Kind: captions
Language: en
you lay out three traits of ultra
successful people yeah I don't know if
they're yours or if you read them
somewhere this is so brilliant and when
you said it you put words to something
that I have felt for a very long time
yeah um if you don't remember them I
have them here but if you remember I
remember them yes uh and so it's there's
three traits that people then they
looked at because they were trying to
find Habits of Highly Successful People
and when they actually pulled apart it's
not you know and I hope I'm not
contradicting anything um but there's
people who are really rich who wake up
really late and work really late and
there's people really rich who wake up
really really early and there's people
who really rich who eat really healthy
and there's people really rich who drink
Coca-Cola and eat french fries every day
and so there's all these things that we
want to make as truths but there there's
easy examples that counter those things
so it's like what are the few things
that are true or at least that seem to
be present in all of the situations and
it seems as though there were
surprisingly few and so the three common
traits that they had they had found were
one that people have a superiority
complex they believe they're better than
others and they believe that they
deserve more than everyone else does and
that they can accomplish big goals right
so they have a bigger Vision because
they believe they deserve it or whatever
it is that they were able to identify
that the second thing that they were
identify is that they had crippling
insecurity and which which is a paradox
of paradoxes they feel they'll never be
enough um and they'll always be measured
against the things that they've achieved
and so you've got this crazy dynamic
between they they think they're better
than everyone they think they deserve
more they want to go after this big hill
and at the same time they fear they'll
never be good enough they'll never
actually achieve it and they actually
suck
and then the third piece which kind of
adds the beautiful like mix of this is
impulse control and so they're able to
control their actions and focus on a
single thing for an extended period of
time and so if you put those three
things together it's like you've got a
big goal that's pulling you this way
you've got this big fear that you are
running away from and then you've got
impulse control to keep you focused on
the one thing that matters yes and if
you do that if you if you are the type
of person who has those traits then you
are very likely to be successful you
gave me the chills twice while you were
explaining that so this is I'm often
asked like hey you know what does it
take to be successful or how did I get
successful and I'm like from the time I
was a little kid so I grew up lower
middle class and but from the time I was
a kid I told everybody I am going to be
rich like you don't understand I'm going
to be rich I was so angered by not being
able to get the things that I wanted as
a kid and I had a little problem with
authority and so I felt like I was being
told that I had this box of stain I was
like no no no I'd always had these crazy
dreams and I just believed I could make
it come true yeah but I'm terrifyingly
insecure that I'm not smart enough to
pull it off and I have something I need
to prove to myself to my wife my
father-in-law my own parents like I just
no matter how much I achieve I
still have this right so I I have this
crushing need to validate myself and to
feel like no you really did have it kid
and but I am psychotic at my ability to
delay gratification yeah like I can
suffer and toil and grind and just like
I don't need to eat the marshmallow for
a hundred years right which is stupid in
some ways but you put those three things
together and you just go and go and go
it's really G my yeah yeah so to the
marshmallow point because I think this
is really interesting and I don't think
it's talked about enough which is they
they like to separate the kids into the
two buckets right like uh kid who waits
for two marshmallows and the kid who
just says I want the marshmallow now but
I feel like they should have a third
bucket which says how long do they ask
the kid to wait for the marshmallow
right because it's not do you have like
because I like to think of things like a
lot of times we have false dichotomies
or we have binaries where're like good
or bad you know disciplined or
undisciplined I'm honest or dishonest
right when I think more reality is to
what degree am I honest to what extent
am I disciplined to what degree am I you
know loyal right oh God there's a whole
conversation there yeah and so I think
that each of those three traits that we
just went over it's it's not do I have
them or not for the people who are
listening because people like to think
yes I have it or like oh well I have all
three of those it's not having them and
I'm sure you you've interviewed some of
the most successful people on the planet
it's how much do you have yeah right and
so I think that like your ability to
delay gratification it's not just like
oh I can wait a week or I can wait a
month but it I made this tweet that that
went pretty viral and it was like if you
can wait a
year you can make a ton of money like if
you can do something for 12 months you
can not need for financial goodness
pretty much for the rest of your life
I'm not saying you're going to be hella
rich but you're not going to need for
anything if you can wait 12 months if
you can wait a decade you're going to be
above the 1% if you can wait 10 years
for an outcome be able to do the doing
without seeing the result for 10
years you will be able to be above any
most achievement of most people and if
you can wait a lifetime and you don't
even need to see the result of you're
doing this even while you are alive but
know that it may get done after you pass
then I I believe that you can change the
world and I mean that and so I think
that if people can just extend the time
Horizon that they're measuring
themselves on they can just do so much
more I mean you've probably heard the
Bill Gates qu where he says people
overestimate what they can do in a year
and underestimate what they can do in a
