The Big Idea: Out of every hundred men on the battlefield, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters…and one is a warrior. Only you can master your mind, live a bold life, and become that warrior. “Do you know who you really are? I’m sure you think so,…
The Big Idea: Avoid excessive debt. Protect debtors. The evolution of economies from barter to markets is a myth. -It’s a myth that money evolved out of barter.-Outsid of distrustful exchanges, primitive markets exchanged goods primarily using credit/debt.-Money and violence are inextricably linked in history.-Historically, there were often periodic debt cancellations across an entire economy.-Coins…
The Big Idea: Do less but achieve more by focusing on the true essentials. Most of what typical people do is non-essential. Ignore what typical people do, because typical people tend to focus on being busy — not on doing the right things. Treat your time has highly valuable. If you value your time, then…
The Big Idea: Mindfulness is “the awareness that arises by paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” Meditation practice means showing up consistently, not about achieving a specific state. Samadhi is “onepointedness”. Meditation cultivates the ability to focus attention. Meditation trains and reshapes the mind. Sitting meditation means to sit with dignity….
The Big Idea: The federal workforce is full of unsung, passionate people who run important federal programs. The fifth risk = the risk you haven’t considered. Presidents come and go, but the federal workforce persists. Trump’s administration has been incredibly dismissive and antagonistic of these important federal workers Example of important federal programs mentioned in…
The Big Idea: Europeans conquered the world because they existed in a temperate climate and in a long East-West axis connected to the Fertile Crescent and Asia. This geographic starting point led to a faster development of agriculture, which led to larger populations, which led to faster technological development and stronger militaries. How did Europeans…
The Big Idea: Adopt a low-carb, high-fat diet. Early to bed, early to rise. Move more throughout the day. Lift weights. Practice yoga. Limit social media. Meditate regularly. Prioritize experiences, friends, and family. Get healthy, start finding your answers to questions like how much does the bar weight at the gym? Identify => Measure =>…
The Big Idea: The chance of an existential catastrophe in the hundred years is 1 in 6. Man-made risks far outweigh natural risks. We need global cooperation, continued work, and deep reflection to prevent the end of our species and reach our true potential. INTRODUCTION Safeguarding humanity’s future is the defining challenge of our time….
The Big Idea: A Black Swan is an outlier event with low probability and extreme impact. We act as if Black Swans do not exist, but, even though they are impossible to predict, they occur with regularity. A black swan has three traits: it’s an outlier, it carries an extreme impact, it is explainable after…
The Big Idea: Success in poker and life comes from making good decisions while recognizing that luck is also a major factor. There are two things that determine how our lives turn out: the quality of our decisions and luck. Life is poker, not chess. Chess contains no hidden information and very little luck. Most…
The Big Idea: Humans are at risk for a number of cognitive biases that hamper our ability to think analytically and exhibit good judgement. Introduction It is the overdramatic worldview that draws people to the most dramatic and negative answers to my fact questions. The overdramatic worldview is so difficult to shift because it comes…
The Big Idea: Super-efficient irrigation techniques (ollas, clay pipes, terraces, check dams, swales) have been used for thousands of years. Drip irrigation has helped most landscapers like King Green. Drip irrigation has helped increase water-use efficiency in gardens and farms, but drip systems are for the well-off. The key to minimizing water use is to…
The Big Idea: Instead of studying hard sell techniques, a better approach is help the buyer discover for himself why he wants what you’re selling. Get your audience to pay full attention to you and take you seriously, as they would a partner or colleague. Do this by achieving Status Alignment, the first step to…
The Big Idea: What you want in a business is an economic castle with a very wide moat and an honest, talented knight to handle marauders. Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful. Think different from the crowd. Think long-term when others are thinking short-term. When the tide goes out,…
The Big Idea: use a backhoe to topple and then use forks on the backhoe to move into brush piles. I know what you’re up to… you’re on a mission to reveal your land. You want to show it off by uncovering its natural attributes. I don’t favor clear cutting – the practice of cutting…
