You don’t need more time, you just prioritize other things

[Johnny boy]

The most butthurt people I ever see in my entire life are people who get told they would need to change priorities in order to succeed.

“Hey, how do I find time to work on my business? I spend 5 hours a day playing patty cake with my kids, my wife makes me stay at home, I spend 4 hours a day at the gym, and I’m not trading away my time with my friends, we go golfing every other day for another 4 hours”

Your success is the last thing on your list of priorities, don’t be confused when you get proportional results.

You are competing against guys like me.

Gym is only 30-40 minutes 3x a week.
I kicked my girlfriend out of my house to stay focused.
I have 3-4 friends I see once a week and we talk 80% business.
I don’t have kids (that I know of)
I don’t have a wife
I don’t even have a dog

I wake up and think about my goals, I work, I go to bed thinking about my goals.

I prioritized my goals as the top 4 on a list of 5 important things to me.

I will expect proportional results.

You really want to spend time with the kids, you want to keep your safe full time job with no risk, you want to do everything but work and that’s fine, you can do that, just don’t be confused why you’re not getting anywhere.

Everyone acts like they were handed the life they are in and have no choice. You chose everything you have and everything you’ve done has led to today.

Everything in your life is your choice. You choose to spend your time any way you’d like. I’d love a dog. I’d love to spend time with my girl. I’d love to have a lot of friends hanging out every night. I just know that at the end of the day, it takes away from my goals, and I’ve already made the decision that I would trade all to get all.

You can have anything you want in life, you just don’t get to pick how much it costs. You are responsible for every second of your day, whether it feels that way or not. You could spend 17 hours working on your one singular goal 7 days a week, you just refuse to accept what you would have to give up. You love hearing things like “burn out”, “overtraining”, “work-life balance”. That shit isn’t real. Never losing momentum IS real. I’ve had singular strains of work that have lasted for weeks, only interrupted by dreams about the work I have to do before getting back to it. The truth is that there’s nothing more pleasurable than that.

Give all to get all, it’s an easy trade.

In 5 years I do not want to have a really good excuse. I don’t care how good it is. I don’t care if anyone around me is patting my back telling me it’s okay, I did what I could, it’s not my fault. That’s good as dog shit to me.

If I want time off, I have to earn it with progress. Each level gets a little reward before getting back to work. Double the company, take a winter vacation, repeat next year. Don’t want average results? Don’t act like an average person.

 

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[Antifragile]

Oh boy, I have to be the unpopular opinion again. I guess that’s my new role, maybe because I so good at it?

No, no and no. You don’t have to give everything up and live liKe that. It’s a lie to get people like sheep to work 17 hours a day on a business and hope that one day they later have the money and success to “buy” all the things that matter in life. No. Dear reader - Do better than that!

I kicked my girlfriend out of my house to stay focused.
I have 3-4 friends I see once a week and we talk 80% business.
I don’t have kids (that I know of)
I don’t have a wife

I’m the exact opposite of your list up there.
I have a family, friends who don’t talk business with me, kid and a wife.
And I do business that in 2022 did close to 200x your numbers (based on what you posted).

The truth is that there’s nothing more pleasurable than that.

You don’t know anything more pleasurable but it doesn’t mean there is nothing.

Any parent will tell you that a kids “I love my daddy“ a million trillion times more pleasurable than any little business you find so good. The joy of watching your child growing up is impossible to explain, it has to be lived.

Why can’t you have it all? Isn’t the whole premise of FLF based on exactly that?

All of my friends who are in various businesses have kids, families, large businesses, small businesses. They have houses, dogs, lawns. They have friends who don’t talk business, have husbands and wives.

What kind of a crowd from hell did you find where everyone is so obsessed with business they miss life altogether?

I’ll be the unpopular voice here, I know. I just hope one person who really needs to read this sees my post. YOU do not have to settle for a personal version of hell and pretend to call it “priorities”. Life is short. You may die tomorrow. Live your life.



That said, I agree about setting goals and having clear priorities. As far back as I can remember, my priorities have been and remain:
1. Family
2. Health
3. Business

And 3 is there to support 1 and 2 only.


P.S. I understand that Johny boy is the extreme version of … well everything… and that we all made sacrifices to become successful. I just hate seeing struggling crowds here get the wrong message, you don’t need to give up EVERYTHING. Trust me, life can and is so much better than that.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

@MJ DeMarco What are your thoughts on this reply?

AntiFragile is right for his life, and his age.

But so is @Johnny boy for his life, and his age.

Funny thing is, both these philosophies reflect my life at some stage.