decade I think it's the same thing just
continue to drawn out and I think as
I've as we've been able to you know
achieve more leverage and make more
money Etc my Horizon has extended and
when I listen to the people who are the
people who I want to emulate I can
almost tell by the measurement of money
that they talk about and the measurement
of time that they discuss how successful
they are or how successful I think
they're going to be like if I talk to a
25-year-old and he's talking about what
he wants to do in two decades and his
whole plan of what he's going to do as
long as he's not just blowing smoke
because he's heard an interview from
me um then I'm like this kid's got it he
gets it he gets it and most people just
don't think they they can't wait 90 days
they most people can't even wait a month
right they start a diet and 14 days
later they don't have a six pack and
they can't wait but like if you do a
year you can look whatever way you want
for the most part you know by and large
and if you wait a year for the ability
to learn how to sell you wait a year for
the ability to learn how to Market wait
a year just providing value to a a group
of people for free and then delaying
your ask you can do whatever you want
now and I don't know how you're going to
react to this if we can separate that
idea from being patient yeah so I made a
shirt that said patience okay but
yeah if you're not playing the long game
sced with patience is you have all out
at ainter PACE and run a marathon at a
sprinter's pace if you want to achieve
something yeah that's where people fall
down you'll find people that can wait
but can they and this is one of my
all-time favorite quotes I'm pretty sure
it's Winston Churchill though people
often attribute things to him but who
knows uh success is the ability to go
from failure to failure without a loss
of enthusiasm now there are people that
can go from failure to failure but do
they lose the enthusiasm can they attack
it as hard I was telling you at the at
the end of this year we have a plastic
table that I'm going to smash into the
little pieces because it has come to
represent like the hardest thing that
I've built in my professional career
just all the problems that have
been associated with it and but I'm
still going after it as hard every day
and when I think about like so because
I've had success and I know how many
people are chasing it and I can just say
people a lot of time it's not going to
give you what you think it's going to
give you so like don't bother chasing
that kind of success uh so an easy way
to say it is uh don't worry about
winning a championship ring worry very
much about becoming capable of a
championship performance that will be a
far more interesting life because you
really do want to get that good yeah but
in the pursuit of that thing in getting
that good it's like it is going to take
an inhuman amount of concentration
willingness to fight through the pain
and suffering and an ability to attach
enough meaning and purpose to it that
you'll keep going when you're just
getting kicked in the face over and over
like it's crazy and so knowing how badly
people want that I want for them that
thing like how whatever it is and and I
have a method that I can teach people
how to do it but most people still won't
do it which is to build the desire to
create an association between the doing
that thing yeah and the meaning and
purpose that you want to have for your
own life and that it's not going to seem
self-evident you have to bolt it on it
feels kind of fake in the beginning but
if you really invest and it really is
something that you care about it can't
be fake but if it really is something
that you care about and you build that
intense Association then you can fight
through that but boredom kills more
entrepreneurs than fear or failure ever
well when you say boredom do you mean
that they're starting something it's
starting to work and then they just
switch because they're add or no I mean
that doing something where you don't get
the result that you want and it's 10
years out and you're going to have to do
what Jeff Bezos calls overhead right no
matter how much you love your job
there's always overhead there's boring
yeah and what I find is people they
can't stay on task yeah I find in myself
a strong desire not to stay on task
because it is boring it's just boring or
even worse if it feels bad yeah and you
have to keep doing it and you have to
wake up every day and face that like
this is really going to be tough and
it's going to be tough for a very an
undetermined amount of time so it's not
even like I know it's going to be a year
yeah it's there is an unknown amount of
suffering before me and I have to
somehow continue to muster the
enthusiasm and have faith yeah that this
theory that I have is actually going to
work out or that I'll get better right
that maybe this Theory isn't the Right
theory but I'll be able to figure it out
it's interesting you say that because um
we talk about need to believes when
we're thinking about a company that we
want to like invest in and so it's like
what are the you know we try to have as
few need to believes as possible for you
know a growth thesis to happen um and
then not only do we want to have as few
as possible really interesting need to
believe like I need to believe that this
is true for this outcome to be possible
yeah so how do we have as few of those
as possible and how do we have that
those need belief statements are as high
likely to as humanly possible right so
it's like do like if we had a business
that was relying on and you know an
inflationary period or something I'd say
like okay well I believe that that's you
know it's high likelihood that it's
going to occur okay so I feel okay about
that one and if that was the only thing
I need to believe for this whole
business to be successful like where do
I write a check because it's the only
thing I so it's how many of these are
there right and if there's a lot of them
then with each additional line our
likelihood of getting the outcome we
want goes down um and so I think that if
reversing that for success for somebody
who's coming along is
like what amount of action would it be
