind.

Part 1: The game inside your head

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself… and you are the easiest person to fool. - Richard P. Feynman

Energy is the foundation of everything

It is one of the four resources: money, time, health, and energy that you can only impact by how you take care of yourself and live your life. Energy is a prerequisite that dictates everything else. From the type of day you will have to the year and what you have managed to achieve in it.

We start the list with it because without complete control over your energy, you will be VERY limited in what you can achieve. One of your top priorities should be to optimize your energy and ensure what you are doing aligns with your big idea. That is how you "trick" your mind into unlimited energy, where you have managed to combine interest and curiosity into something meaningful.

What has worked for us:

• Regular bloodwork and digging into what we should focus on. Using results to prompt and get the answers we need.

• Figuring out our chronotype and sleep schedule. Waking up at 5 am was a game-changer.

• Get at least 10k steps a day. This helps you get into the flow and kills brain fog. One of the lowest-effort, highest-return habits we incorporate into our schedule.

Nobody is coming to save you

The moment you take control of your life and the choices you make is the moment you start living. You create the life you live, but you also control it. The initial hand of cards you have been dealt plays a big role. But it isn’t permanent. It just makes things easier or harder. You are reading this on the internet, just like someone on another continent. Which means you already have the same opportunity as everyone else. At least when it comes to making money and reaching the same customers as others.

One of the key things you have to realize is that the world owes you nothing. Forget about the financial system that will save you. Forget about the government. Forget about anyone else being required to save you. The world is NOT fair. The important part is realizing that you have to take full ownership of your life situation. Decide that the ONLY person you should be able to blame if something is not working out is yourself. Not others... Yourself. This is not an easy observation. Most never manage to reach it.

What has worked for us:

• Write down every area of your life where you are waiting for something to happen. The things you have been waiting for to finally start working out. The perfect opportunity to invest your money. List everything you have been postponing. Then go deeper and be HONEST with yourself. Are you waiting for something, or are you looking for excuses?

• Are you outsourcing your agency and ideas to someone else, or staying true to yourself? You don’t need a financial advisor or the government to tell you what you should do with your hard-earned money. Neither do you need a manager to tell you what to do with your career. You already have all the answers.

• Stop blaming the environment, timing, the economy, or your financial situation. Lead with what you could have done differently given the situation you have found yourself in. No matter whether something is your fault or not. This puts control in your hands. The exact opposite of what most people do. They blame everyone else around them for their failures.

Your mind is building your reality

How you see things is shaped by how you perceive yourself and the world around you. The information and content we feed ourselves shape our perception and reality. That is why protecting your mind and avoiding a victim mindset matters, especially when every algorithm is designed to poison your thinking and who you TRULY are.

Consume only what moves you forward in life. Forget everything the algorithm pushes. No more random street fight videos, car crashes, or anything that fits that category. They fight for your attention and try to poison it so you get emotional and consume more of it.

The same concept applies to the people you spend your time with and the beliefs you have held since childhood. Watch how you treat yourself. Do you call yourself stupid or unlucky for no reason? Is there something about yourself that bothers you and that you constantly reinforce? All those things subconsciously create your reality. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know you don’t want to be your biggest enemy. Everything you allow into your mind influences you... One way or another.

What has worked for us:

• Mindset rewiring workbook. Use this to change everything you do in this area and how you treat yourself. There are no limitations on the approach you want to take.

• Stop saying things to yourself that you do not mean. Everything you say out loud has massive power over your life, often without you even noticing. Do not say things you do not mean... Not even as a joke. Sooner or later they will become part of your reality.

  • Forget about calling yourself unlucky, stupid, or poor. All those things will work against you. You reinforce beliefs you don’t even believe in the first place. Society has made self-disrespect and negative propaganda feel normal. Do not fall for it.

Optimism is a strategy (and competitive advantage)

Irrational optimism. It sounds stupid until you realize that positioning it strategically is one of those unfair advantages you can have over others. Not in a way where you know that something simply will not happen and you are doing everything you can to push it. But in a way that you are ready to take on things and try to look at them from perspectives others around you do not see. Wealthy individuals often possess this trait as their default. Deep down knowing that the best is yet to come and that there is plenty of room to get what they want. When you start paying attention to your approach... It will feel like you are faking it, to a point, being unrealistic.

This is where you have to push it and make it your default mechanism. Over time, that lets you see what no one else around you sees. It will only click when you actively start paying attention. There is a massive difference between being optimistic and trying to achieve something vs. starting from an already pessimistic perspective and thinking it will work.

What has worked for us:

• It took us years to reach this point, but we deeply believe the best is yet to come. At all times. No matter what you are doing. Maybe you are just starting your new business idea, or you are trying to get better at a new hobby. Whatever you are doing, operating from this frame and state of mind will change how you see things. Repeat it often... The best is yet to come. This alone pushes you toward a mindset where no matter what happens, you will still be in a better position than you were yesterday.

• What no one ever told you is that the key to being an optimistic individual is to be happy when others around you win. If you feel resentful when a friend wins. It is a clear sign that you are working against yourself. You have a problem that needs fixing. Once you fix that part, optimism will naturally start to show up in your life. It will also show you that you can achieve that same success or more.

• Cut the doom BS. There is too much of it, and you will get nowhere reading the same headlines over and over again or listening to people who complain 24/7.

Build your operating rules (set of principles)

"The mind is like a propagandist. It needs to be fed, given a direction, and it will create all the words, thoughts, imagery, and reasoning that is needed to get there. Since it is impossible to blindly follow how you feel at the moment, neither is that the right thing you should do. The better way would be to follow a set of idea (think goals) you have about where you want to go and moving in that direction." - CEOLandshark

The simplified version of the point above is that you want to create your own set of operating rules. Treat them as guidelines for how you approach things and what you are all about. Following this approach (we do) lets you create a great medium (predictable output) for whatever you do regularly. It is much better than having goals you have to tick off before you start.

This lets you create your system as a set of principles for how you do things. The only requirement is that you create them yourself and have a CLEAR sense of where you want to go. Don’t think of it necessarily as goals, but more as a system you will reference each time before you engage in a certain activity. Your personal manual for doing _____.

What has worked for us:

• We started doing this recently and have been experimenting with it for the last few months. Our idea is that whatever we do regularly (such as writing articles, marketing...), it deserves a set of core ideas and principles to base our work on. This means that before we do any writing... We go through those principles first.
  
  Here is how we do it:

  • Write everything down. It doesn’t matter whether you have it on paper or in your Apple Notes.

  • Before doing the activity you have come up with principles for, reread those same principles. Remind yourself what it is all about for you.

  • As time goes on, you also need to be prepared to update your principles list and replace your previous "beliefs" and "actions" with new ones.

  • Forget about making it 8 pages long, covering every single aspect. Focus on the key movers you have identified and keep it to a maximum of 2 pages.

• Read our earlier work around being the creator of your own kingdom

Everything in life compounds

Make yourself a promise to do everything you can to understand that everything in life compounds. Skills, health, relationships, mindset, and money. They all compound one way or another. Everything worth something in your life works under compounding principles. This is the same idea behind why the game is not won by the one who works hardest. But it’s actually won by the one who stays in it the longest and makes the most right moves. One who can take the most pain and adapt based on it.

The key requirement for this idea to click is to start putting things on paper from a mathematical perspective. Take a basic example most can relate to... Gym session. Now let’s do some math behind it. 1 hour per day. 3 days per week. Around 12 hours per month. Spread it across a year, and you get over 100 hours of work. The same idea applies to anything else. Both positive and negative perspectives.

What has worked for us:

• Run the numbers on paper. Look at the gym example above and apply it to anything else. Nothing makes the power of compounding more obvious than seeing the numbers. We tend to overestimate what we can do in a week and underestimate what we can achieve in a year.

• Audit what is working against you (compounding). It is easy to fall into the trap of pushing too hard on one side and completely ignoring the other. When you work day and night on your business, you are likely skipping the gym. The result? Your health suffers. What about your social life? Similar story. You are more likely to become antisocial, given what you are doing and how much time it takes. Make it a habit to reflect on these and keep paying attention so you don’t get surprised.

Health, time and money… Know the order of your priorities

Without health, you don’t have time… Without time, you don’t have money. Without money... You can still have the other two, which means you are more than capable of making it. Simple as that. Energy is another factor in this category, but we have already covered it. This idea doesn’t mean you have to prioritize one over another. It means that if you find yourself constantly making moves that require trade-offs, you always want to cover them in this order:

1. Health

2. Time

3. Money

It sounds ridiculous that we even have to mention this, but most people around you do it in the exact opposite order: money, time, and then health. Only to find themselves living miserable lives after 20-30 years of doing this.

What has worked for us:

• Health: Cardio and weight training are a must. Eat a diet that is not full of processed foods and sugar. This also covers your energy and helps you stay on top of it.

• Time: Remove anything that forces you to multitask (turn off notifications first. It is something that will impact most people). Try to optimize your living location so you are close to all points of interest. If you love playing golf, live near a golf course. Working in the office? Try not to live so far away that you have to commute 3 hours every day. Easier said than done, but you get the point.

• Money: Understand that every dollar you have should have its own role. It has to fall into one of these categories:

  • It is making you more money

  • It buys back your time

  • It improves your health or energy

Money should buy back your life… Not more stuff

Put aside all the luxury watches, fancy cars, and expensive trips. The real reason you want as much money as possible is to improve your quality of life. Money should buy you life-changing experiences and help you escape the masses. Freedom is one way to call it. At least this is our definition of true wealth.

What do most people do wrong? They start spending their hard-earned money to impress people who aren’t even paying attention to them. They fall into a never-ending spiral of staying in the same spot for years without anything worth showing. They do everything without ever paying attention to the fact that one day they will wake up with the golden handcuffs. Living in a luxury prison they know will disappear if they miss a few months of payments.

What has worked for us:

• Understand how to spend money for maximum return

• Start implementing the 48-hour rule. Postpone every nonessential purchase by at least 48 hours. If you still want it after sleeping on it for 2 days… Buy it. Do this hundreds of times a year, and you will be surprised by how much money you save and how much energy you stop wasting on unnecessary purchases.

• Take what you earn in a month and divide it by the hours worked. That is the number you were looking for. Before any purchase, ask yourself:

  • How many hours of my life am I trading for this?

• Make sure you never rush your standard of living type of upgrades. Because going back is one of the most brutal experiences you can go through. Forget about hiring a cleaner, going to a top private doctor in the city, or anything similar that you know you will not be able to repeat. When upgrading your lifestyle, make sure you do it in a way you can repeat (buy, visit, pay...) month after month. If you can do something for only one month and may not have the money to afford it the next month, you are doing something wrong.

Reverse-engineer the life you actually want

You will never live the life you want if you cannot reverse-engineer how to get there.

1. Write down everything you currently have going for you.

2. Write down everything you want for yourself.

The next step is to identify the difference and analyze the gap between where you are and where you want to be. This alone will tell you everything you need to know and what you have to do. The next step is to figure out what actions you can take to close that gap. For each item you want, write down the action you should take to get closer. Before you ask yourself how you should know what it is in the first place... This is where you will have to be honest with yourself and audit what you are already doing.

Most people know exactly what they need to do to get where they want to be. But they do everything they can to avoid it and don’t follow through. This is by far the most practical way to identify and reverse-engineer the life you want to live. You can use the same approach for everything from simple business plans to big life goals.

Remind yourself often that the only way to get what you want is to know what you want in the first place.

What has worked for us:

• Take 30 minutes without distractions and list what you are doing right now. Once you are done with that part, take another sheet of paper and start writing what your ideal life looks like (what you actually want). No holding back with this one. To get the most out of this exercise, go as deep as possible. Take your time.

• The next step is to compare where you are vs. where you want to be. This is what most people skip or do wrong. There is already a good chance that 50% or more of what you consider your ideal life is present in your current situation. You are not paying attention to it.

• The final step is to write one action for each gap you identified. You don’t need a whole strategy or a plan… One action you know you can take that will bring you closer to your goals. It might be something simple, such as creating a landing page or finishing the email you have wanted to send to a recruiter. What you will realize is its importance and how things will start to move toward your ideal life, because everything you do will support that big vision of yours.

Decision framework for the choices that matter

• The cost of inaction is never zero

  • Make sure you understand that whenever you decide not to act on something you know you should act on… That cost is actually not zero, but much more. Cost of indecision. If you do nothing month over month, you will be in the same place you were. This oversimplifies a much more complex idea. But keep in mind that there is no such thing as staying neutral or doing nothing. If you do nothing, you are not going anywhere. The hard pill to swallow is that indecision is still a form of decision.

• What you can reverse and what is irreversible

  • Separate all the decisions you make (and the risks you take) into reversible and irreversible. Make reversible decisions fast, driven by momentum and speed. Irreversible decisions should be given time to process and handled slowly. What do most people do wrong? They do the opposite. They spend hours choosing what show to watch on TV or what kind of food slop to order through Uber Eats. They don’t even think about the big stuff that actually matters. Career decisions, choosing who you will spend your time with, or what you should do with your free time. The difference is that none of them dictate anything. It doesn’t matter if you eat sushi or tacos. While choosing what company to work for or what role you are aiming for does.

• Before every big decision, ask yourself

  • Would future YOU thank you for it? This alone resolves most of the decisions you will have to make in a way that benefits you tomorrow (in 5 or 10 years...).

    • Read more about the questions you should be asking yourself.

Part 2: Do work that makes you feel alive

Work is love made visible. - Kahlil Gibran

Meaningful work changes everything

This alone might solve most of the problems and friction you experience in your day-to-day work. Whether we want to accept it or not. Believing that what you do matters plays a massive role in your ability to create your best work. When you find yourself in a position where you have something that brings you happiness, joy, and excitement while working on it. It is a game-changer. You have found something that is worth your time and meaningful. We would go so far as to say that if you reach this phase, you have found your purpose. Something you can do comfortably for hours and hours. Iterating until you get the desired results without ever getting tired. Approaching it with childlike curiosity and optimism. All of those are clear signs that you have found something worth living for... It is that deep.

What has worked for us:

ALWAYS bet on execution

We doubt anyone reading this post has a good enough excuse not to do what they should. That is even more true now, when you can get all the information you need in less than 60 seconds (thanks Claude). Which brings us to the next point… You have no excuse not to bet on execution. Not to bet on yourself and what you bring to the table. One key takeaway from this read is that as soon as you have enough information to act on something you want to do... You should do it.

The reason is that spending 1 to 2 years doing something and failing at it will likely be more beneficial than spending 5 years reading about it and waiting for the perfect moment. That perfect moment will never come. Which brings us to another realization. The more time you spend doing something, the easier it gets. Whether you are winning or failing. Those reps you put in? They all count toward your experience level and ability to recognize patterns. There is no negative scenario when you approach things from this perspective.

What has worked for us:

• Never spend weeks researching something. It shouldn’t take you more than 2 weeks to research and act. After 2 weeks, if you are not executing... It means you are wasting your time. Being in an endless cycle of research is a trap that keeps people in tutorial hell for years.

• Always test demand before you start building something serious. For example, take someone trying to run an online business. All you need is a landing page that looks as close to the final product as possible. Set up the backend software that lets you see the statistics (a basic Cloudflare account lets you do that) and drive traffic to it (organic or paid). Take this seriously. This is a game-changer and applies to anything you are trying to put in front of the audience. A minimum viable product (service or anything else) will do more for you than researching a topic for hours...

• Realize that you will never be ready. There is no such thing as being ready when it comes to doing the important things in life. For example, have you been ready to go to college? To start working? To have kids? The moment you start hearing yourself make the excuse that you are not ready is the moment you know you have to find something worth chasing.

Learn to sell yourself or remain invisible

A common belief from the old world is that the work you put out and the things you do will speak for themselves. Wrong. We all operate in the attention economy, which means everyone has to optimize for it. It also means that the only way you will get the recognition you deserve and the things you are putting out will be seen by others is by you learning how to sell yourself. This applies not only to what you are building, but also to every other area of your life. Interviews, promotions, relationships, or even when trying to get a mentor. Every area of your life will benefit from knowing this.

What has worked for us:

• Read and understand our guide on how to sell yourself

• Treat every interaction as practice, from convincing your friends where to eat to deciding on which bar to go to this weekend. All the way to getting your point across in a meeting. Every conversation is a chance to practice getting what you want.

• Make sure you understand the basics of body language. Open posture, eye contact, and how to smile without looking like you are forcing it. These basics are a great way to start building a better understanding of how to sell yourself.

When everyone zigs… You zag

Think for a second about how everyone around you lives. Now ask yourself whether you want the same lifestyle. Consider that our readers are above average and intentionally unwilling to blend in with the masses. The answer is that you do not want to live as everyone else does. What does that mean in practice? Doing what everyone around you does will get you the same results they have. So doing the opposite of everyone else will get you results they won’t.

When everyone treats life like a lottery, you do the slow work. When everyone offloads their cognitive work to AI, you go harder on building your skill set without fully relying on it. When everyone has an attention span like a goldfish, you do the opposite and focus on long-form content. Look at what everyone else (recognize the pattern) is doing and find an unfair advantage by doing the opposite. The safest long-term bet you can make that will pay off enormously is social intelligence and knowing how to talk to people.

What has worked for us:

• A basic example most of our readers can relate to. Stick to index funds and BTC while everyone else chases another memecoin or stock they know will 32x overnight. It never happens... The same applies to real skills. Build them. Don’t rely 100% on AI. Just because you can create the output doesn’t mean you know what you are doing. It is not necessarily true and might limit you in the long run.

