I've been doing quite good as of late, not amazing as some crypto millionaires but also not as bad as I was a few years ago, and I've learned a lot during that time where I tried my best to improve myself, my approach to life and the way I roll.
For part 1 of this series, click here
I know there are a lot of posts that aim to advice other users on how to thread in life, crypto, the internet or the professional scene, and I don't mean to undermine them but, here's probably the most thorough post about self improvement.
This post will be long but it will cover a lot of what I've learned since I became part of the crypto world and from my days in corpo world, I hope you get some value out of it because it took me a very long time to write it.
How to effectively kill your dreams
Not everyone can be a founder or work for himself, in fact most of us need the security that having a normal job provides and, in order to be able to be a creator we need our basic needs - and if you have a family, their wants fulfilled - up to a certain point. But once we reach that soft spot of having all our needs and wants covered, it is time to get out of the comfort zone and find some time to have a side income, alternative profit generator, and dedicate ourselves to our true purpose.
You know what they say, If you do not work for your dream or purpose, someone else will hire you to fulfill theirs.
There's nothing wrong in generating profit for someone else through your effort and time, but you also need to focus in fulfilling your own dreams. If you let some time and momentum pass by you, you will regret it. Avoid letting your dreams dying on you.
Success is not an accident. Failure is not a mistake. Anyone who has reached any great heights did so because they did things differently than the majority. The majority did not reach any great heights because they did things the same as everyone else.
There are a few things in life that effectively kill your dreams:
- Fear of failing: You know the saying, every opportunity you don't take, it's already a failed attempt. Failure means nothing when you are at the top, and you will regret not taking every single shot at success that you let pass because you were too afraid of falling short or dreaded not being up to the challenge.
- Fear of succeeding: We have a saying in Mexico - You are afraid of success, but we usually use it when someone doesn't want to drink a tequila shot or something like that, it is usually a joke, but it stands true to a point. Most people don’t reach the heights they are capable of because of fear they will be left out if they achieve it. What I mean by this is that being successful means being alone. People will be jealous of you, they will criticize you. Putting yourself on the line of wanting to succeed means putting yourself up for criticism and nitpicking.
- No "whatever it takes" mentality: I've seen a lot of people come up with amazing ideas get discouraged by the short term outcome, the obstacles they face, or the personal life issues that come with being a founder or working for yourself. Having the proper mindset to not despair when most people would is not something easily achieved, it is a mindset that comes from experience and preparation.
- Finding excuses to every problem: Find each problem as an opportunity to provide a solution and think of it as a challenge, or a boss to defeat. This is easier said than done of course, mostly because we get tired from setbacks and without the proper mindset explained above, there will be a time when you will think it is easier to start over, move fields, come up with another idea or simply focusing on your 9 to 5. The thing is, it is 100x easier to come up with excuses than coming up with solutions. There will always be questions coming up on your journey, it is up to you to think of them as obstacles or as challenges. Successful people take ownership of their success and failures. If it doesn’t work out don’t give up – work harder, try a different approach, do whatever it takes to get to your destination.
- Negative influence or environment: After 25 years old, you need to surround yourself only with positive people that bring you up, not put you down. The influence the people around you have on you is more than what you think, and even if they are family or friends you need to learn how to cut them from your life if they are not bringing something good to the table. This also applies to those people who are always negatively criticizing your ideas or always have a problem to your solution. Do not confuse feedback that builds with criticism that halts growth. If people believe something can't be done or they can't achieve it, they will want to - consciously or subconsciously - try to impose that world view and those limitations to you, nobody like someone else doing something they thought to be impossible. Just because they couldn’t do it doesn’t mean you can’t. Just because no one in your family has been successful before doesn’t mean you can’t be the first.
- No discipline: If you have dedication, perseverance and discipline, then you are already part of the 90th percentile. You are competing with a world driven by short term momentum, instant gratification, self indulgence and no drive. You must be committed to working on your goals and dreams every day and make it more important than all those insignificant things that hold you back from success.
- Thinking you are at the top: Successful people are lifetime learners and find a chance to learn from everyone all the time. Don't think you are above anyone else, there is always something to be learned from every person around you. This doesn't mean you must engage with everyone around you, it means that you must not have prejudice when engaging and you must never enter an interaction with the mindset of "I already know everything this person knows and I can't learn from them" or the common mistake of disregarding a conversation or experience because you think you are above it. Everything is a learning chance and every interaction must leave you a better person than you were before engaging.
