From: alexhormozi
Achieving success is a multifaceted process that applies to various aspects of life, including health, relationships, business, investing, and more [00:00:27]. The ultimate goal is to impress “future you,” not others [00:00:05]. This article outlines a systematic approach to winning by focusing on actionable steps.
What to Do: The Inversion Principle
To understand what to do, it’s often easier to first identify what not to do [00:01:52]. This concept, known as “inversion” and attributed to Albert Einstein and Charlie Munger, suggests that when facing a tough problem, one should always invert it [00:02:03]. Our brains are naturally better at finding problems (threats) than solutions, as we are programmed to survive, not thrive [00:02:42].
Activity: Imagining Your Least Successful Self
Consider the least successful version of yourself [00:03:05]. What does that person do or not do to guarantee they won’t win? [00:03:16] Examples include:
- Being impatient [00:03:52]
- Showing up late [00:03:53]
- Being unprepared [00:03:55]
- Being unconfident [00:03:56]
- Being transactional rather than relational [00:04:03]
- Not following up [00:04:07]
- Not advertising [00:04:22]
- Not asking for referrals [00:04:24]
This list highlights actions that guarantee failure [00:04:27]. The shorter the list, the more potent the identified behaviors [00:04:50].
Inverting for Success
Once you have this list of “what not to do,” simply invert it to discover “what to do” [00:05:07]:
- Impatient → Patient [00:05:11]
- Showing up late → Always being on time [00:05:13]
- Unprepared → Always prepared or overprepared [00:05:15]
- Not confident → Confident [00:05:19]
- Transactional → Relational [00:05:19]
- Doesn’t follow up → Always follows up [00:05:21]
- Doesn’t advertise → Advertises constantly [00:05:23]
- Not asking for referrals → Always doing so [00:05:25]
Many people already know how to win because they know how to lose [00:06:05].
How to Do It: Breaking Down Commands and Building Skills
Often, people don’t do what they know they should because they haven’t broken down the actions to their most basic form [00:06:25]. The more skilled a person is, the more general a command they can follow [00:06:32]. For less skilled individuals or those learning, instructions must be highly detailed [00:07:07].
Results come down to the number of skills a person has and the number of skills required to understand and execute a task [00:07:40]. If there’s one broken link in the chain of commands, the task will not be completed [00:08:26]. To ensure success, break down tasks to a level where failure is impossible because every step is understood [00:09:00].
Operationalizing Traits
Consider a trait like “charismatic” [00:09:27]. To “be more charismatic,” operationalize it into observable actions [00:11:56]:
- Smile when people walk in [00:09:41]
- Change emphasis and tonality [00:09:44]
- Remember people’s names [00:09:47]
- Ask people about themselves [00:09:49]
- Nod multiple times and respond [00:09:50]
- Keep eye contact [00:09:53]
- Address everyone in the room upon entering and exiting [00:09:56]
This is the essence of good teaching and learning [00:10:15]. If something can be learned, it is a skill, and it can be taught [00:10:29]. Traits are simply buckets of smaller, teachable skills [00:11:08].
Defining Learning, Intelligence, and Confidence
This approach helps in understanding learning and competence levels:
- Learning: Occurs when, presented with the same condition, you exhibit a new behavior [00:16:29]. If your behavior doesn’t change, you haven’t learned [00:17:34].
- Intelligence: The rate at which you change what you do in the same situation [00:17:45]. Faster change equals higher intelligence [00:17:51].
- Confidence: The percentage likelihood that something happens [00:19:31]. Confidence is domain-specific [00:19:37]. It increases with proof, which comes from doing something many times, especially in the exact situation it’s needed [00:19:50]. Confidence comes from the past, not the present; prepare before you need the skill [00:20:35].
Why You Should Do It: External and Internal Conditions
External Conditions: Overcoming Opportunity Hopping
Many individuals experience the “five stages of opportunity hopping” [00:21:30]:
- Uninformed Optimism: “This seems easy, I can do that too.” [00:21:35]
- Informed Pessimism: “This is not as easy as I thought.” [00:21:47]
- Valley of Despair: Questioning passion and justifying reasons to quit [00:22:02]. Most people jump ship here [00:22:20].