• Stop gambling on yourself. You are not a lottery ticket. Everything worth having in your life requires dedication, a lot of effort, and an enormous number of hours before you see the results you want. Process this and allow yourself to fall in love with the journey you are on.

• Spend hours and hours working on your attention and ability to focus. Patience is another unfair advantage. Do not mix this with passivity. Be patient. Put effort into something and stay patient enough to get the BIG rewards. Few can say they have this ability. Be one of them...

Building is the antidote to slop

No matter what you do, as long as you are putting something out there for the world to see… creating, building, making, developing, engineering. It doesn’t matter. As long as it fits into one of these categories, you are doing something right. The importance of this only becomes clear once you realize that 98% of the people around you are feeling lost. Desperate about their lives because they never allowed themselves to discover what gets them going. Not even thinking about what their life should be about. Never figuring out what they are passionate about. Sleepwalking.

The antidote is spending your time creating something for yourself. Something you enjoy now and that you can showcase to others at some point. Maybe even make a living out of it. That is what will give you a sense of meaningfulness that shouldn’t be ignored. That is how you find your true self. By creating and working on things that provide you with self-purpose. Getting to know who you are and what you should be doing for the rest of your life. Don’t ignore it. Most never get that lucky and figure it out.

What has worked for us:

• Your #1 goal is always to produce more than you consume. There are no exceptions to this. A 1:1 scenario where you spend an hour creating something and an hour consuming something would be a perfect ratio. That ensures you keep moving forward with whatever you are doing. Most people do the opposite, and the ratio shifts heavily toward consumption.

• There is no perfect when it comes to what you are doing. Forget about spending hours on something until it feels perfect and you are finally ready to ship it. The hard truth is that it will never feel perfect, and there will always be something else to add. As you get more experienced with what you are doing... You learn to ignore it. Yet you never stop thinking about how to make things better.

• Forget about permission. You do not need any (or anyone’s) permission. You do not need a degree. You do not need a title. You do not need someone’s approval to start building something. None of those matter. Those days are long past, and the economy is run by obsessive individuals on a mission who aren’t afraid to put themselves out there. You just need to find one thing you are interested in and embrace it.

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Part 3: People, places and environment

We are like chameleons, we take our hue and the color of our moral character, from those who are around us. - John Locke

Your environment breaks you… or makes you

Everything around us influences how we behave and what we do. It also influences what we like and how we act. People are like chameleons… John Locke was right. This means your environment sets the baseline for everything else in life. The people you spend your time with. The places you go in your free time and what you consume. They are all part of your environment.

Everyone has heard about junk in - junk out. And this is where it becomes apparent that this is correct. If you don’t pay attention to and curate your environment (both physical and digital), you start treating things you shouldn’t as normal. When you are in an environment where it is normal to put 110% into everything you do, it becomes normal for you. Monkey see, monkey do. Think about this for a bit, and it will all be clear. You have to be ruthless about engineering your environment and removing things that cause friction or don't add anything positive.

What has worked for us:

• It mostly comes down to realizing who we spend our time with. Ask yourself: what is going on with the people you surround yourself with? What are they about? What are their standards? Do they treat things they should not treat as normal? This is by far the fastest way to get the reality check you need.

• Curate everything you consume. The digital environment plays a massive role in your life and should not be taken for granted. Remove anything that does not improve your life. Your goal when spending time in front of the screen should be to:

  • Make money

  • Improve your quality of life

  • Be so good (think all-time classics) that it is worth your time. Nothing else.

• Whenever we are stuck on something or feeling uninspired, it’s time to change our location. It might mean traveling for a week or two. Or simply taking your laptop and working in the hotel lobby (you should explore all of them in your city). You will have to figure this out yourself and decide what works best for you.

Social skills are the #1 skill for the next decade

It should be pretty self-explanatory. If you work in a professional environment, it is an advantage. Looking to connect with others? It is an advantage. Much more so now when we have an epidemic of poor social skills and people being unable to make eye contact.

This makes it even better because it won’t take much effort to stand out. It is also one of those skills that AI and tech advancement won’t impact. This belongs on our unintuitive list because everyone is trying to convince us that real progress will come from technology. It will... But human nature will not change. And we all know how the world operates... On human connections and the guy who knows the guy.

What has worked for us:

• The same principles for selling yourself apply here... They share the same core concept.

• Start by reading and understanding Improv. This alone should serve you in a way that you will find yourself reading about principles most people never manage to pick up.

• Become the "yes" person… Just do it.

• Understand that making people feel good and elevating their mood will make things much easier for you. It will also ensure that you get invited back. That is the key. Nothing else shifts the mood faster than someone complaining or bringing the group’s energy down.

Curate your digital environment

To add a bit more to the point in the first part. Less is more when it comes to a digital environment. There is no reason to have music playing 24/7 or to have someone talking in your ear all the time (podcasts). Pay attention: this is what most people underestimate, and why it matters.

What has worked for us:

• Delete all social media apps from your phone, and access them only on your desktop. This alone will do more for your sanity than anything else in your life.

• Get comfortable with silence. This is one of the harder ones at first, but it gets easier over time. The first time you manage a 30-minute walk without anything playing in the background, you will feel like you have discovered something different.

• Install an application to help you avoid things you shouldn’t be wasting your time on. OneTab, LeechBlock, ColdTurkey, Jomo…

Finding a mentor and what it takes

Imagine having someone give you a clear blueprint to solve the problem you are dealing with. It saves your time, energy, effort, and everything else that comes with the learning process. If you bring something to the table (energy, potential, your knowledge…), you will find a mentor. The misconception is that a mentor finds you. That is not how it works. You find a mentor by doing the hard work and putting in the hours. Your goal is to make it easier on yourself by putting yourself in proximity to people who can expand your knowledge and speed up the process you can’t do on your own.

What has worked for us:

• Do the work first before looking for a mentor. You can't find a mentor if you haven't started working on something. Approach this from the perspective that mentors help you become more efficient at what you are already doing. The starting phase is on YOU.

• Only take advice from people who are further ahead than you.

• Never expect someone to tell you that they will be your mentor. That is not how it works... It just happens as a byproduct of someone seeing potential in you.

• Want real leverage? Start sending those DMs. Most people never do it because they are afraid and overthink it… That is exactly why you should make it a habit to contact the exceptional people.

Part 4: Play the long game and outlast everyone

Twice a year you want to be brutally honest with yourself

To get the most out of your life, you will have to make it a habit to give yourself a performance review. Audit. Reality check. Whatever you want to call it... What you want to do every 6 months is have an honest 1on1 conversation with yourself about where you are right now. What has changed? Are you actually progressing, or just being busy without moving forward? What can you do now that you couldn’t do 6 months ago? You should be asking yourself A LOT of questions and looking for answers you didn’t have before. This is where it’s important to stick to this practice and make it a habit.

What has worked for us:

• Do it 2x per year. Once at the start of June, and the other time somewhere in mid-December, before you fully engage in the holidays. The other option is to do it on your birthday (a great time to reflect), and repeat it again 6 months later. The key is to do it 2x per year. When you do it, or how you do it… Matters much less in this context.

• Lead with heavy questions. This is what gets these exercises from 3 to 5. You want to ask yourself questions such as:

  • Am I lying to myself right now?

  • What is the one thing I am avoiding that I should be doing?

  • What did I say I would do 6 months ago that I have not done?

• Cover all four main categories that matter the most to people: money, health, relationships, and work.

Build YOUR tribe

It would be a lie to say you can achieve everything by yourself. Without anyone’s help or support. You definitely can. But if you choose this path, you will be playing the game on HARD mode. We already mentioned that who you surround yourself with is who you become in the end. Add a few "guy who knows a guy" connections to your life and every door opens.

This is exactly why you want to build your tribe and surround yourself with people who help you be in a better position than yesterday. That doesn’t mean you have to get rid of your childhood friends. But as you get older, the emphasis shifts more to the transactional side vs. the emotional one that drove you when you were younger. It is one of those realities of growing up. Just something for you to keep in mind.

What has worked for us:

• Realize that if you want to associate yourself with winners, you will have to become one first… It doesn’t mean you have to be on top of everything, but being exceptional at one thing will open doors. The easy metric to follow is how useful you are to the others around you.

• Don’t expect to go all in on one social group. As you age, you realize you will have multiple social groups, and each will serve a different purpose. One will be your go to group. Another will be friends from early childhood. The third one? It might be sports or something else… Your goal is not to burn any bridges. Or think that one group will fit all the scenarios.

• The real secret to a good tribe? Drop your ego and learn to be the one who initiates. The person who organizes dinners, plans trips, all that boring stuff everyone is too busy to bother with. What you realize is that people who can do that hold enormous power and are respected in their social circles because everyone depends on them. As you get older, you realize this is 100% the truth. Everyone waits to be invited.

Give without expecting anything back

Another unwritten rule in life is that everything you give without expecting anything in return will be multiplied and returned in your favor. The only requirement is that you don’t expect it. But understand that it is a consequence of what you have done before. This applies to money, opportunities, and even people who will start to appear in your life. Your goal is to be genuine and not keep score. You have to do it from a place where you don’t even think about it. Just do it because it feels right... Once you are there, it is a clear game-changer.

What has worked for us:

• We don’t have magic advice to give you here… Be genuine and help wherever you can. It will return.

You can’t plan for _____ (people, things, events, or situations) that will change your life

The most important part of this whole read is realizing that you can’t plan for when something important in your life will happen. When you may come across an opportunity that can change the whole trajectory of your life. When you meet someone you were supposed to meet who will change your perception. All those things usually happen when you least expect them. One random DM, dinner with your friends, or a night out. All of those can change your life. Yet you can’t plan for any of them. You have to accept the uncertainty and embrace it. What you can do is play the exposure game. Where you constantly take shots and increase your luck surface area. Meaning that none of the life-changing things will happen while you are watching TV and wasting your life away. It will all come to you when you put yourself out there in the right rooms with the right people. What happens is that you will find yourself waking up to a life that you once dreamed about.

What has worked for us:

• Keep the simple formula in mind: people you expose yourself to = opportunities you take = luck. More of those, and the easier it will be for you.

• Start going where the people you want to meet hang out. Tennis. Golf. High-end gyms... Go where the people you want to meet spend time. Proximity is the name of the game.

• The only way to win this is always to be prepared. Every day, you should try your best to be your sharpest. Not only the sharpest, but the most willing to go out of your comfort zone. Because doing it right 2 or 3 times could have a huge impact on your life. Seriously. Don’t underestimate it.

• Don’t give yourself excuses. The older you get, the more excuses you will have. Much more so when you are building your business or have a family. The things that change your life usually happen during the events you wanted to skip but somehow managed to push yourself and actually do it.

Disclaimer: None of this is to be legal or financial advice of any kind.

BIG thanks to everyone who supported us over the last week! We were back in the top 10 on the rising leaderboard.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. - Thomas Jefferson

The beauty of life only becomes apparent once you realize you have all the power. From influencing your thoughts throughout the day to figuring out not only how to live your life. But how to actually get the most out of it. At some point, you realize we are all in an eternal pursuit of happiness or unhappiness. Happiness is a practice. Living in a way that feels true to yourself and aligned with your values. Unhappiness? Living life by someone else's definition. This post? Observations from our own experience to help you live a fuller… Happier life.

1. Whenever you wonder who has it all figured out when it comes to happiness… The answer is children. High energy, curiosity, constant novelty, and no self-imposed limitations. All that mixed with spontaneity. It is a formula that most adults could learn from and apply to their lives.

2. Finding meaningful work that connects to your inner desires and personality will bring you unlimited happiness. You won’t be able to sleep at night and won’t be able to wait to wake up in the morning to work on it. It is an underrated sign that you are doing something right with your life. Not sure where to start? List the things that always make time pass quickly. Got it? Perfect. Now list what they share. There is a pattern you are not yet aware of.

3. The environment is an underrated aspect of happiness. You want to put YOURSELF in environments that align with who you are (or who you want to become). People, items, living space, places where you spend your free time, and the weather outside. It all matters. Because sooner or later, you become exactly what you spend most of your time on and what you associate with.

4. A big reason people are unhappy with their lives? They have never been taught anything other than to ask others for permission to do what they want. Parents, teachers, your boss. None of them matter, and neither should you seek their approval for anything or think they know something better than you do. They don’t.

5. Your parents are wonderful people. They did everything they could to ensure you could live the life you are living right now. Yet you should be aware that you should not spend most of your time optimizing for the decision that will make them happy. Doing everything you can to fulfill their vision of you. It is one of those lifestyle traps that no one ever talks about.

6. Turn the news off. Stop opening news websites. They are designed to make you emotional (angry) and keep you hooked so they can sell more digital advertising space. The attention economy’s main idea is to spike emotions and keep you unhappy.

7. The most direct way to increase your happiness is to stop comparing yourself to others and to put full effort into everything you do each day. Unfortunately, people don't take it seriously because it sounds like any other self-help book or tweet.

8. Happiness has become a performance metric. You spend every minute of your day trying to maximize your sleep score, planning perfect morning routines, and keeping a full calendar. Long-term results of that? Unhappiness. Because happiness alone doesn’t come from over-optimization... It is not a KPI.

9. Money will have a huge impact on your happiness when you don’t have enough. Once you do have enough, you will realize that you cannot solve all your problems with it. Paradox. This is when you realize it makes life easier, but optimizing everything you do and sacrificing yourself is rarely worth it after a point.

10. The REAL definition of quality of life is nothing but maximizing the utility of your remaining time on this planet. It is the same reason you should not cheap out on the things that improve your life, help you perform better, or put a smile on your face that you can’t take off.

11. What most people get wrong throughout their lives is thinking they will wake up one morning and figure out what happiness means to them. That is wrong. The only way to know what happiness means to you is to pursue it actively. Try new things. See what you are already doing that is not working. Audit. Try new things. Audit more... One day you will figure out YOUR definition of happiness.

    The easiest way to do this is to write a list of low-risk things you want to try over the next 6 months. Just by DOING one from the list each month. You will not be able to ignore the results and the difference you will feel.
    

12. Your happiness level is determined by your schedule. The more obligations you have to do for others, not because you want to do them. Or the ones that don’t give you any sense that you owe them (decisions are yours). The more frustrated you will be.

13. The ancient Greeks figured out what happiness is all about. Happiness is not about feeling good or being in a permanent state of euphoria. Happiness is about living well in line with your own set of principles and morals. The more true you are to yourself, the happier you will feel.

14. The quality of the relationships you build with the people you find inspiring will do more for your happiness than anything else. Humans are social creatures, and the more we detach ourselves from this, the more miserable we feel. To win at this game, you need to build your tribe.

To work on yourself for the good of others is a smart way to receive the best from life for yourself. - G.I. Gurdjieff

15. A big misconception is that happiness can (and should) be pursued. That is wrong. What you can pursue (and YOU should) is purpose. Why you are doing the things you are doing. What is the reason behind it? How it makes you feel. If you don’t have a REAL reason for doing it... You will never achieve it.

16. Happiness is earned. It should not be treated as a default state. It requires effort and time. The healthiest benchmark is your approach and how you handle the small things. Becoming more optimistic year over year is the progress you are after.

17. Do yourself a favor and learn to stop overestimating how much happiness material things will bring you. They do for a day or two… Maybe a week if it was something you really wanted. Yet when you compare them to experiences or lifelong memories, they end up being nothing. Waste of your time.

18. Happiness is directly connected to your ability to move on. Bad relationships, bad circles, a job you hate, a life you don’t want to live anymore. The more freedom you have, the better you will feel.

19. Never underestimate the power of sleep and going to bed early. It is one of the factors in your life that never make sense until it is too late and your body is breaking down. Every aspect of your life will improve once you start taking care of your sleep. This also applies to your outlook on the world and to how you approach things, whether positively or negatively. Have trouble falling asleep? A few days of morning sunlight and you will be a different person.

20. Dopamine detox and a clear mind are unfair advantages when it comes to how you feel and see the world. The whole movement of people making themselves bored (on purpose) is not as crazy as it sounds. You just have to notice the effect on yourself, and it is a game-changer.

21. Without a proper set of daily habits (activities, tasks, goals...) that you find beneficial for your quality of life, you will be playing the happiness-pursuit game on hard mode. Or you might never reach it at all. You just need to pick the path of least friction and build on it. Forget about giving yourself big ideas and thinking you will stick to them. Forget about running every day. Start by walking for 10 minutes each day and build from there.

22. Having coffee outside in nice weather with the people you GENUINELY care about might not be the permanent fix for your situation. But it will definitely be the temporary option that makes your journey easier.

23. Gratitude is the foundation of your pursuit. Only a few can shift their attention from what they lack to what they already have in their lives. It is also the most powerful tool you can have against the hedonic treadmill and against becoming a victim of it.

24. It doesn’t take much reading of history to realize that all of us are living better lives than our ancestors did. You also realize that people are happiest doing what they are naturally good at. Not something imposed on them, but something they have found themselves (an event, an experience...) and fallen in love with. Ikigai principles align with this as well (look into it).

25. A hard pill to swallow is that if you are stuck in survival mode, worrying about bills or whether you will have enough money to put food on the table becomes a big problem. Simply because most of your time will be spent figuring out how to get out. Never being able to reflect on what you already have and why you are in a perfect position to turn your life around. 

26. One clear indicator that you are winning on your happiness journey is that you never want to retire and take it easy. You don’t even want to think about it. No one operating at 110% (aligned with their beliefs) is counting the days until they retire. It is something much deeper that most never experience, and a clear indicator of whether you have found your source of happiness.

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27. Pay attention to the things that give you joy and a feeling of aliveness. Once you have a clear sense of what they are, the next step is to incorporate them into your routine and repeat them over and over again... Until they become part of your reality and something you do without even thinking. The ability to recognize them and incorporate them will pay massive dividends in the long run.

