Intent: Give your life direction
(what do i do w my life?)
(colin, paige leubbring, rex college we didn’t know alts)
(miles, deems didn’t know alts)
On This Page
- 3 min Video: Plan, Proof, Promise
- If skeptical, don’t take my word (testimonials) for it. 10 Best all time
- Actual Plan
Plan
- pay attention to what enjoy
- find what enjoy
- try bunch of shit surrounding that
- build a habit of shit you enjoy
- make a plan of a dream life/perfect day/joy journal/no bad days
- build a life to allow you to enjoy the shit you enjoy
Proof
- My Story – Used to hate my life
- Didn’t like who I was
- Didn’t understand why I wasn’t fitting in
- Didn’t know what I was good at and what my role was
- Hard to make friends didn’t understand why some clicked some didn’t
- Hard to talk to girls -> dating madi, meaghanne, philippines, chinese
- Not many friends -> Rock solid board of advisors
- Philosophy is a way of life
- Without the application nothing happens
- With the application are subtle steps in the right direction every day
- Hobbies
- Direction – Understand more or less where I’m going
- Know Myself
- Strengths, weaknesses, and why I act how I act
- Less Insecure
- Naval Jealousy
- Pics? Lot was cuz military helped me
- Not even my promise. Learning from ppl wayyy older
- 5 reg dying
- Ikigai
- Japan avg life expectancy
Promise
1) How to live an enjoyable life
2) How to live a fulfilling life
3) Lead a life with no regrets
NEED: plan, proof, promise
NEED: Link to dads articles
NEED: Video – These aren’t just vids u scroll thru. Take fuckin time to WATCH
DONE – NEED: Top 10 resources to give us direction of all time
NEED: My periodic questions from my eduction – do have be, perf day, do forever etc
WARNING: Caveat – only as useful as ur willingness to apply
10 Most Mind Shattering Resources
I’ve spent the past 6 years so excited to share my favorite, books, videos and quotes with people I care about. I’ve distilled the most nutrient dense resources to some that fundamentally changed how I live.
Happier, healthier, wealthier.
(Links are to videos, articles, or book previews)
0) BOOK for Money Mindset
184 pg, 4 hours – rec by Financial Advisors
2M sold
Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
This one is listed as 0 – Money is the foundation to modern life. Sure, you can go live in a cabin in the woods, but that’s unreasonable. The bottom tiers of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs can all be solved with money. This book walks the reader through stories of the ‘richest man in babylon’ and his gripes and frustrations as well as the steps he takes to money freedom. It’s more of a mindset book with a handful of tips. If this is useful and you want more, I recommend Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kawasaki as well. Without money, how can we self-actualize?
1) IDEA for Goals
1 min
3M readers
“You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results”
James Clear
2) IDEA for Ambition
1 min
14M monthly listeners
“Don’t aim to be the best. Be the only”
“It’s you vs you dog, you’re running your own race”
Kevin Kelly, Russ
3) TOOL for Money
1 min
Wealthiest in the world
“You get paid in direct proportion to the difficulty of problems you solve”
Elon Musk
4) ARTICLE for Money
15 mins
Y Combinator CEO
How to Make Wealth by Paul Graham
Perhaps the most consolidated, all-inclusive article on accumulating wealth that I’ve read. It’s by Y Combinator startup founder PG. I’ve come to listen to what he has to say. This has come to be a backbone on how I think about earning money.
5) ARTICLE for Money
8 mins
Pete Adeney, Retired age 30.
The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement by Mr. Money Moustache
This article and it’s 2 cousins were some of the first resources I stumbled upon in my entrepreneurship journey and some of the most profound. I spent hours on this guys blog for early retirement.
6) BOOK to Understand Life
16 hours (450 pages)
Dr. Jordan Peterson, 5M sold
12 Rules for Life by Canadian Psychologist and author Jordan Peterson (for purchase)
Every video I see from this guy makes me think. He makes me think about my relationships and the future and has guided some of my approaches to life. I deeply value his input. Full disclosure I haven’t read the entirety of this book, but have had it highly recommended from people I value. He is meticulous with every line and has spent years as a psychologist and compiling the most useful information.
7) VIDEO to prevent a Life in Delusion
13 mins
1.3M views
Overstimulation is Ruining Your Life
on YouTube by Aperture
Maybe… late 2022? I had a good buddy send me this video (best source for good resources) and I got half way through the video and just had to stop and stare at my wall to reflect on my life.
