Choose Yourself by James Altucher is one of the most potent books I’ve read in the recent past. It was named among the ’12 Best Business Books of All time’ by USA Today. James’ story is an average story.
EXCEPT;
That he earned and lost millions. Lost ever single penny. Twice over. Failed in 17 of the 20 companies he started. Almost killed himself. Asked for a $1,000 loan from his Dad and was refused. Got divorced. Got depressed and almost crippled. Lost his home to the Banks. Lived in a Motel for 2 years.
THEN;
Resurrected his life. Became a blogger. A writer. Wrote 11 books. Became a New York Times best selling author. Sits on the board of 30 companies.
THIS is what I learnt from him…
1. ‘The American Dream’ is a LIE
The phrase got popular due to a marketing campaign developed by Fannie Mae to convince Americans with cash to take out mortgages. It made people dream for a future that never existed.
“The past and future don’t exist. They are memories and speculation, neither of which you have control over. You don’t need to time travel anymore. All there is, is NOW.”
Don’t live for tomorrow. Choose Yourself in this moment. Be bold right now. There is no other moment to wait for.
Every path starts with THIS moment.
2. You will never make ‘IT’
We all want to make ‘IT’. So, we work 100 hour weeks. No time for family. Constant motion. No time for health.
But there is no ‘IT’ to make. There are no guarantees that if you work hard, you will make IT.
Unless, you Choose Yourself. Unless you create a life that you truly desire. It is a dynamic world. We’re moving towards a society without employees. There is no money to pay for your health.
Companies are getting disintegrated. Film makers are making YouTube videos. News is now on Twitter. Sitcoms are now on Vimeo. Books are getting self-published on Amazon. Education is done on Udemy.
Create your own opportunities. Learn in your own way. And create your own niche. Before its too late. Before you are laid off.
3. Ideas are the new currency
Bad ideas are easy. Most ideas that you come up with will be bad. Good ideas are very rare. And to get good ideas, build the idea muscle.
Then give away your best ideas for free.
Buy a waiter’s pad. Or 100. Become an idea machine. Write down 10 ideas a day. You WILL change your life in six months.
Then let the ideas collide. Ideas produce idea children. Compare your new ideas with the old ones. That’s where your best ideas will come from.
“Collisions are the fundamental life-giving processes of the universe. After the Big Bang, the rest of the universe was basically created from collisions.”
4. Nobody cares about you
Everyone has their own life issues. Big problems.
Like how to not let the wife know about that one night stand. Or how to avoid going on the Thanksgiving dinner. How to lose weight. How to make more money. How to get the next promotion.
People are not bad. They are all too busy to care.
So you need to figure out a way to help them. With your ideas. Generate ideas on how they can be better. How they can solve their problems.
And don’t ask for anything in return. Over time, the goodwill compounds. And it starts to come back.
And if your ideas get stolen. Celebrate. That means they are helping someone. Whatever you want in your life will happen as a by-product of that.
“The only way to create value for yourself, is to create value for others.”
5. Sleep 8 hours a night
Sleep your way to success. Sleep 9 to 10 hours a night if you need to. The body recovers during sleep. It repairs itself. The brain cells repair. The muscles relax. You get refreshed and rejuvenated.
Skip that dinner if you have to. Say No to your friends for a change. You’re not going to lose your promotion if you don’t go to that office party tonight.
Take care of your body. Have a high protein breakfast. Eat dinner early. Exercise. Take long walks. Love yourself.
But first, get a full night’s sleep.
6. Nobody is ever going to change his mind
Everyone has opinions. And those opinions may change. But not by what you say. People will either agree or disagree with you. Opinions are subjective interpretations of past experience.
Maybe you win some arguments. Maybe you lose. Or that’s how it feels. But it does not matter.
You could be doing something more meaningful, like reading a book. Or spending time with your daughter. Or taking a walk by the river. Or kissing someone you love.
Arguments to win over opinions are only meant to fight loneliness. For a brief second, you may feel good about yourself. But most likely, you will still be wrong.
But that also, does not matter.
Respect others opinions. Don’t try to change their mind. Worry about your own happiness. Do something worthwhile instead.
“One hundred years from now, everyone reading this….will be dead.”
7. Be the source
Don’t worry about your ideas being stolen. Or someone rejecting you or your ideas. Don’t give the power to that one person to make or break your life. To choose your success or failure. Even if that person is you.
Continually expand in every direction – creatively, financially, spiritually and physically. Always ask yourself, what can I improve? Who else can I talk to?
“No matter how hard it tries, a ripple that laps onto the shore will never be as powerful as the ocean that created it. The goal is to be the ocean – the central force in our existence that moves mountains, creates all life, shakes continents and is respected by everyone.”
Be the ocean. Create the ripples that enriches you and everyone around you.
8. Only do things that you enjoy
“Only think about the people you enjoy. Only read the books that you enjoy. That make you happy. Only go to the events that make you laugh or fall in love. Only deal with people who love you back.”
Don’t burn your energy and ideas in things that you don’t want.
If you say Yes, where you want to say No, you will resent. You will have less energy and enthusiasm for things that are important to you. You will unnecessarily use up your life. You will get burnt up.
Your fire starts to go away.
Protect your fire. Say No. Say No more.
9. Be around love
Be around people that you love. And those that love you back. Hang out with people that inspire you. Don’t gossip.
Be a minimalist. When it comes to stuff. When it comes to people too. Throw out the people that disempower you. Not physically, maybe.
Ignore them. They will suck all the energy off of you. Declutter your life.
And then you will only have the people in your life you are grateful for. Now introduce two that don’t know each other. Grow your network. Grow the love. Create opportunities for them to help each other out. Take yourself off cc.
When you better the lives of people around you, your life will get better.
10. Surrender
Give up.
Once you’ve done all you can do. Once you have tried over and over again. After you have been rejected many times, and got back up. Once you have actively created and pursued multiple opportunities.
“In order to have a fully functioning life, we need a functioning body, a healthy brain, a functioning social life, a functioning idea muscle, and a very fundamental sense that there are some things we can’t control.”
Struggle reinforces pain. Don’t get into quicksand.
Give up the results.
Trust, that the right thing will happen. The whole world is already working to fulfil your dreams.
And remember to do “THE DAILY PRACTICE”.
Focus on ‘The Physical’, ‘The Emotional’, ‘The Mental’ and ‘The Spiritual’ practice every day.
This is what WILL happen –
a) Within 1 month – you will see coincidences starting to happen.
b) Within 3 months – the good ideas will start flowing. And you will have an overwhelming urge to execute.
c) Within 6 months – everyone around will be helping you put together those ideas.
d) Within 1 year – your life will change 100% from the year before. More money. More luck. More health. More happiness.
Image courtesy jamesaltucher.com
10 Things I Learnt 