In this insightful conversation, the host and Alex Hormozi explore the entrepreneurial journey, emphasizing that success often follows a series of failures and the importance of persistence. Alex stresses that wealth does not equate to happiness, noting that self-earned wealth may contribute to contentment by alleviating pain, not necessarily by increasing joy. He also rejects expectations from others, advocating for merit-based decisions in business and personal relationships. Moreover, Alex delves into the misconceptions of rapid wealth accumulation, particularly among young entrepreneurs, highlighting that acquiring skills and experience is crucial. He shares his own path to becoming a millionaire by reinvesting in education and advises aspiring entrepreneurs to focus on learning over earning. The discussion also touches on the importance of taking action and seeking mentorship, as well as the internal fulfillment derived from maximal effort, regardless of the outcome.
"The only way to get good at something is to do a lot of it. And when you start, you suck." This quote emphasizes the importance of persistence and practice in the process of becoming skilled at something. It suggests that starting out with poor performance is a natural part of the learning curve.
"Almost every entrepreneur that I know has had many, many businesses and mostly many failures before they had their success." The quote highlights the commonality of failure among entrepreneurs and suggests that failure is a stepping stone to eventual success.
"Money cannot buy happiness, but it can help you avoid pain." This quote discusses the limitations of money in achieving happiness, stating that while it can alleviate certain hardships, it does not directly create happiness.
"Removing pain versus gaining joy, I think are two completely different journeys." The quote distinguishes between the negative aspect of alleviating pain and the positive aspect of gaining joy, suggesting that wealth is more effective at the former than the latter.
"I wholeheartedly reject all of it. Any expectations of me." This quote shows a firm stance on not allowing others' expectations to dictate one's actions, especially regarding financial matters and personal relationships.
"Would I give somebody with your mom's experience the bookkeeping job? ... Would you pay the bookkeeper $200,000 a year?" The quote encourages objective evaluation of professional opportunities based on merit and experience rather than relationships, ensuring fairness and avoiding nepotism.
"The accumulation of knowledge, because I spent almost all of my excess income on education and so I wanted to pay down my ignorance tax as fast as I possibly could." This quote underscores the importance of investing in self-education and knowledge to reduce the 'ignorance tax' and hasten financial success.
"The level of competition will continue to rise. I think young people are more tech savvy and so will, in general, have a continuously improving competitive advantage over older people." The quote predicts that younger generations will continue to have a competitive edge due to their technological proficiency and the increasing pace of technological innovation.
"Money comes to you when you're ready for it."
The quote emphasizes the idea that financial success is not just about having money, but also about being emotionally and mentally prepared to manage it effectively.
"Maybe you get it and you're not ready, and you lose it all because you're not emotionally ready."
This quote underscores the potential consequences of acquiring wealth without the necessary emotional maturity, which can lead to losing the wealth as quickly as it was gained.
"Everything is trainable."
Speaker A suggests that any skill, including financial management, can be learned and improved upon with training and experience.
"If you were somebody who continues to hop from thing to thing to thing... it's usually because you don't have the skill of sticking with something."
This quote emphasizes the importance of commitment and the need to develop the skill of perseverance to succeed in entrepreneurial endeavors.
"The work works on you more than you work on it."
Speaker A highlights the personal growth that occurs as a result of the entrepreneurial process, regardless of the immediate outcomes of the work itself.
"But the reality is that the outcome isn't the thing that you're building. The person you are is the person that you're building."
This quote reinforces the idea that entrepreneurship is as much about personal development as it is about building a business or product.
"I lost everything five years into my entrepreneurial journey, but I still had all the skills and beliefs that I have from before then."
Speaker A reflects on the resilience gained through experience, which allowed for a comeback after a significant loss.
"Most people go step one, two, three, and then they jump back to step one with something new, right?"
This quote highlights the common mistake of giving up when faced with challenges instead of pushing through to reach success.
"You are afraid of going all in on entrepreneurship because staying in college is safe from an approval perspective."
Speaker A challenges the neighbor to commit fully to entrepreneurship rather than taking the perceived safer route of staying in school.
"You sound horrible. You can't sell anything on the skill, of course."
Speaker A provides blunt feedback to the neighbor, emphasizing the need for skill development in sales.
"He became the top salesman on the setting team... then he became the top closer."
Speaker A describes the neighbor's ascent through the ranks of the sales team, showcasing the rewards of skill development and hard work.
"19, making 250. That's life changing, of course."
The quote illustrates the transformative impact that developing sales skills and achieving success at a young age can have on an individual's life.
"When you're starting out, you need to focus on learning rather than earning." This quote highlights the speaker's advice for beginners to prioritize gaining knowledge and skills over immediate financial gain.