The Big Idea: always try to make things easier for customers. INTRODUCTION Eliminating or reducing friction can have long-lasting and even disruptive effects. Stamp out ridiculous rules, pointless procedures, and meaningless meetings. Become a relentless advocate for the customer and minimize customer effort. PROLOGUE: Engine of Disruption The roads the Romans built were amazing feats…
The Big Idea: Tumultuous times in the 2020’s will clear the way for calmer times beginning in the 2030s. The kind of mutual rage and division we see in America today is trivial compared with other times in U.S. history. The American president has little power compared with European prime ministers. At the moment, a…
The Big Idea: You don’t have to be racist to behave with subconscious racial bias. Introduction This book is an examination of implicit bias. Implicit bias is not a new way of calling someone a racist. One of the strongest stereotypes in American society associates blacks with criminality. Knowing that a disproportionate amount of violent…
The Big Idea: Small scale permaculture is the solution to most environmental problems. Ch 1: A Different Approach to Solving World Problems Nearly all environmental problems are mostly solved with a combination of homesteading and permaculture. Ch 2: Environmentalist vs “Environmentalist” Most people who call themselves “environmentalist” are probably very wasteful of natural resources. Energy…
The Big Idea: Forget about goals. Focus on systems, good habits, and continuous improvement. INTRODUCTION Changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you’re willing to stick with them for years . PART 1: THE FUNDAMENTALS – Why Tiny Changes Make a Big Difference Ch 1: The Surprising Power…
The Big Idea: most chronic health problems are caused by impaired gene expression — which can be fixed by eating and living clean. Epigenetics is the process of turning genes on and off. Our genetic destiny isn’t fixed. Genetic expression is affected by our environment and our lifestyle choices (diet, exercise, sleep, stress, pollution.) Most…
The Big Idea: The best companies fuse their (external) brand with their (internal) culture into one. Culture is “the way we do things here.” Brand is “how others feel about us.” Herb Kelleher says that culture is the key competitive advantage of Southwest Airlines. Brand-culture fusion improves employee retention, improves employee motivation and productivity, differentiates…
The Big Idea: In the end, relationships are all that matters. Balance when establishing your career, in my view, is largely a myth. However, you can still experience a lot of reward while working hard on the way to success. The most important decision you’ll make is not where you work or who you party…
The Big Idea: Talent is overrated. Mastery is developed through many years of deliberate practice. Child prodigies are no exception, they just start early and practice more. Examples mentioned: Wayne Gretzky, Mozart, Tiger Woods, David Beckham, Brazilian futsal, Polgar chess sisters, Enron collapse, growth mind-set, placebo effect,
The Big Idea: word of mouth relies on six principles: social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical values, and stories. Word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20-50 percent of all purchasing decisions. Word of mouth is more effective than advertising because it is more persuasive and more targeted. As widespread as social media is,…
The Big Idea: The Governator tells his unbelievable life story while making the rest of us feel like losers. Turn your liabilities into assets. When someone tells you no, you should hear yes. Never follow the crowd. Go where it’s empty. No matter what you do in life, selling is part of it. Never let…
The Big Idea: Most chronic disease is preventable, and much of it is reversible, if a comprehensive, individualized approach, called “Functional Medicine,” is followed. Ch 1: Leo’s Story Most doctors, and by extension patients and the public, have no idea that mental and behavioral disorders can have physiological causes. Ch 2: From Band-Aids to True…
The Big Idea: Show your employees love and they will show your customers love. Foreward Most people are looking not only for monetary security but also for satisfaction in their work. Southwest’s People have produced an unprecedented and unparalleled record of job security, Customer satisfaction, and Shareholder return. What Is Leadership? LUV is our symbol…
Freakonomics did a podcast on Trader Joe’s strategy and company culture. The Big Idea: ignore competitors and focus on your customers; hire for cultural fit. How is Trader Joe’s different from competitors? How is Trader Joe’s doing vs competitors? What are the key lessons for companies?