28. The first step in your pursuit of happiness is self-acceptance and knowing who you are. If you are unhappy in your own skin, everything else is a massive waste of time.

29. Walking in nature is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to improve your mood. Not to mention anything else that comes with it... Your health improves. Your creativity improves. Your quality of life improves as a result. If you are not taking 10k steps a day, this should be your #1 priority.

30. One of the happiest archetypes you will meet is the curious type. Those who, no matter their age, are still looking for the answers to the questions that interest them. Always looking for something new, realizing there is another stone to turn. Knowing that there is no end to it and that their curiosity will only lead them to the next side quest. Those are some of the happiest people you will encounter in life.

31. Becoming confident enough to say "no" in everyday life has an enormous impact on your happiness. You cannot be happy if you are afraid to say "no" to the things you don’t want to do.

Happiness was never important. The problem is that we don’t know what we really want. What makes us happy is not to get what we want. But to dream about it. Happiness is for opportunists. So I think that the only life of deep satisfaction is a life of eternal struggle, especially struggle with oneself. - Slavoj Žižek

32. Aliveness is the closest thing to a describable feeling of happiness. When you are so deep into something that you are unable to tell what time it is, what the weather outside is like, or what you have eaten for lunch that day. It is an underrated metric that you are doing something right.

33. Make it your goal to realize that happiness is a projection of your mind. It is not (and should not be) dependent on external conditions. It doesn't depend on your material possessions either. It is your default state that you have NOT used since you were a kid.

34. Life works in seasons. If you are curious about what it means and how it relates to happiness, the same idea applies. Expecting to be optimistic year round should be your goal. But goals and reality are not the same thing. The good news is that you only need 3 to 4 months that work in your favor to call it a good year.

35. Your gut might or might not play a role in your happiness, hormones, and how you feel overall. Taking care of it and optimizing it further made a difference for us. Just something to keep in mind. Maybe those "gut is the second brain" memes might be real.

36. The two most important days of your life are the day you are born, and the day you discover why. The more you think about it, the more sense it makes (Mark Twain was right… again).

37. A key component of happiness is recognizing that it's a byproduct of the long-term positive effects of life experiences. The more of those positive life experiences you have, the closer you live to your true self. Not what others have pictured for you or what society told you was right. The easier it will be to stay in a place where you feel satisfied with yourself and what you are doing with your life.

38. Identify the 3 core areas of your life that bring you the most happiness (relationships, meaningful work, health...). Now set everything else aside and ask yourself how different your life would look if you didn’t have those. There is a good chance you will realize that 80% of your happiness comes from those, and that this is a clear sign you should make them your priority.

39. A solid indicator that you are doing things right in your life and operating above your normal baseline of happiness is looking forward to waking up tomorrow.

40. The higher your intelligence baseline level, the harder you will have to work to find mechanisms that will allow you to be happy. It is hard to spend most of your time analyzing how complex everything around you is and still be at peace with it.

41. There is a good chance that MOST of your happiness will come down to just one specific change. Losing weight. Not drinking alcohol anymore. Getting rid of the people you know are bad for you. If you are one of the lucky ones who recognizes what is holding you back and removes it… You will achieve it.

42. There is a big difference between the morning routines people spend hours optimizing and the ones they actually enjoy and look forward to. You don’t want to fall for the first one.

43. Most people spend their whole lives searching for happiness, only to realize that most of it comes from the same things they enjoyed since childhood. There is a clear connection between your past and where you are now. Yet most never think about it. The reason you couldn't let that book go when you were 6 might be the same reason you enjoy reading now. Recognizing a few of those patterns and applying them to your current situation will do a lot for you.

44. Never underestimate the fun aspect of your life. What it brings, and what role fun plays when it comes to your happiness level. There is a good chance that you’re just one or two hobbies away from feeling what you never had before.

Positive psychology in the performative era. Worth your time…

45. To appreciate the state of happiness and the pursuit of it. It only starts to make sense once you experience pain and suffering. C.S. Lewis explains it best in his books The Problem of Pain and A Grief Observed.

46. No one tells you in life that there is a good kind of fear and a bad one. The good kind of fear. One that when practiced often, will make you start to appreciate everything you have. It doesn’t take a genius to realize the impact on your state of happiness.

47. Learning how to control your emotions is more than half of the battle. All of us have days when we don't feel it, when we are confused, or when we are angry. What our goal in the pursuit of happiness should be is to understand that decisions should not be made based on those emotions. The same way you should never promise something you don't really mean when you are in a state of euphoria and happiness.

48. The most overlooked source of happiness is having someone waiting for you at home while you are out there working hard. Never take it for granted. There is something special about having someone you can count on and who is happily waiting for you. It is one of those small joys of life you have to recognize before it is too late.

49. The pursuit of happiness is NOT about getting to a permanent level of happiness. It is about learning to appreciate the smallest things you already have that make life beautiful. It is our duty to make the most out of it and help others make the most out of theirs.

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Disclaimer: None of this is to be legal or financial advice of any kind.

Humans know what makes them feel most alive, and then they don’t do it most of their lives. - Patrick O’Shaughnessy

After starting this year off strong and planning our goals without a clear vision. Overachieving everything we had set for ourselves. We have found ourselves in a position where we didn’t know what to do. At the same time, there is this feeling that gives you joy and energizes you. Knowing you have achieved what you planned before you were supposed to do it. But on the other hand, there is this feeling that you know you have planned things poorly and underestimated what you are capable of. Finding ourselves in a loop in which we don’t know whether we should be happy or sad because we managed to do it.

From a young age, we have all been convinced that chasing goals should be standard. Mandatory. Something that, if you are not doing it, is wrong. Without having someone else explain to you that once you achieve that big vision and what you have planned for yourself. There will be a BIG disappointment at the end. The emptiness of a big vision you had.

After a few months, some thoughts and sleep on it. The conclusion and the reason we were not feeling the way we should is that the goals we were after were giving us a sense of aliveness. Why were we doing the things we were doing. What it was all about and why it mattered. All packaged into the form of goal(s).

What came out of that was the idea that all of us, instead of chasing goals and building out the system to achieve them. Our time would be better off optimizing for a sense of aliveness and doing everything we can to keep that feeling alive. On the long-term horizon, it makes much more sense to know what you desire and how to align that desire with who you want to become. More so than relying on a checkbox (your goal) you might or might not optimize everything to mark off.

Aliveness vs. The Grind

We found this documentary, Comedian - thanks to this masterpiece of a post. It shows the perfect example of our point. It follows Jerry Seinfeld and young up and coming comedian Orny Adams.

After taking 2 hours and watching the documentary. The simple conclusion is that Seinfeld is in an eternal pursuit of aliveness, to the point that he is the eternal student of the game. He is one of the most successful comedians in history, well over 9 figs at that point. To see him going to small clubs day after day. All around town. Practicing how to get back into the game and get his groove on.

Orny Adams is the complete opposite. So hungry to the point that he ends up looking miserable because of the fake self-confidence he projects throughout the movie. Mixed with that hunger he has for success and his wondering what others will say about him. The result? It looks like desperation, as the director positions him. Thinking the end goal is the only thing that matters, based on how much effort he is putting in. Ignoring the REAL reason why he should be doing what he is doing.

We would recommend you give this a watch and pay attention to the differences.

Based on this video alone, you can see the approaches both of them take to the same craft. Night and day difference. Orny is completely transactional about his craft, thinking that because he is crushing his goal, doing the things day in and day out. He deserves to make it. Once you watch the documentary, you realize it gets much deeper than that. Everything he does that is not related to comedy feels like failure to him. He feels he is wasting his time by not doing what he should. Making himself more and more miserable in the process. Again, something you will notice if you watch it. Seinfeld’s approach? Infinite game. Eternal student. Addict to the game. Winner. The difference between the two? Massive. The one if you are not understanding yet. Will click as you read this further.

Goals and YOU

Since the early days of your life. Your teachers, the media, and even your parents have sold you a lie that chasing goals should be your 24/7 priority. To the point that if you do not have goals or are not 100% sure what you want... You are a loser. There is some truth to that, in the sense that you have to have an outline of where you are planning to go or what your end destination looks like. Not a complete picture. Just enough to keep you down and working toward it.

Why so much talk about goals? Because they are great. Great for those starting or trying to improve themselves. We even published our own guide on goal setting last year to make it more practical and show how to pull it off. Let’s say you are getting into fitness and want to change how you look and feel.

There is nothing wrong with having a bunch of small, realistic checklist-type goals you can get over in the next month. Just starting to lift weights and wanting to increase your lifts by 10 lbs? It is not that hard. Would this same approach work for someone who has spent 2 decades working out and is already at the top of his physical capabilities? Not really. Just adding 5 lbs to the shoulder press is HARD work, and everyone who’s done it knows it. This is where those goals shine. When you can see progress on a week to week (if not even day to day) basis.

But once you are past that stage and into more serious territory, progress gets much slower. This doesn’t mean you can’t structure your goals once you have moved beyond the beginner phase. It means they are much harder to position correctly and often lead you toward things you shouldn’t be doing in the first place. Usually wasting your time over-optimizing something that isn’t worth it in the end. Wasting your precious time and energy while ignoring the rest of the picture, giving you more space to do things wrong.

Read more

Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them. - Arthur Schopenhauer

What better way to celebrate #150 posts than sharing our library?

A few years ago, we started taking notes on everything we read and building a collection we could refer back to over time. Now it feels like the right time to pull together everything that’s shaped our thinking.

Since we live in a world of slop, reading and connecting the dots has never been more important. That is something most people won’t be able to do over time, as everyone optimizes for video content (and its endless consumption). What you want to do is the opposite. Be one of those who can still read...

That is your unfair competitive advantage.

Keep in mind

• As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. This means if you click a link and buy something, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

• There is no particular order. It is a mix of fiction and nonfiction.

• We will update this over time (bookmark it and come back).

• Got a book recommendation? Send it to us or drop it in the comments.

• Looking for life-changing articles? Antidote to slop.

How To Get Rich by Felix Dennis

Nothing will come close to this book for us. It is the kind of book we managed to get our hands on at the right time and at the right point in our lives. Going through it led to a complete shift in our perception of what it is all about and where the leverage actually is.

To a point, it changed our lives.

One of the best books you can read about making money, and much more so when you realize that most will never pick it up because of the terrible name. Felix chose this name on purpose to scare off the masses and avoid appearing on airport bestsellers. Once you read the book, this reference will start to make sense...

This is the book we would recommend to anyone looking to build real wealth and actually understand how to keep it. It is also full of anecdotes, regrets (he is very open about them), and stories from Felix’s personal life.

Efficiency by Wall Street Playboys

Largely outdated in certain aspects. Yet when we first read it (almost a decade ago), it just clicked for us. It is a guide to optimizing everything you do throughout the day to improve your life. It covers the usual topics from making money and taking care of your body and relationships… All the way to what it actually takes to pull it off (mindset). We have read it 3 or 4 times, given its length (around 150 pages), and there is always another lesson to pick up.

Similar to our writing, it is a very blunt read. Not motivational in any aspect, but practical in a way that will make you think and position yourself to get the most out of the situation you are in. It gives you a sort of framework to help you not get lost along the way. We would put it on our must-read list for anyone in their 20s who has yet to embark on their career journey or is looking to figure out how the game is played. Confirming that most are optimizing to play the games they should not be playing in the first place.

Young Money: A Field Guide To Wealth and Purpose in Your Twenties

We have been fans of Young Money ( newsletter), so this one should not be a surprise. If you are already subscribed to his newsletter and love his style… Buy this book. It is a practical read that covers what it takes to live a well-lived life, how to take care of your money, and what the REAL work is about. This is a must-read for everyone in their 20s.

The Art Of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracián

For everyone reading this who is looking forward to reading The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of War, or The Prince… Don’t. They are largely a waste of time, to the point of mental masturbation. What you want to do instead? Read this one. 500 year old book by a Spanish priest and philosopher.

The book is a manual for practical wisdom that has aged well. When we say it has aged well, that is an understatement. No surprises there. Considering that we humans and our behaviors have not changed much over the centuries, and given our deep desires and motives. This manual (book) covers everything from how to read people to what self-control is.

What we have liked most is the format in which the author has structured it. Similar to what most would know as a tweet-type style. Very short. Punchy and to the point… It makes you think and reflect on your choices. Schopenhauer was so inspired by this book that he actually translated it into German. This is our go-to recommendation for those in their 20s.

Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Charles T. Munger

A book that compiles Charlie Munger’s ways of thinking. Presented as a tribute to Ben Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac. The book itself is full of wisdom and underlying principles that you have to process to understand. It is something you read and sit with. A curated collection of Munger’s thinking on business, investing, and how to do well in life.

Once you start reading about Munger, it becomes clear that he can’t stop thinking about how things connect. One of the rare ones who can connect the dots and cover where different areas overlap (in a practical aspect).

Reinforcing this idea that you need to look for real-world examples and translate them into other contexts (business, life, or psychology). This is a book that is worth everyone’s time, whether you are into finance and investing or looking for general knowledge.

The Power Of Positive Thinking by Norman Peale

Everyone has heard about this book in the last couple of years because Trump made it popular. Put that aside, and you have a book that somehow managed to mix religion with the law of attraction principles. Unique.

It covers visualization and how to use faith to get over your doubts. On top of that, it mixes in religious concepts with law of attraction (sort of). By far the most important thing and idea in this book is that an optimistic individual and a pessimistic one will have completely different life outcomes. Optimism is key (and present in everything we do) and a factor in overcoming problems. In the same way, pessimism plays a role on the other end.

The reason this book deserves your time is that it covers practical techniques for improving yourself and what it takes. Making it a perfect introduction to the mental models. Similar to Goddard’s work but with a different twist and religious concepts.

DTV by Michael Moritz

The infamous green book that was never supposed to see the light outside the internal circle. It is a personal memoir of Valentine and how Sequoia started. Covering the initial years of Sequoia and who Don Valentine was… Not just who he was, but what kind of character he was. What we found interesting was how simple a Socratic-like approach he used at all times, and how often it was mentioned throughout the read.

From the book itself:

Don’s schooling took place in the Bronx, first with Franciscan nuns with an affinity for swatting miscreants on the head, then at all-boys Roman Catholic high school, the Mount Saint Michael Academy under the guiding eye of the Marist brothers. He went on to study at Fordham University, where his professors were Jesuits and whose teaching approach was based on the restless, open-ended questioning style of Socrates.

It was this style of inquiry, aimed at rooting out answers to intractable topics from a collection of people with different points of view and experiences that, more than the details of his studies, influenced Don throughout his life.

It made him doubt everything - particularly conventional thinking - and was the source of some of his favorite, terse ways of ferreting out answers. ‘Why?’ ‘Who cares?’ ‘Who needs it?’ ‘Why does it matter?’ ‘What does it do?’ and ‘So what?’ were the plain verbal thrusts he came to employ to gauge whether prices could be raised, a product made sense, a new market should be attacked or the significance of a milestone.

When you start thinking about this approach... It is something that all of us could use in our daily lives, and it could probably improve our quality of life. Just by asking ourselves the right questions to get the right set of answers we need at that moment. It is about 60 pages, so it can easily be read in a day.

Mastery by Robert Greene

We would go so far as to say that out of the entire Greene catalog… You want to read this one. As with all his other works, he draws parallels between historical figures and research on how skill development actually works. For those who want to improve their craft or are fascinated by people who dedicate their entire lives to a single thing. You will love this read.

The main idea is that it is less about talent itself (it plays a huge role - no one can deny it) than about being in the same field for years and years. Taking the biographical case studies and drawing the example out of them.

The most interesting part of the book for us was the life task. The idea that everyone has a calling they should identify as early as possible and pursue at all costs to live a fulfilled life.

How To Fail At Almost Anything And Still Win Big by Scott Adams

Amazing book. No matter what you think about Scott Adams and the political takes he held over the years before he passed away. This belongs to the "self-help" books actually worth your time. As someone who has had a big shift over the last year toward a goal-oriented mindset. Adams claims that chasing goals is a waste of time, and our time would be better spent building a system. That is what all of us should be doing rather than having a fixed mindset on goals.

Another point we could not agree with more.

I don’t read the news to find truth, as that would be a foolish waste of time. I read the news to broaden my exposure to new topics and patterns that make my brain more efficient in general and to enjoy myself, because learning interesting things increases my energy and makes me feel optimistic. - Scott Adams

Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard

Yvon is a unique example who created something for himself (climbing gear) and managed to commercialize it to the point of reinventing the game. Completely. This book tells the story of one of the biggest outdoor clothing companies, from its origins to its big vision to where it is now.

Fast and interesting read about an individual who never wanted to be in the spotlight and chose to spend his time doing things that matter and improving society. Highly recommended read, much more if you are running your own business or care about the legacy behind you.

The worst thing said about him is that he was "uncurious." - Yvon Chouinard

Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson

You will either love or hate this one. There is no middle with it. Neither is this something you should read if you are closed-minded and unable to think outside the box. It is a book that requires an open mindset and a willingness to see things differently. Better said, be challenged on conventional wisdom.

We went through it once, and we didn’t pick up everything. Connecting all the dots and principles you can find inside would take two to three reads. The book’s main idea is that we can all explore and develop our consciousness through different approaches. It is also filled with exercises to help you develop new ways of thinking and how you look at things. Worth mentioning that only a few authors can bring the humor that RAW can.

Fooled By Randomness by Nassim Taleb

This is the only book by Taleb we have read. The book centers on the idea that we largely underestimate the role of randomness in our lives, which Taleb supports with a bunch of stories and examples. It claims that we live in a world where people credit success to skill but blame failure on bad decisions. When in fact both are the result of chance and luck.