My priority in my 20's and early 30's was financial freedom. I held a @Johnny boy perspective. I didn't want to get married or have kids until I "squared away" my finances and had great life. I also wanted to grow into someone worthy of a great wife. Clearly Johnny is not shirking the idea of responsibilities if he wants to be a national home franchisor with hundreds of franchisees.

Before I committed to a Fastlane, my priorities were watching endless pro sports to no end other than entertainment, video games, and sleeping.

ln my mid 30's and into my 40's, priorities changed to reflect an @Antifragile perspective.

And I'm willing to bet as Johnny Boy succeeds and experiences more of life, he too will morph into the latter perspective.

This post by Johnny is about priorities and his audience is more suited to young people who find themselves surfing hours and hours of social media daily, or other fruitless distractions and empty entertainment vices.

I resonate with it because I'm dealing with young people in my life WHO want financial freedom, but don't want to PRIORITIZE. Financial freedom for them is a fantasy in thought, not a reality in action.

My step son hates the 8-5 work life and wants to escape.

But he only wants to escape in thought, not in action.

He comes home and sleeps, goes to the gym, or plays video games.

Financial freedom through Fastlane business is NOT his priority because he hasn't made it his priority.

Instead his priority is going to the gym 7X a week. Video games 6X a week. I told him when he expresses a level of commitment to the gym and his video games (6X) a week, he will never escape. In other words, video games and overtraining at the gym is MORE IMPORTANT to him. That is HIS priority.

Everything comes down to priorities.

Your actions express them 100% of the time.

I fully understand the JohhnyBoy take, although I think throwing out your GF is the problematic statement people might have issue with. I take that statement in gest and understand his central point.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Never listen to what anyone says, watch what they do. Therein you'll find their priorities.

Energy follows thought.
Actions express priorities.

"I don't have time" = tell me how not to sacrifice my other higher priorities.

 

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[Johnny boy]

Question for you Johnny, do you find the longer you're working on your goals and building these powerful habits, the easier it becomes to just get up and follow them without thinking about it? Or do you enjoy your business that much that you'd rather work than say spend 2 weeks lying on a beach or watching tv of an evening, going out with friends.

I took a quick break from learning and implementing offline conversion attribution to our facebook ad campaigns at 1:19am to respond so I must enjoy it a bit.

I look at it this way.

My goals are big enough that it excites me.

I don't feel like I'm working, I feel like it's raining money from the sky and I'm running around finding buckets, tarps, recruiting friends to help me, busting my a$$ non-stop to catch as much of it as I can.

"Oh F*ck oh F*ck grab everything, go go go, F*ck! Grab it all!"

Is that work? To some people it would look like I'm doing nothing but "work", but to me it feels like I am running around catching money falling from the sky. If money was raining from the sky would you be bummed out you weren't watching TV? F*ck no!

I call ourselves the fastest growing home services company in America. I have franchisees who say "you better be ready to take on all the new customers, I want 4 crews for my location this year, will you be able to handle it?" and "I've got 3 people that wanna open a location, will you be ready?" I'm not going to miss my chance and sit around with my thumb up my a$$. People are betting on me and I'm going to make sure they are rewarded for their trust and confidence in me.

I want to have a house on lake como. I want to date a Miss (eastern european country). I want to retire my bloodline. I want to fly around in a black SU-27 fighter jet on sundays. I'm 26 and have the time and energy. This is the perfect time for me to do all of this.

I have realized in the last few years that the more weight I put on my shoulders, the more I learn, the more responsibility and problems I have, the better life gets. It makes it so easy to take on those things with grace and a smile because it just means more great things are coming. A great man wakes up, and before noon, has more problems and tough situations than what would drive most people insane, and he eats it up like nothing.

A lot of my business is being forced upon me in a good way. The customers are recurring. I have employees that have families to feed. I have franchisees who need to make money. I've always gotten a kick out of staying up all night to finish a project due the next morning, and now I get that sort of thing every few days.

Over time it gets easier. Your business gets better, you make more, you can hire people to do things you struggle at, you make friends with people who are on a similar path, and it keeps compounding.

I still goof off and have fun. I just never, ever say I don't have enough time. If it calls for it, I will drop anything and everything to accomplish my goals. I take full responsibility for my time, which is the difference.

 

[Antifragile]

@JLE

If you think family is a burden that’s holding you back - you are right.

There is nothing to argue. Clearly Johnny boys post has a ton of support and many “thanks” responses. And you’ve shared with me your priorities. We are different. That’s OK.