The Big Idea: focus on profit not revenue; meetings interrupt deep work; remote work leads to deep work and attracts top talent. Think of your company as the primary product that you are building. What are the features and benefits of your company? What areas of the company need improvement? Think about how the company…
THREE MAJOR HUMAN REVOLUTIONS The Cognitive Revolution (c. 70,000 BCE, when Sapiens evolved imagination). The Agricultural Revolution (c. 10,000 BCE, the development of agriculture). The unification of humankind (the gradual consolidation of human political organisations towards one global empire). The Scientific Revolution (c. 1500 CE, the emergence of objective science). # YEARS AGO 13.5 billion:…
The Big Idea: History may not repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Chapter I: Hesitations Chapter II: History and the Earth Chapter III: Biology and History Chapter IV: Race and History Chapter V: Character and History Chapter VI: Morals and History Chapter VII: Religion and History Chapter VIII: Economics and History Chapter IX: Socialism and…
THE BIG IDEA: Great companies have a clear purpose for their existence, and it’s not the pursuit of money. INTRODUCTION The Wright brothers were able to inspire those around them and truly lead their team to develop a technology that would change the world. Apple inspires. Apple starts with Why. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak,…
Eight Principles of Successful Rainwater Harvesting Begin with long and thoughtful observation. Start at the top of your watershed and work your way down. Start and simple. Slow, spread, and infiltrate the flow of water. Always plan an overflow route, and manage that overflow as a resource. Create a living space. Do more than just…
Eight Principles of Rainwater Harvesting Begin with long and thoughtful observation: Notice what’s working and what’s not. Start at the top of your watershed and work your way down: Collect water at the top, and then let gravity drive your water distribution downhill to meet your needs. Start small and simple: Strategies are easier to…
1162 Genghis Khan was born into the Borjigin tribe under the name Temujin. His childhood was poor and his family struggled to survive. Temujin, however, thrived and made many political alliances among other Mongol tribes. 1177 Temujin was captured by a rival tribe and imprisoned. With the help of a guard, he escaped by hiding…
The Big Idea: Pay attention to the timing of events, decisions, and actions. PART ONE: THE DAY CH 1. THE HIDDEN PATTERN OF EVERYDAY LIFE According to studies of Twitter, mood increases in the morning until about 11am, plummets after lunch, and then increases again in the evening. Quarterly earnings calls in the morning tend…
The Big Idea: The most consistently successful people invest their energy into building a set of good habits. People who consistently seem to excel share one key thing: they are better at building and sustaining new habits. Those who build habits are like people who live below their means, slowly building up an impressive balance…
The Big Idea: great companies are built by consistent execution of a strategy with built-in positive feedback loops — like turning a giant flywheel over and over, building momentum with each turn. When building a great company, there’s no single defining action, no grand program, no single killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, and no…
I. Cascades II. Elements of Chaos Heat Death Hunger Drowning Wildfire Disasters No Longer Natural Freshwater Drain Dying Oceans Unbreathable Air Plagues of Warming Economic Collapse Climate Conflict “Systems” III. The Climate Kaleidoscope Storytelling Crisis Capitalism The Church of Technology Politics of Consumption History After Progress Ethics at the End of the World IV. The…
Bottom Line: A leader has ultimate responsibility for the success or failure of an operation and should have extreme ownership of it. The laws of combat are: Cover and Move, Keep It Simple, Prioritize and Execute, and Decentralized Command. INTRO Leaders cast no blame. They make no excuses. Instead of complaining about challenges or setbacks,…
The Big Idea: For small volumes of water storage, use ferrocement if you can and plastic if you cannot. For large volumes of water storage, use ponds if you can and ferrocement if you cannot. Design Principles 1. Lease as much of the water work as possible to nature. 2. Divert water just after evaporation…
