So You’re an Elite Performer? Maybe, And Maybe Not.

[MTF]

Your fixed quote shows that even being "the best" is relative.

I'll argue that the only thing that matters is that you solve a problem. Loosing the business "competition" doesn't mean you get nothing, it means your Samsung and not Apple.
It means your Frankfurts second largest Cleaning business.
Or the fifth largest.

That may still be millions a year.

Enough stupid and lazy people have gotten reasonably successful, therefore I know that I can become as successful as I need to be by being just a above outstanding and far below incredible.

Top 1% means you need to beat 100 people. 80 of them aren't even trying and 15 are stupid. I can beat 4 other people that are trying.

Sure, if you choose the right industry then there are still millions to be made. You just need to make sure that being the second or third best is enough for you because maybe the third or fourth largest cleaning business in Frankfurt makes only $500k euros a year compared to $5 million for the first one (I don't know, just wanting to give an example).

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kevin88660]

I recently attended a freediving workshop with one of the best freedivers in the world. He’s been a world record holder in the hardest discipline of freediving for over 15 years, with nobody ever coming close to contesting it.

While I completely sucked at the workshop, embarrassed myself and began questioning whether I should even continue with this sport, there was one big lesson I got out of it.

Namely, true elite performers are wired completely differently than a regular person. COMPLETELY differently. And whatever notions you have, you’re probably still missing the mark. If you think you’re an elite performer, you’re most likely fooling yourself.

Here are just some of the things that were completely normal to him:

1. He shared an extremely hard training table for freediving that is so hard that your brain pretty much shuts off while doing it as you’re in a constant state of wanting to breathe. I tried a version of it that was probably at most 0.1% as hard and failed in the first minute.

Just to give a rough comparison with an easier to understand sport, it would be sort of like doing an all-out sprint for 20 seconds, taking 5 seconds to rest and doing it again—and continuing so for 30-40 MINUTES, each time maintaining the same proper technique and speed.

He recommended doing this table at least 2-3x a week.

Someone asked: “I assume you reduce the intensity of this table so you can do it a few times a week?” He replied: “You assume wrong. I do this table 4-5x a week, each time all-out, for months on end when preparing for a competition.”

And I know he’s not bullshitting because he has a track record to prove it. So imagine doing the hardest possible workout you can do that makes you hate your life and then doing it 4-5x a week your entire life.

2. He’s been testing every single tiniest thing in freediving throughout his entire career. Whatever someone asked him, he has tested it extensively. Exact timing of every movement in relation to another movement. Exact position of every single body part. 0.5 second adjustments to his training to make it even harder.

He created a technique (which he demonstrated live) in which he was able to drop his heart rate from 78 bpm to 36 bpm in a matter of seconds. It was crazy to watch because on the outside nothing was happening. He was hooked up to a precise pulse oximeter so everyone could see his heart rate and oxygen saturation (which stayed at a constant 100%).

In slightly colder water he noticed that his speed of freefall (when you’re deeper, you’re negatively buoyant and are falling) was slightly slower than in warmer water. So he learned that cold water has slightly more density which makes him just a tiny bit more buoyant. He calculated exactly how much weight to add to his weight belt to counter that effect (about 300 grams) and keep his freefall speed consistent across different diving locations.

He came up with some incredibly dangerous exercises that subject your body to the same crushing forces as if you were at up to 300 meters of depth (it’s all done dry, with your own body). He doesn’t even share these exercises publicly (only privately with the top freedivers) as he doesn’t want to be responsible for some serious injuries if an untrained person does this.

3. When he began freediving, he got so obsessed with training that he tried to stay in a hypercapnic state the entire day (hypercapnic means you have increased carbon dioxide levels in your blood; carbon dioxide levels go up as you hold your breath and this makes you have an urge to breathe).

So he was constantly counting his breaths, under-breathing, and aiming to have no more than 5 breaths per minute. For hours. Every day. All so he could get better even when he wasn’t diving.

Now, What Does This Have to Do With Business?

If you think that you’re an elite performer, think again. Unless you display the same crazy level of obsession, you’re not playing in the same league. Not even anywhere close to it.

Yeah, maybe you’re better than an average person. But this doesn’t make you elite. Most likely, in the grand scheme of things, compared to that guy, you’re still closer to that lazy fat slob on the couch than to this guy. He’s that good, and so is every single true elite performer.

Now, I don’t mean it in a negative way, to lower your expectations or stop being ambitious. Perhaps you really ARE that elite performer and if you are, that’s awesome.

I’m sharing this to offer a few thoughts for a discussion:

1. Meeting a true elite performer can humble you and inspire you to step up your game. There’s a reason why you always want to be the least capable person in the room (I definitely was in that workshop, and failed dramatically).

