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What are your most foundational pieces of wisdom?

Anything related to matters of the mind

hatedsalesrep

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What pieces of wisdom do you find to be deceptively simple that have dramatically improved your life?

Mine is - calories in > calories out.

It is F*cking simple but deceivingly hard to do. People will do Ketogenic diet, Atkins, Low-Carb, Gluten-Free, Vegan, which, make sense if you have an underlying condition such as Celiacs, Diabetes, allergies to diary and so on.

If you are simply fat and want to lose weight then see point above. I preach because I've been deceived.

It wasn't until I seriously started reducing the size of my plates, eating heartier meals, being more intentional with meal timing, seeing food as a holistic part of what makes for an enjoyable life as opposed to the highlight of my day that I've been able to get down to almost my high-school weight. Should be at my goal weight in 2 months.

Curious to hear from others in various areas, esp finance/business.
 
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Niptuck MD

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dont finance a car and dont commit to a mortgage if you know you will not be doing your job for long.

also pay a professional to do things you dont know (nor need to be doing taking up precious bandwidth)

also, another good health one is ¨garbage in, garbage out¨
 
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fastlane_dad

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Invest $10 or more into the market each month.

Very simple to do (especially with the 3 fund portfolio, or even simpler a single fund), will teach you outsized lessons through the years (and decades) of consistent skin in the game.

Over lifetime --> This will align your mindset correctly to save you hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars on advisor fees to DIY it yourself. Will help keep, grow and preserve your wealth as your fastlane business spews off enough cash flow to start investing month after month.

Opening a Vanguard / Ameritrade / Fidelity account is a good start (one of those.)
 
G

Guest111683

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You can't be great at something by predicting.

This Steve Jobs quote illustrates the thought process:
"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards."

For example: Thinking you can run ten miles on day one after never running in your life.

If you try to PREDICT that you will run ten miles the first time you run, you will collapse head-first into the pavement after your stomach cramps up and your ankles give out.

However, if you slowly increase your endurance, you can connect the 'dots' by looking at how far you got after each run. This way, each FINISHED result (0.5 miles, 1 mile) becomes a stepping stone to the next. It allows you to turn fantasized results ("I will be able to run ten miles immediately!") into actual results ("After I slowly work my way up, I will be able to run ten miles!").
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Oh boy, where do I begin?
  1. Just because something is "illegal" doesn't mean it is wrong.
  2. Just because something is "legal" doesn't mean it is right.
  3. Just because "everyone does it" doesn't mean it is right.
  4. Tradition tends to imbue lazy thinking.
  5. Trusting a politician is like trusting a thief while at gunpoint.
  6. There's no such thing as a healthcare system, it is a sickcare system.
  7. I followed the science, the studies, and the experts: all I found was money.
  8. When it comes to marketing, what works today, rarely works tomorrow.
  9. Expecting to be a success on your first try in business is like thinking you can hit a home run on your first at-bat in baseball.
  10. Pay no attention to those high-profile book endorsements you find on best-selling books: They're bullshit and your high-profile endorser likely has not read the book and was prompted for the "blurb" by the publisher they're signed to.
  11. History generally repeats, especially when it involves human behavior.
  12. If you want to live a conventional life, follow conventional wisdom.
  13. You are your thoughts, and the choices from those thoughts.
  14. Happiness is a choice.
  15. Happiness is caused by recognizing what you have (gratitude) while misery is about what you don't have.
  16. Passion doesn't pay the bills unless you find a way to turn it into money.
  17. Money tends to amplify who you are -- if you're an a**hole broke, you'll be more of an a**hole rich.
  18. You are not your parents.
  19. Time ultimately reveals the truth (Tom Cruise psychiatry video, LOL)
  20. You are the CEO of your life.
All add more as the pop into my head...
 

NeoDialectic

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What pieces of wisdom do you find to be deceptively simple that have dramatically improved your life?

Mine is - calories in > calories out.

It is F*cking simple but deceivingly hard to do. People will do Ketogenic diet, Atkins, Low-Carb, Gluten-Free, Vegan, which, make sense if you have an underlying condition such as Celiacs, Diabetes, allergies to diary and so on.