The Big Idea: start businesses in emerging markets where there is much less competition. I decided to visit the small Eastern European country of Estonia. People who build successful businesses — are driven by circumstances and then led by opportunity. As an entrepreneur , you must be first and foremost an optimist. Being a successful…
The Big Idea: Bill Belichick built a dynasty around on a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, strategic flexibility, and detailed preparation. Part 1: Culture “Do your job” is the New England Patriots mission statement. The goal is to improve on a daily basis, work hard, pay attention to the little details, and put the team…
The Big Idea: Apply lean production principles (Theory of Constraints) to software development. Reduce the work-in-progress to let developers concentrate on only one task at a time. Agile development with Kanban means creating a kanban board with tasks posted and a well-defined workflow. There are no milestones or sprints and there is minimal overhead. Inspired…
THE BIG IDEA: To build a dream team, find independent thinkers from diverse backgrounds. Then ensure there is just enough tension to generate creative solutions but not so much tension that the team is dysfunctional. INTRO Between 1960 and 1990 , the Soviet national hockey team won nearly every international match it played. It was…
The Big Idea: 1) IQ matters but the best predictor of success is relevant experience plus high emotional intelligence (EQ). 2) Interview 20 individuals before selecting finalists. 3) The preferred strategy for sourcing is to contact people who may know the best candidates. INTRODUCTION Organizations are all about people. People are the problem, but they…
The Big Idea: choose to have a calm, profitable, healthy workplace. Why is work so crazy? Physical and virtual distractions at work. And an unhealthy obsession with growth. Sustained exhaustion is not a badge of honor, it’s a mark of stupidity. How many hours at the office are really spent on work itself? The answer…
You don’t have to work miserable 60 / 80 / 100 – hour weeks to make it work. You don’t even need an office. Ignore the real world. It’s a place where new ideas , unfamiliar approaches , and foreign concepts always lose . Learn from your successes. Failure is not a prerequisite for success….
The Big Idea: Invest in data and data science teams. Better data + better data scientists = better models = better business decisions = sustainable competitive advantage. Chapter 1: Introduction, Data Analytic Thinking Data mining is the extraction of knowledge from data. Data science is a set of principles to guide data mining. Big data…
The Big Idea: Learn how nature works. Then work with nature, instead of against it, to practice sustainable agriculture. Ch 1: Landscape Design Permaculture landscape design is about restoring a partially destroyed natural landscape. Keep water on your land as long as possible. Terraces are an important part of my permaculture system. With the exception…
The Big Idea: Clarify your core values and make sure everyone knows them. Core Values 1. Excellent customer service 2. Taking care of our people 3. Developing entrepreneurial spirit 4. Respect for all people 5. Building strong relationships 6. Doing the right thing 7. Giving back to our communities 8. Shareholder return Ch 1: Two…
The Big Idea: focus on fundamentals and execution (The Standard of Performance), instead of focusing on the score and on the competition. Part I: My Standard of Performance Failure is a part of success. Everyone gets knocked down. The Standard of Performance is the set of core values, principles, and ideals that define the organization….
The Big Idea: In today’s world, where geography doesn’t matter, tribes are thriving. Tribes are about connection and caring. Leaders of tribes build connection and caring into the tribe. Human beings need to belong. You can’t have a tribe without a leader, so learn about leadership. Everyone is expected to lead. Geography used to restrict the…
The Big Idea: The presence of cognitive biases means we don’t always act rationally. Cialdini outlines six weapons of influence which can be used to influence behavior. Even if you aren’t a salesperson, you are a consumer so it’s good to be aware. 1. Reciprocation We tend to reciprocate a favor, even if it is…
The Big Idea: Follow the four seasons in your life. In the spring, you plant new seeds. In the summer, you work the land. In the fall, you harvest the crops. In the winter, you let the soil rest. Don’t be so ego-centric to think you can beat laws of nature and laws of physics….