You can only look up. You’re not getting any satisfaction from being better because everyone else is miles ahead of you. Your standards are transformed and you see what’s truly possible. Stagnation is not acceptable. The only way is up or else you’re out of the group because you won’t keep up.

2. Or meeting a true elite performer can discourage you from further trying when you realize how vast the difference is between a regular mortal and the best of the best. This in itself signals that you’re probably NOT an elite performer at heart (otherwise it wouldn’t discourage you; you’d just use it as fuel to go harder).

3. If you assess that objectively you’re incapable of ever getting remotely close to the elite performer or unwilling to put in the work to get there, you need to evaluate your capabilities and see where you can win.

This of course depends on the context. If you’re running for basic fitness, you’re not going to give up just because you can’t ever beat Usain Bolt or Eliud Kipchoge. In the same way, a weekend warrior at a bouldering gym can’t compare himself to Nirmal Purja.

But if we’re talking about business and making any considerable amount of money, entering any field where you’re dealing with multiple elite performers all but guarantees failure if you can’t ever objectively match their work ethic, capabilities, and resources.

4. So what are we left with if you want to win?

You pick wide fields with fewer elite performers or ideally, fields where nobody is truly obsessed about them.

This is one of the core reasons why it’s so hard to win in any industries where people are extremely passionate about, such as the film industry, music, sports, etc. People absolutely love these things and many are capable of practicing virtually 24/7. Good luck winning against people who have been essentially bred to become top performers. Unless you’re absolutely sure you’re of the same stock, you don’t stand a chance.

5. In business, for those who realistically know they’ll never be elite performers, this leaves us with:

• Opportunities that aren’t related to an obsession. If you want to make woodworking products, there’s probably a guy who spends 14 hours a day woodworking who will outcompete you. In contrast, you’re unlikely to encounter a true elite performer offering a service for septic tank cleaners because nobody is that obsessed about it. Same goes for your typical boring but essential services like waste management, gutter cleaning, or towing.
• Probably skip any content-based or software-based businesses. Both attract thousands of true elite performers (think Mr. Beast for video or any egg-headed Silicon Valley developer programming 18 hours a day). Many inspirational stories come from these fields and yet these are the ones where the survivorship bias is one of the strongest (“Mr. Beast succeeded so I can, too,” discounting millions who failed).
• If you still want to go after fields where elite performers are common, specialize in something that doesn’t interest a wider audience but still addresses a painful need. You won’t beat a company made up of hardcore surfers selling surfboards. But you may specialize in selling gear for cold water surfers because much fewer people are obsessed about surfing in cold water.
• Another way is to go after a more local market. Even in crowded fields, if you change your competition from global to national, state, or city-wide, you’ll automatically dramatically increase your chances of winning. For example, if you don't come from an English-speaking country, you may never outcompete Brandon Sanderson in writing fantasy and sci-fi but you may win in a smaller market such as Poland, like Andrzej Sapkowski (the creator of the Witcher).

Prior to the workshop, I had studied countless elite performers but only through books, podcast interviews, etc. There are many online gurus, authors, podcasters etc. talking about elite performance but in reality very few people are at this level. Getting to know one in person has dramatically changed my perspective on the top performers. It has made me realize that I’ve never been one and am unlikely to ever be one as I have too broad interests and I'm too weak.

Have you ever met any elite performers? What were they like? What have you learned?

I think to phrase it differently and I agree with you, I don’t want to compete with the smart and brightest and the most hardcore people with insane work ethic.

Avoid a winner take all industry. For instance the business of search engine. Being second like Bing still sucks. Whereas other industries can have many more winners.

There are a lot of elite players in the tech space. There are also a lot of elite players doing slowlane jobs in medicine, law, and research. Generally elite players tend to be attracted to “socially accepted prestige” and I avoid them.

 

[MTF]

I think to phrase it differently and I agree with you, I don’t want to compete with the smart and brightest and the most hardcore people with insane work ethic.

Avoid a winner take all industry. For instance the business of search engine. Being second like Bing still sucks. Whereas other industries can have many more winners.

That is way better put than what I tried to communicate in some of my responses. Thank you.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

This is why I say "Balance is bullshit" if you want to be at the top of your game.

Balance = Middle. Middle = mediocrity.

Want to be elite? There is no balance.

Want to be better than average? Then wander into periodic imbalance, with periodic retreats into balance. This is pretty much how live, I have chapters of great obsession and imbalance, then go back to balance.

When you commit to obsession as a lifestyle choice, that's how you end up sick, mentally ill, and divorced 3 times with half your children hating you.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MTF]

Want to be better than average? Then wander into periodic imbalance, with periodic retreats into balance. This is pretty much how live, I have chapters of great obsession and imbalance, then go back to balance.

This is covered in The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan exactly in the same way. Is this where you got inspiration from or have you discovered this yourself as well?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

This is covered in The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan exactly in the same way. Is this where you got inspiration from or have you discovered this yourself as well?

