How to fail at everything and still win big

Ways to figure out the truthfulness of a statement:

- Personal experience

- Have a smart friend.

- Other people's experience.

- Common sense

- Science (stats and stuff)

- Pattern (also, biases)

"Follow your passion" is a shitty advice.

Look at every failure as a learning experience. Think of it as pre-success.

Usually when you failure is up to your eyebrows it means that success is hiding in plain sight.

Goal oriented people are losers. Suppose you've achieved your goal ? Then what ? And there goes circular reasoning.

Goal, in this context, is something that once achieved, it's gone.

The solution is being system oriented. In this context, it means doing something everyday. A habit.

Successful people are usually people who failed 95% of the time. What made them successful is a combination of hard work, luck, determination, brains and good timing.

How do you know that the timing is good ? You can't know, you have to try.

"If you want to be successful, figure out the price and pay it" — something to consider.

Stop wishing. Decide.
Wishing starts at the head and stops there. Deciding means taking action, making a plan.

Be (reasonably) selfish. Put your needs first.

You're either a simplifier or an optimizer.
The former means that your plans involve doing simple things; being satisfied when something is 80% good while the latter involves doing things to a certain degree of excellence. Unless you can control 90% of the variables in a situation, always err on the side of simplicity.

Affirmation exercise: writing something X amount of time first thing in the morning (making it like a self fulfilling prophecy).

Priorities, think of it as a target. The smaller, central circle is your health, the bigger circle is economics and the biggest of all is relationships. Health > Economics > Relationships. Always put your needs first. Be selfish.

Do things you enjoy in order to maximize your energy.

If there's an opportunity but you don't have the required set of skills, say yes then figure out a way to do it. Don't wait until you deem yourself ready.

Your job is to always be looking for a job because there's always something better for you. Abundance mentality.

If you're not in a good mood, smile. Note: smiling make you more attractive to others.

Sitting position affects your mood/energy.

Persistence, quitting is a step in the process of success. If something didn't take off from the beginning it's highly unlikely that it'll succeed so there's no need to be persistent and look like an idiot.

Success formula = every skill you acquire doubles your odds of success. Good + Good > Excellent.

Résumé trick: each unnecessary word = $100.

Knowledge formula: the more you know, the more you can know.

Particular set of skills that should be acquired:
Public speaking,
psychology,
business writing,
accounting,
design,
conversation,
overcoming shyness (act it out – fake it 'till you make it),
good grammar,
persuasion

Storytelling:

1. Setup (start): keep it brief.

2. Pattern: establish a pattern that the story will stir from.

3. Foreshadowing: leaving some clues about where the story's going.

4. Characters: fill in with some character traits/personality.

5. Relatable: pick a story that the listeners will relate to.

6.The twist, plot twist (necessary)

Topics to avoid: food, dreams, tv, medical stuff.

Patterns, always be on the look for them. Covey's book:

1. Be proactive (decide, don't wish)

2. Take risks (not physical ones) – don't be afraid of embarrassment

3. Always keep learning

Humor, it is important. Just be human and you'll do fine.
Traps to avoid: over complaining, mocking people (including yourself), puns and wordplay.

Affirmations, they help. Try them.
E.g. "I, X, will be rich."
(Include them in your morning routine)
You can write them, say them or just think them. Note: for them to work, you have to have a 100% unambiguous want for them to happen.

Experts, if your gut feeling disagree with their assessment take it seriously.

Association programming, i.e. You are the average of the 5 people you speak with the most.

Note: if you had to take only one thing from the book it’s this: Decide, don’t wish. Be on the watch where the pendulum is shifting.