From: alexhormozi
The Impact of mindset on skill acquisition and success is a crucial factor in achieving desired outcomes, whether in business, fitness, or personal relationships. The speaker emphasizes that an individual’s mindset, rather than the quality of external programs or teachers, determines success [00:00:49]. This perspective highlights the importance of personal accountability and an inherent will to win [02:38:00].
The speaker has personally invested over $500,000 in business education and has consistently become the top student in every course and program, eventually surpassing the instructors [00:00:00]. They state they have never experienced a negative return on investment (ROI) from any purchase, even from “bad teachers” or “scumbags,” because they committed to making it work [01:04:00].
Levels of Competence: A Top-Down Approach
Success in learning and mastering skills can be understood through five levels of competence, ranging from proactive winning mindsets to actively negative ones [01:34:00]:
Level 1: Positive Active
This is the highest level of competence [02:04:00]. Individuals at this level believe “no one has proven that it cannot be done,” and they challenge others to prove why they can’t do something [02:22:00]. They commit to being the best student, making it happen regardless of the teacher’s ability, because their success is dependent on themselves, not external factors [02:31:00]. Winners with this mindset will win no matter the circumstances [03:11:00].
Examples include:
- Elon Musk, who asserts that if something isn’t physically impossible according to the laws of physics, he will pursue it [03:16:00].
- Roger Bannister, the first person to run a four-minute mile, defying previous beliefs of impossibility [03:25:00].
Level 2: Positive Passive
Individuals at this level say, “Okay, he did it, so I can do it” [03:47:00]. While not the absolute pinnacle, this is still a strong and positive outlook. These are often referred to as “A-minus players” who are willing to replicate successful actions [04:04:00]. The principle here is to replicate before you innovate; do what has worked for others to achieve similar results [04:15:00].
Level 3: Neutral Passive
This is where the majority of people reside [04:57:00]. Their approach is, “It’s worked for other people, let’s see if it works for me” [04:34:00]. They passively accept happenings and are merely open to outcomes, often acting as mediocre customers or participants [04:52:00]. This includes someone who goes to the gym thinking, “We’ll see if your program works for me” [05:11:00].
Level 4: Negative Passive
At this level, the belief is, “It might work for other people, but it probably won’t work for me” [05:22:00]. These individuals are still passive but inclined negatively, often “half-assing” efforts [05:31:00]. An example shared is a salon owner who blamed a gift card campaign for not working, despite failing to follow the instructions correctly [05:37:00]. They seek to blame external factors rather than their own execution [06:28:00].
Level 5: Negative Active
This is the “bottom of the barrel” competence level, characterized by actively trying to prove that something won’t work for them [07:41:00]. Their belief is, “I can prove that this will work for everyone but me. I have bad luck; nothing works out for me” [07:57:00]. This often stems from an identity attached to being “special” or unique, which makes it harder to accept personal accountability [08:05:00].
However, paradoxically, individuals at Level 5 have the highest potential to jump directly to Level 1 [09:41:00]. Their active energy, currently misdirected at proving failure, can be flipped to actively proving success, turning them into “absolute animals” and strong advocates [09:52:00]. Examples include a gym owner who transformed from blaming his market to becoming a top performer [10:07:00], and a gym client who shifted from believing “nothing works for me” to losing weight after being challenged to choose between being “right and fat” or “thin” [11:31:00].
Why Unequal Outcomes? The Bottom-Up Approach
The disparity in outcomes among individuals learning the same material can be explained by the number of pre-existing skills and meta-skills a person possesses [016:02:00].
The “Last Brick” Analogy
People often attribute success solely to the last program or piece of advice they received [016:16:00]. However, the speaker likens skill acquisition to building a bridge: previous learning experiences (even seemingly minor ones) provide foundational “bricks” that enable the final “brick” to complete the bridge to success [016:22:00]. We incorrectly attribute all success to the most recent input, not necessarily the most important [016:41:00].
The Role of Meta-Skills
The more meta-skills (e.g., critical thinking, problem-solving, basic literacy) an individual possesses, the more likely they are to succeed [017:43:00]. These skills allow individuals to bridge gaps when instructions are vague [018:12:00]. If one is remedial in a foundational step, even an advanced program “won’t work” for them [018:33:00].
The “No Fail” Situation: Learning from Everything
Even in negative experiences, there is always an opportunity to learn [019:19:00]. If something fails, it’s beneficial to analyze “what not to do” through inversion thinking [019:44:00]. This allows individuals to always gain an ROI from any experience, whether directly benefiting or benefiting from understanding the inverse [019:52:00].
The speaker emphasizes that success is not about “trying” but about “doing” [014:21:00]. “Trying” implies the possibility of failure [014:27:00], whereas believing that success is inevitable (e.g., “if someone else can do it, so can I”) removes the possibility of failure [014:40:00].
Replicate Before You Iterate
A key strategy for skill development is to “replicate before you iterate” [023:09:00]. This means fully executing a proven strategy exactly as taught to achieve the same results, and only then exploring ways to improve upon it [023:22:00]. Attempting to innovate before understanding why something works can lead to failure [023:40:00]. Learning from multiple teachers and integrating knowledge from different sources also enhances skill acquisition [024:02:00].
Conclusion
The article concludes by reiterating that champions create success regardless of conditions [021:16:00]. They don’t blame external factors; they simply win [021:21:00]. The ultimate goal is to embody the belief that “I will win. I will figure this out, because there’s no way that this is impossible” [024:32:00]. This mindset fosters an inevitability of success, where one proves to themselves that they can win no matter what, rather than trying to prove a teacher or system bad [025:18:00]. The best way to demonstrate a system’s or teacher’s inadequacy is to simply succeed and surpass them [025:41:00].