No, learned it through my own experience, while also noticing that peak performers, or the elite, as you call it, usually have extremely dysfunctional personal lives or mental issues, from 10 divorces to estranged children that want nothing to do with them. I won't go into names as such people here tend to be worshiped.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Some great responses, another GOLD by @MTF.

Top 1% means you need to beat 100 people. 80 of them aren't even trying and 15 are stupid. I can beat 4 other people that are trying.

Love this.

It's not terribly hard to be top in the 10% when the 80% aren't even trying and have given up on life , secured by the easy excuses culture offers, all while making them feel good about it.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MTF]

Some great responses, another GOLD by @MTF.

Wow thank you. I didn't expect this. Just wanted to share my experiences and some thoughts on them.

 

[ZF Lee]

That's interesting as I almost didn't post this thread because I thought it wasn't good enough. Then again, I've been second-guessing myself in every aspect of life recently.

I don't see how I can use these writing skills in any sensible business. I may be better than an average person but I still completely suck compared to serious writers. And even these serious writers don't make much money. The more popular AI becomes, they less they'll make.

I mentioned Brandon Sanderson. He once wrote somewhere that he took a job specifically at a hotel reception desk so he could spend his 12-hour night shifts writing. And then he was probably writing even more after work. There's no way to compete with such obsessed people.

Writing can be one heck of a tool in the Fastlane toolbox.

As long people need to read something before buying stuff, writing IS needed to craft a decent marketing message. Even if they are already warmed up, they still need directions to get to the offer.

I am reminded by a Kiyosaki story in one of his books. He got asked by a writer why he sold tons of books even though he wasn't the best writer ever. He basically said there was a difference between a 'BEST-SELLING' author vs a 'best-writing' author.

That was not to say Kiyosaki totally supported selling crap all the time (although he did give himself up to the network marketing shills). But I did find powerful value in his tale of a poor dad vs rich dad...and the power of comparisons can be one of the most poignant story themes that has been used all over history.

This is what AI cannot do very well today. To take our human experiences and themes-- and turn them into something that changes lives into a different parallel.

This is why I say "Balance is bullshit" if you want to be at the top of your game.

Balance = Middle. Middle = mediocrity.

Want to be elite? There is no balance.

Want to be better than average? Then wander into periodic imbalance, with periodic retreats into balance. This is pretty much how live, I have chapters of great obsession and imbalance, then go back to balance.

When you commit to obsession as a lifestyle choice, that's how you end up sick, mentally ill, and divorced 3 times with half your children hating you.

Steve Jobs and David Goggins ahem ahem...

I believe that the Fastlane is meant to free people-- not to make more prisoners.

 

[MTF]

Writing can be one heck of a tool in the Fastlane toolbox.

As long people need to read something before buying stuff, writing IS needed to craft a decent marketing message. Even if they are already warmed up, they still need directions to get to the offer.

Writing to sell is very, very different from writing to entertain or educate. I doubt that any bestselling fiction author, a journalist, or a screenwriter could write a sales letter. I absolutely hate writing sales copy, it always sucks, and I'm sure that's the case for most writers. So writing abilities by themselves don't give you any advantage here since it's such a different skill you may just as well learn a completely different one.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[ZF Lee]

Writing to sell is very, very different from writing to entertain or educate. I doubt that any bestselling fiction author, a journalist, or a screenwriter could write a sales letter. I absolutely hate writing sales copy, it always sucks, and I'm sure that's the case for most writers. So writing abilities by themselves don't give you any advantage here since it's such a different skill you may just as well learn a completely different one.

I beg to differ.
See how Daniel Throssell does his welcome email sequence.

Most copywriters would just do 5-6 emails with some standard spell on the brand's basic values, origins story, bla bla bla...but not him:

The Parallel Welcome Sequence Archive | The Persuasive Page by Daniel Throssell

Below are all the 'interim' stories in the Parallel Welcome Sequence I invented to 'onboard' new subscribers to my email list at The Persuasive Page.

persuasivepage.com

He literally runs his new email subscribers through his own fancy universe.

He explains how it works:

Introducing The "Parallel Welcome Sequence": A NEW Kind Of Email Series That Gets Up To 200% Engagement From Your New Subscribers | The Persuasive Page by Daniel Throssell

In 2020, for my own email list , I invented the “Parallel Welcome Sequence” — a radical, fresh take on the traditional “autoresponder”.

persuasivepage.com

The way how he weaves his own universe into welcome emails was SO good...it got ripped off by a certain big-shot in copy guru-land.

I think he could get away with this because the target folks were most likely to be voracious readers/writers like himself, and in email-- you can afford to be more casual since its your list.