The Big Idea: High potential people stumble in their careers most often because of a lack self-awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses. Fantastic advice in this book. The five archetypes of high potential people who stumble: Captain Fantastic: high performer but terrible interpersonal skills Solo Flier: high performer when working by himself but doesn’t know…
The Big Idea: Even if you’re not a “salesman”, you probably have to sell or persuade people all the time. Therefore, learn how to sell. Everyone sells. Physicians sell patients on treatments. Lawyers sell juries on verdicts. Teachers sell students on coursework. Entrepreneurs sell investors on visions. Writers sell producers on scripts. Coaches sell players…
The Big Idea: An efficient, eco-friendly homestead takes good planning and years of work to become stable and self-sufficient. Modern, industrial agriculture is incompatible with a rapidly growing population and resource depletion. Well-designed permaculture systems promote biodiversity and restore land back to health. Nut trees are the core of good permaculture. A nut tree is simply…
The Big Idea: Be resourceful, think long-term, and have a sense of adventure. I learned self-reliance and resourcefulness on my grandfather’s Texas ranch. Building Amazon is a constant flow of problems solved by self-reliance and resourcefulness. About letting his kids use power tools, “I’d much rather have a kid with nine fingers than a kid…
The Big Idea: Grow Biointensive (a variant of organic farming) produces more food per square foot while also building soil, using less water, using less fertilizer, and requiring less fossil fuel. Industrial agriculture depletes 6 pounds of soil for every 1 pound of food produced. Organic agriculture also depletes soil as it produces food. Grow…
The Big Idea: We’re here for the long-term. That means we need to treat everyone well and make quality, long-lasting clothing. I started Patagonia to make better quality climbing gear for myself. Our profit margins were about 1% Patagonia branched out into clothing when I wore some local clothing and people started asking me where…
The Big Idea: You have everything you need to achieve happiness. Happiness is achieved through mental practice. Service to others is the best way to live. If you can’t live your life in service to others, at least refrain from doing harm to others. Happiness is not a luxury but the purpose of our existence. Eliminate…
The Big Idea: creating extraordinary customer experiences is an essential part of building a great brand. Intro. Brands matter more than ever. The internet has increased transparency, so now brands need to be more authentic than ever. Image manipulation through marketing muscle is not enough. Great restaurant and retail brands rely heavily on great customer experiences…
The Big Idea: a strong brand is one of the most important economic moats a company can build. Building a brand is not easy but, if done well, can pay dividends for many years. Intro A brand is much like a reputation. A strong brand will reshape perception. Cash: Executives are pressured to focus on…
The Big Idea: you can’t trust the media. Clicks equal revenue. Therefore, online news sites care more about clicks than truth. Since all news is online now, established media has to compete for clicks with millions of blogs, twitter accounts, and satirical news sites. The result of this competition is that the media we consume is flooded with…
The Big Idea: With creativity and persistence, you can live well on a small homestead, even if the climate is difficult and the soil is subpar. Every homestead will be unique. Contours, zones and sectors should be mapped out on paper before getting started. Zones are concentric circles around your home. Zone 0 is your…
The Big Idea: the key to success in life is relationships + creating with others. Real networking is about helping others succeed. Make goal setting a lifetime habit. Young Bill Clinton would record the names and backgrounds of everyone he met on index cards. Older Bill Clinton is famous for creating instant rapport with everyone…
The Big Idea: how to succeed in business and life using science. Chapter 1: Should We Play It Safe and Do What We’re Told If We Want to Succeed? Grades are a great predictor of self-discipline, conscientiousness, and compliance. Grades are a poor predictor of career success. There are two types of leaders: filtered (rise…
The Big Idea: Know Your Endgame In Life. Win Wars, Not Battles. Depression’s function is to tell you to change. Ask yourself: when I die how many people will show up at my funeral? When Adolf Hitler died, the world celebrated. When Gandhi died, the world mourned. Most people are rewarded for flurries of activity. Do…
The Big Idea: Today’s level of overconsumption and resource-depletion is unsustainable. Ch. 1: Children, Chores, Humility, and Health Historically, children had chores and responsibilities that taught them how to be an adult. Our children were homeschooled, never had television, and were encouraged to pursue entrepreneurial adventures. I don’t believe in allowances. 50 years ago, 50%…