Shortly after, I read Digital Minimalism (also given to me by a friend) which convinced me take a 30 day social media hiatus. They did wonders to my relationship with social media. I still use them, but don’t feel nearly as controlled.
8) VIDEO to prevent Regret
14 mins
700k views
The High Price We Pay For Pursuing the Wrong Things in Life
on YouTube by Pursuit of Wonder
Being in a particularly competitive, hyper active, goal driven environment when I watched this, this video totally transformed how I think about life. We can get all the glory and the love and success, but at what cost?
It means sacrificing sooo much and for what? This video helped me put what truly matters in to perspective. Are we actually enjoying ourselves or are we just fighting tooth and nail to get to the top for the sake of being on top? 100 yrs after we die will any of that matter?
9) ARTICLE to prevent Regrets
6 mins
Australian Nurse, 1M copies sold
5 Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware
The Guardian article written 12 years ago was so freaking compelling that I read her book. Both have been largely influential in the guiding forces I use for my life now. I don’t want to live a life I regret, but we don’t know what we’ll regret ’til it’s over – Old ppl do, though.
“For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.”
10) VIDEO for Long Term Happy
13 min
TEDTalk – 26M views
85 Year Harvard Happiness Study
(over 700 participants) by TEDTalks
I must have quoted this study to a dozen different people now and seen visible surprise – exactly how I reacted.
I have now compiled it in this list for for all of us to take note and hopefully reorient our lives. Inline with the previous article, when we’re dying, nothing else really matters but this. This and 5 Regrets of the Dying now function as a compass for how I live my life.
11) BOOK for Negotiation and Connection
8 hours, 288 pages
FBI Negotiator, 3M sold
Never Split the Difference by FBI Negotiator Chris Voss
This book has substantially improved my overall quality of relationships with nearly all my close people. It taught me how to see things deeply from opposing parties, negotiate, persuade, empathize, and overall just be a better person. It’s smoothed tensions and given me tools to calm myself and others in intensely heated situations. I do not think I have gotten in a yelling match a single time over 2 years largely as a result of this book.
12) VIDEO for Finding Purpose
20 mins
Dr. Andrew Huberman x Robert Greene
11M views on original
Robert Greene: A Process for Finding & Achieving Your Unique Purpose
Dr. Andrew Huberman x Bestselling Author Robert Greene
Just now realizing, that again, a friend sent this to me. Seems like the close people in our lives know us best, and if you pick good ones they’ll seriously help. We do well because we share stories and advice and communicate with each other. (It’s why we outlived the Neanderthals).
Robert Greene authored 48 Laws of Power (very good, just super friggin’ long) and shares some powerful insights into how we lead a life we’re actually proud of. Nobody else can tell us the things we enjoy and how we should live. That’s up to us and us alone to figure out.
(full podcast here)
13) BOOK for Living Intentional
6 hours, 304 pages
4000 Weeks by British Dude Oliver Burkeman
This book was a breeze to read but gave me so many quotable lines and ways of thinking that totally alter how I live my life now. You will NEVER finish everything you want to. Not all the books nor the projects. There’s no end state, so you might as well enjoy it along the way. ‘Treat your Bucket List more like a river to be plucked from than a list to check off’
14) BOOK for Living Intentional
6.5 hours, 304 pages
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
I read this directly after 4000 weeks and it was a phenomenal 1-2 sucker punch. There’s only so much time in the day. “You can have it all. Just not all at once” – Oprah. We have to choose. Our time is a choice. Nothing is permanent, we can emphasize different areas of our life at different times. “What is the most important thing in your life right now“
15 BOOK to use Money to Prevent Regret
5 hours, 240 pages
Die With Zero: Getting All You Can From Your Money And Your Life by Bill Perkins
This book completely reframed my relationship with money. It is not a pile of gold to hoard over but rather a tool to use. Money is a tool to get us what we want. That means spending time figuring out what it is we genuinely want.
Honorable Mentions
*Bonus: TOOL for Aimlessness
1 min
“If you want to change the world, change your corner of the world first”
– Unknown
I never quite knew what I wanted to do…therefore I spent years learning about business and studying influential people… therefore I figured out what I wanted to do… therefore I wanted to be the best. I started dreaming and got all these grandiose ideas about how I could make a difference. Those grandiose ideas come later though, start with what’s possible right now. You’ll get there eventually. Focus on what you can control today.