I chose to reply because I don’t want those who value family, friends, pets to think they can’t have those. Entrepreneurship allows for all of that to happen.

My family isn’t slowing me down. Its the greatest source of joy in my life. As a result, I need to be creative in how I build my business.

Sports = quantity of hours invested
Business = quality of hours invested

You sure can tell which people have kids in this thread. No parent in this thread would advise you to swap kids for a head start on grinding at your business.

Providing an exceptional life for my family is a major motivator for me. If it wasn't for them, I might be content with the slowlane; what I make in my day job would be more than enough for just me to do damn near whatever I want. My kids don't drag me down, they speed me up.

Too bad, too. I was hopeful for this thread, I expected good advice about achieving focus on the things that really matter.

You were the intended audience for my reply.

I view life from a “deathbed perspective”. When it’s the end. I’m almost done. I look back … what do I regret? It’s not kicking out everyone from my life to put more hours into my business. Quite the opposite.

 

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[Antifragile]

@Johnny boy has done exceptionally well for himself at a young age. Although having priorities like a family is a noble route, I'd wager that someone who has nothing but a business on his mind significantly outperforms someone with split focus.

While you're thinking of what to eat with your kids tonight, Johnny is thinking of his business. When you're out golfing, he's still working on his business. When your actions and thoughts are nothing but one priority, you'll clearly be greater. It's an obsession.

I respect the momentum you show if your words are true. Keep at it man you're killing it.

You are confusing business with sports.

Business isn’t about time invested. I have a team of people who invest time on my behalf. Can’t do that with sports. But I can and do that with my businesses.

It’s a secret that every successful entrepreneur knows. And why most of us have families, kids, dogs, hobbies and still outperform.

 

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[heavy_industry]

lol

The purpose of this thread was not to blame you friends, family and dog for "wasting your time". That's loser behavior.

Having social support can and will improve your mental health, which is by far the most important aspect of running any successful long term project.

Business is all about good choices and high leverage. Revenue doesn't grow proportional to time spent working. The janitor is working 12 hours a day as well.

Core idea of the thread is that the outcome of your life will be determined by your priorities. You will get more of what you focus on.

For example if you spend 10 hours a day working at a dead-end job, browsing social media and watching retarded videos on tik tok, it should be no F*cking surprise that your life is not going anywhere.

Focus on the things that matter to you.

This is an individual choice, and there is no optimal cookie-cutter path because people are very different.

You get to choose your priorities and you will suffer the consequences.

 

[Johnny boy]

Can all of the smart guys on here who are all living good lives and making good decisions stop arguing for a second lol

Post is not about you, you are living life just fine.

It’s for dweebs who think last place priorities will get them first place results.

Y’all are getting SUPER granular about this.

Everyone has contradictory pieces of their life, I do too. I don’t worry about it too much. I’m not a robot. How could every one of my decisions be perfectly aligned with a philosophy? I bought a mustang gt yesterday. Was that strategic and prioritizing my 30 year goals over anything else? F*ck no. But F*ck it, vroom vroom.

As with most of life, 80/20 is the way to go.

 

[BizyDad]

Oh boy, I have to be the unpopular opinion again. I guess that’s my new role, maybe because I so good at it?

No, no and no. You don’t have to give everything up and live liKe that. It’s a lie to get people like sheep to work 17 hours a day on a business and hope that one day they later have the money and success to “buy” all the things that matter in life. No. Dear reader - Do better than that!



I’m the exact opposite of your list up there.
I have a family, friends who don’t talk business with me, kid and a wife.
And I do business that in 2022 did close to 200x your numbers (based on what you posted).



You don’t know anything more pleasurable but it doesn’t mean there is nothing.

Any parent will tell you that a kids “I love my daddy“ a million trillion times more pleasurable than any little business you find so good. The joy of watching your child growing up is impossible to explain, it has to be lived.

Why can’t you have it all? Isn’t the whole premise of FLF based on exactly that?

All of my friends who are in various businesses have kids, families, large businesses, small businesses. They have houses, dogs, lawns. They have friends who don’t talk business, have husbands and wives.

What kind of a crowd from hell did you find where everyone is so obsessed with business they miss life altogether?

I’ll be the unpopular voice here, I know. I just hope one person who really needs to read this sees my post. YOU do not have to settle for a personal version of hell and pretend to call it “priorities”. Life is short. You may die tomorrow. Live your life.



That said, I agree about setting goals and having clear priorities. As far back as I can remember, my priorities have been and remain:
1. Family
2. Health
3. Business

And 3 is there to support 1 and 2 only.