unreasonable for me not to be successful
and so for me it's like I I believe that
if you do 10,000 cold calls you'll
you'll get better like it would be
unreasonable for you not to be good like
after that level of effort if you if you
run you know if you take half your
paycheck every month or a third of your
paycheck every month and you say I'm
going to advertiseing University which
is I'm going to spend money actually
advertising trying to get people to
click on this thing and give me their
name and phone number if you go and you
spend that amount of money on actually
advertising after a year after two years
you'll probably you'll probably be
pretty good especially if you join a
community other people who are doing the
same thing right you see got mentors who
are doing who who have done and and give
you Frameworks that you can just work
off so you can shortcut your path to
success it becomes unreasonable that you
wouldn't be more successful in the
future than you are today and so I like
thinking about things in terms of
directionally correct rather than will I
hit it or not right I think there's so
many binaries because it's easy
psychologically for us to say yes no
honest dishonest Etc successful not
successful um um but it makes making
decisions really hard because you're
like is this the path for me is this the
product going the business I'm going to
start where I was like well if I started
something I would be more likely to be
successful than if I did not start
anything and from there I will gain
experience and perspective to then make
the next iteration on the main thing and
I was Quest your first thing ever first
successful thing but you'd done other
stuff before that and failed and I I
still I was I was like I hope Quest
wasn't his first
um most people had thank God it wasn't
honest most people had a graveyard of
failures before they had their actual
first success and so most people spent
all this time um had a different tweet
that went viral it said like with 20
hours of focused effort most people can
be pretty decent at something whether
it's a guitar it's singing even cold
calling if you actually cold call it for
20 hours focused
effort you'd be decent but most people
spend years waiting to do the first hour
wow
whoa and so it's like how can I decrease
that action threshold and get someone to
just just just embrace the suck and so
it's like how can I normalize nose so
it's like if I'm teaching somebody to
sell it's like dude I need you get 100
nose all right just get 100 nose for me
I don't care about the yes just get 100
Nos and the thing is all of a sudden if
if the no becomes the goal then they
realize that it's about the process and
not the outcome and then they will
become better sales people because they
stop being afraid of it the same thing
like for training salesperson I want
them to hear the gasp right which is
like you say a price over the phone
everyone's afraid of saying the price PR
it's like dude if you didn't get a gasp
you didn't go high enough right they're
like what I'm like oh you failed
terrible sale they didn't gasp they're
like really and so then it becomes it
flips it and it becomes a point of Pride
it's like oh I got her you should hear
the gasp on this one and so all of a
sudden they stop being afraid we
normalize we do like exposure therapy on
the things that people are most afraid
of and I hope that with all the stuff
that we do that we can do that in a
micro way for at least a handful of
people so they just start doing and
realize that they're going to gain
perspective and the light of their
knowledge will give them the next foot
but the thing is they're stuck on the
first one trying to pick the first path
when they have no idea what they're
doing was selling ever hard for you like
the idea of selling not that I'm sure
you were bad at it at one point but was
the idea of trying to convince somebody
to buy something yeah I uh so when I
quit my job um my dad's buddy was in
private Wealth Management in marinch and
so he called me up and was like hey you
should sell for me and I to this day and
he jokes about it now with me um I said
H sales I was like I'm not a Salesman I
was like I'm an academic you know what I
mean I just come from you know ons and I
thought I you know whatever and um and
then lo and behold I signed my lease I
slept on the floor and and I was like
how do I pay rent and woman walks in the
door and I was like I need to get her to
give me money so I can pay rent and I
was like oh this is sales and I didn't
know so for me it was just begging
people to give me money in the beginning
I like I promise I'm going to give you
the best results ever um but uh the idea
of sales was very I I thought it was
beneath me I thought it was scammy I
thought it was used car sale you know
just like the abhorent you know that
would be the right word but um yeah and
then I through exposure I realized that
it was and I ended up in life's irony
being something that I've really fallen
in love with there there are people on
the internet I will let them remain
nameless that they give me the hebbie
GBS I am deeply uncomfortable with
something in the way that they sell and
I've actually never taken the time to
figure out what it is and I probably
should I'd make a lot more money but
there are people that make me deeply
uncomfortable and then there's some
something about you so I'd never heard
of you somebody P me was like yo you
need to check this guy out and I looked
at your stuff and I'm like there's
something about the way that you talk
that is super matter of fact it isn't
the I have nothing to sell you because
you're an incredible salesperson so even
when I interface with the way that you
sell it doesn't creep me out I've I've
not thought about it enough to know why
but I bet you have what is it that makes
a salesperson creepy and why aren't you
creepy
why aren't you creepy the best the best
interview question I've ever had um so I
I think a lot about this because I'm
outlining the next book which is so the
next book is leads and I'm already done
the draft and you know how that is where
I'm like I'm not done that book but like
I'm like I can't wait for the next book
um and so I'm thinking through like what