If you are simply fat and want to lose weight then see point above. I preach because I've been deceived.

It wasn't until I seriously started reducing the size of my plates, eating heartier meals, being more intentional with meal timing, seeing food as a holistic part of what makes for an enjoyable life as opposed to the highlight of my day that I've been able to get down to almost my high-school weight. Should be at my goal weight in 2 months.

Curious to hear from others in various areas, esp finance/business.
Four that pop up into my head.
  • "We'll see"
  • "......Maybe....."
  • Believing peoples actions and not their words
  • Persistence trumps most other things
 

socaldude

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  1. Just because something is "illegal" doesn't mean it is wrong.
  2. Just because something is "legal" doesn't mean it is right.

There was a time when laws where made based on “natural law”. Our intuitive instinct on right and wrong or good and bad.

Now it’s just BS laws made to protect the power structure. Or Machiavellian games for political purposes.
 
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PureA

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Oh boy, where do I begin?
  1. Just because something is "illegal" doesn't mean it is wrong.
  2. Just because something is "legal" doesn't mean it is right.
  3. Just because "everyone does it" doesn't mean it is right.
  4. Tradition tends to imbue lazy thinking.
  5. Trusting a politician is like trusting a thief while at gunpoint.
  6. There's no such thing as a healthcare system, it is a sickcare system.
  7. I followed the science, the studies, and the experts: all I found was money.
  8. When it comes to marketing, what works today, rarely works tomorrow.
  9. Expecting to be a success on your first try in business is like thinking you can hit a home run on your first at-bat in baseball.
  10. Pay no attention to those high-profile book endorsements you find on best-selling books: They're bullshit and your high-profile endorser likely has not read the book and was prompted for the "blurb" by the publisher they're signed to.
  11. History generally repeats, especially when it involves human behavior.
  12. If you want to live a conventional life, follow conventional wisdom.
  13. You are your thoughts, and the choices from those thoughts.
  14. Happiness is a choice.
  15. Happiness is caused by recognizing what you have (gratitude) while misery is about what you don't have.
  16. Passion doesn't pay the bills unless you find a way to turn it into money.
  17. Money tends to amplify who you are -- if you're an a**hole broke, you'll be more of an a**hole rich.
  18. You are not your parents.
  19. Time ultimately reveals the truth (Tom Cruise psychiatry video, LOL)
  20. You are the CEO of your life.
All add more as the pop into my head...
MJ wins the thread

/done.

MJ, I'm curious, is this stuff top of mind for you or do you have notes/principles?

My contribution is the illusion of just one more piece of information. (the secret sauce is just one more click away! I promise. No. For real this time!)

Just one more book, course, secret, hack, strategy, video, post, story. In all areas of life it's easy to hold the illusion that you need more information... you don't. If information was all that is needed everyone would be walking around with a 6 pack and a Ferrari. Knowledge that isn't being used and put into action is utterly worthless and very overvalued in todays society. I've read all the books. I can sound smart and spout off cool stories, examples, studies and strategies, does any of it matter? No.
 

Vinz

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You should give your best in everything you do.
Especially in a boring "slowlane" job
I'm thinking about this a lot lately
 
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Last edited:

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
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MJ, I'm curious, is this stuff top of mind for you or do you have notes/principles?

Top of mind, but I guess it has morphed into principles that have served me pretty well over the years.

Of course, all my principles remain porous and open to new evidence and/or exceptions. For example, I know there are legit scientists motivated by discovery first, money second. I know some politicians truly want to help, versus the majority who are motivated by greed and power. Most politicians operate on a "power and party first" mentality, not people, communities, or country.
 
G

Guest-5ty5s4

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My favorite was from a poster I saw on the wall in 6th grade that said "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten."

It stuck with me. I was 12. I realized you have to change the input if you want a different output, applies to everything in life.
 

