5 of my fav pieces of advice

Signs you’re on the right track:

Sometimes doing nothing is the most productive thing you can do.

Your mind is a problem-seeking and solving machine. If it doesn’t have anything to wok on, it tends to invent imaginary problems to solve.

No. Focus.

Don’t ever apologize for doing things that give you peace even if others don’t understand it.

Early bed times. 5am wakeups. Heavy lifts. Organic foods. Ignoring the news. Being outside in nature.

It may sound boring to others. But if it brings you calmness, clarity, and composure... you don’t need to feel bad about it.

Life isn’t a popularity contest.

Prioritize your life, because no one else will do it for you.

“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

— Antoine de Staint-Exupery

Legendary writers Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller were at a party on Shelter Island hosted by their billionaire neighbor, John Bogle, investor and pioneer of the index fund. At some point, Kurt turns to Heller and tells him that Bogle had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his widely popular novel Catch 22 over its entire history.

“Yes,” Heller responds, “but I have something he will never have… enough.”

I collect career advice like rich people collect watches.

Here are 5 of my favorite pieces:

1/ Start with the big dream

NFL defensive end J.J. Watts was asked what advice he'd give to someone who wanted to play in the NFL. "Start with the big dream," J.J. said. "Let's say my goal was to get in the NFL. Okay, how do I get there? Well, I should probably get drafted - that would be better than not getting drafted. Getting drafted in the first round is the best option. What numbers did the top defensive end get? What was his split time? How big was he? How fast was he? How strong was he?"

J.J. continued, "[Then you think], okay, how do I accomplish those numbers? Well, I need to get in the weight room. Okay, what can I do today to improve my speed, strength, and agility? So you start with the big dream and break it down to its simplest form: what can I do today to make myself better?"

2/ The only thing that changed was that I started getting paid

When Ryan Holiday was 19 years old, he dropped out of college to apprentice under Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Power. When asked why he decided to give up the safe path, he replied, "Robert's life resembled the life that I wanted to live."

"When I met Robert and he asked me to become his research assistant, the only thing that changed was that I started getting paid," Ryan later wrote, "I'd already marked and organized hundreds of books with interesting leads and material."

If you're looking to build a meaningful career, first start by asking yourself: what am I already doing for free?

3/ Get in the room

"When you're early in your career," Author Sahil Bloom writes, "Your primary goal should be to get in those rooms - to be around other bright, interesting people."

He continues, "The magic of compounding is even more powerful with your human connections and knowledge than it is with your financial assets. If you're intellectually curious and spend time with great people, you'll always find a way to win."

What rooms do you need to get in?

4/ Stand out 1/8th of an inch

Errol Gerson was a renowned business professor for over half a century. But in 1971, he was just an ordinary kid looking for a job. After getting rejected time and time again, he set out to figure out why.

"I got copies of all the resumes of my fellow MBAs and they all looked exactly the same. All were quite ordinary on paper; all were in Times New Roman font and were unremarkable. They were all 'good' but not 'great'.

Then inspiration struck: If he wanted attention, he had to do something unexpected.

Instead of regular paper, he bought thick high-quality paper. Instead of standard sized sheets, he asked for them to be cut 1/8th of an inch taller. Instead of Times New Roman, he used Helvetica.

Within a few days, Errol got hired. "When the recruiter went to straighten our the piles of resumes, mine stuck out 1/8th of an inch."

5/ Just ask

When Steve Jobs was twelve, he called Bill Hewlett and asked him for an electronics part. Steve was part of something called the Explorers Club, where computer enthusiasts would get together to build computers. He had hit a dead end with one of his projects and needed a specific part that was only supplied by one company - Hewlett-Packard.

So he looked up the CEO, Bill Hewlett on the phone book, and called him at home. He spoke into the receiver and said, "Hi, I'm Steve Jobs," then asked him for the spare part. Hewlett-Packard was one of the world's largest technology companies at the time, and Bill Hewlett was a multi-millionaire with a packed CEO schedule.

Amused by the situation, Bill decided to lend him the spare part. But then Steve did something even more audacious, he said, "I'd also like a summer job." And Bill agreed to that as well.

"I've actually always found something to be very true, which is most people don't get those experiences because they never ask," Jobs recalled decades later in a 1994 interview. "I've never found anybody that didn't want to help me if I asked them for help."

Until next week,

Author of You Can Just Do Things

Ps. Peace

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