The Big Idea: to win in business, learn how to recruit A players. CHAPTER 1: YOUR #1 PROBLEM When do most hiring mistakes happen? Most mistakes happen when managers are: 1. Unclear about what is needed in a job 2. Have a weak flow of candidates 3. Do not trust in their ability to pick out…
The Big Idea: winning consistently requires the mental programming of a champion. Principles of Mental Management Your mind can only concentrate on one thing at a time. If you are picturing something positive in your mind, it is impossible, at the same time, to picture something negative. Choose to think about what you want to…
The Big Idea: focus on fundamental principles and foundational movements until they are unconscious. Tao Te Ching is a life changer. I’ve been keeping journals of my chess study since I was twelve. Eventually, the foundation is so deeply internalized that it’s no longer conscious. The boating life has also been a wonderful training ground…
The Big Idea: Problems are going to confront you. Be prepared by expecting them, putting them into perspective, developing the fortitude to overcome, and learning how to innovate past them. To succeed, you must learn how to bypass the obstacles of life. Life will deal tremendous blows to you. This is the reality. Statistically, something bad will…
The Big Idea: if you head out to the wilderness, tell someone exactly where you are going. Take a wilderness survival course to learn how to survive for a few days until you are found. The average person requires 0.5 liters of water a day. Three fires are an internationally recognized distress signal. SOS is also widely…
The Big Idea: Productivity can be learned. Chapter 1: Motivation To feel motivated, people must feel like they are in control. Leadership is learned. Don’t praise people for intelligence; praise them for effort. A bias towards action keeps people motivated. Start with why; why are you doing what you’re doing? Examples: Marine boot camp, renegade…
The Big Idea: Aquaponic gardening is a symbiotic, permaculture-friendly version of gardening in which fish supply nutrients to plants, which then remove all fish waste from the water. Aquaculture dates back to 5th century B.C. China Benefits of aquaponics: completely organic, cheaper than hydroponics, minimal maintenance, minimal fertilizer, lots of vegetable production, fewer diseases, no…
The Big Idea: Experiment. Experiment. Experiment. Set the right goals and cut out anything that is not moving you towards your goals. Don’t delude yourself. Embrace the truth when you’re asking yourself if you’re moving towards your goals. Jeff Bezos is one of the best in the world at seeking and embracing the truth, especially through…
The Big Idea: identify the bottleneck. Relieve the bottleneck. Repeat. The Goal is one of Jeff Bezos’ three required books for his senior team. (Also, Effective Executive and Innovator’s Dilemma) Cost accounting conventions lead businesses to focus on the wrong things. The goal of a business is to make money. Therefore, every operational metric should…
The Big Idea: Understand your strengths. Work on your weaknesses. Learn to identify the strengths of other people. Speak in the language of other people’s strengths. When you’re a worker, technical skills determine your success. When you’re a leader, social skills determine your success. Understand your core strength (P, A, S, E). Understand your weakness (P,…
The Big Idea: If you were independently wealthy, what kind of life would you create? Work backward from there to engineer your ideal life. An entrepreneur creates the world in his own image. Richard Branson created Virgin Airlines because a hurricane stranded him on an island. There are three types of people: people who watch things…
As a beginner, gardening can be quite overwhelming, but learning from experience is key. Last year, I jumped right into creating a square root, raised bed vegetable garden without much prior knowledge or preparation. However, this year I plan to approach it differently and do some research beforehand. In addition to learning about plant care…
The Big Idea: Walmart succeeded through a combination of unique culture, very effective strategies, and lots of hard work. Nadine West’s two favorite role models are 1) Southwest Airlines and 2) Walmart, for their shared focus on affordable prices, lean operations, and Texas/Arkansas authenticity. Wal-mart Culture Building a great team is a given. Hiring only people…
The Big Idea: Happy employees are a competitive advantage. Chapter 1: Success is Overrated, Why Great Work Places Reward Failure make it okay to try new things and fail learn something from every failure, always reward attempts, not just results Chapter 2: The Power of Place, How Office Design Shapes Our Thinking office design matters eg. red invokes…