what is it that that sales is overall
right it's structuring a conversation to
increase the likelihood that the person
who's on the other side gives you money
that's what it is it's structuring that
conversation that way and structuring
that conversation I heard you mention
something that you call and I am so only
vaguely aware of like proper sales you
said holding the frame it's not about
the words you say it's how you say them
and whether you can hold the frame is
that what you mean by structure the call
all of it yes I mean so what is what is
the structure what is holding a frame
like what does that mean so
in I'm like I love sales so so when
you're when you're when two people
interact in general no matter what man
woman child whatever two frames Collide
and I believe it's animalistic whatever
it is there is a there is a decision of
who is Alpha now the alpha is also
contextual and so you can be Alpha in
like the president un united states is
Alpha everywhere until he goes into a
doctor's office he tells to pull his ass
and he sticks his finger up right frame
right in that room doctor is King right
he is the alpha in that setting in that
context and so the ability to hold the
frame for most for most salespeople is
really having a sounds crazy having a
clear agenda in controlling the
conversation which is
why are we here right because it a lot
of sales is clear communication because
if you clearly communic because the
biggest advantage that a salesman has is
that the person has already said they
have a problem most times right so if
someone responds to a Content piece and
says hey can you help me they've already
annunciated they have an issue they have
a problem and so you already have the
inherent advantage of the frame which is
you said you needed help I'm here how
can I help you right and so it starts
with that right it's it's being clear
about why we're here and then we get a
agreement that we understood the problem
that they said they had next and then
from that point we have to turn the
desire into a decision which is okay you
say you want these things here's the
frame that I want to give you to analyze
the decision can we agree to this Frame
right and so for example if I were
selling marketing services and I so
whenever re we rework a sales script
with any of the portfolio companies
which is one of the things that we do to
make them grow a lot of times they have
all this gobl you cook right and so I
like the shortest possible Scripts we
can because a lot of communication is
wasted right so what happens a lot of
times on a sales call is they say hello
build rapport talk for 30 minutes see
that there's time that's running out and
then realize they have to pitch right
and so then they motor mouth and then
just awkwardly ask right and it is to
your point about it seeming icky right
or sucking um is that it's not normal
human communication and you're not
providing value to the other person and
so if giving Clarity to someone on a
decision is tremendous this value and so
if you can sell in a way that clarifies
a decision my objective always when I
teach sales the goal is not to get the
person to buy the goal is to get the
person to
decide and I believe that people don't
decide for only three reasons and this
comes from Albert Ellis this is not me
but people blame all the wos of their
lives on
circumstances other people and then
ultimately themselves and so when we're
overcoming obstacles in a sale we have
to make sure that we are accounting for
the C circumstances which is taking away
time as a reason they can't do it taking
away money as a reason they can't do it
taking away particular aspects of the
product as a reason they can't do it we
have to make sure that they don't cast
their power to other people and saying I
can't make this decision someone else
has to make it and then finally when
they're with themselves they want to
avoid the decision they want to delay it
they want to not make it I'm not going
to think about it right and so the idea
is that I believe that if you sell
properly you can talk to an empowered
person and you have to basically sift
through the crap that they're telling
themselves about why they decide why
they have to talk to their husband why
uh the circumstan of their situation
matter and so I think that if you can do
that and communicate that in a
conversation you are you have made
someone feel powerful and you've given
them the tools to make a decision and
then in making that decision they take a
step towards the life they want to have
and so if you can structure a
conversation that way it's not icky it's
value additive and then ultimately you
do make more money but you're not
focused on that because you're focused
on helping them make the call and if we
can do that you can sell whatever you
want and I think that's like that's what
I try structure and that's why I'm so
excited for the sales book when it
finally comes out but most of it's clear
communication when I listen to sales
calls cuz I still kind of do it CU I
like it um it's like therapeutic you
know what I mean um there's so much
there's so much waste there's so there's
not no people aren't direct it's like
why are we here you and someone's like I
just want to get more information that's
an obstacle no you didn't you're not
here because you want more information
you're here because you're suffering
from a problem you don't just hop on
sales calls all day to get information
no you're trying to solve something
right what are you trying to solve what
are you in pain from got it so let me
make sure I understand this label the
problem right so it's like a lot of
people just don't know how to talk and
they just make face noise at each other
and no one's listening and no one's
talking they ping pong back and forth no
one actually is listening yeah they're
not communicating at all right they say
a statement I mean someone says I
literally just list a reviewed a sales
call yesterday guy says uh I'm not sure
now's a good time salesman then responds
with uh well you know I'm not sure if if
you're a good fit if you're if you're
not sure because and just goes off on
this weird tangent and then there's a
pause and the guy just asks another
question no communication happened it