 

[Andy Black]

You do write well @MTF. I'm not sure of your conclusions in your opening post though. Maybe that's addressed in later posts, or maybe it's just the way it's written.

I don't know if good writing practice is to state things "authoritatively". I'm only commenting given your previous history of possibly arriving at what I think are wrong conclusions (aka throwing the baby out with the bath water).


Examples:

If you want to make woodworking products, there’s probably a guy who spends 14 hours a day woodworking who will outcompete you. In contrast, you’re unlikely to encounter a true elite performer offering a service for septic tank cleaners because nobody is that obsessed about it. Same goes for your typical boring but essential services like waste management, gutter cleaning, or towing.

I think you'll find people obsessed at everything and anything. I was the best biscuit packer out of all the students doing summer work in the biscuit factory. I even obsessed with how to unfold, make, and stack boxes. They spotted that and put me on the fastest lines.

(Note how I started that paragraph with "I think". Some will say that's weak writing/thinking/leadership. I don't gaf. I'm letting you know it's my opinion and you're free to have another one.)

Probably skip any content-based or software-based businesses. Both attract thousands of true elite performers (think Mr. Beast for video or any egg-headed Silicon Valley developer programming 18 hours a day). Many inspirational stories come from these fields and yet these are the ones where the survivorship bias is one of the strongest (“Mr. Beast succeeded so I can, too,” discounting millions who failed).

That's not what I'd conclude. I bet there's thousands or millions of content driven or software businesses doing amazing things and doing amazingly well. That's too sweeping a generalisation imo.

You won’t beat a company made up of hardcore surfers selling surfboards.

I think this is a limiting belief. What if the hard-core surfers don't cater for the market's needs as well as someone who's obsessed with catering for the market's needs rather than surfing?

go after a more local market. Even in crowded fields, if you change your competition from global to national, state, or city-wide, you’ll automatically dramatically increase your chances of winning.

I don't think this is automatic. I'll often recommend people start local since you've likely an unfair advantage over national brands since it's likely you have your finger on the pulse more.

I wrote this in @REV5028 's thread recently here:

One of your "unfair advantages" over huge brands and big influencers is you're local. Lean into that.

Be the person that enables all the other dog owners and service providers to connect and form a community?

Maybe create a local Facebook page and accompanying newsletter where you let people know about local events, news, meet ups, etc?

You don't need to ask for permission to do this, you just start and stay consistent. Tag other businesses and their events and they'll start reposting/sharing your posts.

Direct your 1-2-1 clients to your page and newsletter. Direct all those free webiner attendees to them as well.

When you send email issues put info into it and link to posts on your Facebook page.

Start by promoting the heck out of that adoption event you're going to? Help them get more publicity, sponsors, attendees, etc. It's such a worthy casue who wouldn't want to share that event to their own Facebook friends?


Think about the Facebook page name and newsletter name. Maybe give a nod to your city or county, and something dog related? Make it something people would proudly wear a t-shirt or bumper sticker about. Rachel Miller talks about this. One of her Facebook pages was called "Crazy Cat Moma" for example. So when people shared a post from her page they were proudly identifying as a Crazy Cat Moma.

I live in County Kildare here in Ireland. Maybe I'd just call it Kildare Dog Lovers or something similar, although that's a bit boring.


But if @REV5028 wanted to do dog training sessions via Zoom then I think going national would work better. There's waay more searches on Google and she'd likely be able to get lower CPCs if she was to run Google Ads. Lower CPCs and more visitors, leads, and sales for the same budget.



I replied because I worry you sometimes arrive at black-and-white conclusions you believe. I also worry others wouldn't take conclusions with a pinch-of-salt.

Just my 2c. Hope it helps.

 

[MTF]

I beg to differ.
See how Daniel Throssell does his welcome email sequence.

Most copywriters would just do 5-6 emails with some standard spell on the brand's basic values, origins story, bla bla bla...but not him:

The Parallel Welcome Sequence Archive | The Persuasive Page by Daniel Throssell

Below are all the 'interim' stories in the Parallel Welcome Sequence I invented to 'onboard' new subscribers to my email list at The Persuasive Page.

persuasivepage.com

He literally runs his new email subscribers through his own fancy universe.

He explains how it works:

Introducing The "Parallel Welcome Sequence": A NEW Kind Of Email Series That Gets Up To 200% Engagement From Your New Subscribers | The Persuasive Page by Daniel Throssell

In 2020, for my own email list , I invented the “Parallel Welcome Sequence” — a radical, fresh take on the traditional “autoresponder”.

persuasivepage.com

The way how he weaves his own universe into welcome emails was SO good...it got ripped off by a certain big-shot in copy guru-land.

I think he could get away with this because the target folks were most likely to be voracious readers/writers like himself, and in email-- you can afford to be more casual since its your list.