- Informed Optimism: Understanding the process, breaking it down into actionable steps, and measuring progress [00:23:12].
- Win: Achieving success [00:23:37].
Sticking with endeavors longer yields compounding returns [00:23:49]. Wealth and mastery are often made during hard times because the market transfers to the few who remain standing [00:23:56]. A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor [00:25:23]; difficult times are opportunities to sharpen skills and prove your capabilities [00:25:16]. What makes you extraordinary is not what you do, but how long you are willing to do it for [00:26:10].
Internal Conditions: Harnessing Motivation and Comparison
Motivation stems from deprivation—the perception of a gap between your current state and your desired state [00:28:26]. Unlike physiological needs, money deprivation is psychological [00:28:47]. You only feel poor if you perceive a large gap between where you are and where you want to be [00:28:52].
Your environment sets your standards [00:30:16]. To feel more motivated, change who you compare yourself to [00:31:04]. Rich people often feel more deprived of money because they compare themselves to even richer people [00:31:14]. The most effective comparison is to the person you genuinely want to become; this creates the necessary gap for motivation [00:31:43].
Who You Need to Become: Action Over Identity
The idea of “Be-Do-Have” is challenged [00:33:02]. When describing someone, we describe how they behave and what they do [00:33:37]. Being and identities become descriptions of actions [00:32:45]. As Aristotle stated, “We are what we repeatedly do” [00:32:51].
If you want to be a certain type of person, you need to do what that type of person does [00:33:41]. By doing, you become, and by doing, you get [00:33:58]. This means the person you want to become is simply a collection of actions you take, which is 100% under your control [00:34:07]. “The work works on you more than you work on it” [00:34:19]. A new identity brings new priorities and shifts in resource allocation [00:35:11].
When to Start: Now
There are common reasons people delay starting:
- Being Busy: If you want behavioral change to last, the best time to start is when you are busiest [00:36:34]. This forces you to learn how to make it work in the worst conditions, ensuring it sticks when times are easier [00:37:19].
- Time Allocation: Everyone has the same 24 hours [00:38:10]. If you’re busy but not making progress, you’re doing the wrong stuff [00:38:17]. First, eliminate ineffective activities before adding new ones [00:38:21]. “You can be smart and busy but won’t be broke. You can be busy and broke, but you’re not smart. You can be smart and broke, but you’re not busy” [00:38:35].
- The “When, Then” Fallacy: Delaying action until ideal conditions arise (e.g., “when I have more time, I’ll do it”) is counterproductive [00:39:29]. You do the work now to get the thing later; you don’t get in order to do [00:39:52].
The answer to “when to start” is simple: the moment you want to be the future version of yourself [00:40:07]. If identity is based on action, then by starting to do what future you does, you are that person, and the proof will show up over time [00:40:18].
Conclusion
To win, first identify what guarantees failure, then invert those actions to create a list of what to do [00:45:27]. Break down these actions into small, operationalized steps that anyone can follow [00:45:41]. Understand that sticking with things, especially during hard times, yields outsized returns [00:45:54]. Cultivate motivation by comparing yourself to your desired future self [00:46:05]. Recognize that becoming the person you want to be is about doing the actions that person would take [00:46:15]. Start now, especially when busy, and avoid the “when, then” fallacy [00:46:32].
Patience is key; everything must be hard before it can be easy [00:44:50]. What makes things hard is not complexity, but consistent action [00:44:55]. Hard times provide opportunities to prove to yourself that even challenges cannot stop you [00:45:01]. The greatest games in life, like marriage, health, and business, are not about winning a single victory but about outlasting [00:42:23]. Success boils down to making a decision you can 100% control [00:42:42].
If you do not change your behavior, you have not learned [00:46:57]. Take the list of actions you know you should do, and commit to doing them [00:47:09]. When you return to the same conditions, change your behavior to demonstrate what you’ve learned [00:47:16].