was like I have a question you just said
a bunch of words and I guess it's normal
for me to say something else now and so
then he just asked another question
right and so it's clear like what and
then normally when you overcome these
sorry I can talk about this forever but
like when you overcome these obstacles
with somebody it's like I don't have
time right I'll just give you a simple
one because this is one this is for
everybody who's listening because right
now you're probably not doing something
because you're like I'm too busy I'll
start when it's convenient
whatever if you say that as the excuse
for not doing something then there's an
assumption underlying that that says
that if I get busy again in the future I
will
stop and so do you want the success that
you want to be long term yes then do you
believe that you'll never be busy again
for the rest of your life no so then you
might as well start when you're busy so
that you have the most support because
if you learn how to do it when you're
busy when you get when it gets quiet
you'll succeed even more and when it
gets busy again you know how to do it
because that's how you start it right
obstacle overcome
and then one step closer to making a
decision and so what happens is in the
even in the obstacle process when people
are trying to sell stuff people start
from the outside in so it's so easy to
say I don't have time it's the easiest
thing to say I don't have time I don't
have money right and then once you peel
you you show them how that's a fallacy
it's a logical fa it's a distortion of
reality you peel that back you get one
layer closer to them my wife won't let
me my partner won't let me my kids so
you can feel like it's it's closer to
you right and you peel that out because
how do you overcome that well 5 years
now if you didn't do the things that you
wanted to do with your life and you
blamed your wife the whole time CU she
wouldn't let you do it who you going to
blame her is that fair for your marriage
for your
relationship what do you think no so I
think what you're doing is you're asking
for permission instead of support all
right and here's how you have that
conversation with your wife right so now
we're we're sliding on the other side of
the table and be like let's play this
out right it's not going to go the way
you think it's going to go because if
you keep repeating this habit you're
going to end up 5 Years From you're
going to look at your life the same way
you're looking at now and hating it and
who you're going to blame now you're 5
years in you still kind of like your
wife 5 years from now you might not so
much cuz you've had 10 more times you
tried to do something she said no so
it's today the day right and so we peel
one layer and then finally you're at a
person who's squirming there right
because you you've forced them to
confront reality which is now they don't
want to make the decision right because
they're like I'm just going to avoid it
I'm not sure etc etc and you're like
hold on like I've got you you know what
I mean like we're going to get through
this cuz you cuz you're just waiting
through the that people people tell
themselves right and so finally when
they're in the avoidance part the
biggest fear they have is making a
mistake right they don't want to be seen
as stupid they don't want to lose status
as a result of this decision and so when
we're when we're when we're dealing with
that it's making them understand that
you don't need time to make a decision
you need information and if the only
source of the information you have is
May then let's talk what are the
variables you're going use to make the
decision and a lot of people haven't
even thought through that it's like well
if you don't know what they are why
don't I walk you through four that might
be useful
does this thing solve the problem the
way you want it to be solved yes or no
yes do you want to work with us yes or
no yes do you know someone you have
access the amount of money to get
started with this program yes or no yes
great let's do it right and so you can
walk someone through it and it's like oh
wow like and like you feel like just
went on this magical journey of like all
these things of why the reason they
haven't they decided not to make
decisions but so many people are stuck
in that same spot for why they're not
taking action whether it's selling a
product or selling themselves and I
think that those Frameworks of thinking
through each of those problems and
there's have a zillion of them for each
of those things um I had to develop
because I use those on myself so I was
like I have to give myself a compelling
reason to start doing stuff I have to
give myself a compelling reason to make
decisions when I don't want to I have to
give myself a compelling reason that I
can explain to a partner of why I made
this decision right later and so by
doing that it decreased the the time
between me getting information and
acting and then It sped up my decision
Loops in my life in general and then
obviously I applied that to sales but
I've applied it to
everything when I say these beliefs I
don't say these as a an affront to
anyone who shares different beliefs to
be clear um but for me a very core
belief that has been I think intrinsic
to at least the material success that
we've experienced has been a belief that
meaning is self ascribed so that there
is no inherent meaning in the things
that we do um or the we take or the
outcomes that happen U but only that
which we ascribe to it um and so because
of that I feel like it's allowed me to
the point of what you were saying about
like the amount of pain the amount of
suffering that you have to go through in
order to to achieve the things on the
other side I think it's been able to
it's allowed me to reframe a lot of the
discomfort into what if this just is how
it always has been or what if this is
actually
amazing and what if this is exactly what
it should look like and so I think a lot
of times it's the it's the discrepancy
between our expectations in reality that
shape the emotions that we have in
response to any given situation bad good
Etc and so I think a lot of people can't
control their state and I we deal with