"One of the biggest hacks in the world is getting paid to learn." The speaker is suggesting that finding opportunities where one can learn while earning money is a strategic approach to career development.
"If you learn how to sell, it'll work in any company you're in." Sales is highlighted as a versatile skill that is applicable across different companies and industries.
"We usually only like things that we're good at, and we usually aren't good at things [at the] start." This quote underscores the idea that proficiency and enjoyment in a skill often come with practice and experience.
"Almost every entrepreneur that I know has had many, many businesses and mostly many failures before they had their success." The speaker is reflecting on the typical path of entrepreneurs, which often includes multiple attempts and failures before achieving success.
"I started a gym when I was 22 years old, like brick and mortar signed a lease. It was stupid. I had no idea what I was doing." The speaker shares a personal anecdote to illustrate the learning curve and risks involved in starting a new business.
"People usually want to give advice and support and say, hey, why don't you come check out and go out for lunch, whatever it is." This quote illustrates the speaker's observation that people are generally eager to offer advice to those who are proactively seeking guidance and taking steps towards their goals.
"Luck favors the prepared." The speaker shares a saying that suggests success is more likely for those who are well-prepared and proactive.
"Everyone loves to help people who help themselves always." The speaker is emphasizing that self-initiative is a key factor in garnering support and assistance from others.
"You only teach if they change their behavior. If they change their behavior, they learned." This quote highlights the speaker's belief that the true measure of effective teaching is the observable change in the learner's behavior.
"Why do you want to go faster? Be like, why? Why can't it take ten times as long?" The speaker is questioning the rush towards success and suggesting that a slower pace could still lead to the desired outcome.
"Patience is a big one. Focus is a big one. Sticking with what I committed to focusing on the controllables of, like, what are the activities, what are the actions that I have to take?" The speaker is sharing personal insights from their older self, emphasizing the importance of patience, focus, and control over one's actions.
"If you really measured yourself by the actions you take, then you might be embarrassed. So you really hope to measure yourself on the outcome, because you can get by on sometimes winning when you don't deserve it."
This quote emphasizes the importance of measuring oneself by the effort and actions taken rather than the outcome, as outcomes can sometimes be misleading.
"I would rather lose, but know I gave my all than win and be like, I just kind of just barely showed up today."
Speaker C values the effort put into the process more than the outcome, preferring to lose with dignity than win without full effort.
"I think it's a. Both the journey matters and the outcomes matter. The outcomes also give credibility. They give more context, they give more experience."
Speaker C acknowledges that while effort is important, outcomes also provide valuable lessons and credibility.
"I believe that truly giving your all, actually not like, try your best. That's just like, it's repeated so many times that it's lost its meaning, but leaving everything on the field, having the tank on zero or empty when you walk off and truly knowing and looking at yourself in the mirror like, I could not have done anything more."
Speaker A discusses the significance of exerting maximum effort to the point of having nothing left to give, which provides a sense of true fulfillment.
"You broke a world record today. And I go, what? And I go, what do you mean? And he goes, yeah. You had 17 catches for 418 yards. No one's ever done that in the history of a football game. You're a new NCAA all record holder."
Speaker C recalls a significant personal achievement of breaking a world record, which was bittersweet due to the team's loss.
"But I know because we were behind, I had to give so much more than I was capable of. And if we were winning, I wouldn't have gotten that effort out of myself."
Speaker C reflects on how the challenge of being behind in a game pushed him to exert more effort than he thought he was capable of.
"There's no shortcuts for you, goggins. And I just really love that he doesn't even look for them because he said, you don't get those, you don't get shortcuts. There are no corners to cut."
Speaker A admires the ethos of not taking shortcuts, which aligns with his belief in maintaining high personal standards.
"But we're naturally built to conserve effort. Right. And so you really have to push and overcome the internal mechanisms that you have that say, don't sprint the last 20."
Speaker A discusses the natural tendency to conserve effort and the importance of overcoming it to truly meet one's high standards.
"I am able to work harder and therefore am more proud of the effort that I put into it. Because at least for me, I feel like I know in the mirror, did I give it my all."
Speaker A takes pride in his ability to work hard and the knowledge that he has given his all, which is an important measure of success for him.
"I think at the end of your life, you would still be more proud of the man that did his everything, gave it his all, left it all on the guild, even if he didn't win."
Speaker A contemplates the long-term perspective on success, suggesting that effort and dedication are more important than winning when reflecting on one's life.
"This is what has been allowed me to keep my internal temperature separate from the external temperature to the greatest degree possible, is knowing that I'm using my internal thermometer to gauge my success."
Speaker A explains how using an internal measure of success helps maintain emotional stability and personal satisfaction, regardless of external circumstances.