This book serves as an intro to The Black Swan, including a whole chapter on how big events change lives and dominate outcomes far more than anyone would like to admit. Backing it all up with why. It is written in an interesting way, where Taleb goes from memo-style writing to full-on rants.

Solomeo: A Humanistic Enterprise in the World of Industry by Brunello Cucinelli

Incredible book and one of our personal favorites. To the point that it is hard to say what this is REALLY all about. One man’s vision is the best way we could put it. Starting with a journey (growing up in a village), to reading Socrates and Kant… All the way to a story of how Cucinelli built the whole brand. To the end goal and what Solomeo is all about and how he envisions it. Humanistic capitalism. Just give it a read.

If you are not convinced, why read about someone who built a clothing brand? We would recommend you read this first.

Obvious Adams: The Story of a Successful Business Man

This book is not for everyone. Yet the ending is nothing but brilliant. It makes you think… In a positive way. Serving as a reminder that there is no secret to success. It is one of those books published over 100 years ago that you can read in less than a day.

Eternal Pursuit Of Unhappiness Being Very Good Is No Good, You Have To Be Very, Very, Very, Very, Very Good By David Ogilvy

Another book written as an internal document. This time for Ogilvy & Mather employees, and another that was never released in bookstores. It is hard even to pinpoint exactly what this book is about (similar to the one above).

It covers many topics, including how the work should be done and how to avoid the traps of "good enough" and "divine discontent" (our favorite part of the book). It feels like a coffee table book you would go through while waiting at the dentist’s office. But at its core, it is much deeper and worth your time.

Rule 1. There are no rules.
Rule 2. Never forget rule one.

The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Longest book on the list by far. An adventure novel about the main character being set up and thrown into an island prison. He spends most of his life figuring out how to get out. At the same time, he figures out how to find the hidden treasure... Wrapping it up by reinventing himself under a new name. We have already given you too much, and once you start reading you will realize a lot is going on. One of the best adventure novels ever written. VERY long, so if you are looking for faster reads, this one is NOT for you.

UNSCRIPTED: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship by MJ DeMarco

Suppose you are looking for a personal finance book and don’t want to read any others on the same topic. Most have heard of DeMarco from his book The Millionaire Fastlane, published over a decade ago. Actually, this is the one you want to read…

The reason is that it is formatted much more clearly, making the main concepts easier to understand. The book explores how most people follow a preset life script, in which everything they do is planned (scripted). Blindly following the masses. Trading your entire life for a delayed payoff at the end (retirement). Another point we loved was how he managed to cover why optimizing for the weekends will get you nowhere.

The problem with this? Similar to The Millionaire Fastlane. The author tends to repeat himself. Emphasizing the importance of the concept while testing readers patience. If you are unable to read books like that, you are better off skipping this one. Arguably the best personal finance book out there.

Crime And Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

We read it for the first time almost 2 decades ago… And to be fair, it is one of the most memorable books for us. It is hard to say whether it’s because of the plot or the feeling it leaves you with. Or because it is hard to read, and finishing a page gives you a sort of boost that you actually managed to pull another one off instead of giving up.

By far the hardest read on the list, and either you will manage to pull it off and understand what it is all about. Or you will quit before the midway point. The book follows the main character and gives you psychological insight into Raskolnikov. From his perception of the world to his attempt to test his theory in practice. Living with paranoia that escalates into self-destructive behavior. Pure nihilistic read. But a good one.

The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Only pick this up after reading Crime and Punishment. It is MUCH easier to read. But it’s not for everyone. You will either love it or hate it. Similar to the one above. The plot itself is ridiculously good in a way that makes you think about what you would do if the same thing had happened to you. Imagine meeting someone else who looks exactly like you and takes over your life and who you are. Ending up living the lifestyle you have always wanted. Going from sort of an easier and lighter read into the dark and heavy one.

The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal. by Evan Ratliff

Paul Le Roux and the story of a programmer who built one of the biggest criminal empires. From building security tools to being an online prescription affiliate selling painkillers (illegally) to dealing arms and drugs. Arguably the best book on the criminal underworld in the last decade, maybe even two. The author did an amazing job putting it all together and doing interviews all around the world. Page-turner is an understatement…

Not sure this read is for you? Check out The Mastermind.

Impro by Keith Johnstone

A book that has become popular over the last couple of years because Palantir gives it to new hires. This is a book everyone who deals with clients or customers daily should read and understand.

It covers basic concepts, such as moving your head while talking or standing still being perceived as low or high status. All the way to putting your hands in your pockets, which is perceived as low status. It goes deep and lets you choose how far you want to go. It is sort of a reading room type book. One of the psychological factors that directly impacts your ability to sell yourself and your ideas.

Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis

Classical financial nonfiction, as they call it. This is Lewis’s story about how he went from an Ivy League school to the Salomon training program, and then to Wall Street culture and the way things were done. Add a bit of risk-taking on top of that, and you have a fun and fast read. A book that is not for everyone, but overall a fun read into the culture of the 80s and how things used to be done before the whole Human Resources culture.

Early on Alexander taught me the importance of a strong exterior.

I learned awhile ago that there was no point to showing weakness. He said:

When you arrive at six-thirty A.M., having had no sleep the night before, and having lost your best friend in a car accident, and some Big Swinging Dick walks over to your desk, slaps you on the back and says: How the hell are you?

You don’t say, I’m really tired and really upset.

You say, I’m great, how the hell are you?

Animal Farm by George Orwell

It is surprising that this book is mostly given to kids (the younger generation) to read. The chances that the kids will understand the social hierarchy are close to zero. It is a much deeper read on hierarchy and social power. Orwell did an amazing job using animals to illustrate how they manage to overthrow their leader (the farmer) only to end up in another tyranny. Arguably even the worst one. It proves that most animals (people) go along with changes even though they know something is wrong or are unable to think long-term. Something that everyone should read during their lifetime.

Narcissism by Alexander Lowen

Amazing book that became popular all over Twitter in the last few years. The idea is that one of the core reasons people are narcissistic is that they are unable to love themselves and who they are. They use narcissism as a mask to hide underlying emotions. Lowen offers a completely different perspective from mainstream views on narcissism and how to deal with it.

Because Lowen focuses on bioenergetic work, the book presents a body-based approach and physical exercises designed to help you reconnect with feelings and address narcissistic tendencies. Or if you are dealing with someone narcissistic, so you are as prepared as you can be. The book provides a framework and Lowen’s POV on the topic as a whole. To be fully transparent, it is much deeper work than just covering narcissism. And that is the main reason you should dive deeper into it.

The Mindset Rewiring by The Unintuitive

Not a book. A workbook. Once filled with your thoughts and vision, studied 2x per day for 15 minutes. It starts to work. The reason it ended up on the book list is that it is simple. It is 100% up to you what kind of story you write and who you want to become. That is the whole point of it. You decide who you are, and you do everything you can to prove it back to yourself.

Patrons can get their copy inside the inner circle.

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

The movie looks like a children’s book compared to the book... And there is a good reason for that… There is absolutely no way they could put everything written in this book on screen. We picked it up because we were told the movie didn’t cover half of what Bateman did, and we got curious... That is everything we have to say. Great fiction read, but not for everyone.

Our filter process for this one is simple. You watched the movie and loved it? Give this a read. You hated the movie and found it dumb? Avoid. That is all you need to know about this book.

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Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

This is an amazing read, told in a non-linear timeline that can be hard to follow if you are not focused, because the author jumps between timelines. Our advice is to avoid reading this if you are not 100% into it after the first 50 pages.

The book is about a character stationed on a fictional Mediterranean island during the war, doing everything he can to avoid being killed. The only way to get out of it? Declare yourself insane. The problem? Only a sane person would fear for his life... You get the idea. It is a comedy that is all over the place, with mixed-up timelines and characters. What is interesting is that the author manages to make it darker as the war goes on and the story moves forward. Going from a comedy page-turner to a heavy read.

Outwitting The Devil: The Secret To Freedom And Success by Napoleon Hill

The story goes that this book was never published during Hill’s lifetime because it was too controversial for its time. What Hill wrote about is his interview with the Devil that he managed to summon to seek answers. He asked what the most common mistakes people make are and how those mistakes define the lives we are living.

The most interesting aspect of this book for us is the part about definite purpose and independent thinking. Hill explained it in a way that makes it obvious you do not want to do whatever everyone else around you is doing. Because it is simply not good, and most are not living the lives they should. He called those people the easiest target for the Devil and his plan.

Pure self-help book that is packaged in an unconventional way, with the solid idea that the masses are often more wrong than right. It uses the Devil as a figure who is directly involved in all the decisions (bad ones) that the people are making.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Considering when this book was originally published and how relevant its main idea remains today, we can all agree it has aged well. Wealth, status, and illusions. Once again, it confirms that human nature never changes. It is a classic at this point and something everyone should read in their lifetime. What is funny about this book is that it was a massive flop for decades. An amazing read on how it became popular is available here.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

If you want to read a biography but are not sure which one to pick… This might not be a bad choice. If you want to know more about Apple and how it all started. This is definitely the book you want to read. Whether you love him or hate him, he was different. Jobs is one of those characters you want to study and try to understand his moves and the reasons behind them. Driven by irrational self-belief and the vision he had. Interesting is one way to put it.

Picasso had a saying - 'good artists copy, great artists steal' - and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas. - Steve Jobs

What surprised us most was his ability to reinvent himself and start over again and again. A trait that not many possess and one that doesn’t get enough recognition. Isaacson is an amazing author, and considering the length of the book, it is a fairly fast read.

The Narrow Road: A Brief Guide to the Getting of Money by Felix Dennis

Start with how to get rich… If you liked it (by the same author), you will LOVE this one.

Escape From Freedom by Erich Fromm

We have never seen anyone mention this one except Henry Kravis. Underrated and the type of book you will read that will make you think. The author goes in depth on the psychological appeal of mass movements and how things start to look when people fall for the big idea being pushed.

The most interesting part for us was the author’s idea that people tend to join groups, cults, and mass movements because they feel alone and isolated. In the author's view, this is what gets people to give in to authoritarianism.

Man’s brain lives in the twentieth century; the heart of most men lives still in the Stone Age. The majority of men have not yet acquired the maturity to be independent, to be rational, to be objective. They need myths and idols to endure the fact that man is all by himself, that there is no authority which gives meaning to life except man himself.

Zero To One: Notes On Startups by Peter Thiel

There has been a lot of hate around Thiel recently, and if you managed to put that aside… It is an amazing read. Fully based on the Stanford course Thiel taught. The main idea is that you do not want to compete with others but to create a monopoly. Everyone trying to start a company or build something unique should read this book.

Becoming a Supple Leopard by Kelly Starrett

Whenever we had pain somewhere or something that was bothering us (think back pain), this was the first thing we looked into. Not necessarily a book you will read and then forget.

More of a manual you reference whenever you are struggling with physical pain or discomfort somewhere in your body. The reason it goes under the book section is that more people need to be aware of it. Kelly Starrett has probably helped 100k+ people by now, given how long he has been on the scene.

The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson

Provocative read is the best way to put it. The core idea is that nations, in their current form, are not sustainable in the long term, and that sovereign estates and the new technologies becoming available will allow things that have never been possible before. It covers everything from the digital economy to getting out of national control, remote work, and general distrust in institutions.

The other book by the same authors was ridiculously timed (maybe they got lucky), where they basically covered the collapse of the Soviet Union and then witnessed it a few weeks later.

On The Road by Jack Kerouac

To be 100% transparent, we read this book much later in life than we were supposed to. If you are yet to embark on your big journey, planning a big trip with your group of friends. Or you are in your 20s... You want to read this. What we still find incredible is how much simpler and carefree life sounded 50+ years ago. Something that 80% of the people can’t even imagine.

The Mood Cure: The 4-Step Program to Take Charge of Your Emotions by Julia Ross

Similar to Supple Leopard, this book is the reference manual. One that could 10x your quality of life once you start implementing the ideas inside. A bit of bloodwork optimization and this book, and you won't believe how far you can take this. We based our bloodwork prompt on this.

True Names by Vernor Vinge

If you are into the cyberpunk genre, this is basically a book that started it. It has aged INCREDIBLY well considering when it was originally published. If you are looking for a fast fiction book with an interesting plot, you will not regret it.

Infotainment Jackpot by Ben Settle

An amazing read for anyone creating online content or trying to become more visible online. Much more if you are into email marketing or running your own email list. Ben Settle is a provocative writer, and if you have never read any of his stuff before (or been subscribed to his newsletter)… You will be surprised. Positively. Only read this if you are into marketing or just getting into it.

The Power Of Awareness by Neville Goddard

The book's central idea is that our outer world mirrors our inner state. Similar to Prometheus Rising, this book requires you to be open-minded and unafraid to think outside the box.

Goddard did a great job explaining that “I am” is the most powerful declaration. It is completely up to you and how you use it… For better or worse. A law of attraction type of read from the 1950s that you will either love or find ridiculous. We found it incredible how popular content like this is becoming.

Antimemetics: Why Some Ideas Resist Spreading by Nadia Asparouhova

The book itself received mixed opinions. For us personally? Great read. Covering the meme culture, why some ideas never grow beyond a certain point, and what it takes to catch someone's attention. All worth knowing and understanding. Everyone who posts content online (creates something for others) should read this book.

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

There is a good reason this is considered one of the greatest works of literature ever created. Written in the 14th century by Dante Alighieri, it takes the reader through the afterlife over 7 days, through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. A REALLY vivid journey full of double meaning and symbolism.

The Homeric Gods by Walter F. Otto

Arguably the best guide to Greek religious ideas and how they were perceived. The only problem is that it might sound like Otto puts the Greeks on a pedestal too much… Well worth your time if you are looking for something in this genre or to step outside your comfort zone.

Nobody Wants To Read Your Shit - Steven Pressfield

This must be the book with the most recommendations per page. Movies, books, screenplays… Steven is throwing everything at you. Just for those recommendations this alone is worth your time. Fast read that should not take you more than a few days. More so important if you want to get better at copywriting.

No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs - Dan Kennedy

Largely outdated, but with core ideas and principles that never go out of style. Dan Kennedy is a legend. There is no denying it. Arguably one of the most famous people in marketing and direct response. This book? Another proof of his brilliance and his perfect balance between pushing his new offers, being useful (practical advice), and entertaining.

Enjoy reading!

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Disclaimer: None of this is to be legal or financial advice of any kind.

Lifestyle traps and the modern world

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. - Henry David Thoreau

Two years ago, we published our post on lifestyle traps. For us, it feels like it was 3 months ago. Guess it is true that time flies when you are having fun? Reality? Things are changing rapidly. So it only feels right to revisit the same concept… But more in-depth. Better. Different. We are bringing you a list of reality checks, a bit of mindset around it, and lifestyle traps to avoid.

Defining lifestyle traps

The lifestyle traps

How does one define lifestyle traps? One could argue that they describe a pattern in which your everyday choices push you toward something you do not want. Or you don’t even think about them in the first place. Coming down to pushing you against your own vision and goals (even your ideals). If we are more direct, we would say that anything that holds you down or limits your ability to reach your full potential is a lifestyle trap.

The thing about most lifestyle traps is that they have long-term consequences. You never even think about them until it is too late. One way to battle that is to run everything through your own filter. Ask yourself whether the choice you are making will have a long-term impact, or if it is something you will be able to stomach with a bit of effort. Unfortunately for the masses. No one does this. Quite the opposite. Most lifestyle traps are products of blindly following the masses.

Mindset and the rules (society programming) of the modern world don’t help either. When you start breaking everything down. It all turns into the cycle most never manage to escape, compounding negative choices into a permanent state of survival mode. To the point where all those lifestyle traps you can’t get rid of become so normal to you that they become part of your identity.

The mindset traps

Mindset problems always start when you start to compare yourself to others. Your friend got a new leased luxury German car? Now you want one. A work colleague got a new apartment overlooking the city? Who cares that he will have to pay it off for the next 30 years… You want one as well. Your goal was always freedom, but you are spending a ridiculous amount of money on flashy goods.

Only you know why…

Similar to the point above, all these choices compound. They work against you and your bigger vision by influencing your choices. As time goes on, your internal self-belief system has to adapt and incorporate new beliefs to function. Working hard to self-rationalize bad moves to make them look good to your subconscious.

The identity (new beliefs and self-rationalizing) part starts to make sense once your best friend changes his opinion about things he has never even considered before. He is pushed by someone else into doing them, internalizing the belief that it is normal and that he should too. A mortgage is a perfect example, especially when people get into their 30s and are looking to settle down. Because others around them told them it was the right thing. This proves that beliefs that seem normal to the masses are… Just wrong.

The modern world traps

It is impossible to ignore what is happening around us and how it influences us. Both the lifestyle choices we make and the mindset we have. Things have lost their sense. To the point where it feels like everyone is treating their lifestyle as a lottery ticket. From simple choices to more serious ones. Look at the growth of gambling year after year. People are feeling desperate and are looking for alternative ways to get out. Mechanisms that grab your attention, leaving you feeling busy 24/7 with meaningless priorities and 0 outcomes. Stripping you further away from any ability (time or power) to think of how to get out of your situation.

It should come as no surprise, considering that the average person has never felt more helpless. Not being able to afford a home as their boomer parents did. Feeling uncertain about what will happen to their role, given how fast AI is progressing. Perfect cocktail of desperation to make you feel like your only way out is to rely on a hit it big type of play.

Think about it for a second...

And you will see the polarities and why most people never get anywhere. What you have to do is figure out which games are worth playing and which ones you should avoid at all costs. Before you find yourself in one of the lifestyle traps.

