A Billionaire Taught Me How To Think Like A Billionaire Ep 328

Alex Hormozi discusses the importance of recognizing dichotomies in business and personal life, emphasizing the need to manage rather than solve certain problems. He shares insights on the pitfalls of binary thinking and the benefits of understanding issues on a continuum. Hormozi illustrates these concepts with examples from entrepreneurship, like the balance between delegation and micromanagement, and personal habits, such as diet adherence. He encourages precise language and thinking to ask the right questions for effective problem-solving, aiming to help entrepreneurs avoid "stupid games" and achieve their desires. Hormozi also teases an unreleased chapter intended to hype his upcoming "100 Million Dollar Leads" and offers it in exchange for email subscriptions.

• Entrepreneurial journey often involves learning from books and trying to apply concepts directly.
• Initial mistakes in management, such as over-delegation or micromanagement, are common.
• Finding the right balance in management is crucial – neither extreme delegation nor extreme control is effective.
• Entrepreneurs need to recognize the difference between problems to be solved and dichotomies to be managed.

"And instead of thinking of it as a problem to be solved, it is instead a dichotomy to be managed."

This quote highlights the shift in perspective from seeing management issues as binary problems to viewing them as dichotomies that require a balanced approach.

• Frameworks assist in thinking through thoughts and making decisions.
• Speaker A emphasizes the value of frameworks by providing personal examples.
• The speaker plans to share four different frameworks that have been effective in their experience.
• Frameworks help identify the actual issues to address in business scenarios.

"And so what I wanted to do was provide you the frameworks for thinking through thoughts."

This quote illustrates the speaker's intention to share mental models that have helped them navigate complex business situations.

• Entrepreneurs often get caught up in providing context without focusing on the core issue.
• Asking "What problem are we solving?" helps clarify the situation and guides effective problem-solving.
• This question can halt the rush of information and lead to a more targeted discussion.
• Speaker A uses this approach when mentoring new entrepreneurs or advising portfolio companies.

"And I'll just usually pause them and be like, what problem are we solving?"

The quote demonstrates a technique used by Speaker A to cut through extraneous details and hone in on the specific problem at hand during business consultations.

• Identifying and defining problems is crucial for effective decision-making.
• It's important to distinguish between actual problems and day-to-day business occurrences.
• Some issues may be perceived as existential threats when they are actually manageable aspects of business operations.
• Improvement should be an ongoing process rather than a halt to address every single issue.
• The concept of a dichotomy to be managed versus a problem to solve is introduced.
• Examples of dichotomies include fairness vs. equality and justice vs. mercy.
• Recognizing patterns helps to quickly identify and manage unsolvable dichotomies.
• The speaker aims to help listeners escape "mental hamster wheels" by recognizing these patterns.

"We can get caught in the day to day, the minutiae and just simply pause and say, what problem are we solving?"

This quote emphasizes the importance of taking a moment to clearly define what the actual problem is before diving into solutions.

"Is this something that we believe that we can reasonably eliminate? Is this something that is catastrophic to the business? Or is this something that we can kind of try and improve over time through systems and process, right?"

This quote suggests a framework for assessing problems: determining if they are eliminable, catastrophic, or improvable over time.

"Most people think in terms of like, I have a problem to solve, rather than a dichotomy to be managed, as in, these are two things that will always exist."

The speaker introduces the concept that some issues are not problems to be solved but dichotomies to be managed, highlighting a common misperception.

"The reason we will probably never have people who are all happy about a tax code is because you cannot have both fairness and equality."

Using tax code as an example, the quote illustrates a dichotomy where two ideals, fairness and equality, cannot be fully achieved simultaneously, leading to perpetual conflict.

"It's like, oh, you guys are spending all this effort trying to solve a problem that is unsolvable. This is a dichotomy that must be managed and will never be eliminated."

This quote underscores the futility of trying to solve certain problems that are inherently unsolvable and should instead be managed.

• Dichotomies are pairs of conflicting ideals that are both valid but cannot be fully achieved at the same time.
• The speaker uses the example of tax code fairness and equality to explain the concept of dichotomy.
• Similarly, justice and mercy are presented as another example of a dichotomy.
• Recognizing dichotomies is crucial for effective problem management.
• The speaker's goal is to help listeners recognize and manage these unsolvable situations.

"Equality means everyone pays 10%. Fairness means the rich people pay more than the poor people. That's fair. This is equal. Both are ideals, and yet somehow they're not the same thing."

This quote explains the dichotomy between fairness and equality, suggesting that while both are ideals, they are distinct and cannot coexist without conflict.

"Both of them are ideals. Both of them are right. And yet somehow they're conflicting."

The quote reflects on the nature of dichotomies, where two concepts can be right and yet be in conflict with each other, such as justice and mercy.

• Pattern recognition is a valuable skill in identifying and managing dichotomies.
• By recognizing patterns, one can quickly identify unsolvable problems and focus on management rather than solutions.
• Understanding these concepts can help individuals avoid wasting effort on unsolvable issues, described as "mental hamster wheels."
• The speaker shares their goal of imparting this understanding to provide value to the listeners.

"The more I started to recognize these patterns, the more quickly I could recognize them and then identify them and then either dismiss them or say, oh, it's another one of those, right?"

This quote highlights the speaker's personal experience with pattern recognition and how it has helped them efficiently deal with dichotomies.

"It's been incredibly valuable for me."

The speaker attests to the personal value gained from understanding and applying the concept of pattern recognition to manage dichotomies.

• The speaker mentions a "lost chapter" added to a book for fans.
• The release of the chapter is a strategic move to build hype for an upcoming release.
• The speaker expresses appreciation for the audience's support.

"For those of you guys who are 100 million dollar offers fans, I love you. I added in a lost chapter that has never been released."

