Rating- 10/10
Date finished- March 1, 2021
Impressions
Life-changing!
Who would I recommend to
If you are into entrepreneurship then this book will be massively influential in your life.
Summary + high yield notes
Step I: D is for definition
The formula for failure- Try to please everybody all the time
The freedom multiplier- Money is multiplied in practical value depending on the number of W's you control in your life: what you do, -when you do it, where you do it, and with whom you do it.
Civilization had too many rules for me, so I did my best to rewrite them. —BILL COSBY
Mini-retirements- Distribute "mini-retirements" throughout life instead of hoarding the recovery and enjoyment for the fool's gold of retirement. By working only when you are most effective, life is both more productive and more enjoyable. It's the perfect example of having your cake and eating it, too.
Focus on being productive instead of busy. Less is not laziness
Ask for forgiveness, not permission
Relative income vs absolute income- Relative income is more important than absolute income. Relative income uses two variables: the dollar and time, usually hours. The whole "per year" concept is arbitrary and makes it easy to trick yourself.
Eustress vs distress- Distress is bad eustress is good. Role models who push us to exceed our limits, physical training that removes our spare tires, and risks that expand our sphere of comfortable action are all examples of eustress—stress that is healthful and the stimulus for growth
There's no difference between a pessimist who says, "Oh, it's hopeless, so don't bother doing anything," and an optimist who says, "Don't bother doing anything, it's going to turn out fine anyway." Either way, nothing happens. —YVON CHOUINARD, founder of Patagonia
I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened. —MARK TWAIN
Most things aren't as serious as we make them out to be
Doing the unrealistic is easier than doing the realistic- It's lonely at the top. Ninety-nine percent of people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for the mediocre. The level of competition is thus fiercest for "realistic" goals, paradoxically making them the most time-and energy-consuming.
Having an unusually large goal is an adrenaline infusion that provides the endurance to overcome the inevitable trials and tribulations that go along with any goal. Realistic goals, goals restricted to the average ambition level, are uninspiring and will only fuel you through the first or second problem, at which point you throw in the towel. If the potential payoff is mediocre or average, so is your effort
The question you should be asking- The question you should be asking(yourself) isn't, "What do I want?" or "What are my goals?" but "What would excite me?"
Step II: E is for elimination
What are we eliminating?- Find your inefficiencies in order to eliminate and find your strengths in order to multiply them
Pareto's law- 80% of the outputs result from 20% of the inputs.
Alternative ways to phrase this, depending on the context, include: 80% of the consequences flow from 20% of the causes. 80% of the results come from 20% of the effort and time. 80% of company profits come from 20% of the products and customers. 80% of all stock market gains are realized by 20% of the investors and 20% of an individual portfolio.
Being busy is a form of laziness—lazy thinking and indiscriminate action
Parkinson's law- A task will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion.
Approaches for increasing productivity that are inversions of each other:
Limit tasks to the important to shorten work time (80/20).
Shorten work time to limit tasks to the important (Parkinson's
Law).
Love of bustle is not industry. —SENECA
Ask yourself 'Am I being productive or just active?'
Learn to propose. Offer a solution. Stop asking for opinions
The low information diet- Cultivate selective ignorance. Develop the habit of asking yourself, "Will I definitely use this information for something immediate and important?"
Develop the habit of non-finishing that which is boring or unproductive if a boss isn't demanding it
Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace. —ROBERT J. SAWYER, Calculating God
Step III: A is for automation
Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it.—MALCOLM x, Malcolm X Speaks
We becoming a member of the NR(New Rich) is not just about working smarter. It's about building a system to replace yourself.
The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.—BILL GATES
Find a market before developing a product- Creating demand is hard. Filling demand is much easier. Don't create a product, then seek someone to sell it to.
It is said that if everyone is your customer, then no one is your customer.
Choose a product that you can fully explain in a good online FAQ- The main benefit of your product should be explainable in one sentence or phrase. How is it different and why should I buy it?
Information products- Information products are low-cost, fast to manufacture, and time consuming for competitors to duplicate.
What skills are you interested in that you—and others in your markets—would pay to learn? Become an expert in this skill for yourself and then create a product to teach the same.
The art of "undecision"- Minimize the number of decisions your customers can or need to make
Step IV: L is for liberation
By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day. —ROBERT FROST, American poet and winner of four Pulitzer Prizes
Quit things that don't work.
Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. —THOMAS J.WATSON, founder of IBM
Only those who are asleep make no mistakes. —INGVAR KAMPRAD, founder of IKEA, world's largest furniture brand
"Why not take the usual 20-30-year retirement and redistribute it throughout life instead of saving it all for the end?"
Mini-retirement- Entails relocating to one place for one to six months before going home or moving to another locale. It is the anti-vacation in the most positive sense. Though it can be relaxing, the mini-retirement is not an escape from your life but a reexamination of it—the creation of a blank slate.
A mini-retirement is different from a sabbatical- Sabbaticals are much like retirement: a one-time event. Mini-retirement is a lifestyle.
Learn to slow down. Get lost intentionally. Observe how you judge both yourself and those around you. Chances are that it's been a while. Take at least two months to disincorporate old habits and rediscover yourself without the reminder of a looming return flight.
Gain a language and you gain a second lens through which to question and understand the world.
The heaviness of success-chasing can be replaced with a serendipitous lightness when you recognize that the only rules and limits are those we set for ourselves.