Lifestyle traps you want to avoid

1. Building life around other people’s expectations

When was the last time you did something for yourself? Not because others told you it was the right thing to do? But because you wanted to. If you reflect on your life, there is a good chance that every big thing you have done came from someone else’s expectations.

When you are not sure what you want or who you are, you start borrowing others views of success. How to do things or what is right. Or wrong... Making it part of your identity. Spending enormous amounts of time and energy trying to adapt yourself to them. An example everyone can relate to is when you are young. Most of the big ideas you have come from your parents. As you get older, it becomes more about your coworkers, friends, and those who show up on your social media.

Why is this a lifestyle trap?

Because one day you will wake up, realizing that you did not make every single decision that had a big impact on your life. Others made it for you. Entering school, choosing a career, selecting a partner, buying a house, and taking on debt. Once that happens, there is no going back. You will find yourself unsatisfied because most of those choices were not yours. It was all done because you tried to make someone else happy without thinking it through or realizing the consequences.

How those choices impact you:

1. Limits you from reaching your true potential

2. Limits you from knowing who YOU are

3. Limits you from being able to say that this is what you wanted

There is a good reason we are starting the list with this… We want you to ask yourself a simple question that tells you everything about your current situation.

2. Index fund approach to your life

There is a double meaning behind our take here. Not in the sense that investing in index funds is bad (it is not). But in the sense that treating every single area of your life as an index fund is a trap.

Everyone reading this knows someone who has multiple projects going at 20% effort each. Because going all-in on any single one feels too risky. Diversifying everything and risking nothing. Never letting any single bet get big enough. Putting themselves in a position where they cannot see much larger opportunities, because none of the bets are meaningful enough to allow them to do big things.

We could argue that it comes from an underlying fear of risk. Fear of exposing yourself to uncertain situations you don’t want to find yourself in. If you spread yourself across multiple projects, it means that there is no big failure that could hurt. At the same time, it is the same reason none of them ever become anything big.

When does it become a trap? It was never anything but a trap. One that becomes much more of a threat when you realize that by never giving in and exposing yourself to uncertainty. You are removing yourself from situations that would provide you with massive upside. Do you believe someone approaching their life as an index fund would be able to spend on uncertain things? Buying ads or trying to get things off the ground on their own? Not really. Moving to another country because there is an opportunity? Good luck with that.

Justified risk is one of those things that should be worked on and encouraged. Index investing works... But treating your life as an index fund does not.

3. Programmed by mediocrity

Take a few minutes to go through this. Whose lifestyle do you find impressive? Once you figure out an answer. Ask yourself the opposite. Whose lifestyle do you despise and would never want to live like? To finish it up… Follow up on what one group does that the other does not.

We could argue that the first group is programmed by mediocrity, while the other belongs to those who create their own rules...

This is at least what it feels like will be the case for most.

To a point where the first group is unable to think of anything else or see things for what they are. This all comes down to finding yourself in a dangerous middle where you never have enough to change. Yet never good enough to push yourself out of that middle. The reason it is a clear trap is that being mediocre is comfortable enough. It doesn’t hurt, which means there is no reason to change it.

There is no crisis coming, and no one will put you under any high pressure. It feels like people who are stuck in this trap didn’t have ownership of their decision in the first place. They just found themselves in that mediocrity and adapted to it. Never challenging anything happening around them, because that is how things are supposed to be done. Normies, average, NPCs or whatever you want to call them...

How to recognize you are dealing with someone mediocre:

• Fully run by emotions rather than by decisions and logic

• Victim mentality (treating your choices as things that happen to you)

• Taking mainstream advice as it is

• Living for the weekend

• Playing status games and going after prestigious titles (more on that below)

• Going through multiple identities every few months instead of sticking to one thing

• Fearing what others will say about them

The other group? Opposite of it all. This is where it should become obvious that you should ask yourself whether things are happening to you or you are making them happen. The first group never does that…

4. Never learning how to sell

We feel ridiculous having to repeat this over and over on our website. But if you had to take only a few things from our entire website… Make sure it is this idea. The work you deliver will never speak for itself. Neither will your resume. Neither will your skill set.

It is all a lie you have been sold.

When we say "selling" what we mean is planting your ideas in someone else’s head and getting them to believe there is something in it for them. That they are getting more than they are giving.

The reason we are covering this scenario is that it all comes down to:

1. Attention economy (everyone is trying to get their part of the cake)

2. AI has flattened the playing field, and the technology is much more accessible than it used to be. The bottleneck is no longer building things but getting them in front of others.

When learning how to sell yourself, your work, and your ideas...

It all comes down to:

• Exposure (putting yourself out there)

• Adaptability (different groups, interviews etc.. need different approaches)

• Social skill (should be self-explanatory - it is the baseline for selling)

• Knowledge (you can only BS for so much, you need at least something to back it up)

• Risk (the gap between what you claim and what you can back up)

All the factors above directly impact others perceptions of you. It is a layer for everything else that comes after it. Why does it matter? Because every single area that matters in your life comes down to selling yourself.

• Business (pitching, branding, partnerships)

• Career (interviews, promotions, negotiating)

• Social life (relationships, impressions, getting invited back)

It should be pretty clear what it is all about and what you should do. The best part about selling yourself is knowing how to sell. The second best part? You can learn it all. The only need is not being afraid to put yourself out there and do what others around you will not. Nothing worth having in your life will come to you. You will have to get out there and sell the same idea to others.

Read more:

• The Complete Guide to Selling Yourself

And watch this legendary clip…

5. The sunk cost fallacy

Let us not become victims of a crippling reasoning pattern. If we want to improve our decision-making and critical thinking, we must recognize our mental biases and be willing to overcome them. Let us avoid creating arguments to confirm pre-existing beliefs at all costs and invest in a ‘sunk cost fallacy.’ Better alight from a car out of control than drive it off the cliff. - Erik Pevernagie

Knowing when to give up on something is a skill. Everyone knows it is hard to give up on something you have invested an enormous amount of time and energy in. Psychology plays a big role here, and the more you are invested, the harder it is. This is exactly why people get stuck in bad jobs or relationships, or end up surrounded by people they should not be around in the first place.

What gets tricky to write about is that there is no clear answer on when something is a sunk cost. When to walk away and when to stick with it.

In our books, it mostly comes down to being in a better position than you were a month ago (or a year ago). That is a clear sign you should continue what you are doing. That is not something you can apply to every situation... Such as relationships, where there are no real tangible outputs or metrics. But certain things, such as careers or business, do work with this approach.

When you approach it from an opportunity cost perspective, things change. Realizing that all the effort you are putting into things that are not working out could be spent on something that works. This clearly falls under lifestyle traps. Because wasting your time on things that will never work out in the end costs you all the other alternatives you never pursue, because you are 100% committed to one thing. On the contrary, a similar trap is being emotionally tied to something because it works. This is something we have fallen for before in our business. Never giving yourself enough space to explore something else because you fear letting go of something that is already working... It is another lifestyle trap. But much less common than the sunk cost fallacy.

6. If I just had _____ (insert something) I would be happy…

Not necessarily. Money is often the main pick. It makes things a lot easier, no doubt. You will not have to worry about bills, or you will have enough cash to take your family on vacation. That is a fair point. Once you get out of survival mode and move further into the safety zone. Over time, you will notice that your day to day life will not change that much… No matter how much money you have in your bank account. Which is hard to believe if you are not there. What about other things? What happens when you finally achieve what you have always wanted? It feels special for 20 minutes. After that? Void.

You have achieved your BIG goal, and now the question is what comes next?

In most cases, you lose motivation and can’t find a reason to bother at all. The reason this belongs under lifestyle traps is that it is part of the ego. What happens once you get what you have desired is the realization that the underlying motivator was never that thing. But something else is once again not satisfied. Yet you never figured out what it is. Meaning that once you are back at the starting point, a much better way to approach things is to find something you would do regardless of the final state (outcome) and stick to it. If that is something that gives you a feeling of aliveness, and you can pay bills with it, plus have enough to invest some of it on the side...

There is a good chance you hit the jackpot.

7. You are not your job title

After you meet a certain number of people who have made their career their whole identity... You quickly realize what is wrong with it. There is nothing worse than someone who can only talk about their job and what they did that day. What most fail to see is that by doing this, you are boxing yourself into the role you believe you are in. Being completely unable to adapt to anything else.

What most fail to see is the massive difference between how you view yourself and what actually makes you money. As long as you are treating yourself as your career (or any other identity), you are forcing yourself to be something. Filtering everything that doesn’t fit your ego and identity. Constantly running everything through a filter with questions like: how would doing it benefit my role ______ or how _____ would fit my lifestyle? This is a comical approach to living. Yet there are probably a good number of people you know doing exactly this.

When does this become a lifestyle trap?

Once it starts to commoditize you. When all of your judgments fall into this identity. Making you unable to pivot or see things for what they are. This is part of the programming you have gone through for years. Finance, law, medicine, and banking are the main careers that often fall for this. This happens because of the effort required to get those roles and keep them. If your goal is quality of life and high net worth... You will have to step away from your career identity and see things as they are. There is so much out there that your career identity is preventing you from seeing.

8. Lifestyle inflation

Get a raise. Buy a new car. Upgrade your living space. Get into debt to take a vacation. What comes next after you repeat the same and celebrate small wins over and over? Lifestyle inflation. Results? You are in the same place you were 2 years ago.

The common scenario looks something like this:

Repeat this over and over again, and it should be clear why most people are in the same place they were years ago. This does not mean you should not upgrade your lifestyle or buy high-ROI items to improve your quality of life. It means that you should be aware of what is happening and how it is impacting you and your goals. If your goal is to be one of the Joneses and keep up with your neighbors… You are on the perfect path.

Since we know that is not the case for most people reading this. Neither is it one of those lifestyle traps you want to find yourself in. What you have to realize is that this hedonistic approach to "you deserve it" comes at a price. If we approach this from a mathematical perspective, it should be painfully obvious. If you have the same amount of money as you had before your salary increase, you are playing a game designed for you to lose. Being in the same place you were before… Not any closer to your big vision. Meaning?

You are wasting your time.

We are not saying you should not celebrate those small victories or enjoy your money. Yet the problem is that you are doing it from a place that doesn’t take into consideration the big picture you are aiming at. To keep it simple. You want to get those promotions. You want to make as much money as possible. You want to improve the quality of your life… What you don’t want to do is find yourself becoming a victim of lifestyle inflation. Every year, you have more coming, yet you are further from your goals.

9. Not taking care of your health

It is easy to get lost in what you love. You feel good, make money, and think everything is going your way. After 2 to 3 years, you realize you have changed your appearance. Losing muscle, gaining fat… Imagine what your blood markers look like.

Money does buy you comfort around this stuff, but there has to be a wake-up call. Otherwise, you are playing a game that will rapidly reduce your quality of life without you even realizing it. From feeling worse with more brain fog to losing all your athletic capabilities.

This is no different from the average Joe scenario, in which the average Joe can’t wait to get home to watch TV and eat candies. There is no difference for your body. No matter what you are doing or what kind of impact you are bringing. Taking care of yourself is something you should never take for granted. No one can deny that the more demanding life you are living (stress, priority shifting, etc.), the easier it is to eat food that is not helping you in the long run. You want to avoid that and ensure that you are taking the best care you can to achieve those results others won’t. Even if you don’t care about the physical aspect, just from the psychological one. You will perform 10x better than someone who doesn’t take care of themselves.

Promise yourself that you will do it for the rest of your life:

• The least you can do is hit the gym 3x per week. This is the minimum.

• Prioritize sleep and figure out what works best for you to fight stress and feel refreshed.

  • You will never escape those two, so you might as well do everything you can to get the most out of them.

• Go touch some grass and collect your 10k steps along the way. Simple yet effective.

10. Never realizing that everything you do compounds

Every single thing you do daily compounds. Either in your favor or against you. What most fail to realize and appreciate is the value of long-term compounding. Does this fall under the lifestyle traps? Because until you understand this, you will always approach things from a short-term perspective. Selling yourself short is a nice way to put it.

People, friendships, places, or your favorite books. They all get better as time goes on and decades pass. This feeling doesn’t show up until you reach a point in life when you feel satisfied with who you are and what you have done. One could say that life is entirely about this.

Basic reality check on compounding?

Start by asking yourself:

Do you see yourself doing the things you are doing now in the future?

Consuming the same material. Being surrounded by the people you are currently surrounded by… The answer will tell you everything. Whether you are compounding things in the right direction or wasting your time.

Read more:

• Compounding: How Some People Become Unrecognizable

11. Lottery ticket lifestyle

Most young people live under the impression that to win, you have to hit it big. The economy and the modern world we are living in don’t help this case. The gamblingification of everything doesn't help either. On top of that, add that over the last few years, people with minimal talent and skill sets have gotten lucky and hit it big. Getting rich from ridiculous things such as meme coins or because they managed to drive the trends.

They serve as an example themselves that those things are possible. No matter your skill set or experience level. Everyone is thinking they will hit it big and make it with minimal effort. It is a perfect formula to live a miserable life. Treating everything you do as a casino. Hoping to hit it big on the next try. Betting over and over again. To realize that you are in the same position for years, as time flies past you.

This is something we have been noticing specifically among young people. They feel it is wrong not to go all in on everything they do. Nonsense. Progress does take time. Yet it is something that most don’t want to admit to themselves. When you are putting your knowledge, skills, and experience into things... There is a reward waiting for YOU at the end.

At the same time, no one can blame people for falling for this idea. The situation for the average person has never been worse. Finding themselves in a helpless situation where they know that they are living a lifestyle that is far less desirable than that of previous generations. Not recognizing that opportunities are everywhere when approached with the right attitude and perspective.

12. Having just one source of income

Make yourself a promise that if you are over 20 years old and reading this, you will never allow yourself to be in a situation where you are fully dependent on a single income. Worst case scenario? That your employment income is the only source. It is one of the biggest traps you can fall into, and it indirectly dictates every single choice you make.

It comes down to two things:

1. You will always be dependent on someone else

2. The psychological aspect that forces you into the scarcity mindset

The first one should be straightforward. Why would you want to be dependent on someone else when, with a bit of effort, you could ensure that you are free from it? Having your own schedule and doing things your way. Not something you want? Give it some more thought. For others who are a bit more interested in it, what you have to do is promise yourself you will stick with it for 1 or 2 years and ensure you have that side income coming in. In our books, this is the biggest move you can make. Start another income stream and ensure you can count on it.

What about the psychological aspect?

This is a much more complex one. Once you have multiple income streams, you can finally start taking ownership of your life. YOU know who you are and what you bring to the table. YOU do what you want to do with your own rules. YOU choose how you spend your precious time. Suddenly, you will no longer care about what is happening around you. Whether it is the HR officer wanting to talk to you because you said something inappropriate during the meeting, or your employer going bankrupt. The more you can count on your income stream, the less worries you have.

When you find yourself in a position where side income streams can cover your employment income. All those emotions and limitations you had about yourself start to disappear. Over time, this gradually turns you into a different person. There is no more worry about having to put on the mask to pay the rent. Or play social politics to get promotions. It is all gone.

The funniest part? It only takes a bit of effort and time to reach that phase. Up to 5 years if you put in the real effort. The best way to put it? The more income streams you have, the easier your life will be. Make a promise to yourself. Investments, side businesses… The more = the better.

13. Useless metrics over cash flow

Followers, likes, viewers, subscribers, how many times you have managed to do this, and how many times you have managed to achieve that. It seems that one of the lifestyle traps of modern society is that everyone is looking for ways to showcase their worth, one way or another. It is in human nature, and you can’t go against it.

What you should ensure is that you never fall for any of those. This is even more important when the rules of the game change every few months, and there is a good chance that what you used to spend 100% of your time on is now less relevant. To the point of being irrelevant. What will never become irrelevant? Money in your bank account. Does that mean you have to position everything you do to make as much as possible? No. But if you are presented with a choice between optimization and what you should spend your time on. It is the money.

This deserves mention because, as time passes, we get more detached from reality. It will be even more important to know what REALLY matters and what you should focus on. What will never go out of style is the feeling of having money hit your bank account and turn your dreams into reality. Lessons in there.

14. Status and chasing status

Status buys respect from a particular audience. If you aren’t satisfied by your audience, sorry! There aren’t any refunds. At least the guy who got rich doing a job he hated can revenge-purchase a boat. -

The desire for approval. This is similar to the previous point about useless metrics and how optimizing for them is a trap in itself. All of us are constantly evaluating others around us. It is unavoidable. Given that society is built around rules, how you are perceived matters more than anything else. The example would be more obvious if you offered someone $350k to work as a garbage man and $150k to work as a lawyer or an investment banker. You already know what most people would choose, and it is not cleaning the streets.

What is the lifestyle trap here exactly?

That status means something different for everyone. What you find impressive might be irrelevant to someone. You want a Rolex and a Porsche? The person could be into outdoor activities and would rather have a Land Cruiser and a Garmin watch. What does this mean? That we often find ourselves spending decades on "status games" we should not be playing in the first place.

Some games are hyper-competitive by nature. Think big-logo companies, prestigious universities. Once again... No surprises. Those big opportunities disappear once everyone gets their slice of the cake. There is a big difference between applying for a job with 500 and 5,000 candidates. Does that mean you have to get THAT job or you are not worth it? Probably not.

There is a good chance that with a bit of maneuvering and playing around. You will be able to find something that might not look great on paper, but the extra free time you will have will allow you to build the lifestyle you want to live. As Jack put it in one of his posts…

Status games rule everything around us, so the question you should be asking isn’t "How do I opt out?" It is "Which status game should I be pursuing?"

