This article is going to be a bit more philosophical, and this is not the intention.
After all, I want to make things as simple as possible.
But below lessons, I wish I realized sooner.
It would have made my life a lot easier.
LESSON 1
Nobody has their life sorted out.
There is no certain path in life, there is no step-by-step process, that someone can give you or that you can find somewhere that will guarantee you success if you follow it.
Generally, there are good and bad practices, but at the very best that’s what they are: practices.
You will have to sort things out for yourself and create that path on your own.
And this is very important to realize as soon as possible.
We all try to achieve some sort of success and we have the end goal in mind, whether that is making money or general success.
So, we have this end goal in mind, but we have no idea how to get there.
And we start trying one thing that could potentially help us achieve the end goal and at some point we get frustrated with the thing, because it doesn’t give the results we were hoping for.
And we end up dumping that thing for the next shiny thing.
So, we start the second thing and the cycle continues.
And we get frustrated thinking that all our efforts have been for nothing and that we will never make it.
Our frustration comes from the fact that we thought, success would be a linear process between point A and point B.
But this could not be further from the truth.
What we don’t realize, is that from everything we do, we gain something.
That something may be a new skill, honing and making sharper an already existing skill or expanding our network of competent people etc.
All these things are now in our arsenal of skills.
Somewhere along the line, we will combine all those skills that we acquired down the line to reach our goal.
A real-life example of this is Steve Jobs.
In 1972, Steve Jobs took a calligraphy class at the College he was attending, which of course had nothing to do with his major.
But 10 years later, when Steve Jobs was designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to him and integrated what he had learned in that calligraphy course and the Mac was the first computer with a beautiful calligraphic font.
Personally, I keep reminding myself that perhaps I am working on the right thing, I just need to stick to it for more time.
LESSON 2
Everyone overestimates the value of talent and underestimates the value of hard work.
Think of Michael Jordan and how much practice he had to put into his work.
How many hours he had to practice, despite his stellar talent.
So, talent alone is not enough.
Nothing of value comes easy.
If it was easy, everyone would have it.
Also, keep in mind that for you to be successful, you don’t have to be better than everyone, you just have to be better than most.
Obviously, if you want to be the next Elon Musk or Steve Jobs, there are genetic factors that will place a huge role in your success (I mean you cannot choose to be born with an IQ of a 180 and intelligence plays a huge role), but for the rest of us normal people, we can be good enough with a little bit of inherent talent and lot of hard work and still reach success.
LESSON 3
Not making a decision, is also a decision.
You pay a price, for inaction.
Perhaps not now, but certainly in the future.
Remember that a poor decision made early, is still better than a good decision made too late.
And as Alex Harmozi says: “It doesn’t take time to make decisions, it takes information”.
Don’t wait to have all the information to make the perfect decision.
That time will never come and it will only cause problems for you, because it will lead you to analysis paralysis.
So, get comfortable with making decisions with partial information
LESSON 4
One of the things that helped me the most in progressing in my life and taking action, was realizing that strategizing and taking action are two totally different things.
I was thinking that planning and building systems were so important in the beginning.
And although strategizing is hugely important in the long run, it is no real substitute for taking action.
In the long run of course, establishing systems and routines will help you stay consistent and maximize your output, while minimizing the hours you put in, but keep in mind that you cannot avoid putting in the actual work.
And as Dave Goggins says that he keeps reminding himself, “you don’t get to use any shortcuts”.
It’s like creating the perfect workout plan and meal plan where you track all the macros, and you still never go to the gym.
And yes, I am talking to myself here!!
LESSON 5
This lesson is actually from Robert Kiyosaki, who says:
“Don’t say “I can’t afford it, say how can I afford it”?”
In the same way, don’t say I cannot do it.
Say “how can I do it?”
A question opens the mind, a statement closes the mind.
And this is a very useful tool, because the power of visualization is truly remarkable.
We end up manifesting the reality we visualize.
So, if we visualize that we cannot do something, we will end up manifesting exactly that.
So, don’t say I cannot do, say how can I do it?
LESSON 6
If you are someone who reads this article, it means you are a person that wants to become better, to evolve.
Through that process, you will inevitably change.
During that change, you will notice that the people who are currently in your circle, will see that change and they will be divided into 2 sets of people:
- The people who will say “I don’t recognize you anymore…don’t push yourself…come here chill with us, or even worse they will start teasing you with a bad intention behind it (and teasing is something that is very nice that happens among friends, but I mean the other kind of teasing, the one where you can feel the bad intent behind it)”
- The friends who will see that change and will be like oh you inspired me so much, I had no idea those things could actually be achieved, I am also going to become better and support you anyway that I can”.
One group of friends has a winner mentality, the other has a loser mentality and you don’t need them in your life.
Let’s take it one step deeper:
Why is the first group of friends (the one who discourage you) end up actually discouraging you?
Because they compare themselves to you and when you show them what is possible, you set the standard that they compare themselves against.
And that standard is high.
So, they have two ways to reach that standard:
1. Either put in the hard work it takes and progress alongside you or
2. Lower the standard, by throwing mud at it
LESSON 7
You don’t have time, to explain to everyone who disagrees with you, why they are wrong and why you are right.
And obviously, I am not saying that we should be arrogant, thinking that we know everything and never accept any constructive feedback.
I am referring here to petty behaviors and uneducated opinions that we encounter daily.
Why is their opinion important to you anyway?
Your time and your energy are not unlimited.
We all have the same 24h and a certain amount of mental capacity until we need to rest and reset.
So, allocate those resources towards the things that really matter.
You are not here to save and fix people who don’t want to fix themselves.
Whenever I encounter a person who disagrees with my opinions, I just say: “You know what, you are right” and I move on.
I hope you find some value in the above, as I did.