P.S. I understand that Johny boy is the extreme version of … well everything… and that we all made sacrifices to become successful. I just hate seeing struggling crowds here get the wrong message, you don’t need to give up EVERYTHING. Trust me, life can and is so much better than that.

Bravo.

Congrats on making 40 million profit at 26 I didn’t know you were chill like that

Read again though, you can do whatever you’d like, just expect proportional results. Don’t put business 8th on your list and expect to win.

26? That's the age Zuckerberg got married. Buffett got married at 22. Bezos got married at 29. Carlos Slim at 27.

It's true. You can do whatever you like.

It's true you can expect to get proportional results.

The part that seems to be missing that the people in your life can hold you back, or they can be an accelerator.

You can put your business 4th on your list of priorities and still become the wealthiest man in the world.

Don’t want average results? Don’t act like an average person.

While I agree with this, I'll quote Warren Buffet:

"It is not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results."

Everything is perspective I suppose.

 

[Kak]

I posted this in the infamous “can I have a dog and still be an entrepreneur” thread of a few years ago. It applies here as well. Get used to responsibility. Learn to manage it, not shed it.

I’ll leave this here for inquiring minds, but like @JLE I’m also not interested in arguing, but I’m right.

 

[Kak]

The entire message is expect proportional results in line with your priorities.

And on top of that, everything is your choice, your free time is 16 hours, not the 2-3 hours normies say it is.

People are confusing advice for happy people who love their family with advice for whining losers who say they aren’t getting results and expect to win but aren’t willing to prioritize. Like a fatass saying they want to lose weight but not willing to stop eating 3000 calories of pizza every day. It doesn’t compute.

I’m going to say people took your point to ring the old anti-responsibility bell yet again. I’m glad you clarified for their sake.

On the contrary to some of their interpretations, this looks like taking responsibility.

We shouldn’t have to go around in circles a few times a year explaining that, yes, you can, gasp, be a multimillionaire and a good husband/father with a dog… But the hypengyophobics always go there.

I don’t see this as a @Johnny boy vs @Antifragile argument specifically. I see a thread jacking with a anti-responsibility twist.

If you don’t want your girlfriend around, by all means, figure out what’s best. That’s TAKING responsibility. Not dodging it. Good job being decisive.

I’ll add, those with scale get more than 16 hours to their name every day. Productivity way less important than leadership.

 

[Skroob]

You sure can tell which people have kids in this thread. No parent in this thread would advise you to swap kids for a head start on grinding at your business.

Providing an exceptional life for my family is a major motivator for me. If it wasn't for them, I might be content with the slowlane; what I make in my day job would be more than enough for just me to do damn near whatever I want. My kids don't drag me down, they speed me up.

Too bad, too. I was hopeful for this thread, I expected good advice about achieving focus on the things that really matter.

 

[Johnny boy]

The entire message is expect proportional results in line with your priorities.

And on top of that, everything is your choice, your free time is 16 hours, not the 2-3 hours normies say it is.

People are confusing advice for happy people who love their family with advice for whining losers who say they aren’t getting results and expect to win but aren’t willing to prioritize. Like a fatass saying they want to lose weight but not willing to stop eating 3000 calories of pizza every day. It doesn’t compute.

 

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[WJK]

Johnny boy, I read this entire thread. I agree with you in a lot of ways. I have had periods of time where I was totally focused on my businesses or furthering my education. Success has been a lifelong quest.​

I've taken a lot of flack over the years for being too focused. When I was young, I was always told I needed to get a life. All I did was work and go to school while the people around me were busy partying and doing stupid stuff. I didn't pay any attention. I was too busy building a life. Later, in my middle years, the same type of people told me I was just "lucky" to be successful. They concluded that success just fell on me for no good reason other than common chance. All that work and education were totally discounted. It usually ended with me being socially excluded -- which is OK with me. I don't want to watch them sitting on their pity pots moaning and groaning about all of their problems. So, I had to go find like-minded people. I can tell you that the higher you climb your mountain, there are fewer people sharing your path.​

The bottom line is that I have worked just about every day since I was 11 years old. I retired from my career 20 years ago. I'm not good at being retired. In the end, I have found that it's work that I really enjoy. I just keep working at the businesses I have built post-retirement. They aren't huge, sexy ones -- but they have meaning for me.​

I can't think of anything that I really want to buy. I've become a minimalist rather than a materialist. I've traveled a lot over the years. I now enjoy being home and venturing out occasionally when I get restless. I don't have to do better than anyone around me. Now my only competition is with myself, and I'm finally comfortable.​

​

 

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[Johnny boy]

Imagine hiring Johnny Boy... he's a veritable entrepreneur, the LAST person you want to hire. Because you know he's only there to steal your know-how and as soon as he can go out on his own, he will do it.