this with a lot of the portfolio
companies is it's like it's funny
because I don't even necessarily want to
get in this I want to talk about like
the business and what's the strategy how
we're going to execute this stuff but
you know there's a big percentage of
time where they're stressed and they
think there's something wrong with that
and so I feel like a lot of people feel
like there's something wrong with
experience human
emotions and so they are stressed and
then think there is something wrong with
them or they are sad and I know that
this is the thing that the keyboards are
you know fingers are right on top of it
is my belief it is contrarian I accept
that that it's it's the beliefs we have
about our emotions that are the things
that drive us mad facts and so
somebody's sad and then they tell
themselves that're they're bad because
they're sad or they're wrong to be sad
or they're a piece of because
they're sad um rather than saying isn't
this a beautiful thought about human
existence like if I could not be sad
then I would not experience Joy so like
if I say that I don't want to be sad
anymore then I would also have to give
up Joy am I willing to do that no well
then this is just a part like I can't
say that I want sunny days if there are
no rainy days like we don't say weather
is good or bad it just is and so I think
to the same degree The Human Experience
is also that way too at least how I
Define it and so I think having that as
my backbone frame in terms of my
worldview although contrarian has helped
me a lot in dealing with the things that
often derail entrepreneurs on their path
to getting what they want and so for me
that's been very helpful so from a
contrarian standpoint of like Bel you
know Peter the's question like what
closely help belief do you have that
most people don't agree with that's one
of them um I'm scandalized by the way
that that one is something that people
don't hold I think that people get
themselves in trouble
because uh they believe the opposite of
the following quote there is nothing
either good or bad but thinking makes it
so yeah and they think that no there are
things that are objectively good and bad
and I'm simply recognizing the truth
that is the that certainly what I
struggled with the most in my own life
that I was simply when I had a negative
view of myself or anything else I was
simply recognizing the truth of the
situation not understanding how the
belief I had about the thing was
influencing my behaviors and my
behaviors entirely determined My outcome
and so then I was like well hold on if
if my behaviors are predicated on my
beliefs and my outcomes are predicated
on my behaviors then my outcomes are
actually linked to my beliefs and so
I've got to go in and make sure that I'm
believing things that are effective and
so my whole thing is I only do and
believe that which moves me towards my
goals now the next question that people
ask is well then does that mean that you
believe things that aren't true and the
answer is unintentionally no and the
reason is unintentionally no is because
that to me something is true based on
its ability to increase your ability to
predict the future and the outcome of
your actions that that's what's true if
I touch this hot stove it's going to
burn me I believe that to be true
because hey I've touched hot things
before and they actually do burn me and
so when you can like in sales if I
structure the conversation in this way
it's more likely to lead to an outcome
that thing is true just because you've
run the experiment enough times to be
like yeah that actually gives me the
ability to predict the outcome of these
actions you can reboot your life your
health even your career anything you
want all you need is discipline I can
teach you the tactics that I learned
while growing a billion dooll business
that will allow you to see your goals
through whether you want better health
stronger relationships a more successful
career any of that is possible with the
mindset and business programs and impact
Theory University join the thousands of
students who have already accomplished
amazing things tap now for a free trial
and get started
today and when I encounter people that
either don't even know what they belief
system is and so they they think this
isn't a belief this just is true about
the world I'm like no that that is a
belief that you've chosen to believe in
it's completely you
up one of my favorite quotes I think if
there were to be a quote that would be
on my Tombstone it's it's top three
which I love a lot of quotes um it's
Orson Scott Card he said uh we question
all of our beliefs except for those that
we truly believe and those we never
think to question yes and so it's
because you truly believe it and those
are the ones those are the pesky ones
those are the ones I think um I was told
because you get asked a lot I'm sure
like hey I'm going to talk to a mentor
what question should I ask them and I
got this really good one which is what
do I believe to be true that
isn't whoa and so that's a great
question right and because I'm sure you
see it and if I talk to somebody I can
tell like they they cast these views of
what is and what isn't about business
about marriage about health whatever it
is and they say like and then they and
then they operate off of that framew
work of assumptions which is might be
patently false and then they wonder why
what they're doing is not working it's
like because the entire Foundation upon
which you built this thing is just wrong
right and so um the EAS you know the
easiest way to do that is to get people
who are ahead of you who tell you by the
way I don't think that belief is true
but you have to get in a place that
somebody can actually communicate that
to you and be open to it yeah and then
you have to do something about it which
most people don't otherwise you get one
piece of advice then people you're not
going to do anything with this like that
that's the hard part so I have the
saying impact University where I always
thought all I would ever teach is
business and I found that to get people
primed to do the business part I first
had to deal with all the lies that they
were telling to Bel like the
self-destructive behavior all that once