*Bonus: TOOL for Anxiety
12 mins
Mindfulness Meditation.
Have been curious about it. Couldn’t find data to support. Finally did – 12 mins to support. Anecdotal success. 19 min TedTalk (no protocols). 1 hour Podcast.
*Bonus: TOOL for Jealousy
1 min
Naval Ravikant, CEO, Entrepreneur
“One day, I realized with all these people I was jealous of, I couldn’t just choose little aspects of their life. I couldn’t say I want his body, I want her money, I want his personality. You have to be that person. Do you want to actually be that person with all of their reactions, their desires, their family, their happiness level, their outlook on life, their self-image? If you’re not willing to do a wholesale, 24/7, 100 percent swap with who that person is, then there is no point in being jealous.
Once I came to that realization, jealousy faded away because I don’t want to be anybody else. I’m perfectly happy being me. By the way, even that is under my control. To be happy being me. It’s just there are no social rewards for it.”– Naval Ravikant
This totally helped me with jealousy and become happier with being myself. It helped me to learn to appreciate all the things I’m uniquely good at.
*Bonus: TOOL for Aimlessness and Fear
1 min
Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple
“You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever – because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path.”
– Steve Jobs
Acknowledging that even the greats were skeptical about their own direction. The more I learn the more it seems people aren’t 100% certain but following their gut and their beliefs. Hard af to do, but easier once we know the greats have done the same.
That’s not 10, I know. I lied. There’s too much goodness out there.
If you liked ’em, there’s a rec reading list too you nerd.
The existence of the internet gives us immediate access to the worlds most effective information in the history of humans. We’re always going to have problems. I envision a future where we have direct access to the solutions of our most immediate problems – relationships, money, trauma, fear, insecurities, etc
Other Most Nutrient Dense Concepts
It doesn’t matter how much you learn or read… if you don’t do anything with it you’re wasting your time. It’s not just meant to be some inspirational quote… apply the idea or you’re wasting you’re fucking time.
“You don’t need more information, you need more action.”
Jolly Green Giant (probably)
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”
Isaac Newton
All You All the time & Progress
1) “It’s you vs you dog, you’re running your own race”
Russ
This one came from a rap song. We don’t compete against anyone but ourselves. There’s always someone better than you and there’s always someone worse. And the one’s who are the best? The one’s who don’t have anyone better? They’re competing against themselves to begin with.
2) “The world doesn’t owe you shit”
Mike (not Jordan)
“Nobody is coming to save you. It’s only you”
I heard this repetitively growing up. I swear this sentiment is infused in my brain. And it’s proved unbelievably helpful – Nobody owes you shit. It’s precisely at this moment that we’re able to take ownership for our actions and responsibility for what happens in life. Life isn’t fair. And yet, nobody controls our lives. It’s up to us.
3) “Ain’t no excuse we all start at the bottom”
Joyner Lucas
This one hit surprisingly hard. Another rap song. A valiant reminder that anyone who’s ever done anything remarkable has started with the first step. We all start at nothing.
4) ‘The antidote to imposter syndrome is honesty’
Dan Koe
I’ll admit, I can be a bit of the jealous type. I used to be insecure about inadequacy, but I’ve since learned to use other’s success not as invalidation but inspiration. In competitive situations, or high level situations, being honest with myself and others about my capabilities prevents me from feeling inadequate.
5) Nobody comes to save you
Liberating in a way. Quite painful initially, but I’ve come to love this freedom. We have full autonomy over our lives. Nobody’s coming to save us or take it away. This life is ours and ours alone.
6) “It won’t happen overnight but if you don’t start it won’t happen at all”
Unknown
Nothing more effective than a little bit every day. The hardest is the worst. It feels impossible. It feels difficult. It feels like nothing will ever work. But you move forward anyways.
7) “It’s a little bit every day. That’s the answer. That’s the only answer. You keep learning you you keep doing. You just can’t quit”
Unknown
“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”
There’s no other way to achieve greatness.
Your Most Important Thing Right Now
1) “If I repeated this action 100 times, would my life be better or worse?”
Sahil Bloom
2) ‘What is the one domino you need to make them all fall?’