If you are a man, embrace your masculinity
No matter what the current time and narrative tells you, there's nothing toxic about masculinity, there's nothing wrong with being a man, and progressive culture is here to slay the man's man, so don't fall for this psyop.
- A man prefers peace and prosperity, yet should always be ready for chaos and war: I can't even tell you how many weapons I have in hidden spots of my house in case we have a break in. A man should be as fit and ready for battle as possible at any given time and there's nothing wrong with being war-ready. The man who sleeps with a machete is a fool every night but one.
- Self-awareness: We all make mistakes and have flaws, but most of us don't even realize what are those and how they influence our life and daily interactions. It's not enough to know these flaws, you must be actively self aware of your own actions, consequences and how they affect those around you.
- Seek growth every day: Stop binge drinking during the weekend and stop indulging into shit that numb the brain and waste precious time. I'm not talking about not watching a series with the gf, but never do it in your free time or building time. Stop playing vidya. Always be on the move, always look for things to do, fix shit around the house, find stuff that build character and teach you something. I began gardening as an alternative to watching youtube.
- Words over fists: A man should never seek war, but he must be ready for it. This is not the same as the same point of this list, the approach is different. What I mean by this is that you should always seek to resolve conflict with arguments and avoid a fight as much as you can, but if it comes to fighting, you must be more than ready for it. If you’re intelligent, you can mostly talk your way out of any scenario without hurting yourself, or anyone you love. Words are much more powerful than fists, but some times fists are the only resource to solve a conflict.
- Independence: A huge part of masculinity is independence and self-reliance.
A man wants to learn how to be self-sufficient and able to provide for himself, but that doesn’t mean he never needs others from time to time. I can never say this enough, find a way to be as self sufficient as possible. Go off-grid as much as possible and stop depending on others as much as possible. - Find a purpose, then focus on it: Be a man with a mission, and become so obsessed with it that you don't have time to simp for women. Find your passion, find a way to monetize it, and do everything within your power to make it your main income. Women will come and go, but your growth will stay with you when shit hits the fan. Be ambitious.
- Knowing how to be a leader: You should know how to lead a group of people or a team toward the right path and decisions. If you don't know how to be a leader, then use assertiveness to put yourself into leading positions and then learn from your mistakes, odds are you will find leadership-lacking scenarios everywhere, because most people hate leading and the spot a leader is in at all times, it is always easier to follow and have no responsibility.
- Avoid testosterone killers: This is easy as fuck, yet most men don't do what it takes to achieve it. Sleep at least 7 hours, avoid unnecessary stress (stress = cortisol = low test), lift weights, have cold showers, walk in nature, have a journal, do not drink alcohol, go outside man and get some sunlight, get off the couch, stop being fat (yep).
General life advice
- You are the master of your fate, you're the captain of your soul. Your success and failures are entirely your responsibility.
- Your health is your most valuable asset, your body is your vessel and the better taken care it is, the more success will come to you. The decisions you make today will have a great impact ten to twenty years from now.
- Skills trump degrees. Developing skills that will put you ahead of others is a competitive advantage in life.
- Never rely on one source of income, this shuts down your negotiation power. Never depend on one profit stream or you will be a slave to it and it will impact your decision making process.
- You only have one life, take the shot at everything.
- Your privacy is important. Keep love, next move, and finances to yourself. The less you share, the less people will know about your life.
- The quality of your surroundings has a big impact on your success. Surround yourself with people who talk about business, investments, and personal development.
- Family is important as fuck, don't neglect them. Without losing focus on your purpose and mission, set aside time for the loved ones.
- Nothing is given. Everything is earned. This is even more accurate if you are a man, your worth is linked to what you can provide.
- Read books from various fields. The more you read, the more you will learn. These lessons and knowledge will come in handy one day.
- Perfection is trash. You will succeed and fail many times. You will achieve your goals if you are consistent and disciplined.
- Money is a vessel, not the goal.
- Failure to plan is planning to fail. A life without direction is doomed to fail.