This quote serves to engage with the audience, offering them additional content and expressing gratitude for their support.

• Speaker A introduces an offer for a guide on customer avatar and segmentation to increase revenue.
• The guide is available for free in exchange for an email address, which will be used for future promotions.
• Speaker B emphasizes the importance of taking advantage of the offer to ensure access.

"You can get it by going to acquisition.com leads. It's for free in exchange for your email so that I can email you when we launch 100 million dollar leads."

The quote is an offer for a free guide in exchange for an email, highlighting a marketing strategy that involves providing value to potential customers to build an email list for future promotions.

"And so that you cannot miss out on it."

This quote stresses the exclusivity and limited availability of the offer, encouraging listeners to act quickly to not miss out.

"Because last time I sold out for like, eight straight weeks really fast."

Speaker A uses past success to build anticipation and create a sense of urgency for the current offer, indicating high demand and limited availability.

"So that is my way of making sure that you all get first dibs."

Speaker B explains that the offer is designed to give interested parties priority access, reinforcing the value of the guide and the importance of acting quickly.

• Speaker A discusses the common cognitive error of binary thinking versus the more accurate continuum thinking.
• Binary thinking simplifies decision-making but can lead to inaccuracies, as reality often exists on a continuum.
• Speaker A uses dieting as an example to illustrate how thinking in degrees is more reflective of reality.
• The brain uses binary thinking as shorthand, which can accumulate and result in flawed decision-making.
• Speaker A credits Dr. Cashy, a biochemist and close friend, for insights on the topic.
• The concept is applied to business, specifically marketing effectiveness, emphasizing the importance of understanding nuances and degrees of success or failure.

"Another framework that I find immensely valuable is the concept of a continuum versus a binary."

Speaker A introduces the concept of continuum versus binary thinking as an important cognitive framework.

"And that's because psychologically, we like to be binary. We like to label things as yes or no."

The quote explains the psychological preference for binary thinking, which simplifies complex situations into black and white categories.

"But biology and reality exists on continuums, as in, to what extent did you go off of your diet?"

This quote introduces the idea that real-world situations, such as dieting, are more accurately represented on a continuum, challenging the binary perspective.

"And so our brain uses binaries as placeholders for decision making to store data."

Speaker A explains that the brain uses binary thinking as a mental shortcut for decision-making and data storage.

"When in reality, when you start storing all these binary decisions, they start adding up and you start getting more and more unaccurate, if that's a word, on your decision making process, because you're actually basing your decisions not on facts, but based on binary shorthand that your brain saves."

The quote highlights the compounding inaccuracy that results from relying on binary thinking over time, emphasizing the disconnect between this cognitive shortcut and the factual basis of decisions.

"It's easier to say I fell off my diet or I am diabetic, when the reality is it's not whether you are diabetic, it's how diabetic are you?"

Speaker A provides an example of how binary thinking oversimplifies health conditions, suggesting that continuum thinking provides a more precise assessment.

"Facebook doesn't work for me. Marketing doesn't work for, like, you can't sell this way in my business."

Speaker A cites common binary statements made by entrepreneurs regarding marketing effectiveness, illustrating the prevalence of binary thinking in business.

"When so much of business and problem solving is understanding the nuance between where we're starting and where we're going."

This quote underscores the importance of recognizing the nuances and spectrum of progress in business situations rather than viewing them as simple success or failure scenarios.

"It is not that it doesn't work. It is just, we only got it to work this percent right now. We need to get all the way over the hump to get there. But it's to what extent?"

Speaker A clarifies that marketing efforts should be evaluated based on the degree of effectiveness, not as a binary outcome, advocating for a more nuanced approach to problem-solving.

"And I think that if you can ask the right questions, if you can see the problems as they truly are, they become"

Speaker A suggests that asking the right questions and accurately perceiving problems are crucial for effective problem-solving, implying that this approach can lead to solutions.

• Dichotomies in life should be managed rather than solved.
• The example given is the need for both variety and consistency in a marriage.
• Recognizing and managing dichotomies can prevent unnecessary conflicts.

"The first mental lapse, I'll say that I see all the time, is mistaking a dichotomy that needs to be managed for a problem that needs to be solved."

This quote emphasizes the common mistake of treating dichotomies as problems to solve, which can lead to frustration and ineffective solutions.

• People often make binary judgments when a continuum perspective is more appropriate.
• The example provided is assessing diet adherence not as 'on' or 'off' but as a degree of deviation.
• Adopting a continuum approach can reduce mental self-judgment and lead to more realistic assessments.

"The second framework between two things that I see as a problem that most people make is that they use a psychological binary to make a judgment... when instead it is to what extent, right? It is a continuum..."

This quote highlights the issue with binary thinking and suggests that understanding situations on a continuum can provide a more nuanced and accurate assessment.

• Mental models are frameworks for thinking that can lead to breakthroughs.
• Charlie Munger's concept of a "Latice work of mental models" is referenced for making decisions.
• Precision in language and thinking leads to asking the right questions, which in turn leads to the right answers.
• The goal is to avoid "stupid games" and achieve desired outcomes.

"If we can be precise with our language, we can be precise with our thinking. If we can ask the right questions, we will get the right answers."

This quote underlines the importance of clarity in thought and language, which can directly impact the quality of the outcomes in decision-making processes.

• Alex Ramosi introduces himself and mentions his business, acquisition.com.
• He shares the company's annual portfolio revenue to establish credibility.
• Encourages viewers to subscribe and expresses goodwill regardless of their opinion on the video.

"My name is Alex Ramosi. I own acquisition.com. We do $85 million a year in portfolio revenue."

This quote serves as an introduction to Alex Ramosi and his business credentials, establishing authority and trust with the audience.