you could get past that then they had an
actual shot at running the business but
because success is the ability to go
from failure to failure to failure
without a loss of enthusiasm and the
ability to do that is predicated on the
story you're telling yourself about
yourself you believe that it was all
like this mindset like yeah rats
nest of like God if I can help you like
peel this stuff back you'll be able to
get out of your own way but most people
can't but it's really interesting when
you were saying that I was like part of
what makes like when you hear somebody
speak and they really resonate with you
they give you the chills you get excited
it's because they're either putting
words to something that you felt but you
didn't know how to articulate and now
it's super Concrete in your mind or they
make you realize you believe something
that wasn't true yeah and that's when
it's like I you feel like you're being
set free oh totally and that's like
that's really exciting it's like a
weight
vanishes that's my that's what like
that's what I think sales is is that is
that people have these beliefs and you
have to know like the the the process of
being a good salesperson is being able
to help people break the beliefs that
they have about themselves or about the
realities that are not true and so I
think if you can basically just un
encumber somebody then it becomes very
easy to sell someone because if you have
this struggle we have this solution do
you believe that buying this solution
will get you more likely to get to the
acam you want yes what are we doing
let's go you know what I mean just but
talking to that person you have to weigh
through all this stuff but like I've
beli that like you know I speaking that
it's like I believe that you could start
a call and just be like you want to do
it and then just start from there right
like depending on what someone's
consuming beforehand um
but I'll tell you one of the things
that's that shaped my life in terms of
business stuff is understanding the
concept of of Leverage right and so a
lot of people are limited um by either
the skills the beliefs or the traits
they have right and so the skill
deficiency is the easiest one to fix
it's like go do
repetitions in a community of people who
are also doing repetitions to learn the
same skill and you will learn it quickly
right that's the thing then you have
traits and beliefs which is a little bit
more morphous right and so from a from a
beliefs perspective it's you need
someone to tell you stories that you
believe to be true that conflict with
your view of reality and then their
their the evidence of their story being
truer than yours then that it's like a
frame control that frame now wins and
that becomes the new lens that you see
everything through and so I had a friend
who had a fitness app and he was doing
20,000 a month he was a CrossFit
competitor really high up he didn't win
of course how like all he's like he
didn't win so he didn't want to tell
anybody that an app because he didn't
think he deserved it he didn't deserve
to have an app because he didn't want
anyone to know because he's like how
dare I make a fitness app because I was
only fourth in the world you know what I
mean or whatever it and then all of a
sudden he talked to somebody he got over
it and then he just started just telling
people he had an appp and he went from
like 20,000 a month to $100,000 a month
and so it's not that his skills changed
it's not that his traits changed he was
still just as hardw workking same looked
the same Etc I was like it's just his
beliefs right and I'm sure in the in The
Entrepreneur Space one of the most
common traits is is Focus right people
can't do the same thing over and over
again they just do all these half-built
Bridges and so I know for me my big
explosion happened in my entrepreneurial
Journey when I went from having nine
businesses that is not a not a misspeak
nine as in one less than 10 at the same
time that I was CEO of all of so I had a
I had a I had a dental agency marketing
agency I had a chiropractor marketing
agency I had gym launch where we'd fly
out and do gym turnarounds and then I
had five gyms of my own Jesus at the
same time and I was somehow perplexed as
to why I wasn't making any money I was
there's like everything was always on
fire all the time and I always just sold
my ass off enough to be able to pay all
the bills and have nothing left over
that was the that was how I rocked it um
and it was only you know when Lea came
in and she was like you know I think
maybe if we just did one thing you could
win cuz she was like imagine she like
imagine if all you had to do is make one
of these businesses work how easy would
that be I was like oh my God if I only
to make one of them work it would be a
joke and like I heard myself say that
and I was like you're an idiot why are
you so dumb and so like the trait that I
was missing at that point was Focus
Andor discipline I couldn't say no I
didn't have that muscle so that was a
tradeit i lacked and so it's like boom
and then that blew up and so it's like
sometimes the question is which of these
things do people lack um and so since we
don't always know because we don't have
the perspective to judge ourselves often
it's like you just got to keep moving in
all of the directions getting those
communities and then like that's
ultimately like I'm a big believer in
the alternative education space the
whole Guru space that everyone you know
laments and hates um I learned
everything from that space I have a
feeling speaking to the people that are
caught up in the um they're they're
wasting their time they're not doing the
things that they need to do they're
they're going to need to create some
structure now that structure may be as
simple as what you're talking about
which is because if if from my frame of
reference the way that I would put
thoughts in my own head about what
you're saying is I have a rule and this
is a literal rule of mine I only do and
believe that which moves me toward
towards my goals which sounds very akin
to what you're talking about it's like
if I do this thing I get this output uh
when I wake up early I've had better
things happen when I'm in shape better