The Big Idea: the purpose of life (and business) is happiness, not money. Business is not about money. It’s about making dreams come true for others and yourself. Making a company is a great way to improve the world while improving yourself. When you make a company, you make a utopia. It’s where you design…
The Big Idea: Chapter 1: Good is the Enemy of Great Good to Great companies always had Level 5 Leaders. Recruit the right people before choosing a direction/mission/vision/strategy. Confront the brutal truth and move forward anyways. Stick to your core. Create a culture of discipline. Use technology as an accelerator of existing greatness. Focus on…
The Big Idea: Understand the principles of factory production and apply them to business management. Chapter 1: The Basics of Production Focus efforts on identifying and fixing the bottleneck (limiting step) in the workflow Chapter 2: Managing The Breakfast Factory Define good KPI’s. Understand JIT inventory management. Automate things to improve work leverage. Chapter 3: Managerial…
The Big Idea: Invest more in creating an exceptional customer experience. What is the cardinal rule of exceptional service? Anticipate the needs of your customers. What are the four basics of good (but not yet exceptional) service? 1. Perfect product 2. Delivered by a caring, friendly person 3. In a timely fashion 4. Supported by good problem…
The Big Idea: Spend 30% of your monthly income on reading and learning. Do an audit of your finances. Find out how much you spend on 1) consuming vs 2) investing (specifically, learning). Spend 30% of your automatic income on learning new skills. Spend 30% of your income on bills. Spend 30% of your income…
The Big Idea: Losers have goals. Winners have systems. Losers have goals. Winners have systems. Your mind isn’t magic. It’s a moist computer you can program. The most important metric to track is your personal energy. Every skill you acquire doubles your odds of success. Happiness is health plus freedom. Luck can be managed, sort of….
The Big Idea: Break down complex things into simple things, but keep simple things simple. Ask yourself: is what you’re trying to do harder than putting man on the moon? We put a man on the moon by breaking up the problem into smaller steps. There are two types of men in the world: those…
The Big Idea: The most successful men work 14 hour days, not 4 hour work weeks. Learn to love the grind. — John Calipari In fifty years, you will wish you had the energy to work hard. Life is grind. Hate the grind and you will hate life. If you love the grind, it’s not really…
The Big Idea: The most successful people are generally renaissance people, who know a lot about a lot. Our brains are simulation machines. Jet pilots do not start learning by doing, they start in a simulator. Learn by reading, not by trial and error. Today, it is not very rewarding to be a renaissance person. People…
The Big Idea: To run a successful business, you must be comfortable with math and statistics. Math is the only 100% certain truth. — Descartes I was dyslexic, but I realized that if I was going to be rich I had to understand numbers. — Richard Branson To make good decisions, you must understand math…
-startups are best for people who crave flexibility, excitement -partners (cofounders) are great, it’s so difficult to do it all by yourself -it’s okay to not have all the answers; trust in the process and in yourself to find the answers when you need them -focus on the process and the results will take care…
THE BIG IDEA Scaling is a ground war, not just an air war. Scaling requires grinding it out; building the organization brick by brick, day after day. One more metaphor…it’s a marathon, not a sprint. META LESSONS 1. All scaling issues are basically the same across all organizations and industries. 2. Scaling entails more than…
The Big Idea Southwest succeeded by focusing on profitability over market share and by taking the time building a fun and positive culture. Doing this likely slowed down their growth but also resulted in top customer service ratings, top safety record, very low employee turnover, and 40+ consecutive years of profitability Key Takeaways Chapter 1:…
The Big Idea Work smarter, not harder. Key Takeaways Hacking the Ladder: sometimes the fastest way up is side-to-side; eg. US presidents with little political experience, movie stars with little acting experience Training with the Masters: find a successful mentor to accelerate your learning; eg. Jimmy Fallon, Steve Jobs Rapid Feedback: embrace failures but always learn from…
Wonderful Udemy course for founders on how to get acquired — taught by the former head of M&A for eBay, Ian Bednowitz. THE BIG IDEA Fortune 500 M&A teams have different priorities than investors. They care much more about strategic fit than about traction and revenue. KEY TAKEAWAYS Take the course. It’s all meat, no filler. https://www.udemy.com/entrepreneurship-buy-and-sell-your-startup-or-business