Instead of blindly following the noise and doing whatever everyone else around you is doing. You are better off identifying status games that play to your strengths. Looking for roads less traveled that will give you similar if not even better results. The hard pill to swallow is that there are plenty of opportunities for those who are ready to put themselves out there.

15. Your partner, girlfriend, wife…

Marry the right person. I'm serious about that. It will make more difference in your life. - Warren Buffett

Buffett was right. As with many other things… What happens once you choose the wrong person to spend the rest of your life with? Hard mode. Those who have experienced it know there is nothing worse than giving 110% of your energy throughout the day for a better tomorrow. Just to come home and have someone complain that you are not doing things right or expect the impossible from you. It happens far more often than most would like to admit. We never love covering topics like this because it brings out relationship gurus and people full of copium around this. Our idea should be clear.

Being with someone you should not be with is a lifestyle trap.

To make things worse, add getting into debt with them to live somewhere (mortgage), having kids with someone you can’t stand, or just sharing the same bed every night.

It is one variation of living hell.

This is where it gets crucial that you never allow yourself to settle for something because you think you can’t do better or you are too scared to let it go. If things are not working out, make sure you don’t let yourself go deeper and deeper. Because it only gets worse from there.

16. I have enough time to do…

You don’t. Not because time passes fast (it does) or because this is motivational slop. But because there are a bunch of other things you will want to do, and those things will come and go as your priorities change. Most of the things you want to do, you will want to do by age 60. That doesn’t mean you will not do anything after that, but as time goes on, your capacity keeps dropping.

Where does it get interesting?

When you realize that in your 20s you could maintain extreme focus for 10 hours a day, and by your mid 30s you are looking at 6 to 8 hours max. This doesn’t include substance abuse. Imagine how things look once you hit 50. Self-explanatory. As you get older and your energy declines, it should become obvious that the quality of time is not the same.

Not even taking into consideration that if you start something earlier in your life... You have more time to get better at it and see exponential results. Whenever you find yourself in a position where you are coping with the feeling that you have enough time. It is on you to remind yourself what it is all about and what the problem with it is. The conclusion is simple.

What can be done should not be left for tomorrow.

Suppose we put aside the energy argument and what you have just read. Tim Ferriss calls this the "deferred life plan"

The conventional path of slogging through 40+ years of unfulfilling 9-to-5 work, delaying travel and passions, in the hopes of enjoying retirement during old age. - Tim Ferriss

This should at least make you think, or at least start moving you toward figuring things out. Better said what to prioritize, and how to do the things you want to do. Deferred life is nothing but a masked lifestyle trap… One you want to avoid at all costs.

Closing thoughts

The more aware you are of what is happening around you, the less likely you are to fall for one of these. It mostly comes down to building your life around someone else’s expectations, playing stupid games, and chasing status ideals that were never yours in the first place. Letting life happen to you instead of being the main curator of it.

Would it be realistic to avoid all of these?

Most likely not. None of us has managed to avoid them all. But just being aware of what they are, how they impact you, and what it will take to get out of them is already a big part of the game.

Make sure you are leading with the question (always):

If you kept living exactly like this (forever), would you be fine with it?

If the answer is no. You have a clear sign that you are doing something you should not and that it is time for a change. Arguably, that is the only piece of information you need to start doing something different.

Next week, we will be on a trip and will spend most of our time on the new update for our State of Mind… There is a good chance there will not be a new post. Given that the next one is #150, we have to ensure it is different...

Enjoy your Sunday!

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Disclaimer: None of this is to be legal or financial advice of any kind.

Before going any further with the post, just a quick note. Substack has finally enabled the perk section, which means we have a place to drop all our other content and organize it better than before. You can access the inner circle by clicking here.

Why does everyone hate boomers?

They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. - Carl W. Buehner

It seems normal to hate the boomers and what they represent. Boomers are the opposite of everything that is happening now. Cheap houses that they could afford. Guaranteed jobs you could get after high school. Degree? Means you are actually a serious person. The best part? You could support your whole family with a single source of income. Something you only wish you could do today.

So who is responsible?

It comes down to the argument that things are the way they are today because of those generations. Which in fact is… True. Young people overestimate their own capabilities. They think that if they had had the advantages boomers had, they would have done it differently. They would not. If you give someone an easy path. They will take it.

If we set aside the cheap rent, guaranteed jobs, and "dream life" boomers lived, everything is better today. Life expectancy is longer. You can start your own business from your bedroom. Education? There is nothing you can’t find on YouTube. Because you are reading this on a device that, with a few swipes, gives you access to all the world’s knowledge. Something boomers could only dream of.

None of this fixes the housing market or inflation. Neither does complaining about the game you can’t change. What you can do is get good at things others are not. Whether you want to accept it or not, the boomers had it easier. What matters is that there are things you can apply to your situation.

Boomermaxxing (what you should listen to boomers about)

Boomer advice worth taking

• Communicating (Social skills)

• Reputation (advice and how to guard it)

• Not giving up

• Spending habits

• Buying for maximum return

Boomer advice NOT worth taking

• Finance

• Careers

• Degrees (+ college)

• Risk-taking

• Home buying

What advice from boomers should you listen to

1. Advice on communicating: Calling people. Dealing with certain matters in person rather than taking the path of least resistance. Making people feel good. Actively listening to them and remembering small details, even if they seem meaningless. Those things make you more memorable to others. Guess what boomers did right? Exactly this. No other generation has done it the way they did. 

2. Advice on reputation: Boomers did this part right. Mostly because it was built on slow, proven work. Doing work for others without immediately expecting anything back. Overall, it was a less transactional environment. Built on the guy who knows a guy type of mechanisms in small communities. Since it is easier to burn bridges and start fresh somewhere else where no one knows who you are, this doesn't get much credit anymore. Yet it has never been more worth it, since some people (and their connections) can rapidly increase your progress.

3. Advice on not giving up: Boomers got stuck with things mostly because they had no choice. Being flexible and having opportunities were usually expensive or required drastic changes. Things today? Opposite. You have millions of alternatives with a bit of effort. Leading you to quit without ever realizing you have quit in the first place, because you feel something better is coming your way. Which might be the truth... But you will never do anything if you quit at the first sign of trouble or when things get harder. This sounds ridiculous until you realize that nothing ever gets done this way. And one funny thing about life is that it always finds a way to place barriers for you when you are doing something worth doing. Always. It fits perfectly under the unwritten rules of life.

4. Advice on spending habits: Pre-credit card life. The approach to finances was completely different from what it is now. You could only spend money you actually had, which created much more friction in the process. Not necessarily that boomers spending habits are better (most people are frugal). But there was a moment when you had to wait to buy something or to be served, creating a gap between your impulses and what you actually wanted. Today, you already know that everything is the opposite of that. One-click checkout and pay later in every store you buy from. Which means you should make it a habit to postpone purchases for a day or two before making them.

5. Advice on buying things for maximum return: The previous point brings us to this one… Boomers bought things that lasted because things were built to last... Because replacing them was expensive relative to what you had earned. Meaning your whole goal was to buy less and better things. Today, another opposite. Everything is structured to ensure that you will eventually replace it. Either sell it when the new model comes out, or break it because it was not done as it should have been. This is where most people go wrong and fall victim to this loop. Spending their money, time, and attention buying the same things multiple times over because they are afraid to spend a bit of money to buy their own. You should base everything you buy on the cost per use approach. Boomers did this right.

What advice from boomers should you NOT listen to

1. Finance advice: One that was right for their world, one that no longer exists. When savings earned real interest and avoiding risk (+ saving everything) was a rational play. Good luck doing the same things today and expecting the same results. Doing so will make you a victim of inflation and ensure you end up with less than you initially put in. The game they played was in a risk-free environment. But the game YOU are playing is quite different. It is everything except a risk-free environment. To not turn this into a whole other post. Stay away from boomers and their financial advice. Everything they preach is outdated.

2. Career advice: The whole story comes down to staying loyal to your employer and avoiding risk. Today, this approach doesn’t work because you will end up being paid below the market rate. Or you will be replaced when the time comes. What companies do differently now is offer below-inflation raises while paying new hires the market rate for the same roles. This means that if you are not high on the seniority list, you should jump ship and out-earn people who stay. Stop being loyal to a company you work for… Because they are not loyal to you.

3. College advice: Boomers still believe that having a degree guarantees you a job. One of those old tales that is completely wrong. The main reason was that employers used the degree as a differentiator. It was sort of a filtering system that proved you were capable (+ not everyone had it). Today? You know things are different when you have a bunch of useless degrees that lead nowhere. The ratio effort/payoff has changed. Do degrees still work? Debatable. But some work much better than others.

4. Risk-taking advice: We already mentioned that no matter what kind of average performer you were, or how safe you played. You were guaranteed to have an above-average quality of life. Cheap housing, stable jobs, and a predictable environment. To reframe this. What happens when wages don’t keep up with the cost of living and more people compete for the same things? Perfect formula for falling behind. To make it clear, the idea is not to take dumb risks or treat your life as a lottery ticket. It is about knowing how to distinguish between the two and understanding the outcome. Some risks you can recover from, and from others you can't.

5. Home-buying advice: We have seen many fall for the idea that they should buy a house as soon as possible. Only to end up miserable with a 30 year mortgage on a place they are not even sure they want to live in. It is much more complex than that. Plus, the data show that you are playing a completely different game when it comes to income = housing than what Boomers played.

Notice the pattern across both lists?

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that everything the boomers did right comes down to socializing. How you treat people, how you spend your time, and the habits you build.

Everything that should not be taken for granted comes from old-world advice that is no longer relevant or up to date. The job market, careers, housing... Giving you a clear overview that there is plenty of room to pick up what they have done good and implement it into your lifestyle.

The art of Boomermaxxing - what you can start applying today

Some of the things cost nothing and require only your attention. Others you will have to put in the effort and ensure you are in a comfortable position.

In no particular order.

1. Instant recommendation for everything

We had to start a list with this, considering how Boomer coded it is. Plus, it fits our narrative that boomers did the right thing when it came to socializing. There is nothing more Boomer than having 2 to 3 recommendations ready for everything. No matter the city, part of town, or country you are in. To younger generations, it might seem meaningless until you get a recommendation so good it takes your experience from 7/10 to 9/10. Having a recommendation or two ready for everything is a skill set.

One you can achieve with minimal effort and a simple approach:

• Open up your notes application and call the document experiences

• Categorize everything by the city/activity (keep it less than 3 per category)

  • Bars, restaurants, and things to see will work for most people reading this

• You want everything to be a one-liner

  • Name of the place - experience (how it went) - rating 1/5 - date

• If you want to take it to a higher level, further add up all the recommendations that others have given you

2. Always tip BEFORE service and not after

This one would be rather painful if you had never done it before, and much more so if you had never thought about it. Tipping before service makes you important in the eyes of those who serve you. It makes you stand out. Resulting in you being memorable the next time you come. Meaning? Better service. Better location. A different experience overall.

The other side is more open and friendly toward you and whoever else you are bringing with you. Similar to the compounding effect, the more you do it, the better results you will see. It is important to note that you don’t want to do this everywhere, only in the places that actually matter. It is worth mentioning that automatic tipping on the machines doesn’t count. Your money has to be given directly into someone else’s hands.

3. Call people regularly

Instead of wasting your precious time on mediocre podcasts or top 40 playlists you should not be listening to in the first place.

Call people you care about.

Show others you appreciate them and check in on how things are going for them. This builds a strong connection much faster. You get extra points if you remember details from the last chat and genuinely care about them. That is the key to getting more out of this. No one does this anymore, and it will make you stand out in a positive way.

Putting this into practice:

• Create a list of no more than 10 people you want to stay in touch with regularly (anything over this number will be a job in itself)

  • This must include those you don’t see face to face regularly

• Keep it to 3 - 4 calls per week with different people and rotate through them

4. Birthdays, weddings, and funerals

Birthdays, weddings, funerals… Always go. You don’t have excuses. You don’t have justification. You have no reason not to go, whether you like it or hate it. All those things matter to others. All of those fall into the category of memories people will remember for years to come. Both happy and sad. It serves as a test of who was there and who was not. It shows your character to others and whether they can count on you.

5. Write all your expenses in a physical journal

We often went on spending sprees every few months. Usually due to impulse buys and a feeling that something was missing. We realized that by writing down our impulse purchases and running a PnL type of overview, we could track where the money went and why. We became conscious of it, and we rationalized our impulses along the way.

There is something powerful about writing things down and having an accountability system each month to check on what you are doing (are you wasting your money), which everyone should do.

How to pull it off:

• Forget about digital forms, statements, emails, or your Apple Pay transaction history.

• Take 10 minutes at the end of the week to write down everything you have spent money on. From groceries and clothes to impulse purchases.

• With time, you will find yourself asking questions. Was spending that money a smart choice? Are you using the things you bought?

• Do this for 1 or 2 weeks, and you will have a completely different relationship with money.

6. Stealth wealth (never tell anyone how much you have)

Boomers are the best at stealth wealth. If you knew how many average boomers around you are millionaires, would you be able to tell the difference between the one who is and the one who is not?

There is no reason to let anyone other than your close family know how much you have. Bragging about having a 7 figure net worth feels nice, but it’s not worth it. The more you talk about it and the louder you are, the more parasites and unwanted "friends" you will attract.

If someone asks what you make or how you can afford things. This is where you will have to learn how to give a boring answer and move on. One of the easiest ways to pull this off is to reframe it and flip back to ask the same question.

There is something deeply satisfying about being vague when people ask what you do or how you could afford it. This is where giving a vague number and ending the conversation becomes important. You will have to practice pulling this off.

7. Never split the check

Should be self-explanatory. If you invite your friends out to a restaurant, for coffee, lunch, or anything else… YOU are paying. They can only pay if you paid last time. Making it an unwritten agreement between the two of you.

There is no worse public shaming than six people at a table. They send money back and forth so one can call the waiter. Are you inviting your circle? You are paying for everyone.

How to do it? There is no science here. As soon as the bill comes, take it. Don’t ask the table. Don't look for anyone's approval. If someone tries to pay back, tell them they will get it the next time and move on.

8. Boomer trick to meeting someone new (retention mechanism)

A person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language. - Dale Carnegie

Have you ever worked with a successful boomer? When you first meet them, they will introduce themselves. You will do the same. The next thing that will happen is that they will ask for your name again. It is not a coincidence. Neither are they too old to remember your name.

There is a good chance they will repeat it out loud on purpose. If you have ever experienced this, you will know exactly what we are talking about. Doing this ensures you do not forget the other person and their name. It is one of the old-school methods that has managed to survive through the generations because of its efficiency.

9. Become a regular

One lifestyle hack that will pay off is becoming a regular somewhere. When we say somewhere, we mean the place where you still see yourself in a decade. That doesn’t mean becoming a regular at the club you go to each weekend isn’t worth it. But we aren’t denying that either. Restaurants and bars are different. They offer a higher level of service. You can bring people into these places, make everyone enjoy themselves, and have a good time.

Remember advice #2? This is where it comes into play and will dramatically improve your chances. Next on the list is learning everyone’s names and showing up consistently. After a few months of effort and showing up... Eventually, everyone will know you are the guy. Once you get past that point, the game begins. The advantages of networking and helping others become clear.

This also helps you meet people who can change your life. You can position yourself in a new way and make things easier. Doing all the filtering through membership fees and entry requirements. The more you think about it, the more that filtering part makes sense.

10. Start looking people in the eyes

The eyes are the windows of the soul. - Old proverb

When you are communicating with the other side. Be present. No cellphones. No fidgeting. Don’t look away while talking to them. Making eye contact while sharing your ideas influences how others perceive you and whether they take you seriously. Or not. It shows your worth and confidence.

This might be mostly irrelevant for someone in their early 20s. But by your late 20s, you will want the people around you to start taking you more seriously. Your circle should reflect the same. Helping you build out your social circle of the people you want to be surrounded by.

Struggling to make eye contact? Look up the triangle technique.

11. Become a good host

It is a skill set that you can only improve by doing it over and over again. No matter if it’s the yearly trip, a house party, or a private Sunday dinner with friends. The key is to find a way to make it happen. Make it a habit to run it once a year and keep improving it over time. Invite the chosen group, and as it grows, let the group start bringing in all the new, valuable connections. This is one of the best things you can do to improve your social capital and build a reputation for who you are as an individual.

To become a good host:

1. Pick a format and stick to it

   1. Dinner, house party, or big gathering. Whatever it is, do it in a way you can repeat. A recurring thing is something people look forward to because they know what to expect.

2. Curate the people you invite

   1. Everyone you invite knows you, and there is a reason they are there. The more your guests have in common, the easier it will be to introduce new people to them.

3. Make the first intros

   1. What no one ever told Gen Z is that to avoid awkward situations or group separations. You want to be the one who does all the first intros. Starting a conversation is half the job when it comes to this. It is a skill set that has a huge impact on your quality of social life and can be applied everywhere.

4. Make all your guests count

   1. A big mistake people make when hosting is to plan around the people they like to be around and stay there. What you want to do is go around and check on everyone to make sure everything is running smoothly and that people are forming genuine relationships. This is by far the hardest thing to do as a host, and it’s one that most fail at.

5. What is special about your invitations?

   1. You need an answer to this. Whatever it is, a unique activity, a tradition, or something else. It must belong to YOU so that people will associate it with you specifically. If you pull this off right, you are guaranteed to have them there every time.

6. Follow up

   1. Once the gathering is done, make sure that in the next 48 hours, you reach out to everyone and ping them to check whether everything was okay. This also ensures that the same group of people appears next time.