things happen when I put in the work
better things happen um and
ultimately that's the thing that I'm
trying to get people to Anchor around is
their everything that you do is a test
MH your test will have results it's what
I call the physics of progress so to
make progress one must have a hypothesis
know where you are know where you want
to go understand the obstacle between
you and that come up with a hypothesis
about how to overcome that obstacle run
that test look at the data very frankly
don't BS yourself and then come up with
a more informed hypothesis and try again
over and over and over and over uh but
ultimately you're steering by results
and I think very often people either
don't know how to in fact I think
there's a few things that will happen
one they don't know how to conceive of
the problem so they don't understand the
obstacle two they don't know where
they're going or three they cannot break
themselves out of the dopamine cycle
they haven't identified the pain they're
moving away from whatever insecurity
they have and so they end up in that
death Loop of um feeling like they don't
have enough time when a reality they
have the same time is hyper efficient
successful people they just don't use it
in the same
fashion I think senica said that um we
all think we don't have enough time but
it's really we
just don't use the time we have well
um and I think I think a lot of it is
around like how we how how we choose to
pick our identities to your point
earlier like someone might say like man
I'm
lazy I I would say like that's amazing
like a lot of great CEOs are lazy that's
fine um let's use that and so let's just
make working more convenient than the
other thing and then your laziness will
take over you know what I mean just like
in terms of how we can frame the problem
right like as a as an example you're
saying earlier with the iPhone um like
scientific study anyone can do this you
can decrease your iPhone usage by simply
going to
grayscale like across age groups if you
switch your colors on your screen to
grayscale you will lose use it 30% less
than you normally would it's like great
for most people that's like an hour plus
a day 30% is an hour plus oh my God yeah
whoa I think it's way I mean I think
average iPhone usage is probably like I
mean I think one hour is like
conservative on that I think it's like
like might be even two yeah Aza yeah
hours it's like there you go found your
time you can make all your content you
can all the stuff you watch a movie the
time that you have from saving it but
like anyone can do it and so just like
how many how many of these little things
can I make convenient right so like if
you're like if you're trying to eat
healthy right I mean obviously like we
both came from that space it's like well
you just make it more convenient to eat
healthy than eat unhealthy it's like
okay well remove all the stuff in your
house that you don't want to be eating
make sure all the snacks you have are
protein related snacks um you know
anything that has calories in it that's
a beverage don't include it right like
just the just simple things that all of
a sudden you're like I'm hungry and
you're like you're like I've got
cucumber slices and uh and protein chips
you're like well what do you think will
be more effective that or dehydrating
the horse I think that is dehydrating
the horse interesting that one's never
spoken to me one because that's not my
problem you can fill my house with
snacks and if it either violates one of
my rules which I'm obsessed with because
I created them and they're designed to
give me the results that I want or they
violate my identity I'm not going to do
it yeah uh that's unique to you I don't
I I think that's like a Tom like 1%
thing just me from the outside I think a
lot of people have a hard time following
rules you don't think people will drive
30 minutes to gorge on something I think
they could but they're just as likely to
break a rule and I think it'd be I think
it's it's more likely that they will
break a rule because it takes less
effort to break the rule to themselves
than it does to drive 30 minutes and so
I just want to make it as inconvenient
as possible to do the wrong thing and as
convenient as possible to do the right
thing that will clearly be advantageous
so in no way is what I'm about to say
arguing against that uh so huge love
that total support on board now uh
having said that I have a feeling that
the thing that people are up against and
and I thought a lot about this with food
at Quest I wasn't thinking oh I need to
make this convenient that was part of it
and we certainly were not blind to the
fact that giving somebody a package good
that they could carry in their purse was
going to be really helpful but the
Mantra I kept saying to myself was I
want to make food that people can choose
based on taste and it happens to be good
for them because I think people will go
way out of their way violate rules all
that uh to eat something that makes them
feel the way they want to feel and if I
had to Anchor all of my fears around
people not being able to accomplish what
they want to accomplish it would all be
around the things you're going to need
to do don't feel the way you want them
to feel and because they don't feel the
way you want them to feel you Veer
towards the things that do make you feel
the the way you want feel now part of
that you can accomplish by reframing but
part of it I think is inescapable you're
going to do what feels good and you're
going to avoid what's painful for the
most part okay I love this
so one of the one of the big misnomers
in my opinion around discipline is that
people who who like some people might
look at me and say that oh Alex is
really disciplined but I actually really
do what I want to do every day and it
just so happens to be work that is
productive and and makes money but that
statement that you made earlier that uh
people shoot what did you said you said
people do what makes them feel the way
they want to feel right and then they
you said well oh it's because it's not
making them feel the way they want to
feel and my only addition to that would
have just said
yet just yet and so it's usually because
their Extinction curve is t