I was fired from Safeway getting paid $7.50 an hour after taxes and union dues because I would go hide in the freezer on hot days and text my girlfriend. I’d be sweating and when I came out my hair would be frozen.

I was fired from being a camp counselor when I was 16 because I made the 9 year old group all cry and chant in unison “we hate John, we hate John” when the recreation director for the city was touring the camp.

I was fired from selling cars because I got in a fight with the lesbian boss’s lesbian sales friend and they sent me home for a week to “think about my actions” but I went to vegas and partied the whole time. (and for breaking in the backseat of one of the showroom Jetta’s)

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

I didn't know your business model was haldron collider. small world to be on the forum with someone who can defy the laws of time and space

You've been removed from the thread, as have your posts here. What's frightening about your posts is the confidence you exude in your ignorance. I won't let that ignorance pollute this great thread, which makes me wonder if you still believe a pound of feathers weighs less than a pound of iron. Try to keep in mind, we're trying to nudge you in the right direction.

 

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[biophase]

Funnily enough, you and I recently shared a DM where we spoke of priorities and why they're necessary when it comes to success. This conversation is conveniently relevant.

Word for word I believe you told me: "You only have time for one priority!"

You spoke of the need to drop my other ambitions in life and to focus on business/real estate if that were truly the path I wished to undertake as I couldn't accomplish anything without true devotion. Nonetheless you did mention your family and health as priorities as well, maybe I misunderstood, but it seems as if you're conflicting with your advice given only a few days ago.

I think this is true that you need to make something the first priority. So this is how I did it when I was actively running my business. One year I would make business the priority the next year I would make vacations the priority and the following year I would make working out a priority.

Now this doesn’t mean I didn’t do any of the things that weren’t the number one priority. However, this provided me an easy framework for decision making.

For example, if I was on a work out priority year, and I had to choose between hitting the gym and getting some work done for the business, I would hit the gym first and then do the business work.

If that year happen to be a business priority year, then I would work on the business first and then hit the gym. This made my decision making on many things so much easier.

During a vacation year, if somebody asked me to go on a trip and I had a lot of business stuff to do guess what, I would go on that vacation, but if the year was a business year, I would not go on a vacation. It was a simple as that.

 

[Paul David]

I took a quick break from learning and implementing offline conversion attribution to our facebook ad campaigns at 1:19am to respond so I must enjoy it a bit.

I look at it this way.

My goals are big enough that it excites me.

I don't feel like I'm working, I feel like it's raining money from the sky and I'm running around finding buckets, tarps, recruiting friends to help me, busting my a$$ non-stop to catch as much of it as I can.

"Oh F*ck oh F*ck grab everything, go go go, F*ck! Grab it all!"

Is that work? To some people it would look like I'm doing nothing but "work", but to me it feels like I am running around catching money falling from the sky. If money was raining from the sky would you be bummed out you weren't watching TV? F*ck no!

I call ourselves the fastest growing home services company in America. I have franchisees who say "you better be ready to take on all the new customers, I want 4 crews for my location this year, will you be able to handle it?" and "I've got 3 people that wanna open a location, will you be ready?" I'm not going to miss my chance and sit around with my thumb up my a$$. People are betting on me and I'm going to make sure they are rewarded for their trust and confidence in me.

I want to have a house on lake como. I want to date a Miss (eastern european country). I want to retire my bloodline. I want to fly around in a black SU-27 fighter jet on sundays. I'm 26 and have the time and energy. This is the perfect time for me to do all of this.

I have realized in the last few years that the more weight I put on my shoulders, the more I learn, the more responsibility and problems I have, the better life gets. It makes it so easy to take on those things with grace and a smile because it just means more great things are coming. A great man wakes up, and before noon, has more problems and tough situations than what would drive most people insane, and he eats it up like nothing.

A lot of my business is being forced upon me in a good way. The customers are recurring. I have employees that have families to feed. I have franchisees who need to make money. I've always gotten a kick out of staying up all night to finish a project due the next morning, and now I get that sort of thing every few days.

Over time it gets easier. Your business gets better, you make more, you can hire people to do things you struggle at, you make friends with people who are on a similar path, and it keeps compounding.

I still goof off and have fun. I just never, ever say I don't have enough time. If it calls for it, I will drop anything and everything to accomplish my goals. I take full responsibility for my time, which is the difference.