12. Dress for the occasion (it matters more than you think)

It is ridiculous that we even have to mention this. But the reality is that boomers have done it much better than current generations. You can’t blame anyone, considering that casualization and remote work have taken over the world. When we say dress for the occasion, we mean it. If you are going to dinner with your girlfriend, that doesn’t mean you have to wear a three-piece suit (maybe).

But it also means you should not go out in sweatpants and a t-shirt, but instead in nice pants and a shirt. All those things do matter, whether you want to accept it or not. This is the baseline you should start with. Once you learn it… It will go with you for the rest of your life.

13. Boomer consuming (print out everything)

We found it hilarious at first. But after some thought, it is an impressive system as long as you set it up correctly.

The only limitation is getting the printer to work…

The same idea applies to almost everything you consume. Print everything out. We are big on this because consuming things in a physical format makes it much more impactful and memorable.

14. Being reliable is rare…

Another social behavior that boomers have done right. In a world where people cancel on you 10 minutes before a meeting. Promises mean little. Better said... Nothing. There seem to be no consequences for breaking them. Being a reliable person others can count on will make you stand out. Much more so when it comes to serious topics or things that actually affect your life.

Reliability etiquette sheet (at the very least you can do)

• Always show up at least 5 minutes before you said you would.

• Cancel at least 24 hours in advance so the other side can plan and avoid wasting their time.

• If you are the one canceling it, your goal is to reschedule and set another meeting.

15. Learn to build, create, and fix things (UYH - use your hands)

Boomers didn’t have any choice. You do. But the reason this should apply is that it is part of this list. It comes down to the fact that there is an incredible amount of joy in doing things with your hands. Much more so if you spend all day on the computer. Building, creating, repairing. It doesn’t matter. It feels abstract at first. But as time goes on, and you become a weekend warrior, it will all start to make sense.

The reason working with your hands and seeing things go from 0 to 1 comes down mostly to Csikszentmihalyi's flow research. Where you have a clear goal → feedback → a task that is hard enough to focus on (but not too hard) → results. Put that into practice, and you realize this kind of work delivers visible value.

Doing tasks like this is good because it makes you feel like a beginner and reminds you what it is like to be new to something. This is something you want to practice throughout your whole life. Mostly because most get stuck in their ego, never allowing themselves to start again.

No idea where to start:

• Home maintenance or installing new stuff

• Woodworking

• Auto work (replace the filter, change the oil, swap blades)

• Gardening (if you are in a position to do so)

• Cooking (this counts as well + improves your quality of life)

None of these will make any sense… Until you actually try it.

16. Handwritten notes and letters

He has built a unique culture, sending handwritten thank you notes to nearly everyone he meets and sitting down one on one with every person at the firm once a year. - Invest Like The Best (with guest Mitchell Green)

There are certain limitations to this, but once you figure out how to pull it off… It is a game-changer. It is something that has a deep impact on the other side if done right. Making you look more genuine and different from the rest. Selling an e-commerce product? Do it. Met with the investors last week and want to thank them. Do it. The key to others hearts is small gestures that make you stand out from the others.

To get more out of this:

• Send them within 48 hours of the meeting.

• Mentioning a specific event or why it matters. The key is a specific detail that will make you memorable. That is what separates the generic ones from the rest.

17. Whenever you ask for advice, make it count

What does that even mean? We live in a time where you are just 3 DMs away from the smartest people in the world. No matter the industry they are in, what they are doing, or what achievements they have managed to pull off. You have an opportunity to get an answer to your question. Much more so if it is specific and actually worth their time.

In 98% of cases, when the other side gets an answer to their question, they never reach out again. The whole idea behind this is that someone took the time and put in the effort to get back to you. It is your obligation to get back to them and explain how you applied their advice and the impact it had on you. This is again a very old-world approach, one you would expect from those who lived in a world different from ours.

Boomermaxxing checklist

1. Keep recommendations ready for everything

2. Tips before service (not after)

3. Call people regularly and ensure you stay in touch with those you want to keep in touch with.

4. Always show up. Birthdays, weddings, and funerals… No excuses

5. Make it a habit to write out all your expenses (pen and paper)

6. Stealth wealth is mandatory (learn to keep this vague)

7. Never split the check

8. Learn how to use the retention mechanism while meeting someone

9. Become a regular in a place you see yourself in 10 years

10. Always look people in the eyes while talking to them

11. Become a good host

12. Dress for the occasion

13. Boomer consuming (print things out)

14. Become someone others can count on (reliable)

15. Make something with your hands

16. Send handwritten notes

17. ALWAYS follow up when someone takes their time to give you advice

The system boomers played in? Gone. None of what they had is coming back. Yet many of their approaches and methods have survived. Aged perfectly. Reaching a level of importance like never before. Calling people. Showing up. Doing what no one else around you does anymore. Our final advice is to read all of these and position them toward the lifestyle you are living. Pick a maximum of 3 things from the list and start implementing them in your situation. The positive differences should be visible within a month.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

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Disclaimer: None of this is to be legal or financial advice of any kind.

The line between gambling and investing is artificial and thin. The soundest investment has the defining trait of a bet (you losing all of your money in hopes of making a bit more), and the wildest speculation has the salient characteristic of an investment (you might get your money back with interest). Maybe the best definition of “investing” is “gambling with the odds in your favor. - Michael Lewis

This is not a post about investing. It is not a post claiming you will be guaranteed to make millions. This is a proven framework. One that helps you make millions without any excuses. One focused on jobs, careers, and business. Something that works and has proven itself many times. Will it be easy? Nothing worth doing ever is. Does it work? You bet it does.

CONTENTS OUTLINE

1. You are starting from $0. No connections. No skills. No idea where to go… You are at zero.

   1. Jobs, careers, and everything you need to know about them

   2. Picking and building transferable skills

   3. Setting up a foundation (career edition)

2. Getting your first money

   1. The difference between making money and building wealth

   2. Doing the math and reverse-engineering where you are now

   3. Making your first sale

   4. The traps you want to avoid (at this stage)

3. Running large(er) scale operations

   1. Quitting your employer (when and how)

   2. Service business limitations

   3. Resisting temptations and lifestyle inflation

   4. Building out the system (everyone should do it)

4. Accelerating (the multiplier phase)

   1. Spending money to make more money

   2. Focusing on what is already working

   3. Equity (ownership)

5. Exit

   1. Retirement

   2. New start

6. What nobody warns YOU about

   1. Money addiction

   2. Health over everything

   3. How success changes people

   4. Levers for each stage of your journey

Making it easier for yourself

You need to be able to tell the difference and understand the underlying logic.

• Job: Something where you are trading your time for money.

• Career: Trading your performance for money. This is all about the results. Your goal is to always be in a position where you can earn income and get paid for your performance.

  • Uncapped income: A position where your earnings are not tied to time.

  • Performance-based pay: No commission > no performance > no pay > no real career.

  • PE: Private equity.

  • HF: Hedge fund.

• Business: Something that allows you to make money while you are sleeping.

  • Conversion: % of the people who buy. If 1,000 people see your ads and 20 decide to buy your product, you are looking at a 2% conversion rate.

  • Margin: What it costs you and what you sell it for. The difference between the two is the margin.

  • Convert: Make a sale. Convert a prospect (visitor) into a buyer.

  • MVP: Minimum viable product.

  • SOP: Standard operating procedure.

  • VA: Virtual assistant.

  • SMB: Small to medium business.

  • 3PL: Third-party logistics. Services that handle your e-commerce fulfillment.

• Equity: Ownership. If done right, equity becomes something you look at in multiples.

  • Multiple: What the buyer pays. Imagine a business making $50k in profit per year, sold at a 4x multiple. You are looking at a $200k exit.

  • Multiples vary by business model.

  • Event: Liquidity moment. Selling a business.

  • NW: Your net worth (total value of everything you own)

• Transferable skills: Unique to you. Something that can't be outsourced (easily) and takes time + effort.

  

The system we will be covering

• Years 1-3

  • Building the foundation (career, transferable skill set, and safety net).

• Years 4-5

  • Reality check (transition from employee to owner).

• Years 6-8

  • The compounding effect and early effort. Something that becomes visible across all areas of your life (income, assets…) + building out the system.

• Years 8-10

  • What it takes to accelerate and take it to another level.

• Years 10+

  • Retirement, life after exit, and everything else.

We recommend reading the post in chronological order. The quality of your reading experience is up to you. This is a long, dense read that will take at least an hour (more like an hour and a half). Our advice is to take your time with this.

1. You are starting at zero

Journey timeline: years 1-3

Jobs, careers, and everything you need to know about them

Jobs: The only time you want to take one is when you can't find another way to create an income stream. There is nothing worse for your long-term plans than being stuck in a position where you trade your time for money. The difference between a terrible job and a bad one? A bad one gives you a skill set you can transfer to your future adventures. Every other job? A terrible one.

Jobs = money-making machines for someone else.

Careers: Performance-based position. This is what you are aiming for and making your goal. Everything else is not worth your time and will only slow you down as you get older. 

The best part about most performance-based roles (consulting, front-office finance, tech sales) is that the skill set is transferable because the complexity we deal with makes everything else look like it's three steps below what it will take to achieve the results. 

Going for a performance-based position also helps you avoid the trap of feeling stuck. Can you sell? There is always a company out there that will pay you more to achieve the same results as other sales reps. Once you approach it as we have described here… It makes much more sense.

Careers = bit more for you. But a money-making machine for someone else.

The third scenario? Equity. Working at a startup or reaching partner status to get equity is something most people dream of. The reason is that it is the most powerful driver of them all. When multiples (equity numbers) start to enter the game… Every single move your company makes impacts you. Massively. All depending on how much equity you have…

Choosing a career

• Sales (The more complex deals… The better)

• Engineer roles (include equity)

• High-level finance (PE/HF)

  • Require a pedigree to get in.

This doesn’t mean the other career choices are bad. Quite the opposite. They are still superior to any form of job. The difference is that these careers give you leverage because they all directly impact the revenue. Making you harder to replace. On top of that, you are getting paid for what you bring to the table. Or at least part of it.

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How they differ from business: The most obvious answer for most of our readers is that your career income is linear. You get better = you earn more. What about jobs? Similar story. You don’t show up? The money stops. Neither of those scenarios applies to running a business. Once you build a system that works, that linear way to get money is gone. The money begins to grow exponentially, and your decisions (both good and bad) produce multiple effects.

What do most people miss?

To build a business, you need the skills to support it. This gives leverage (once again) to those who come from careers where they already used those skills to achieve results that got them promoted in the first place. Not to mention that having a safety net and income you can count on makes a lot of sense.

Prioritization sequence

1. Take a job if you have no other option. Choose one with a transferable skill set or one you can leverage down the road.

2. Get into a performance-based career as fast as possible. The more energy you use = more money you make. At the same time, you are building the skill set you will need to run a business.

3. Start building your business once you learn to manage stress and prioritize what matters in your career and what doesn’t.

80%+ of people will not understand the paragraph above (luckily our blog is targeted to the 20%) and they will continue to trade their time for money. This makes it impossible to become rich and around 33-35 years old they become bitter/jaded as they did not hit their goals. - WSP

Your goal = direct impact on revenue

We have already mentioned which careers to pursue and some of the best picks. They are the best because they are closest to the profit. After spending some time in a business environment, you realize there are two groups. People who bring in revenue and those who support them. Guess who gets the benefits and gets prioritized when things get rough… You already know the answers. Generating revenue (profit) is a game-changer and directly impacts how your environment values you. The more you bring in = the more valued you are.

Picking and building transferable skills

If you are already a decade into your career and have a general idea of what it is about… feel free to skip this section.

Recognizing what you are good at: To get the most out of your ability to make money and win in the long term. You must pick a game you are designed to win. Are you naturally good at sales? You had better not pick anything else. Or maybe you're naturally good at building and improving? You know the answer. Better get into a role that forces you to look at broken systems and fix them.

No idea where to start?

You will have to expose yourself out there and put yourself in situations that test you. Pay attention to what you are naturally better at than others… Prioritize this over everything else.

Picking the right career… half the battle: We already concluded it has to be performance-based (no one capping you) and should play to your strengths. By following this criterion alone… You have a good chance of ending up on a path to high earning potential and a transferable skill set. Most people who end up in careers never follow this protocol, which is why most wake up feeling miserable after 10 years. What will you do that others never do? You will understand that having a career is a phase in your life that you will replace once you are comfortable enough with your business.

Once you pick the right career and find yourself in a comfortable position with your head above water. The next on the list is finding someone who is so far ahead of you that you win. You want someone whose advice is trustworthy and applicable to your situation. Better said, you want to find a mentor. The first few years are brutal, and you will find that having someone who can help you navigate is underrated.

Picking the wrong career: It happens. If you are doing it right, you will still be building a skill set and something you can transfer. It might not be the optimal route. But as long as you do not get yourself into a losing scenario where you feel like you are losing years, not making the money you should, or becoming bitter… You are still in a good spot, even if you have picked the wrong career.

How do you spot the wrong career for YOU?

• It doesn't match how you are driven and wired (it doesn't play to your natural talents and strengths).

• Your income is fully capped by someone else's decision, not by your performance.

• The skills you are building are not transferable.

• If the company you work for closed today, how long would it take you to find another one and get paid to do the same work? This tells you a lot about your pick.

The signs that a skill is transferable and of high value

• Sales

  • It is not just a career path… it is also a skill present in every area of your life.

• Marketing

  • Similar to sales. If you can market and run profitable ads, it applies to every industry.

• Product improvement

  • Everyone in consulting knows that to succeed in this business, you have to understand how to make it run better.

• Dealmaking (networking)

  • Some say it is not the same thing. Others say it is. The reality is that if you can connect two parties with a mutual interest who need each other, you will be valuable. Becoming a trusted source of good information.

  • To avoid getting into the details and specifics of networking, everything you need to know comes down to a simple rule. Always give more than you ask of others. This is everything you need to know. If you can always give more to others without asking more in return, you have a 99% chance of building a network you can count on.

• Online presence

  • Building an online presence and knowing how to position yourself are transferable skills. Similar to marketing. If you know how to reach large audiences and have distribution in place, you have nothing to fear. Arguably one of the most underrated things you could do.

The questions you should ask yourself about a transferable skill set

• Can you sell it to clients without an intermediary?

• Can you build a business around it?

• Does it teach you how to generate equity (or build)?

• Are you trading hours for pay?

Positive answers to all of them will tell you everything you need to know.

Setting up a foundation (career edition)

Read more

Important to mention:

1. This is our first time doing this. Keep that in mind.

2. We definitely realized why there are usually dedicated teams of graphic designers doing this… It is not as easy as it looks, and we made bold claims back in October. Something to think about

3. The PDF is around 450 MB (we set it to the highest quality possible so you can download and use it…).

4. If you see something that doesn’t align or could be better… Feel free to comment. The family effect is real, and after one point, you stop noticing those small details.

5. Play the artbook playlist in the background for maximum effect.

6. Take your time and enjoy.

State Of Mind - Artbook

or…

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It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. - E.E. Cummings

Time for a change. Sharing a leaderboard with big names such as Koe, Rubin, and Žižek. Yet calling a newsletter BOSS Letter is not something you want to do. Neither should you. The hustle culture of the last decade is long gone.

Unintuitive. Exactly what we are aiming for. Covering what might not be obvious or what goes against the instincts you have been taught. Expect a few more visual changes over the next month. Everything else? Stays the same.

What You Should Know While Growing Up… But You Do Not Know

What no one tells you while growing up is that things get harder. Since most of our readers are in their 20s, we feel obliged to expand on concepts most people are not even aware of. Those that will only become apparent as you get closer to your 30s. What is this all about? Painful truths. From what you can expect once you hit 27 to the realization that no one is coming to save you.

The truth YOU have to be aware of

You have spent your first 20 years in a bubble

If you are reading this, you have spent your first 20 years living in a bubble. Meaning that you have not had real-world exposure. Meaning that there is a good chance there will be a period of painful realizations in the next decade or so. What you need to understand is that your parents, teachers, and environment have been programming you. Meaning?

That everything you think you know might not be right. Or it is straight-up outdated and won’t get you far. The fix is simple and comes down to paying attention. Observe everything that is happening around you. Don’t be afraid to expose yourself to things you find interesting to get your perspective (and experience) with them. Doing this is by far the fastest way to get out of the bubble and understand how the world, system, game, or however you want to call it… Actually works. The more you learn from your personal experience, rather than what others tell you… The easier it will be for you. Because your parents raised you for a game that no longer exists.

The fastest way out of this is to expose yourself to how money actually works. You will have to show proficiency. Prove to others that you can do what is required of you. Bringing measurable results. That is when you start seeing how people and incentives actually work. It is something no one can explain to you and that can't be taught in a classroom. The second best option? Upgrade your environment.

The world is not fair

The world was never fair. It will never be fair. All of us have been dealt different cards. Some are better, and others are worse. A basic example is someone born in the United States vs. someone born in Africa. The Internet gave everyone an equal opportunity. But the differences are still massive.

What you should do is position yourself as best you can:

1. Stop blaming the system.

2. Start adapting to the game.

What you realize over time is that the game is largely bent toward hyper-optimistic individuals who are not afraid to put themselves out there.

Those two ideas are hard to internalize. Realize how lucky you are to be in the position you are in. The reality is that someone out there was dealt a much worse hand and would trade places with you in a second. This is an oversimplification of a complex topic. But something you will need to process to get the most. Learn how to be grateful and use that to your advantage. Because no one who constantly complains gets anywhere. The results are always the same. They just lead to frustrating, negative feedback loops and rob you of realizing that opportunities are right in front of you.

