Main Lessons: (Focus)
- Almost every example of mastery and great success started with some pain point or setback, some less than amazing life that forced that individual to develop deep learnings and focus.
- People who start off strong often times don’t end strong – they don’t learn the grit, focus, determination that others are learning in an attempt to take their spot. In the long run, those skills are key to a long-term success track
- Let go of comfort and security – this kills mastery because there is no incentive to better yourself
- The chances that someone has god-given talent (peak ability) AND peak mental abilities (ability to work hard) is RARE. The ones like Kobe Bryant or Lebron James possess both.
5. Lesson: Hard work often times outflanks natural talent given their “comfort”
6. Almost every person who masters something in adulthood has mastered something in youth (sports).
7. Sensation of overcoming frustrations and entering period of accelerated returns
8. In moments of doubt, past experiences rise to the process and they rise through the hardships when others quit
- There was a big theme about protecting your emotion energy:
- Blend in at first so you don’t rock the boat
- Observe traits of people above you – who’s on the rise, who does information flow through
- You cannot change the ethos of places, need to spend your time and develop power first
- Don’t give such hard opinions in the workplace … people may ostracize you
- Do not create or participate in petty battles, it’s a waste of time and kills your energy
- Deadlines:
- Make yourself deadlines either real or manufacturing them
- Edison would tell the media about his new project so he would force his mind to rise to the task … every morning and day is intense if you are pressured
- Your mind is in a heightened sense of focus in which you produce your best results
- Create optimal mental conditions to work
- You need to surround yourself by the very best people
- Can’t force someone to be a different person “like blaming a rock for rolling”
- Having someone just mediocre around you can literally reverse your trajectory
- Often times just one relationship changed a person forever – brought out something within them
- Find your “Muse” or mental partner (guy or girl)
- Everyone wants to be a superstar but do they have the ability to?
- Take people for what they can offer
- Reading People – Find people’s hidden goals and motives
- Pay more attention to non-verbal queues: tone of voice, look in eyes, body language, etc.
- Chances are the loudest ones are the weakest
Other:
Maintain physical fitness. It contributes enormous energy to our lives.
Strive to do something notches higher than your abilities today so it brings out all of your inner abilities … given this environment, your brain becomes more focused too
People try to garner new skills but realize the daunting task at hand and get grounded
- This increases the need for people who can constantly learn and adapt (especially in a technology driven world)
- Application is even more important in a technology driven world
- Train yourself to handle complexities (This goes back to the first point, people who start strong often times don’t learn to train themselves and when life gets tough later, they crack)
Another example of focus (reminds me of Zero to One) focus on a niche, Henry Ford tried to appeal to too many people at first and failed – tried again with a narrow focus
If you think too hard, you’ll come up with something too literal
- Tightness / unconscious mind / creative blocks … when our brain is too tight, this often doesn’t let us ….
Maximum internal self-doubt often brings enlightenment afterward
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