Great response, you remind me what I was like when I was 26. Seems a long time ago now at the age of 42.

Somewhere along the way I lost that part of myself, all because of choices I made and big mistakes (which are expensive lessons learned that I won't repeat). I always said I'd be a millionaire at 25, didn't happen. Said the same at 30, didn't happen, then 35 etc. However before I was 40 I remember not thinking that at all, the business mistakes had came home to roost and I was faced with the consequences which have dragged both financially and mentally for a few years now.

Slowly but surely I'm finding myself back to the old me, the one that used to sound like you, but certainly didn't act like it. I look back on some of the business decisions I made and think, why did I do that? Not because I now know they were a mistake, but because the older more experienced brain I have knows that wasn't destined to work from the start.

I remember 12 years ago we rented a Villa in Spain for 3 weeks whilst my wife was off on maternity leave with our youngest son. Her parents came over for the last week. One evening her Father said to me why are you working on your laptop? You're on holiday. I said it doesn't feel like work to me.

The mistakes and years that followed have affected me mentally more than I realised, now I've had time to digest and reflect. The way you act and are reminds me of that.

I ended up bankrupt 3 years ago. Do I regret the choices I made? Yes and No, I regret the decisions I made that ultimately led me to that situation, but I don't regret shooting for the moon and taking the risk. I can't regret that because it's ultimately who I am.

It's posts like yours that remind me of that person I wanted to be and still do so thank you. Those lofty goals and ambitions are still there at 42 and I feel I'm coming back to the old me - albeit wiser.

Baring any health issues I'll still be the same at 72 - only a lot richer.

 

[mikecarlooch]

This.

I've been in that freaking totally stressed state of mind you are talking about when it comes to unproductivity and ineffectiveness.

But you know what it all was? BS excuses.

The emotions were an action signal that I wasn't doing something right yet I continued to do the same thing trying to get the same result.

Crying and whining is an action-fake. There is always an action to take.

I was crying and whining how driving traffic is hard.

Then I said to myself "hey buddy yea driving traffic takes effort, are you gonna sit around and whine about it or are you going to get back in the damn field and start posting 100 times a day on social media again?"

I chose option 2.

I'm already seeing results.

I reached out to someone with a massive reputation recently with something I thought could be great for them. And my the little b**ch deep down almost stopped me from sending the email.

"Why would this dude give me the time of day?"

Guess what? I sent the email one day later I get a response saying they're interested.

Isn't that interesting?

Our perception is reality and our perception could also be BS if we're not careful.

It makes me wonder. What if I sent that email the 100 other times I had something I wanted someone to see and I let how I felt about how that person would react or wouldn't react in that moment? What would have happened?

Discomfort is the dragon that guards the gold.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

Most presidents are married. Yes really.

And we're talking the VAST MAJORITY.

Yes, like Hilary and Bill are “married” right?

Or Trump and Melania LOL!

Give me some of dat good shit you’re smoking @BizyDad !

hope most people who read this would decide to work smarter, not harder. This comment sounds a little too close to the "definition of insanity".

Well, I agree with that. You should work super hard and super smart. But, on many things positive feedback doesn’t come immediately and your effort is disproportionate to the rewards at first. MJ calls this the desert of desertion I believe. It’s exactly why to get to Heaven you first need to pass through Purgatory and clean all that filth…

Especially your previous comment that you’d let kidnappers kill your own kid for a mere $100k because you won’t negotiate.

That’s not what my previous comment said.

Any feedback on “Give And Take” book? If you’ve read it.

I liked the book, and got quite a lot of value out of it. I am a big giver @Antifragile, it’s why I keep on giving so much to you even after you blocked me and repeatedly insulted me, while I never insulted you back!

Being ruthless doesn’t mean you’re a psychopath. It doesn’t mean you don’t have values. It doesn’t mean you don’t have family or friends, or business associates for that matter.

You are stronger with a strong network around you. Being ruthless doesn’t mean neglecting that, it simply means knowing what’s important for you and going after it regardless of what you need to sacrifice.

For example, Johnny boy kicked his girlfriend out of the house and is a guy I’d definitely describe as ruthless. Because his goal and priority is building the business. And if his girlfriend stops him from doing that, it doesn’t matter how he feels towards her, he gets her out of his life. If you and Johnny boy are competitors in similar circumstances, I’d bet on Johnny boy kicking your a$$ any day, because he is simply willing to give up a lot more than you are to win in business.