Instead of leading with a question: is this fair? What do you want to start with: am I in a better position than yesterday? The best part is that this reframe applies to all areas of your life. Health, wealth, relationships… The happier you are with your life situation, the less you will care about the unfairness.

Things you need to realize before reading further

1. You will not get anywhere blaming this system. The system is unfair and not properly set up. It is not on you to spend years trying to change it. But to focus on being in a better position than yesterday.

2. Realize that there is someone out there who was dealt a hand of much worse cards… To be more precise. Realize how lucky you are to be in the position you are in.

3. Pay attention to how the people around you perceive the world. If everyone around you is complaining about the same thing… it might be that you are adopting their reality.

The most intelligent one actually… Doesn’t win

It’s kind of fun to sit there and out think people who are way smarter than you are because you’ve trained yourself to be more objective and more multi-disciplinary. Furthermore, there is a lot of money in it, as I can testify from my own personal experience. - Charlie Munger

A common misconception is that you have to be intelligent to win. Maybe. Depending on what intelligence means to you. From our life experience? This idea is largely false. It is put out there to gatekeep people (or coping mechanisms) from doing what they are supposed to do. All it takes for you to change this and relate to us is to meet a few successful people and have a complete mindset shift. What you will find is that how they got there is primarily driven by high energy and execution. Not because they possess special abilities you do not or are hyper intellectuals. This is aimed specifically at our engineering (STEM) readers, who often think that intelligence is a prerequisite for success and use it as a defense against doing what they should.

Intelligence makes your life easier by helping you connect abstract points and form a bigger picture. Does that mean you have to be intelligent to succeed? Not really. It is also what most young people miss when wondering why less intelligent people live better. The reason is mostly that those who are less intelligent are more willing to take risks and expose themselves to uncertainty. While the intelligent ones have much more mental space to think. This results in them often talking themselves out of their situations and never acting on them. This sounds ridiculous until you sit down with a few brilliant people who have not done anything with themselves.

Never allow yourself to fall for the idea that you have to be intelligent to achieve something. Both when it comes to happiness and success. It helps. But it is not the main driver of how far you go. The world is full of dumb people (and less intelligent than you) who are considered successful by society’s standards.

Sales > everything in life (and everywhere)

Key points:

• Learn to communicate and express yourself. This is a lifelong skill and an ultimate advantage over the next decade.

• Most don't even know what sales means as a term. It is not about presenting something or trying to put yourself in the spotlight. It is about finding a medium between you and the other side, where both get something in return. Or at least you make it look that way.

  • Sales for you might mean: selling yourself, your ideas, getting what you want out of your situation, getting the other side to say yes. Everyone has a different definition of sales. Our idea still stays the same.

By the time you are hunting for your internship or first job, the power of sales should become obvious. You are selling yourself. Your knowledge. Your experience on the other side. Those who can sell get to places where those who can’t never do. This might sound like an oversimplification. But it is not. No idea what to do with your life? Start practicing how you communicate. How you express yourself and your ideas. Pay attention to how others perceive you. Learn how to sell yourself. It is something that carries over into every single area of your life. No idea where to start? Pick up Impro.

Want to take it even further?

Learn to make yourself memorable. There is no single approach to this. It doesn't mean you should do dumb things to stay memorable or do something you will regret for the rest of your life. It means paying attention to the small things that may seem meaningless to you. Yet they are not to the person across from you. These changes depend entirely on who you are dealing with and what their priorities are.

Start by finding out what the person in front of you believes and what matters most to them. An easy way to do this is to practice with your friends and watch their reactions. The key is not to do it in a performative way. You are actually paying attention and being genuine about it. Another approach is to actively acknowledge and work on what they are insecure about or trying to improve. That is what memorability comes down to, if you put everything else aside. You are not there to impress or manipulate them. You are there to enhance what they are already working toward.

Everyone is cheering for YOUR success

Until 25 you have a free pass. Whether you want to accept it or not. Teachers, parents, society, and your mentors. Everyone is giving you an opportunity you may not even be aware of. They have zero expectations or outcomes for what you are doing. Switching careers, diving deeper into specific areas, exploring something new or starting your own business is the easiest thing you can do during those years because there is no one to judge you.

If someone judges you for what you are doing or tells you that you are wrong. You should not care because you know that no matter how bad it gets. You have at least a decade to get serious and take control of your life. Once you are past your early 30s, you will no longer be able to experience that. Those who have not judged you before are now expecting results.

When you realize that no one is working against you and that people are actually helping you by not judging your decisions. Helping you figure out who you are and what you want… It all clicks.

Zero-sum thinking will destroy you

Most people have picked up from their environments the belief that someone else's success comes at their expense. The truth? The complete opposite. It is an outdated instinct at best when humans actually had to compete for food and territory. The reality is that if someone else gets rich selling something…

It has zero impact on you.

What will the average do? Act from a position of resentment. What should you do? Be genuinely excited. It is not easy. It takes a lot to rewire what you had in place from the early days and to reprogram yourself. This is one of those unwritten rules of life that, once you internalize it and make it part of your identity… Things will start to work in your favor.

To stop thinking in zero-sum:

1. Look at the whole picture. Ask yourself whether you would trade your entire life for theirs. 99% of cases the answer will be no.

   1. Follow up with the question of why you are jealous or resentful?

2. If you fall into this 1%, you would trade your life for theirs. What you want to do is get close to them. Not only will it give you a new perspective on how they are doing things. It will also show you that with a bit of effort you could be in the same place.

Your 20s done right = set for life

Do your 20s right, and you build a safety net that makes it almost impossible to go back to zero. Big logo internship? You are pretty much set. Meet people who are on the same mission as you? There is always a connection you can rely on. Start your business and get some experience around it? Ultimate leverage. Understand that everyone is giving you a free pass without any expectations? Massive advantage. Never felt like a status-chasing game or keeping up with others on Instagram? You are already farther from the masses than you think.

When you combine all those factors. Where you do not need much, have unlimited energy, and everyone is ready to give you an opportunity, you realize that with a bit of effort and focused work. You are in a position to set yourself up so that you will never have to worry, because your foundation is so strong. That you would have to make multiple bad decisions to get back to zero.

Something for YOU to keep in mind.

Things you will not regret doing:

• Building a transferable skillset

  • Communication, sales, and understanding (economics, operations, and logic) on how to run an online business.

• Going on side quests and trying things early

  • Without experimenting, you will never know who you are… Forget about drugs, alcohol, and other vices.

• Build your circle

  • You always want to know a guy who knows a guy.

• Keeping your cost of living low. Lifestyle inflation is real. The luxury watch is nice until you realize that real assets will make you money while you sleep.

  • The idea is not to be a frugal individual. Just to have enough space to use that extra money you have for things that will give you ROI.

• Taking your health seriously

  • Sleep. No garbage eating. At least gym 3x per week. It makes a huge difference in your clarity and how you perceive things.

• Start building a reputation early on.

  • It will open all the doors for you if you have done this part right.

• Start writing things down and plan where you want to go.

  • A pocket notebook and a pen should go with you everywhere.

• Understand that the compound effect is everywhere. Both positive and negative. Showing up every day and putting in even a 50% effort means that things are already working in your favor.

Want a full breakdown? Read how not to waste your 20s

Painful realization that the sooner you understand… The better.

Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such. - Henry Miller

1. Wake-up phase

Once you see the truth. You cannot unsee it

The painful truths:

• The system is designed to keep you in survival mode. Positioning you in a way where you are too busy covering bills, rents, and food. Distracting you from building something bigger.

• You will never be paid enough in your career. This becomes painfully obvious the moment you start making money on your own.

• Everything you consume daily is shaping your reality. Junk in… Junk out.

• Lifestyle inflation is real and will destroy everything you have built if you do not manage it. Most never do…

• Your next-door neighbor is not having a better life than you. He is just keeping up with the Joneses and will be an eternal victim of banks.

• The moment you accept that you are an average, victim, or like anyone else, is the moment you have lost the game.

• Sooner or later you recognize who your friends truly are. It might be the best thing ever or the most painful one.

• Time and energy are the only things you can never buy back.

• No one is coming to save you.

  • The financial system? Wont save you.

  • The government? Wont save you.

  • Your boss? Wont save you.

  • Other people around you? Wont save you…

Club 27 (year everything changes)

27 was by far the weirdest age of life. At the same time, we found it funny how many people could relate to us and share their experiences. Anyone past it knows exactly what we mean. The reason this age is so painful is that everything becomes apparent. Even if you have managed not to notice it for years. You have been too busy… Or simply managed to ignore it. That stops at 27. Because things become impossible to ignore.

Your future self becomes apparent. Everyone around you stops giving you free passes. Your career dictates your lifestyle, and you know the only way things will change is if you do something dramatic. The unlimited energy you used to have as a 22 year old? It is not as easy to access anymore, and you do not feel it every day. Everything you subconsciously knew was coming is finally there.

You don’t want to be the smartest one in the room

The difference between being the smartest in the room and being in a room where everyone else knows more… Massive one. This alone serves as great guidance that if you are the smartest in the room, you are doing something wrong. Limiting yourself in a way you know deep down that there is so much you will be able to get out of this situation and the people you are surrounded by.

The painful truth is that it is always better to be the stupidest in the right room. Over time, it will allow you to gather enough information and data to apply to your situation and use to your advantage. This is one of those counterintuitive things that might not make sense at first. But the older you get, the more sense it makes. If you are the smartest in the room, you are in the wrong room.

Your body is slowing down

Remember drinking all weekend just to be ready to give your 110% on Monday? Gone. Went a bit too hard at the gym and planning to hit it again the day after? Good luck. Working 10 hours with full focus? Maybe. The painful truth about getting older is that your energy decline becomes apparent. You know you cannot operate the same way you did years ago. You can feel it. This is also why sleep becomes a crucial factor and something you will start to prioritize. Want to feel full of energy? You better eat your protein and veggies.

If you play sports in your free time. It becomes even more apparent because you know you can't do the things you used to. Overall, how much more effort does it now require of you? Another realization is that all those boring things you used to skip… Massages, stretching, sleep, and proper diet. They all become necessary. Without exaggeration, the effort your body needs to perform at 30 is roughly 3x the effort it needs at 20.

2. What you learn about people

Your friends uncover who they are

By the end of your 20s, you should have a clear picture of who you are dealing with. A realistic outlook on your friends situation and an understanding of where they are headed. Painful truth? Most people around you will not succeed. Prioritizing lifestyles that are different from yours. Making choices that seem ridiculous to you at times. This is where you learn to step back and stop investing yourself in what they do with their lives.

The cold shower is realizing that all those days you used to spend planning how you would live your lives. All those talks about what to do to get where you want to go. Gone. There is no more fire in their eyes, and it has never been clearer that they are settling for mediocrity and comfort that they used to fight against. Painful truth. The lucky ones are those who will not find themselves in this situation. But instead be surrounded by a group of people who are in a better position each year than the previous one. Not many can say they are part of those groups.

Don’t waste your time arguing or trying to change opinions

Similar to the point above. The painful truth about growing up is that all the effort you used to put into discussing and arguing with people. Trying to change their mind. Opinions about the world. Or thought about a relevant topic… Waste of YOUR time, energy, effort, and in some cases, unnecessary stress. The chances that you will change someone's opinion because your argument is better are close to zero. Knowing that in the process you are better off wasting that time on things that will put you forward instead. Everyone reading this should understand that people are emotional. Not rational. Mostly driven by their egos. Once you argue with someone, for the most part, it feels like you are attacking their ego and who they are. Your time is better spent doing things that move you forward.

Everyone is out there looking for themselves

Except for your family members, closest friends, and romantic partners. You have to realize that everyone else out there is looking out for themselves. People will always find a way to prioritize themselves. A basic example everyone can relate to is that coworkers are not your friends. Most of them will be pleasant until it is time to get a promotion or a new client. Everyone who has gone through this knows there is an immediate shift in dynamics. Another basic example? High level of entitlement. Help someone achieve something big, and they will quickly forget about it because they will rationalize that they deserve it. The positive result is that it sets the right expectations from the start. Giving you an idea of which relationships will be transactional and which ones will be built on something deeper.

3. What changes you

Realization that time is passing… Fast

Mortality. The moment you start noticing you are getting older, and your gray hair starts to show. There is a big reality check. The next thing you will do is start to question yourself on whether what you are doing is right or if you are wasting your time. Maybe you are just following someone else's plan?

The more fun you have in your life → the better things go for you = the faster it will feel that time passes.

Just to end up with days that feel like hours. Knowing that deep down, you have zero control over it. Your only obligation is to spend them as best you can. Doing things you love and spending them with those who matter. Everything else is just an extra on top.

Your tolerance drops over time (people, things, activities…)

If you are wondering why you are no longer enjoying the beer behind the gas station the way you did 10 years ago. Or getting hammered on Friday night just to spend the whole day in bed on Saturday. It should be obvious. There is a subconscious process at work as you get older and more experienced. One where you realize you are not the same person you were years ago. Why do something you are not fully aligned with or not feeling?

This is where your self-respect, taste, and patience start to come into play. Your tolerance for things you don’t want to do drops to zero. Some say it is an age effect. Others say it is something that comes with experience. We can all conclude that the older you are, the less patience you will have. People, places, and situations you don't want to be in. Slowly realizing that you are not the same person you were. Why is that important? Because knowing this deep down and positioning yourself accordingly. Figuring out what you like, what gets you going, or what you find inspiring. Exposing yourself to circles like that and getting a clear overview of what it takes to be in one. It will make it easier for you to position your life accordingly in the long run. The only way to get what you want out of your life is to know what you want in the first place.

Career ceiling becomes visible

There is not a single person with a career who operates in a professional environment who has not known by their 30s whether what they are doing makes sense. That also means that if you have played your cards wrong. Not picking the right career or deciding to take it easy during your early 20s. You are in for the maximum pain. The reason it takes years to process this is that when you are young and start to make money… You can finally afford the things you couldn’t before. That is all good for the first few years until you realize that, at the same time, you are being underpaid and will never be able to do anything meaningful with your salary.

Trading your time for money without being able to increase that hourly rate unless you get promotions each year. Mix that up with lifestyle inflation, and you have a painful combination. The ones who get the most out of this are those who figure out how to (ab)use their employers while building something of their own on the side. Having a safety net and never worrying about covering monthly bills. All while playing the game (building something of your own) with unlimited upside.

Chasing the feeling of aliveness

To wrap up this post, we are going to share one secret that separates those who get more out of their lives from those who don’t. The reason this belongs in this post is that you either learn it by your 30s or you never will. It just has to click. It is also worth mentioning that it doesn't necessarily mean that it will not change as your priorities change. But the framework should be simple and to the point. We already covered a similar approach in our post on unconventional life advice.

Giving you a template for figuring out your ideal life. So what is this about? The way you will stay driven and sharp to the point where you enjoy your life situation is by figuring out what gets you going in the first place. What keeps you going? What makes you feel alive? Once you have answers to those questions. The next step is to incorporate those activities into your current lifestyle so that nothing gets deprioritized because of the others. Before you can do so… You have to figure out what makes you feel alive.

How to figure out what makes you feel alive:

• Reflect on your moments when you felt most alive. What was actually in them? Activity, places, people? You want to write everything down.

• The key to finding your answer is identifying what those activities have in common. Our advice here is to look past the surface and go a bit deeper… Your answer is there.

• Once you have a pattern among all of them, you want to make it as specific as possible. There is a good chance that if you have 4 sports activities and all of them are outdoors. You actually love being outside, or maybe you love playing sports… Probably both.

• Once you have a few of those takeaways, it is time to implement them and play around with them. The feeling of aliveness is arguably one of the hardest ones to replicate. But once you have a clear understanding of a few of those activities. Game changer.

Why is this on the list? It is a painful truth that your quality of life will be drastically reduced if you never figure these things out. Spending your whole life chasing the numbers in your bank account, watching them go up, and never developing a personality around something. Luckily, you are young and have enough time to do so… Enjoy your weekend.

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Disclaimer: None of this is to be legal or financial advice of any kind.

It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question. - Eugène Ionesco

The reality is that there is no advantage to 80% of the prompts out there.

Most people reading our website are already using AI to their advantage. So it would only be fair to create a prompt library that goes beyond what most other prompt libraries offer. Building out a prompt library for people who are tired of prompt libraries.

What we decided to do is a bit different. Instead of having each prompt in a separate post. We bundled everything and created a library (repository) focused on areas where prompts actually work. The idea is to create something that will age properly and a place where we can continue to update it as tools improve and things move forward.

What no one told you about prompting… but we will: What everyone around you has been trying to convince you of over the last few years is that prompting will change your life. The answer is maybe. Maybe if you know what you are doing. Being in a position to reflect on your situation beyond the surface. What we will not deny is that it will bring awareness. And if used properly, it will make you think in ways that change your perception or make you question yourself.

Will this happen by default once you start prototyping? Probably not. It is also one of the reasons you need to create high-quality inputs to gain insights you never had before and to question yourself and what you know about yourself.

Prompts are split into 5 categories:

• Inner work

  • Focusing on beliefs, patterns, and identity.

• Life design

  • Focusing on vision and how you want to live.

• Decision and clarity

  • Focusing on making moves, resolving indecision, and scenarios.

• Money and business

  • Focusing on the execution part. Income, offers, copy, business models.

• Misc

  • WD Prompts

  • Mindset Rewiring Workbook prompt

To get the most out of this: Pinpoint exactly what you are struggling with. If you know you have been having problems with energy or feeling depressed. Don’t waste your time on prompts about reflection. Do the bloodwork prompt and the cure mood one. Those directly impact the problem you have been dealing with. This logic applies to everything else as well. 

This prompt library will be updated over time.

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