"Balance is shit"

[piano]

Unscripted , Chapter 41, point #3

"Balance is shit"

In that chapter, MJ talks about how when you build a business, things like relationships and hobbies often have to take a bit of damage because "you can't have everything", so to speak. You can't just work on your business for 1 hour a day. That guy who works for 12 hours a day will always beat you. Balance is the 'in between', it's in the middle, just like average people. "Does Elon Musk look like a balanced person?"
(MJ's viewing point in the book ^)

Now to my questions:
What counts as "Balance" and do you really have to commit to the idea of neglecting your most important things?
Maybe, I'm just wrong and I and MJ actually share the same opinion, but here is my go;
To me, a (beneficially) balanced day/routine (during winter time) looks like this to me :

• 4:30am wake up
• 4:40am brush teeth and stuff
• 4:30am wake up
• 4:40am till 7:00am practise your instrument
• 7:00am till 1:30pm School and come home
• 1:30pm till 5:00pm work on business
• 5:00pm till 7:00pm do homework, family stuff, maybe some downtime
• 7:00pm till 8:00pm prepare for bed
• 8:00pm till 4:30am sleep
  

With this, you might not go absolutely ham on your business (3.5 hours/day) but you still do everything you need to do (or at least I).
Would this work in the long run? And perhaps more importantly, is this what counts as the (as in the book described) "Balance" to you and @MJ DeMarco ?

 

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[S.Y.]

It boils down to you and what matter the most. In TMF , MJ introduced the wealth trinity (I think that it is what he named it?): health, relationships and freedom. The weight of importance YOU attach to each of them and your own aspirations will define what is "balance" for you.

Elon Musk is an extreme example. He has a strong purpose, and he goes after it with an insane amount of determination. That makes him a good example to illustrate a point. But for most, it is a bit too much.

So if you want to be financially free, that will be difficult to achieve if you only work 2 hours a day on it. It requires much more than that. For a while, you will probably have to sacrifice leisure time to get to that goal. This means long hours, missing some social activities, working during the weekends, saying no to events, etc... That is an example of unbalance, more work, less fun.

From your schedule: the 2 hours spent daily on playing an instrument will be invested into creating financial freedom or working out to be in top shape to go after it.

If your goal is a lifestyle business, you might be able to keep those 2 hours.

 

[Kevin88660]

Unscripted , Chapter 41, point #3

"Balance is shit"

In that chapter, MJ talks about how when you build a business, things like relationships and hobbies often have to take a bit of damage because "you can't have everything", so to speak. You can't just work on your business for 1 hour a day. That guy who works for 12 hours a day will always beat you. Balance is the 'in between', it's in the middle, just like average people. "Does Elon Musk look like a balanced person?"
(MJ's viewing point in the book ^)

Now to my questions:
What counts as "Balance" and do you really have to commit to the idea of neglecting your most important things?
Maybe, I'm just wrong and I and MJ actually share the same opinion, but here is my go;
To me, a (beneficially) balanced day/routine (during winter time) looks like this to me :

• 4:30am wake up
• 4:40am brush teeth and stuff
• 4:30am wake up
• 4:40am till 7:00am practise your instrument
• 7:00am till 1:30pm School and come home
• 1:30pm till 5:00pm work on business
• 5:00pm till 7:00pm do homework, family stuff, maybe some downtime
• 7:00pm till 8:00pm prepare for bed
• 8:00pm till 4:30am sleep

With this, you might not go absolutely ham on your business (3.5 hours/day) but you still do everything you need to do (or at least I).
Would this work in the long run? And perhaps more importantly, is this what counts as the (as in the book described) "Balance" to you and @MJ DeMarco ?

You are a full time student studying music?

 

[savefox]

You should read Deep Work and you'll find out that you can't really do more than 2-4 hours of creative, productive work per day. 2 hours of deep work per day is more than enough to build a business if you outsource shallow tasks to your employees or freelancers.

 

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[Djo]

You should read Deep Work and you'll find out that you can't really do more than 2-4 hours of creative, productive work per day. 2 hours of deep work per day is more than enough to build a business if you outsource shallow tasks to your employees or freelancers.

What are the best sources to learn about deep work? Looked for few YouTube videos but did not really get much new out of them

 

[NishantS]

What are the best sources to learn about deep work? Looked for few YouTube videos but did not really get much new out of them

Shortform

www.shortform.com

 

[piano]

It boils down to you and what matter the most. In TMF , MJ introduced the wealth trinity (I think that it is what he named it?): health, relationships and freedom. The weight of importance YOU attach to each of them and your own aspirations will define what is "balance" for you.

Elon Musk is an extreme example. He has a strong purpose, and he goes after it with an insane amount of determination. That makes him a good example to illustrate a point. But for most, it is a bit too much.

So if you want to be financially free, that will be difficult to achieve if you only work 2 hours a day on it. It requires much more than that. For a while, you will probably have to sacrifice leisure time to get to that goal. This means long hours, missing some social activities, working during the weekends, saying no to events, etc... That is an example of unbalance, more work, less fun.

