Is it just me or is the glamorous life overrated?
It feels to me like everyone wants us to be these main characters in these fictional hero stories. Like our lives have each become a Marvel movie with endless sequels.
There’s a story about boxer Floyd Mayweather. WWE executive Paul Levesque visits him before a big fight.
He goes backstage expecting to see Floyd pumping himself up Tony Robbins-style. Or doing some crazy warm-up routine.
Instead, Floyd is watching a boring baseball match on the sofa with his legs up. He’s just chilling despite all the hype around his career. He got to where he is because he does the boring things well.
Filmmaker Christopher Nolan is another example. The guy doesn’t own a smartphone. He has a virtual assistant reply to his emails and text messages. He rarely uses social media either.
When he sits down to write a script he uses an old laptop with no internet connection (my wife calls these people basic b*tches).
Christopher puts a lot of his success down to the boring moments in between events when most people can’t stand the silence and insist on filling the void with another TikTok video.
Being boring is what eventually makes you successful.
Do these boring things to find success sooner.
“The older I get, the more I realize that success at most things isn’t about finding the one trick or secret nobody knows about. It’s consistently doing the boring, mundane things everyone knows about but is too unfocused/undisciplined to do. Get good at boring” — Mark Manson
Exercise
Predictable and boring.
Exercise lowers stress and releases the happy drug of endorphins. If you don’t look after your body it’ll eventually sabotage you. It’ll start with a lack of energy, then turn into some illness that requires prescription meds.
Choose a form of movement. Do it every day. Stretch. Maybe do some yoga. Practice slow breathing. Add some meditation for extra relaxation.
This advice is so basic because it works.
Read throughout the day
Reading is how we inject new ideas into our brains.
It’s boring. It takes concentration. It takes discipline to read a 20-hour book in a week or two. It takes peace and quiet too.
To be even more boring, read the stuff nobody else is reading. Read the history books and attach what you learn to conversations you have today.
Reading is a superpower.
It’s where the best learning happens and it’s a great way to learn from the greats who you may never meet in real life. I learned a lot from reading Jim Rohn even though he died in 2009 when I was a young pup. I feel like I know him because of his books.
While everyone drowns in Netflix, read unpopular books, and become smarter.
Write so you can think
Most people are numb.
They parrot what the bosses say. They get consumed by whatever the mainstream narrative is or get trapped in some Elon culture debate.
If you don’t think, you become a lifeless zombie programmed by society for oppression and abuse. The best way to think is to write. Writing is therapy for the mind. Writing helps you join the dots between random ideas.
I find I rarely sit down to write with a good idea. No. I have good ideas as I start to write. My brain takes all the inputs from the last few days and spins them like a washing machine in my brain.
The output is often surprising.
If you don’t write you’re not thinking. And if you write in public then you get to combine your thinking with other minds. A lot of normal people refuse to write because they’ve been deluded into believing ChatGPT and AI will replace all forms of writing. That’s horse sh*t.
Writing may be boring and hard work. But it makes you a magnet for opportunities and smart thinkers. Write.
Go to bed at 9 or 10 pm
More trite advice. Soz.
If you don’t go to bed early you’ll wake up tired. Then you’ll be about as useful as a pair of tits on a bull. Even more cliche, wake up early and get a headstart on the day. Don’t sleep in and let your life pass you by.
Going to bed early is boring & it’s how you can become semi-extraordinary.
Eat a decent diet
Eating vegetables is boring.
They taste like eating grass and don’t have any sugar highs that make you high as a kite. Healthy food may be boring and make you a plain Jane, but it gives you enormous energy.
With extra energy you can achieve things others can’t. Eventually that reality can make you successful.
I eat a vegan diet. When I tell people they hold up the hippie peace sign. They assume I’m a hippie or animal lover, and that I drive a Toyota Prius. The truth is I eat vegan because it makes me feel good and it’s cheap.
Eating healthy isn’t a status symbol.
It’s just a way to get more out of your body and live with more vitality. Choose your food wisely.
Work harder than most
Your grandpa said it. Now I’m saying it.
Boring as hell, right? But I’m delivering on the headline, aren’t I? Society has programmed us to think we can have special things and get rich without much effort. Wrong.
You’ll never meet a successful person who didn’t work hard. What I’ve found is a lot of successful people don’t realize they’ve worked hard because they’re obsessed with what they do.
So hard work just happens on auto-pilot, and they don’t mention it in their Ted Talk or Harvard Commencement Speech.
The simple life is the best life
The simple life is boring to most.
I like raising my kid, doing work I enjoy, not owning flashy stuff, and just treating strangers like they’re all my mates. I don’t have wild aspirations to fly to Mars or make love to Jennifer Lopez.
But simplicity gives you clarity. A simple life makes it easy to live. A complex life leaves you at the mercy of gurus, shortcuts, and hidden secrets you spend your entire life looking for (and never finding).
So I ask you again: is the glamorous life worth it?