That's cool and unique. Thanks for sharing that.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MTF]

I don't know if good writing practice is to state things "authoritatively". I'm only commenting given your previous history of possibly arriving at what I think are wrong conclusions (aka throwing the baby out with the bath water).

If you don't state things authoritatively, your writing is weak and boring. Nobody wants to read meek, watered down opinions that appeal to "everyone." For that you can ask ChatGPT.

I think you'll find people obsessed at everything and anything. I was the best biscuit packer out of all the students doing summer work in the biscuit factory. I even obsessed with how to unfold, make, and stack boxes. They spotted that and put me on the fastest lines.

That's your default because you most likely have some aspects of an elite performer (your post count is a great example of that; you're WAY, WAY above average here on an obsessive level few can match). But the vast majority of people aren't obsessed with anything.

(Note how I started that paragraph with "I think". Some will say that's weak writing/thinking/leadership. I don't gaf. I'm letting you know it's my opinion and you're free to have another one.)

It is weak writing If you're writing an opinion piece, there's no point writing "I think." Everyone knows it's your opinion and there's no point in unnecessarily emphasizing that.

That's not what I'd conclude. I bet there's thousands or millions of content driven or software businesses doing amazing things and doing amazingly well. That's too sweeping a generalisation imo.

I mostly referred to trying to compete in the most crowded fields with clear winners. You can't outcompete Mr. Beast and most likely you can't outcompete Nathan Barry or Joe Rogan. You CAN if you niche down and avoid competing directly and that was the point of my thread - being very careful about the field you're operating in.

I think this is a limiting belief. What if the hard-core surfers don't cater for the market's needs as well as someone who's obsessed with catering for the market's needs rather than surfing?

Because in many fields if you're not the person obsessively doing it your entire life you have no chance to cater well for the market's needs. You won't understand a hardcore surfer unless you're one. Surfing is actually a good example of an industry where the most hardcore surfers are usually the ones avoiding the largest corporations the most (because they can't relate anymore to being a surf bum).

 

[Hai]

The only way you can outperform others is by BEING MORE OF YOURSELF. There is NOONE else who can be YOU'ER than YOU. Therefore, if YOU are the YOUest YOU, there will NEVER be ANY competition.

 

[Andy Black]

It is weak writing If you're writing an opinion piece, there's no point writing "I think." Everyone knows it's your opinion and there's no point in unnecessarily emphasizing that.

Not to belabor the point. I'm not "writing"... I'm trying to get a point across and sometimes spark a conversation.

I find:

"I think you'd benefit from xyz."

does that better than

"You'd benefit from xyz."


Writing style is one thing. If it's also your internal dialog then *I think* it's something to mull over.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MTF]

The only way you can outperform others is by BEING MORE OF YOURSELF. There is NOONE else who can be YOU'ER than YOU. Therefore, if YOU are the YOUest YOU, there will NEVER be ANY competition.

That's a beautiful comforting story for people who refuse to see the reality as it is.

If you're a fat slob binging on potato chips every day then becoming more of yourself will only bring you more of that.

Also, your clients don't care if you're being yourself. They care if you can deliver. If you can't - and someone else can and doesn't waste time trying to be "more of themselves" - then you're not going to win.

 

[Hai]

That's a beautiful comforting story for people who refuse to see the reality as it is.

If you're a fat slob binging on potato chips every day then becoming more of yourself will only bring you more of that.

Also, your clients don't care if you're being yourself. They care if you can deliver. If you can't - and someone else can and doesn't waste time trying to be "more of themselves" - then you're not going to win.

A fat slob binging on potato chips will be a fat slob binging on potato chips. If that is who he is he was never supposed to be someone else.

Similarly a happy janitor was never supposed to be a enterprise owning billionaire. They are happy being themselves.

The mix of things that excite you the most will create who you are.

You will never being able to deliver if you're not excited by what you do.
And you can only be yourself if you do things that excite you. If it doesn't excite you, it means it's not who you are or what motivates you.
The reality is that you are not yourself, and lying to yourself that you are someone you are not. Because you assume being you is not good enough.

A cherry tree cannot become an apple tree. He can put some makeup and appear like it, but then he is just lying to himself.
Instead of trying to sell apples, he should sell what he can sell best: cherries.

Similarly you will only find the most pressing and most specialized need in any area if you go deep into it.
And you only go deep into it if it's something you would naturally do anyway by being yourself.
This is a form of barrier to entry. By being YOU, you have a natural barrier to entry, you have a specialized knowledge that no one else can copy unless they are an exact copy of YOU.

Not to invalidate any other belief systems, but this is how I see it, and it is perfectly reasoned from my perspective.

 

[heavy_industry]

A fat slob binging on potato chips will be a fat slob binging on potato chips. If that is who he is he was never supposed to be someone else.