Tim Ferriss
3) “Begin with an end in mind”
Stephen Covey
Akin of Simon Sinek’s Start With Why TedTalk. Why the hell are you going where you’re going. Where are you going. Anytime I’m unsure about actions to take today I zoom out and ask myself where the hell I’m trying to go with the big picture in the first place. That always seems to do the trick.
It’s Gonna Be Okay
1) “You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.”
James Clear
2) “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
Henry David Thoreau
3) “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards”
Soren Kierkegaard
4) Have to have a way to block the bad thoughts
Negative thinking
I used to be awfully difficult on myself. Relentless. I could never perform well enough. I could never do well enough. It was never good enough. I had to train myself to see the good in what I was doing. “Celebrate what you want to see more of”.
Enjoying the Journey: How to Happy
1) “Celebrate the small victories”
Seth
This thing’s a journey. If you’re never celebrate the now, never are proud of what you’ve accomplished, you’ll remain forever searching for validation and accomplishment.
2) When eating an orange, if you never enjoy a singular slice, how can you enjoy the whole thing?
Dr. Brene Brown
Similarly, “Life is the sum of present moments” Oliver Burkeman. I’ve got to remind myself of this continuously. If I’m grumpy, tired, angry, frustrated for a sustained period of time… something has to change. I can’t enjoy a whole week if I don’t enjoy 1 single day.
3) Joe Rogan on Happiness
You never get to where you’re going. If you’re enjoying the journey, you’ve already won.
4) “You retire on your memories”
Bill Perkins
Death’s hard to conceptualize. Been trying to grapple with it more and more. It helps me put into perspective what’s important. “Will I regret not having this memory when I’m 80 even though it’s expensive af?” The answer is usually a resounding ‘yes’
Relationships
1) “Your relationships will rarely be healthier than your self-esteem”
James Clear
This one rocked my shit. Figure you’re own shit before handing the steaming pile to someone else.
2) “You have to teach people how to treat you”
Source: Unknown
Took me awhile to realize I was even allowed to do this. Nobody should know you better than you. Figure out what you need and tell other people. It’s not up to others to determine how you live your life. Easier said than done.
3) “Seek to understand before being understood”
Stephen Covey
God damn this one’s hard to implement. Never Split the Difference totally helped me with this concept though. They only way to move people off their position is to pause and actually listen to what they have to say.
4) Jim Rohn on Relationships
Most Powerful Resources
Resources are all about timing.
I can’t make the timing right.
But I can give you thought provoking ideas.
2 mins
Pretty sure life gets better if we just don’t stop learning about stuff that interests us
Best Videos
- Overstimulation is Ruining Your Life
- The High Price We Pay for Pursuing the Wrong Things in Life
- Harvard’s 85 Year Long Study on Happiness
- How to Find Your Purpose in Life – Andrew Huberman x Robert Green
- Best Tool for Anxiety and Stress (in conjunction with sleep)
6) Start With Why by Simon Sinek
18 mins
An incredible video about leadership, vision, and direction. Where the hell are we going? Start with why you’re going there in the first place.
7) So You Want to be a Writer, Charles Bukowski
1 min
God damn this clip hits like a truck. Checks my morales and authenticity.
8) Alan Watts What if Money Was No Object
5 mins
Another truck. What would I do if I didn’t pursue the things all of society tells me to.
Best Articles
The pursuit of money has helped me figure out what I want to do with my life. We need it to survive so we just need to find enjoyable ways to be useful to society. Finding a way to enjoyably provide value to other people I think is the secret.
1) The 5 Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware
2) How to Make Wealth by Paul Graham
3) The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement by Pete Adeney
4) The 4% Rule: The Easy Answer to “How Much Do I Need for Retirement?” by Pete Adeney
12 mins
Software engineer fully retired at age 30. His blog is how he did it. Combats overconsumption. Essentialist.
5) The Gentle Seduction by Marc Stiegler – 15 mins
An eye opening short story about technology in the future from the perspective of a young girl. It helps me think bigger and put this life thing in to perspective – Where are we headed.
6) Destruction & Creation by Col John Boyd
How the human mind works. This article helped me be okay with not being ok. It’s quite technical.
But the premise is that the human mind craves order. But it craves growth so it seeks disorder once order has been made.
It makes order of the chaos. And then seeks more chaos. It’s a constant pendulum of confusion and growth.
Parting Thoughts – At the end of the day, we’re all just a bunch of overdeveloped monkeys
100 years from now
1 min
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”Steve Jobs