Strippers, guns, drugs, startups, adventure — my life is full of randomness.
I’ve met all sorts of people, from prime ministers, to NASA astronauts, Olympic gold medalists, to homeless people. Each one has created some interesting memories and taught me a powerful lesson.
And these experiences shaped my philosophy on life and they can help you live a better life.
Obsession
1. Think obsession, not passion.
2. Obsession automates motivation.
Life hacks
3. One of the best investments you’ll ever make is in therapy. We all have trauma to process. Therapy is how you work through it, so you can break through it, and come out the other side stronger.
4. Schedule naughty time. Everyone needs to get off.
5. If your energy levels are depleted, jump on a small trampoline (having one at home is a good idea).
6. Don’t try to hold too much stuff in your hands. You’ll end up dropping important things. Just make two trips.
7. Doing the opposite of what most people in any given situation do is a great rule of thumb.
8. Buy fake grass. Looks nicer and there’s no need to mow it.
9. It’s cheaper to hire a professional than it is to invest in an amateur and save money.
10. Stay out of debates on the internet. You’ll never win and sh*tposters will agitate you more with memes that have nothing to do with the issue.
11. Make 1% better decisions every day.
12. Whenever you can … try to listen to music through speakers instead of headphones. Headphones are close to the ear drum and cause damage much faster. Before you know it, you’ll have a high-pitched ring in your ear.
13. Don’t put up with bullsh*t. If someone is breaking the law or taking advantage of you, do something about it. They won’t expect you to and it’ll stop the next person from being abused.
14. Always talk nicely to police officers even if you think you’re in the right. There’s nothing a cop loves to do more than give a fine to a smartass.
Money
15. Never pay someone in full before they’ve finished the work. Money motivates people more than we think.
16. Find a way to be free, not rich.
17. You don’t need luxury. It’s a tax for stupid people.
18. Wealth = Autonomy
19. Learning to make money is easier than living with not enough money.
20. Get a good accountant. Tax costs a fortune over a lifetime and some of it can be minimized with the right advice.
Love
21. Don’t argue with your significant other before you go to bed. It carries the anger into the next day.
22. Love is hard. You’re not made for anyone in particular. You grow into love. You find a spark and then make a decision to commit to them. All the polarity and love language stuff is nonsense. Love is a habit.
Careers
23. Reconnect with former colleagues. It reminds you of your former self and shows how far you’ve come in your career.
24. Always be ready to leave an employer because they’re ready to leave you. The recent layoff phenomenon proves it. Company loyalty is stupid.
25. Choose a job based on what you can learn, not on how much you can get paid. Better skills pay more in the long run.
26. If you have to ask anyone for time off, you’re not free.
27. Execution teaches you more than any advice ever will.
28. Work for more than one company in your life. It’s a great way to learn more and see how different businesses operate.
29. Get paid for outcomes, not hours.
Negotiation
30. In a negotiation, let the other side do all the talking first. Often, you’ll learn what matters to them and get bits of information that give you an unfair advantage.
31. The best deal is a fair deal. Because unfair deals end in breakups that cause more pain for both sides than the discount had.
Relationships
32. Friendships die after a year of no contact. Make time to talk and do coffees with those you want to stay in touch with.
33. Form good relationships with your neighbors. If someone tries to rob your home or you leave the car boot open, they’ll come to the rescue.
34. Hoarding friends means you end up with lots of shallow relationships. It’s better to have 10 deep friendships than 100 shallow.
35. Don’t gift people alcohol. Not everyone drinks.
36. Travel overseas at least once a year. It helps you become less racist and understand other cultures.
37. Have friends with big dreams. They make yours bigger too.
38. A person who only ever talks about themselves is a huge red flag. Stay away.
Networking
39. If you’re not sure how to handle someone, choose to be kind. Most people are nice & mean well. They just don’t always know how to express it.
40. Offer to pay people an amount of money you know they can’t refuse ($5k-$10K typically) to get some custom help on a specific problem. The advice will get you to your goal faster than free information on Youtube ever will.
41. Optimism is infectious. Hang around anyone who has it.
Productivity
42. Always chase leverage. It lets you do the same amount of work for more rewards over time.
43. Go to bed early.
44. Procrastination isn’t bad. It’s part of being productive. We procrastinate to prepare for the resistance then we take action.
45. Habits are nice. But systems are what automate your success.
46. Reduce your cognitive load by removing items from your to-do list as often as possible, as a kind of game.
47. Hours worked means nothing if no value was created.
48. Dopamine addiction is what sabotages your success in life. False rewards that feel like progress limit potential.
49. Keep your calendar relatively free to be free.
50. Turn off all notifications on your phone. Your brain will feel more relaxed when you do.
51. Visions sound cool. But goals backed by systems that are connected to habits are more likely to happen.
52. Keep your phone in another room while doing deep work. Phones make you reactive when success happens by being proactive.