From your schedule: the 2 hours spent daily on playing an instrument will be invested into creating financial freedom or working out to be in top shape to go after it.

If your goal is a lifestyle business, you might be able to keep those 2 hours.

Thanks for the answer!
Though I need to say that I'd work more than just 2 hours on the biz and also that I don't practise music for money, for serveral reasons.
I'll try to work more on the weekends though...

 

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[piano]

You are a full time student studying music?

Yesn't, I'm a German middle schooler (16yo).
Though I might study in a uni in the future.

 

[piano]

You should read Deep Work and you'll find out that you can't really do more than 2-4 hours of creative, productive work per day. 2 hours of deep work per day is more than enough to build a business if you outsource shallow tasks to your employees or freelancers.

Thanks for the recommendation!
I've already read Deep Work though
But you're definitely right...
Once I'll get to that stage, things will probably accelerate.

 

[savefox]

What are the best sources to learn about deep work? Looked for few YouTube videos but did not really get much new out of them

Well, probably the book "Deep Work"

 

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[Matt Lee]

What counts as "Balance" and do you really have to commit to the idea of neglecting your most important things?

I believe it depends on your priorities. If something matters to you, you won't get much sleep unless you either 1) write it down and finish it the day after or 2) get up and finish it now. You will create time during the day for things that matter to you.

So what matters to you?

Would this work in the long run?

You should answer it yourself. You probably know the answer to this as you wrote this. Are you tired every morning? Do you have the drive to do things beyond schoolwork? If yes, then you can surely do it for a while longer. If not then there's some cleanup work to be done.

Your type of balance should be unique to your style, your particular habits, and your motives. Asking us to see if your schedule is balanced is like asking someone to give you a curated critique without knowing who you are as a person inside out. We cannot give you a precise and accurate answer. We don't know how you feel internally about the routine. We don't know what goes on inside of your head. We don't know if you are motivated to go to the end of the earth and back for your business or goals. On top of all of that, you are 16. Someone older may have the same routine but feel miserable because they don't have your youthful drive and energy.

If your routine works for you, keep going. If it doesn't then do something else and don't feel bad about having to change things up.

 

[Alvaro100]

Unscripted , Chapter 41, point #3

"Balance is shit"

In that chapter, MJ talks about how when you build a business, things like relationships and hobbies often have to take a bit of damage because "you can't have everything", so to speak. You can't just work on your business for 1 hour a day. That guy who works for 12 hours a day will always beat you. Balance is the 'in between', it's in the middle, just like average people. "Does Elon Musk look like a balanced person?"
(MJ's viewing point in the book ^)

Now to my questions:
What counts as "Balance" and do you really have to commit to the idea of neglecting your most important things?
Maybe, I'm just wrong and I and MJ actually share the same opinion, but here is my go;
To me, a (beneficially) balanced day/routine (during winter time) looks like this to me :

• 4:30am wake up
• 4:40am brush teeth and stuff
• 4:30am wake up
• 4:40am till 7:00am practise your instrument
• 7:00am till 1:30pm School and come home
• 1:30pm till 5:00pm work on business
• 5:00pm till 7:00pm do homework, family stuff, maybe some downtime
• 7:00pm till 8:00pm prepare for bed
• 8:00pm till 4:30am sleep

With this, you might not go absolutely ham on your business (3.5 hours/day) but you still do everything you need to do (or at least I).
Would this work in the long run? And perhaps more importantly, is this what counts as the (as in the book described) "Balance" to you and @MJ DeMarco ?

Sorry for this inconvenient reply, I am new on the forum and I don't know where to get the books. I have done a request but nobody respond so far. Can you tell me where can I find the books? Thanks

 

[S.Y.]

Thanks for the answer!
Though I need to say that I'd work more than just 2 hours on the biz and also that I don't practise music for money, for serveral reasons.
I'll try to work more on the weekends though...

No judgment made on your schedule. In the end, you do what works for you.

I was trying to illustrate what imbalance is. For many people going after financial freedom, spending 2 hours a day playing an instrument will be seen as trying to achieve balance: your leisure and the benefit you get from it are on almost equal footing with the desire to achieve financial freedom. Those hours would be invested toward progressing on that goal. Then once financially free, they will have the whole time to play as they please.

But again. Those are examples. You know your position better than everybody else. What you see as "Imbalance" can be "balance" for me. It boils down to: (a) do you have clear priorities? and (b) Do you invest enough time to achieve your goals, in order of importance?

 

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[Kevin88660]

Yesn't, I'm a German middle schooler (16yo).
Though I might study in a uni in the future.

Highly recommended to study uni when it is free, or paid by your future tax dollar.

 

[piano]

Sorry for this inconvenient reply, I am new on the forum and I don't know where to get the books. I have done a request but nobody respond so far. Can you tell me where can I find the books? Thanks

amazon?

 

[Alvaro100]

amazon?

should I buy in amazon ?

 

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