10. Let Your Reach Excede Your Grasp.
How are you going to dominate the world if you’re not growing? How are you going to get better than you were yesterday if you’re not trying shit you couldn’t do yesterday?
Always, always aim to do things you’re not sure that you can do. Spar with guys who are better than you to get better. Lift heavier weights than you could last week to get stronger. Try things that scare the shit out of you to grow into a stronger, more exciting person.
Never attempt anything safe, that you know you can accomplish with your eyes closed. There’s no growth in safety. There’s no point in being a big fish in a small pond. Be the Great White of the ocean, not the sturgeon of the lake.
Set goals that are just beyond what you can currently accomplish. The whole idea that we should set goals that are attainable is bullshit. It’s for weak people that need reassurance, not warriors that need a challenge. If you know you can make 100K a year, aim for 150. If you know you can squat 6 plates, add more weight. You’re always capable of greater things. Live that capability.
11. Never Complain.
Your thoughts are contagious. Not only will they become your reality, but others around you will begin to think the same. You need a team with you if you’re going to dominate the world. You need people who also think that nothing is impossible, and have the balls to set out to accomplish the audacious, ballsy things you’re trying to accomplish.
Don’t complain.
Don’t even complain in your own mind, let alone out loud. Start, however, with out loud. Each and every day, keep a running tally of your complaints. Have it on your phone or in your notebook (and you’d best be keeping a notebook or a journal). And everyday, shrink that number as much as possible. No one likes a complainer, and if they do, they’re also a complainer who’s world view is surrounded with cynicism, their days dominated by anger and envy.
Be courageous, don’t be a complainer. Be a warrior, don’t live with an envious heart.
12. Keep Your Friends Close & Your Enemies Minimal.
Enemies are of no use. You want people working with you and for you, not against you. Sure, you’ll defeat them, but why not spend energy on growth and creation, leave the petty battles to petty people.
If you have to have an enemy, make sure it’s one worth fighting.
13. Your Enemies Should Be The Enemies Of Your Values.
You should, however, have big enemies. Don’t waste your time battling people doing small things with their lives, they’re of no concern to you, you’re above them. But you should battle those sources of evil, doing evil. Be a liberator. Come to the aid of people. Be their shoulder and their soldier.
The best way to build an army is to have an army of smart, intelligent warriors who are indebted to you.
I always got in trouble as a kid for fighting other people’s battles. If some kid was forced into a fight, I’d step in and go to bat for him. While it got me in trouble in a school system that stomps on the developing manhood of our boys, it was worth it. Fight those picking on people who can’t fight their own battles. By stepping in, you’re showing them how to handle confrontation so in the future, they’ll be able to do the same.
14. Never Envy Anyone.
Envy is a useless emotion. Never envy. Never desire what another man has. Rather, learn how he got it. Never aim to bring others down, but build them up. World domination doesn’t happen out of spite. True domination occurs only out of honest and just mite.
Build great people up. Help them become even greater. World domination, oddly enough, isn’t a selfish act, but a selfless one. To make real change on the planet, and to really lead, you can’t be an arrogant idiot only concerned about your own personal gain. You also can’t be a guy who looks to others for validation. You have a capacity for greater things than you’re doing right now. Reach for those things, don’t worry about what others are doing. Do your thing. Struggle. Hustle. Rise above.
15. Remain in Your Depths.
There’s a myth that people in poverty gravitate towards religion because they feel it’s the only thing that will bring them out of poverty, a better life, and help them through their struggles.
Pay attention…
Religion thrives under poverty because poor people have to remain in their struggles, they have to figure their own way out of their problems. They can’t take a trip, buy something to quell their depression. They have to stay in them, remain in them.
I’m not telling you that you have to find religion, what I am saying that is things become clearer, and you become stronger, when you remain in your struggles. Don’t try and find a quick fix to your struggles. Don’t go shopping to make yourself feel better, or book a trip to run away from your problems, and for shit’s sake don’t turn to booze or drugs to cover up your pain.
Remain.
This is closely tied into never resisting. Don’t. Let your dark moments shape you, toughen you, and make you into a stronger, more powerful man that can withstand anything.
16. Study And Train Relentlessly.
Train like a warrior, even if you’re an accountant. Follow a strict routine to strengthen your body and mind. Wake up at the same time of day, read books more than you watch TV. Study those who have come before you, become successful, and build upon their victories.
Be a soldier. Live a disciplined life. Never relent. Don’t stop, ever. Your journey will never finish. This is fashion, it’s never-ending, always evolving. Your journey to the top is the same. It’s never-ending, always evolving. Be Legendary.
17. Always Be Ready To Walk Away.
A rule with every business deal is that you should be ready to walk away at any moment. No matter how great the gain, be ready to walk away. No matter how attached you are to your dream, your job, your vision, be ready to walk away.
Don’t go into any deal with emotion. Life is business. Treat it as such.
18. Slay the Dragon.
Every one of us has a fear or an insecurity that can potentially keep us living a small life. Let’s call this the dragon. This dragon is internal. It’s cunning. It has probably defeated you in battle a thousand times already, without you knowing it. You think this is you. But it isn’t
There’s a stronger version of you that you need to release, feed, and grow.
You are one part warrior, one part coward. The dragon is the coward. He appears to overtake you, make you crumble in big moments, make you second-guess yourself in the big decisions of your life, but the truth is, he’s weak, and can easily be defeated with action that opposes what he stands for and who he is.
Slay the dragon daily. Crush that part of you who actually believes you were meant for anything but greatness. At one point in your life you had a great dream, you at least flirted with the notion that greatness was in your future. Then you grew up, the ways of the world were impressed upon you, the limiting beliefs of the majority were tattoo’d on your soul, and you became normal, small, and insignificant.
The dragon won.
But that wasn’t the end of the battle. It was just the beginning. This is a battle of life and death. It’s a battle that will determine whether or not you enter your grave filled with regret, or crawl to your death having used up every ounce of your talent, every micron of your being, in service of reaching your true potential and creating a life that is the stuff of legend.
