Harder Better Faster Stronger Masterclass

Imagine your favorite athlete right before competing.

How do you imagine them being?

What mental picture do you have of them?

How do they look?

What’s the feeling they’re “broadcasting?”

Which words would you use to describe them?

Maybe words like

Focused.

Certain.

Energized.

Motivated.

Prepared.

To have made it to their level.

And to compete at the highest levels.

You can NEVER compete any other way.

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A buddy lost his restaurants in the lockdowns.

Well, actually, he’s got some great properties that might come back.

“The question is, will the ‘suits’ come back?” he says.

The residential and office towers that fill his restaurants are still mostly empty.

He’s started another business on the side.

“You’ve gotta find a way to win,” he says.

I detest failure porn

That’s the stuff like how failure is the most wonderful learning experience.

It’s a loser’s mentality.

As Vince Lombardi put it, “Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser.”

Have you noticed that you only hear how great failure is from people who ultimately succeeded?

Failure is necessary and loveable feedback to keep getting better.

But that’s a distant last compared to the feedback of your goal being crushed 🙂

Certainly life isn’t about whether you win or lose.

Still that’s different to what I’m talking about here.

People talking about how grateful they are for their failures.

What did they fail at?

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Winning.

Every game.

Having the will to keep driving towards your goal.

And the skill to pull it off.

For a moment, think back on a time you strived so hard to reach a goal that really mattered to you.

What type of will did it take?

At times did you will yourself to keep going?

To keep getting better?

Were there particular skills, or maybe one skill in particular, that really drove your success here?

Why was it so important to achieving?

How about now looking forward to your current goals.

What skills most matter to you driving it all the way?

Where do you now rank yourself on these skills?

How might you upgrade your skills for driving what you want?

That’s what we’re doing in this video for upgrading skills, if you haven’t watched it already.

If you have, you’re one step closer…

That’s how I think of most success.

Actually, that’s what I’ve seen many people experience chasing success.

Arrrrggghhh.

Grind, grind, grind.

Crank. Crank. Crank.

Getting it done. Done. Done. Done.

Boom. Crash.

btw, that boom, crash even happens when people achieve because…

If you don’t know where you’re headed

Well, will you feel good when you arrive?

Your ladder of success can be leaning against the wrong wall.

So you climb, climb, climb, only to reach a level where you’re wondering, is this what it was meant to be?

The worse problem is you never reach this point.

You grind, grind, grind until you can’t grind anymore.

And you still fail to reach your destination.

Or worse.

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I know I’m fc’g this up.

A top marketer of personal development told me directly.

“You’ve gotta make it seem easy,” he said.

“But even that’s not enough. Effortless. That’s more like it.”

The point being…

Few people like to workout

Many people avoid it.

Others, with a more important goal, “force” themselves to show up and get it done.

“So if you run around comparing training your mind to working out,” he said, “You turn many people off.”

“Good,” I said.

Those people are wrong for me and I’m wrong for them.

They should stick with podcasts and self-help hacks.

I work for and seek out serious people who do the work.

Because people who are serious about driving transformational results do what it takes.

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I wrote a longer, boringer article on performance tools.

Then I went for a run which made it much simpler.

You know these things that get you into a better state of mind.

Do more of them!

That’s all I’m talking about in this video on performance tools.

Get clear on what you’re changing in your mind as we did in 2.1.

And keep honing the tools that get the job done.

Running is one physical tool I use to simplify my thinking.

And here it led me to reflect on something too.

It’s the week of Thanksgiving.

In a weirdo year.

And we all still have so much to be thankful for.

One thing I did again was the thank-filled exercise from this lighter side video.

And here’s the video again on performance tools.

Next we move on to Mind 2.3.

If you had a magic wand to change how you think and feel, what would you upgrade?

And why would you upgrade it?

Are there “negative” thoughts and feelings that make you think and feel worse?

That limit the way you scheme and dream your goals?

Hold you back from taking your best actions?

How would you be different if you could remove these?

What about the positive side?

How would you want to be different?

Would you want to feel more focused, energized, confident?

Have more belief in your goals, in yourself?

Upgrading your mind for 2 reasons

Honestly, I hate using the word “mind.”

It’s imprecise relative to talking about the neuroscience of your brain and nervous system.

Or the psychology of your thinking and feeling faculties.

Yet the notion “mind” conveys something incredibly powerful—

The way you’re directing your thinking and feeling faculties, brain and nervous system.

In this context of Upgrade YOU, this matters for 2 reasons.

The first is top performance.

Quite simply, like a pro athlete, to best drive your goals and actions you must get your thinking and feeling aligned.

You can never be worried, fearful, distracted, and every other “negative” way AND playing your best game.

This matters most in driving your goals, but it may be the second reason that matters even more.

Happiness, or as I prefer to label it, “feeling amazing!”

This to me is the end game of being human.

If you can alter the way you think and feel at will, you’ve won the game.

But there’s also a lot more to this than just play.

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I was underwhelmed by many people at Goldman.

It was actually shockingly disappointing to me.

This is Goldman Sachs.

The best of the best, or so I thought.

But like every best of the best team, there are many degrees.

The best people at Goldman are the gold standard.

Rock stars like David and John.

Powerful leaders and commercial killers like, nah, not gonna name names… (especially coz some are my clients!)

Yet when you’re at Goldman it’s also well accepted that many of the best leave.

Average “elite”

I’m not just talking Goldman here but every seemingly elite culture.

It’s a matter of scale.

In top places like McKinsey, Skadden, KKR, the cream rises to the top.

Many boil up and out.

The majority are left behind.

They’re all good, of course.

Incredibly effective relative to people who’ve never challenged themselves playing a top game.

Yet many do nothing more than lace up.

Still operating like they’re in high school.

Show up on time.

Do what you’re told.

Work hard.

Every year graduate to a higher level, and hopefully make that promotion on time, or only a few years late.

It’s not their fault either.

In the past even top firms have done next to nothing to help employees elevate.

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My life has gotten better in the lockdowns.

So has our business.

Lots more people with problems seeking solutions.

Tons more engagement.

Making more money.

With more time to myself.

Doing more of what I want.

It’s made my work easier, moving it all online.

Friction has been removed, such as meetings I will now forever delete.

Less travel.

Spending more time with my loved ones, the cats 🙂

I was already socially distanced, and it’s easier to be socially distanced more.

I’m liking wearing a mask so I can hide more.

New York is quiet, when I enjoy the city more.

The things that I indulge, such as restaurants I mostly ordered from anyways and public places, are open.

Every day it’s getting cheaper.

While my assets in the markets have appreciated more. (for now)

I’m healthier.

In much better shape.

Having more better sex.

Eating even simpler and cleaner.

It’s been a catalyst to dial in my sleep, mind, energy even more.

I’m even more focused.

My protocols for developing and running my ultimate day have been locked in more.

I’ve deleted even more dastardly media.

I’m happier.

My mind is even more at ease, and excited for the leaps we’re taking,

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