Johnny boy

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Put opportunity cost and time decay on your personal balance sheet when making decisions and you'll see just how bad most peoples' decisions are.

explanation:
Having a million when you're finally 60 is lame as F*ck.
Forget about saving money on basic things. Worry about building something big and stay away from big purchases like a lambo for a little bit. Get the big things right, not the stupid insignificant stuff.
You lose way more money by not doing things than you save by not drinking starbucks coffees. One great decision today can make up for a years worth of coffees.
Act like a year of your life is worth a million dollars minimum. Save time, have some guts, take some chances, move quickly.


On paper, it makes sense that paying interest on something is silly. It also makes financial sense to save the highest percentage of your income that you can, then invest it in the market to get an 8% yearly return and have a few million when you're old. It makes sense to a calculator. But it pretends that your time is worth nothing, and accounts for zero opportunity cost. Growing a simple business can get you those millions in a decade or less, and you can have all the fun you want. It's a much better way to live. Every year you live not working on a great business, you are missing out on millions. It kills me knowing if I was just smarter I could have figured out a way to have 10x the income by now but I never figured it out. It motivates me to think differently about my situation and to be more creative. Spend 99% of your energy on building something great, and 1% of your time saving money. Most people are 20% income and 80% savings focused. That's retarded.
 
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Itizn

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I love these types of threads. :)

" Smart and accomplished people you look up to can be wrong too"
 

Bing

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Regarding entrepreneurship: understanding the difference between money and value (both in what you buy and what you sell).

Regarding self-worth: no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. (Eleanor Roosevelt, though I argue "inferior" can be replaced with "anything".)

Regarding government: taxation is theft.

  1. Time ultimately reveals the truth (Tom Cruise psychiatry video, LOL)

@MJ DeMarco Not to derail the thread, but what do you mean by this one?
 

heavy_industry

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You are the creator of your own destiny. The life you are living is what you've put yourself into.

What you truly believe about yourself and about the world will determine your actions. And actions have consequences. Everything that you see around you is a reflection of who you really are. All the things that you regard as "problems" in your life are just symptoms - side effects of your way of thinking applied repeatedly over the years. You are the real problem.

If you really want to change your life, you will have to change yourself.
 
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Black_Dragon43

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Here's a few of mine:

1. Learn to trust your instincts and experience over what other people say (that includes statistics, science and studies - that's also what other people say)
2. Work on both theory and practice - working just on one of them is likely to prove hurtful in the long run. Too much theory (for example reading), and you lose the ability to think on your own, too much practice, and you don't spend time to reflect or learn from others as well.
3. Keep your word - when you say something, do it, otherwise don't say it. That's true both towards yourself and towards other people. If you say lies to yourself all the time, there's no wonder you've got no self-esteem.
4. Don't trust science or scientific thinking on non-science matters - psychology, economics, human relationships, business and so on are not sciences. In sciences, if you do A, you always get B (for example physics). In psychology, sometimes your dad abuses you, and you end up OK, other times you get abused and you end up NOT OK, hence it's not a science.
5. Reduce your exposure to advertisements, it destroys your brain - advertisement was created to get people to buy shit they don't need in order to sell more. Your desires and thoughts are warped by advertising, and if you don't take control of your media intake, you'll swing from one side to another, without any control.
6. You need to develop yourself intellectually AND physically - don't neglect physical development. A man with an oversized brain but a weak body is an abomination with diseased thoughts. It is not possible for the mind to function at its peak if the body isn't well taken care of.
7. Practice some form of stress elimination - I practice TM, it cleans stressors on a deep level, and gives you creativity, clarity, and inner strength.
8. Develop energy, vitality, lust for life, what the Greeks called thumos - you don't need confidence, mindset, and what not. What you need to actualize yourself is thumos - the energy that makes it possible for you to smash through fears, weaknesses, and setbacks. Confidence, self-esteem, mindset are all BULLSHIT. None of the real big hitter warriors of the past did any mindset work. None of them read Napoleon Hill. Their entire work was living a certain way and imitating others greater than them. Watch this video:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEgBI8_R9l8&ab_channel=RussellWalter