Similarly a happy janitor was never supposed to be a enterprise owning billionaire. They are happy being themselves.

The mix of things that excite you the most will create who you are.

You will never being able to deliver if you're not excited by what you do.
And you can only be yourself if you do things that excite you. If it doesn't excite you, it means it's not who you are or what motivates you.
The reality is that you are not yourself, and lying to yourself that you are someone you are not. Because you assume being you is not good enough.

A cherry tree cannot become an apple tree. He can put some makeup and appear like it, but then he is just lying to himself.
Instead of trying to sell apples, he should sell what he can sell best: cherries.

Not to invalidate any other belief systems, but this is how I see it, and it is perfectly reasoned from my perspective.

"Just be YOURSELF and be happy" is very naive and stupid advice, for a number of reasons:

1. "Yourself" does not exist​

There is no "real self" deep down waiting for you to discover it.

We are what we did in the past. And in the future, we will be what we do today.

All thoughts, all emotions, all actions have accumulated into what "we are" today. This is a reversible and dynamic process, and the outcome is never set in stone.

There is no fate and there is no destiny.

We can become anyone we want. And we can craft this life into the most beautiful thing we can imagine.

---

2. The market doesn't give a shit​

Nobody cares about your inner pathetic self-discovery journey.

Can you deliver value? Yes or no?

If yes, here is my money - and I don't care who you think you are, what are your hobbies, or what makes you warm and fuzzy inside.

---

3. Who "you are" might not be enough​

If YOU - "who you are" - has picked up addictions, pathological ways of thinking, or maladaptive behavior, giving someone the advice of "just be you" is the most evil thing you can do.

Maybe you're not enough.
Maybe you're an idiot with self-destructive tendencies.

And maybe - just maybe - you may have the ability to stop and move in a different direction.

You may use the human superpower of CHANGING ONSELF.

As Darwin said it (misquote - he did not say this, thanks MJ!), the ultimate survivability trait is neither strength nor intelligence - but rather flexibility and adaptability. Your ability to change in response to environmental feedback.

But to use this superpower, you need to accept one simple fact:

"REAL YOU" DOES NOT EXIST.

You are the person that you practice being.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

As Darwin said it, the ultimate survivability trait is neither strength nor intelligence - but rather flexibility and adaptability. Your ability to change in response to environmental feedback.

Darwin never said this as it is one of those internet misquotes that continually get repeated. Nonetheless, the statement is quite true.

A fat slob binging on potato chips will be a fat slob binging on potato chips. If that is who he is he was never supposed to be someone else.

Similarly a happy janitor was never supposed to be a enterprise owning billionaire. They are happy being themselves.

The mix of things that excite you the most will create who you are.

You will never being able to deliver if you're not excited by what you do.
And you can only be yourself if you do things that excite you. If it doesn't excite you, it means it's not who you are or what motivates you.
The reality is that you are not yourself, and lying to yourself that you are someone you are not. Because you assume being you is not good enough.

A cherry tree cannot become an apple tree. He can put some makeup and appear like it, but then he is just lying to himself.
Instead of trying to sell apples, he should sell what he can sell best: cherries.

Similarly you will only find the most pressing and most specialized need in any area if you go deep into it.
And you only go deep into it if it's something you would naturally do anyway by being yourself.
This is a form of barrier to entry. By being YOU, you have a natural barrier to entry, you have a specialized knowledge that no one else can copy unless they are an exact copy of YOU.

Not to invalidate any other belief systems, but this is how I see it, and it is perfectly reasoned from my perspective.

This reads well with reason.

And it makes sense.

I almost feel my heart warm as I read it.

But it is all philosophical, idealistic claptrap that fails at reality.

Theory like this works in textbooks and popular self-development books that preach following passions but it doesn't work in the real world.

For every 1000 people who believe this hogwash, 1 will succeed. And the other 999 will get eaten alive by a market who doesn't give a shit about what you feel about your inner self. And then after learning the harsh truth, they join the communist party hoping they will get paid millions to drum melodies on empty Home Depot buckets.

Sorry.

 

[MitchC]

Thoughts on this @MTF?

More follow your passion feel good nonsense, or proof everyone has a unique value they can provide to the world?

 

[Panos Daras]

5. In business, for those who realistically know they’ll never be elite performers, this leaves us with:

I really do like your point about how top performers are wired differently.

However, I think things are being made more complicated than they need to be.

Storytime:

Last week, I researched to hire someone to replace the windows and balcony door in my house to improve energy efficiency. This upgrade qualifies for a government subsidy, making it a somewhat reasonable move for me.

The contractor took measurements and then quoted me €10,000 just for labor.

WTF I thought!

This project was only supposed to take about 7 hours. So I researched YouTube and how-to websites.

Turns out, the work is easy to do. Anyone with half a functioning brain cell and opposable thumbs can do it.