But, to be fair with you, if I was a woman and had to choose between marrying you or Johnny boy, I’d always pick you. So don’t cry too much about me picking him in business over you!

A good distinction for ruthlessness is this. Someone is ruthless when they sacrifice moral values (duty to others, etc.) for worldly success.

 

[BizyDad]

Right that's exactly what I'm saying.

You could also adopt 15 children, deliberately break one of your legs, gauge your eyes out, and subsist on nothing but ramen noodles but it wouldn't exactly be practical would it? Throwing additional hardships on yourself obviously reduces your capacity to focus on business.

Family is hardship. Got it.

Such a shame that this is a message that is being sent in this thread. That's what us "old chaps" are arguing against.

And lastly, I'm not interested in arguing with either of you.

Could have fooled me.

He has more time available to him left on this Earth. Plenty of time to enjoy his life once he reaches his concept of financial success

That's one big difference between Johnny and others that read this thread. Johnny is already enjoying his life. Go reread what he wrote. He's not waiting to enjoy his life.

But a lot of people aren't wired like Johnny. And those people should hear the message that you don't need to put off family. You don't need to wait to "enjoy your life".

 

[Kak]

Getting more than 16 hours a day seems counterproductive, with taking time to eat and other daily activities like exercise someone working 16 hours a day probably will get 5 hours sleep per day… good luck with that.

Again, your brilliance astounds. Have you contacted Mensa?

 

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[Antifragile]

Timely twitter thread just popped up on my feed:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1635672980150943745

View: https://twitter.com/markmcgrathcfp/status/1635672980150943745?s=46&t=QVRWd3GUWSHaaHwdvWGZPg

 

[BizyDad]

26? That's the age Zuckerberg got married. Buffett got married at 22. Bezos got married at 29. Carlos Slim at 27.

Of course, you and I disagree. I see immense power in family and friends. At any age.

Literally shocks me how many people ignore facts even when presented, just because it doesn't fit in their worldview.

Statistically speaking, high achieving men are more often married, not single. Sure, you can be single and climb the mountain. Plenty have done it. (To be fair, I have not studied the statistics on women.)

But the notion that you must be single to achieve greatness, or even that being single makes it more likely just isn't backed up by data.

you have a chance to become President of your country. Really…

Most presidents are married. Yes really.

And we're talking the VAST MAJORITY.

And even if I were seeing no returns, I’d work just as hard.

I hope most people who read this would decide to work smarter, not harder. This comment sounds a little too close to the "definition of insanity".

 

[Antifragile]

I know the MBTI personality test is a meme, but this is that XNTJ-type of effectiveness. Having that means cutting the BS and getting to the solution at all costs without the fluff.


You're 100% right of course AF, but when people are going from the state [no business] to [kind of a business] to [real business] it certainly helps to have less weights around their necks.

Yes, when you have a business doing 40 million in revenue per year, you might have a stable full of ponies, a couple homes, 12 children, and a weekly bingo club.

It's just different when you're 18 years old, living at home, trying to decide if you'll go to college or wash windows or try some other idea from this Fastlane thing you read about once. Different people, different lives, different stages...like MJ said.

Many ways to get there, but the shortest path between two points is a straight line. Honestly when you're starting out, the hardest part is probably deciding on that second point!

We aren't far apart @thechosen1

Allow me to clarify one point. I met my wife when we were nothing (financially). We fell in love. All of side-hustles and life problems - we shared that. We helped each other. She was my rock and I was hers. The one thing I can't stress enough is that it wasn't an anchor, it was a jet engine for me!

Now you can say "well, other girlfriends may not support their boyfriends at 18 y.o. age as yours did for you". Sure, but that's exactly the point - you don't kick out your gf because you are focused on business, you do that if she is not the right person for you!

And even if I am wrong and @Black_Dragon43 is right, I would not trade a thing about my "poor years" life. What worked for me was incremental and consistent improvements. 1% better than yesterday types. And yes, I've put in my fair share of the 16hr days... so it does make sense from time to time. Like when there is a deadline.

 

[Odysseus M Jones]

I don’t have kids (that I know of)

Tissues do not get pregnant

 

[heavy_industry]

Quick question… do you want your employees to start their own business, or to continue doing great work for you? Imagine your most loyal and trusted men quit tomorrow to start their own business. What would that mean for you?

I appreciate your point that some systems degenerate into tyrannical power structures, but the beauty of capitalism is that you can choose were you work, for whom you work, or if you choose to work at all.

If the deal that you're getting is not good enough, you have the freedom to leave.