- Never, ever stop learning, especially after college. If you keep learning, you will stay ahead of the curve.
- Having money is not the same as being wealthy. The ability to control your time defines wealth. You can control your time when you buy assets.
Learn to be productive
Productivity is key today and it was yesterday, but it is hard as fuck to be productive today due to the influx of information and the overflow of distractions around us. The current state of social media and society is built to around one single purpose: to distract you from your mission.
- Set a Daily Goal: Every morning establish a list of goals and prioritize them. Stick to this list no matter what it takes. Finish every single point. This will teach you what is important and what is not. If it's not urgent delegate it, if it's not important scratch it from the list. Daily success builds long term success. One day at a time.
- Have an clock in front of you: As mentioned above, being aware of yourself and how you are spending your time adds a layer of "sense of urgency" that will keep you focused and sharp.
- Set a “No-Phone” hour once a day - No social media, no email, no news, no nothing, only yourself. This has helped me relieve stress.
- Do not sleep with your phone next to you. Having your phone next to you allows you to get distracted when you're trying to sleep and notifications come at all times. The bed is for sleeping or fucking, not to look at funny pics or memes.
- Make a “Forbidden” List - Stick to it. I started this idea back when I was like 15 and it was all around "no masturbating, no coca cola, no shouting at my mom" and shit like that. I've tweaked it since then, but the concept is still relevant: When you forbid things to yourself and you stick to the list, being able to focus is ten times easier and you don't have to deal with your own guilt of doing things that are harmful to you or that will make you think less of yourself. This is a way to avoid short term regret and it works like a charm.
- Take constant breaks: I have alarms set throughout the day. These alarms give me five minutes every half an hour to stretch, drink water or pee, and go get some sunlight. These alarms also help me stay focused and avoid feeling burnout. One thing to note, I avoid these alarms for the first two hours of the work day when I focus on the main task of the day.
- Work in batches - If you have 7 tasks to do today, align them by similarity and the binge finish them. Respond to all emails at once and then move on to writing that article.
- Have a Schedule - And stick to it, no matter if you're on a streak or you are killing it. Sleep and leisure time are important and if you stay up late, you will be under productive the next day, no matter how much you achieve in one day it will be less productive if the next day you need to nap or can't concentrate for lack of sleep.
- Get Rid of Distractions - Set your phone to silent, ask people around you to leave you alone when the door is closed, stop multitasking and by the love of god, do not watch videos in the background or listen to podcasts while you work.
- Use a Task Manager - I use a task manager to keep track of all of the things I need to do. This helps me stay organized and make sure that I’m doing the most important tasks. I use my own JS built task manager, but there are a ton of other great options out there.
- Follow the 80/20 Rule - The 80/20 rule is the principle that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. This means that you should focus on the things that are giving you the most results.
Be a monkey of habits
We are animals. If you think that having habits and schedules is only good for your dogs then you're in for a ride. Having habits will make you successful as fuck, but reaching the point where a behavior becomes a habit is hard as hell.
- Wake up at the same time every day: I've already said this above but having 7 hours of good sleep is key to have energy, focus and testosterone.
- Read before you write or work: Set aside 30 minutes after you work out and before you start working. A creative mind is key for when you start generating the big bucks and reading is a great way to get in the zone or reach a flow.
- Define and measure your goals: I mention it above. Create a list of goals for the day, for the week and for the month. Reach short term goals that will pave the road to achieving the long term ones.
- Wake up early & exercise: I wake up at 5 am when everyone is asleep at the house. This gives me around 3-4 hours of me-time. I work out, I take care of the garden and my animals, I read and I already finished the most important task of the day before the chaos, noise and distraction starts.
- Silence is key: Do not work with music, avoid podcasts and background videos. This will help you stay focused and finish tasks faster.
- Keep Your To-Do list Small: Have only 1 or 2 things that are critically important to finish each day, and make sure you finish them first. Then have a few other tasks that you can finish throughout the day when you are feeling the vibe. In the meantime you can read, learn, spend time with the loved ones etc.
I think that's it for today
I still have a lot of topics to talk about but this post is already too long.
I already have part 1 of this series out, if you like them and I get enough feedback I will continue to them once or twice a month.
If you liked this post, here's part one