This made me think. Even if this contractor only gets a few crappy clients like me each month, he could still make a huge profit.

For example, suppose he secures 6 clients a month, each requiring 9 hours of work (including ordering and picking up materials and driving to location and measuring). In that case, he could be earning €720,000 a year, minus expenses.

Assuming his total annual expenses are very aggressively €100,000, his profit would be around €620,000 for what is with minimal effort.

Now, let's consider a less lazy worker who manages 12 clients a month.

That’s a total of 144 a year, with each job taking about 9 hours. That's 108 hours a month or roughly 27 hours a week, assuming four weeks per month.

With expenses staying roughly the same(they were on the high end in the first place), this workload would lead to a profit of €1,240,000.

So what happens If the business is sold for twice the profit?

Well, that's €2,480,000 just for being "average/ good enough/ bad".

You don't need to be an "elite performer" to achieve this.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MTF]

View attachment 55440
Thoughts on this @MTF?

More follow your passion feel good nonsense, or proof everyone has a unique value they can provide to the world?

It's completely unrealistic for 99% of people. If you were to take out "what you can be paid for" then sure, that makes potentially sense. But getting paid for it is the problem.

 

[MTF]

I really do like your point about how top performers are wired differently.

However, I think things are being made more complicated than they need to be.

Storytime:

Last week, I researched to hire someone to replace the windows and balcony door in my house to improve energy efficiency. This upgrade qualifies for a government subsidy, making it a somewhat reasonable move for me.

The contractor took measurements and then quoted me €10,000 just for labor.

WTF I thought!

This project was only supposed to take about 7 hours. So I researched YouTube and how-to websites.

Turns out, the work is easy to do. Anyone with half a functioning brain cell and opposable thumbs can do it.

This made me think. Even if this contractor only gets a few crappy clients like me each month, he could still make a huge profit.

For example, suppose he secures 6 clients a month, each requiring 9 hours of work (including ordering and picking up materials and driving to location and measuring). In that case, he could be earning €720,000 a year, minus expenses.

Assuming his total annual expenses are very aggressively €100,000, his profit would be around €620,000 for what is with minimal effort.

Now, let's consider a less lazy worker who manages 12 clients a month.

That’s a total of 144 a year, with each job taking about 9 hours. That's 108 hours a month or roughly 27 hours a week, assuming four weeks per month.

With expenses staying roughly the same(they were on the high end in the first place), this workload would lead to a profit of €1,240,000.

So what happens If the business is sold for twice the profit?

Well, that's €2,480,000 just for being "average/ good enough/ bad".

You don't need to be an "elite performer" to achieve this.

That's why I said that you need to be careful what industry you get into. I even recommended boring oldschool businesses over flashy ones like software, content creation, etc. so your story proves my point. This is exactly the type of industry where you're unlikely to meet true elite performers.

 

[Fox]

I think business is a lot different than sports.

You can't accidentally become a F1 driver or the worlds best soccer player.
The rules are so defined and the competition so intense.

People train their whole lives to compete against someone else for the exact same prize, under the exact same conditions. You aren't going to have much "luck" since every small margin is already well mapped out.

But business has so many gaps. Markets and demands are always changing and new opportunities open all the time.

The first "online success" person I ever met was this dude in South America. And he was a total disaster.

He was late 20's, had a drinking problem, and would always get us kicked out of bars. If you think of elite focus and discipline... this was not it. (Still a super fun and legit dude).

But he had still succeeded. He taken a course on software ideas, had made a basic software that did animations for businesses, and had put it online for affiliates to team up with him.

And it absolutely crushed it. Did like $5-6m sales in two years.

Right product at the right time to a hungry new audience who wanted to buy.

This is why I think the analogy of the gum ball machine is so fitting. It is 50% just showing up day after day and putting in the work to make something succeed. To me that isn't "elite", it is grit.

Can a bunch of personal work help? Of course.

Is it needed to win... not at all.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MTF]

I think business is a lot different than sports.

You can't accidentally become a F1 driver or the worlds best soccer player.
The rules are so defined and the competition so intense.

People train their whole lives to complete against someone else for the exact same prize, under the exact same conditions. You aren't going to have much "luck" since every small margin is already well mapped out.

But business has so many gaps. Markets and demands are always changing and new opportunities open all the time.

The first "online success" person I ever met was this dude in South America. And he was a total disaster.

He was late 20's, had a drinking problem, and would always get us kicked out of bars. If you think of elite focus and discipline... this was not it. (Still a super fun and legit dude).

But he had still succeeded. He taken a course on software ideas, had made a basic software that did animations for businesses, and had put it online for affiliates to team up with him.

And it absolutely crushed it. Did like $5-6m sales in two years.

Right product at the right time to a hungry new audience who wanted to buy.