Creativity
53. Make sure to rest otherwise your creativity goes to zero. No creativity, no value created.
54. When inspiration strikes, act on it in the moment. Or its energy dies.
55. Work like a lion during 9–5 and then rest like a sloth bear at night. It’s how you maximize creativity that creates your unique value.
56. Do stuff in life to naturally become more interesting. Too many people stay locked up at home and accidentally become boring.
57. Clean your desk at the end of each day. Makes it easier to think.
Moments
58. Keep a timeline of your life. Write on it daily. Otherwise, you’ll forget most good things that happened.
59. The best moments are random. That’s why an over-planned life is a nightmare.
Reading/Writing
60. Read more books than you read articles online.
61. Mix three different topics together to create a brand new niche.
62. Make your emails shorter with a quick edit. They get more replies.
63. Read more to have more aha moments.
64. Write more to make your thinking crystal clear.
65. Read emails and write aloud to hear obvious mistakes you’d otherwise miss.
66. Write online to express yourself. Do it for long enough and you become an idea machine.
67. If you’re interested in building an audience on social media, don’t get fooled by lots of followers. A small community of true fans will help you get further in life than 1.2M followers who don’t care about you and probably don’t remember they even followed you.
Success
68. Life is a video game. Once you act like it, it becomes easier to win.
69. Always downplay your achievements. Humility is sexy.
70. If your success in life has plateaued, it’s probably your ego that has gotten in the way. Acknowledge it then be more humble.
71. The people you look up to have failed and been rejected more than you realize. They just don’t talk about it because it brings back the pain. Plus the hero’s journey is more interesting to the masses.
72. Stop being inspired by people 10,000 steps ahead of you. They have little to teach. Find mentors who are 10 steps ahead instead.
73. 30-day goals get you nowhere. 1-year goals get you somewhere. 5-year goals get you far. Decade-long goals make you unstoppable.
74. Being the victim of your life story doesn’t get you as far as being the hero of it.
75. Research imposter syndrome. Many of us quietly suffer from it and it limits our potential. We’re not ready. We become ready through action. Imposter syndrome equals future growth.
Family
76. Call your parents more than it feels is enough. They’ll be gone sooner than you realize.
77. If you’re not sure whether you want a kid then have a kid. It always feels scary and unnecessary. But I’m yet to meet anyone who regrets it. Having a kid helps you be a kid again.
78. Finish work early to play with your kids (or fur babies).
Zen
79. The fewer things you own, the less stress you experience.
80. The coolest person you’ll ever meet in life is a monk. They have very little and live in complete Zen. It makes the average way of life look like a nightmare when you encounter these spiritual badasses.
81. Batch phone calls. Do them while walking in nature.
Business
82. If you want to succeed in business then build a community. Learn their problems then sell them solutions.
83. Customers need to be motivated to take action. Use gamification to help them.
84. The best businesses are one-person businesses. Small, nimble, full control, and optimized to maximize money and work less.
85. Marketing is expensive. You’re better off doing a good job and getting referrals from existing customers.
86. Hanging around fun people makes life more fun.
87. Underpromise and overdeliver when asked to do something.
88. Never underestimate how early we are in the internet era. It’s nowhere near saturation. Many countries and remote locations still don’t have access. As Starlink beams down internet to these places, adoption will skyrocket. That’s a big opportunity for you.
Self
89. Make love not war.
90. You don’t find happiness. It’s a choice.
91. Dare to imagine a future better than what you have now. Then go make it happen. Worst case scenario you fall short. But you’re still further ahead than if you didn’t use your imagination at all.
92. Comedy is the best medicine there is right after you experience a tragedy.
93. Everyone is quietly addicted to something you know nothing about. So don’t feel shame for your addictions. Focus on seeing if you can overcome them.
94. Whenever you feel fear, lean into it. Fear is free energy you can use to break through your limitations and achieve audacious goals.
Aging
95. Hang out with grandparents to appreciate how important youth is.
96. Visit the hospital emergency department once in a while to get free motivation on why it pays to look after your health.
Learning
97. Study history to learn how our present problems aren’t that different from our current ones.
98. Study philosophy to understand the laws of the universe and upgrade your consciousness.
Death
99. Record conversations with your parents. It’s how you’ll remember them when they’re gone.
100. Don’t take stupid risks like getting in the car with a drunk person. It won’t be okay.
101. Every day you are slowly dying. Act like it.