9. Read less self-help and more stories - human beings learn more through imitation than through principles, since principles always lack the context required to be well understood. But don't read any crap pulp fiction or whatever is popular. Go back to the time-tested classics, which offer timeless lessons into humanity, human behavior, and what dealing with life and other people is like.
10. Focus on people first - people have everything that you want. Focus on building relationships, getting to know others, and working out win-win deals. If you focus on anything other than people, your journey will just be a lot slower. Service, product, technology, systems, automations, all these things may be important, but they'll never be as important as people

(Originally from: 10 Principles of Wisdom to Help You Get The Most Out of Life and Business - TANDA Digital - I'm posting this link for SEO, since I want Google to know where the content is originally from, otherwise there is a risk that it will rank on Google first from the forum, before my website, which would detrimentally affect me. Whole article is above, so you don't need to access my website. If this is not alright @MJ DeMarco please DM me, and I'll make the necessary payment for the post).
@MJ DeMarco Not to derail the thread, but what do you mean by this one?
Tom Cruise said in the 2000s that depression isn't caused by a chemical imbalance, everyone ostracized him, now science is backing that claim up. Which is exactly why one of my principles is not to trust science on what isn't scientific (ie, mental health/psychology).
 

hatedsalesrep

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You should give your best in everything you do.
Especially in a boring "slowlane" job
I'm thinking about this a lot lately
How you do anything is how you do everything...I've also been thinking about this a lot. Thanks for sharing.
 

ErikGH

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From Jim Rohn Work hard at a job and you will make a living. Work hard on yourself and you will make a fortune.
 
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YeabsiraHaile101

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What pieces of wisdom do you find to be deceptively simple that have dramatically improved your life?

Mine is - calories in > calories out.

It is F*cking simple but deceivingly hard to do. People will do Ketogenic diet, Atkins, Low-Carb, Gluten-Free, Vegan, which, make sense if you have an underlying condition such as Celiacs, Diabetes, allergies to diary and so on.

If you are simply fat and want to lose weight then see point above. I preach because I've been deceived.

It wasn't until I seriously started reducing the size of my plates, eating heartier meals, being more intentional with meal timing, seeing food as a holistic part of what makes for an enjoyable life as opposed to the highlight of my day that I've been able to get down to almost my high-school weight. Should be at my goal weight in 2 months.

Curious to hear from others in various areas, esp finance/business.
What pieces of wisdom do you find to be deceptively simple that have dramatically improved your life?
Mine is - calories in > calories out.

It is F*cking simple but deceivingly hard to do. People will do Ketogenic diet, Atkins, Low-Carb, Gluten-Free, Vegan, which, make sense if you have an underlying condition such as Celiacs, Diabetes, allergies to diary and so on.

If you are simply fat and want to lose weight then see point above. I preach because I've been deceived.

It wasn't until I seriously started reducing the size of my plates, eating heartier meals, being more intentional with meal timing, seeing food as a holistic part of what makes for an enjoyable life as opposed to the highlight of my day that I've been able to get down to almost my high-school weight. Should be at my goal weight in 2 months.

Curious to hear from others in various areas, esp finance/busin
What pieces of wisdom do you find to be deceptively simple that have dramatically improved your life?

Mine is - calories in > calories out.

It is F*cking simple but deceivingly hard to do. People will do Ketogenic diet, Atkins, Low-Carb, Gluten-Free, Vegan, which, make sense if you have an underlying condition such as Celiacs, Diabetes, allergies to diary and so on.

If you are simply fat and want to lose weight then see point above. I preach because I've been deceived.

It wasn't until I seriously started reducing the size of my plates, eating heartier meals, being more intentional with meal timing, seeing food as a holistic part of what makes for an enjoyable life as opposed to the highlight of my day that I've been able to get down to almost my high-school weight. Should be at my goal weight in 2 months.

Curious to hear from others in various areas, esp finance/business.
“A year from now, you will wish you start today.”

Yeah. Read it again!
 

LifeisSuffering

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  • To go from a bad place to a better one you need to go to a worse place first
  • Don"t read News, Read Books
  • Spend Money on Experiences not things, This is how money buy happiness
  • Code is Leverage
  • Relegion is an antidote for mental illeness
  • Buy Nice or Buy Twice
 
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