This is why I think the analogy of the gum ball machine is so fitting. It is 50% just showing up day after day and putting in the work to make something succeed. To me that isn't "elite", it is grit.

Can a bunch of personal work help? Of course.

Is it needed to win... not at all.

This is very well articulated and I think you should have posted this thread instead of me. And here you are saying I write well yet you drop a gold post like it's nothing.

 

[Panos Daras]

View attachment 55440
Thoughts on this @MTF?

More follow your passion feel good nonsense, or proof everyone has a unique value they can provide to the world?

View attachment 55440
Thoughts on this @MTF?

More follow your passion feel good nonsense, or proof everyone has a unique value they can provide to the world?

The Japanese are wise. The problem is that people think that the Ikigai you find. You do not find it; you make it.

You get paid for what the market needs that you are good at, which leads you to love it, which makes the world love it more, which makes you make more money and get paid better and love it more. It is like a flywheel. Also, you need to be realistic; even if you adore something, it will suck sometimes.

 

[MakeItHappen]

I think business is a lot different than sports.

You can't accidentally become a F1 driver or the worlds best soccer player.
The rules are so defined and the competition so intense.

People train their whole lives to complete against someone else for the exact same prize, under the exact same conditions. You aren't going to have much "luck" since every small margin is already well mapped out.

But business has so many gaps. Markets and demands are always changing and new opportunities open all the time.

The first "online success" person I ever met was this dude in South America. And he was a total disaster.

He was late 20's, had a drinking problem, and would always get us kicked out of bars. If you think of elite focus and discipline... this was not it. (Still a super fun and legit dude).

But he had still succeeded. He taken a course on software ideas, had made a basic software that did animations for businesses, and had put it online for affiliates to team up with him.

And it absolutely crushed it. Did like $5-6m sales in two years.

Right product at the right time to a hungry new audience who wanted to buy.

This is why I think the analogy of the gum ball machine is so fitting. It is 50% just showing up day after day and putting in the work to make something succeed. To me that isn't "elite", it is grit.

Can a bunch of personal work help? Of course.

Is it needed to win... not at all.

Great point.

If you are early in a new market than being an elite performer isn't that important.
"A rising tide lifts all boats"

However, how can you plan for that? Often this comes down to Lück and risk. And once it's clear that the new market IS very lukrative the competiton will increase. In mature markets where the Rules are clear elite performers have an edge.

And Just because something is very complex and has many variables doesn't mean that there aren't people that align to these conditions perfectly. Think Elon Musk.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kevin88660]

A fat slob binging on potato chips will be a fat slob binging on potato chips. If that is who he is he was never supposed to be someone else.

Similarly a happy janitor was never supposed to be a enterprise owning billionaire. They are happy being themselves.

The mix of things that excite you the most will create who you are.

You will never being able to deliver if you're not excited by what you do.
And you can only be yourself if you do things that excite you. If it doesn't excite you, it means it's not who you are or what motivates you.
The reality is that you are not yourself, and lying to yourself that you are someone you are not. Because you assume being you is not good enough.

A cherry tree cannot become an apple tree. He can put some makeup and appear like it, but then he is just lying to himself.
Instead of trying to sell apples, he should sell what he can sell best: cherries.

Similarly you will only find the most pressing and most specialized need in any area if you go deep into it.
And you only go deep into it if it's something you would naturally do anyway by being yourself.
This is a form of barrier to entry. By being YOU, you have a natural barrier to entry, you have a specialized knowledge that no one else can copy unless they are an exact copy of YOU.

Not to invalidate any other belief systems, but this is how I see it, and it is perfectly reasoned from my perspective.

“Being yourself” means different things to different people.

I used to think this is entirely nonsense. But I think there is some sense to it, and understanding yourself actually helps you to find your success better.

It is definitely NOT about happily being a janitor whole life with no ambition in life.

There are different style of chess players. Some are aggressive, some are not, some play by the book religiously, some are more spontaneous. Different people are actually suited to different styles of playing. This has to do with their personality, experience and upbringing. There are elite chess players of totally different styles.

The more you understand yourself the more you are able to develop your own modus operandi in business and stick to it and have the highest rate of success.

 

[Tubs]

I agree with the topic of the thread.

You have to make Sure you compete in an area where you have an edge. That might mean picking a niche that is smaller than your ambition.

I like the concept of combining expertise in more than one area to become hard to compete with.
If you are a top 10% content writer and a top 10% leader and you have top 10% knowledge in MMA you could build a content agency, leading great employees, for MMA related businesses .
The high performers in each of the 3 areas can't compete with you now and there are likely few people in the world who can. Yet you dont have to be elite at anything to do it.

I remember the Dilbert guy talked about that his book.
He was somewhat good at drawing, somewhat funny, and had experience working a corporate office job. When he combined that into the Dilbert comics he found massive success.