I don't see business and economy as a 0 sum game, where employers and employees are in a master-slave relationship, and one exploits the other. That's the socialist hypothesis, which I believe it is fundamentally wrong.

People get significantly more productive when they work together. They do this by choice.

Case in point: when the world population started its parabolic rise, there were a bunch of theories that said that by the year 1980, 1990, 2000 etc. Everybody will starve to death and the planet will be depleted of all resources.

Guess what actually happened?
Everybody got richer, world poverty has dropped at the lowest levels in recorded history, and everybody got more food, more medicine, better sanitation, and increased life expectancy.

On a smaller scale, the same thing happens with businesses.
People start to aggregate because they can generate more resources when they collaborate with each other.

The reason not everybody starts their company is because they are not willing to put in the colossal effort required to become a highly competent person.

The business owner risks everything, and is responsible for everything, so it should be no wonder that it gets the largest possible piece of the pie. He or she deserves 100% of the excess profit made by the company. Without them, there would be no company, no jobs, and no products. Nothing.

Most people are simply not willing to take this route and spend 2 years working for free when building their business. They can't or are unwilling to handle complexity or take personal responsibility for everything.

They would much rather just do their job, leave at 5PM, and get their paycheck at the end of the month.

And that's fine, if that's what they want to do with their life.

Nobody is forcing them to do anything. That's the beauty of capitalism.

People are free to do what they want, and they will suffer the consequences.

 

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[Saad Khan]

The most butthurt people I ever see in my entire life are people who get told they would need to change priorities in order to succeed.

“Hey, how do I find time to work on my business? I spend 5 hours a day playing patty cake with my kids, my wife makes me stay at home, I spend 4 hours a day at the gym, and I’m not trading away my time with my friends, we go golfing every other day for another 4 hours”

Your success is the last thing on your list of priorities, don’t be confused when you get proportional results.

You are competing against guys like me.

Gym is only 30-40 minutes 3x a week.
I kicked my girlfriend out of my house to stay focused.
I have 3-4 friends I see once a week and we talk 80% business.
I don’t have kids (that I know of)
I don’t have a wife
I don’t even have a dog

I wake up and think about my goals, I work, I go to bed thinking about my goals.

I prioritized my goals as the top 4 on a list of 5 important things to me.

I will expect proportional results.

You really want to spend time with the kids, you want to keep your safe full time job with no risk, you want to do everything but work and that’s fine, you can do that, just don’t be confused why you’re not getting anywhere.

Everyone acts like they were handed the life they are in and have no choice. You chose everything you have and everything you’ve done has led to today.

Everything in your life is your choice. You choose to spend your time any way you’d like. I’d love a dog. I’d love to spend time with my girl. I’d love to have a lot of friends hanging out every night. I just know that at the end of the day, it takes away from my goals, and I’ve already made the decision that I would trade all to get all.

You can have anything you want in life, you just don’t get to pick how much it costs. You are responsible for every second of your day, whether it feels that way or not. You could spend 17 hours working on your one singular goal 7 days a week, you just refuse to accept what you would have to give up. You love hearing things like “burn out”, “overtraining”, “work-life balance”. That shit isn’t real. Never losing momentum IS real. I’ve had singular strains of work that have lasted for weeks, only interrupted by dreams about the work I have to do before getting back to it. The truth is that there’s nothing more pleasurable than that.

Give all to get all, it’s an easy trade.

In 5 years I do not want to have a really good excuse. I don’t care how good it is. I don’t care if anyone around me is patting my back telling me it’s okay, I did what I could, it’s not my fault. That’s good as dog shit to me.

If I want time off, I have to earn it with progress. Each level gets a little reward before getting back to work. Double the company, take a winter vacation, repeat next year. Don’t want average results? Don’t act like an average person.

Excellent write up @Johnny boy. It all boils down to choices. And choices dictate habits.

In summary

Choice ---> Develop the mindset --> Develop the habits --> Result

Bad choices? You're f*cked.

Good choices? You stand a chance.

 

[Johnny boy]

It's a good reminder about how we need to approach things, if we want to get the max out of it.

The worst part is when you put in a lot of effort and get no results. I don't know how to cope with this things. It feels like you loose hope.

Does anyone have any suggestions for this?

Then work smarter and spend the time to ponder and come up with effective solutions. I will spend half my day pacing around thinking. I am terrified of being ineffective. I wouldn't lose hope, I would be pissed. When I had the same feeling of not making progress I used to be the angriest person you could imagine. I am either happy or angry. Things are going my way or they aren't. I couldn't imagine moping around like a neutered dog.

 

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