You’re Not Good Because You’re Unwilling To Be Bad Ep 630

In this podcast, the host discusses the detrimental belief that inherent inability prevents skill acquisition, emphasizing the importance of shifting mindsets to foster growth. He shares personal anecdotes and conversations, including one with a friend struggling with career advancement due to a perceived lack of valuable skills, to illustrate his point that skills can be learned through dedicated practice. He debunks the idea that being 'bad' at something is a fixed state, using examples like sales training and understanding business math. By highlighting his own journey from believing he was bad at math to achieving proficiency, the host encourages listeners to invest time into learning and improving, thereby overcoming self-imposed limitations and advancing in business and personal endeavors. He concludes by urging listeners to share the podcast to help others in their entrepreneurial journeys.

• The speaker emphasizes the importance of believing in the possibility of success.
• They suggest that if someone has achieved a goal, it implies that others can too, by emulating their actions.
• The speaker relates this to their journey with acquisition.com and their goal to build it into a billion-dollar portfolio.

"No one's ever done it, and I'm going to be the first. If you can at least just believe that if someone has done it, it is therefore possible, and therefore I can do it, too, if I do the same things."

The quote underlines the speaker's pioneering spirit and the idea that belief in possibility is a prerequisite for achieving unprecedented success. It's a motivational statement that sets the tone for the rest of the discussion.

• The speaker refers to business as a game that the wealthiest people play.
• They aim to document and share lessons learned on their way to success.
• The speaker expresses a desire for listeners to grow their businesses and potentially partner with them.

"The wealthiest people in the world see business as a game. This podcast, the game, is my attempt at documenting the lessons I've learned on my way to building acquisition.com into a billion dollar portfolio."

This quote encapsulates the speaker's perspective on business and their intention behind the podcast. It presents business as a strategic endeavor that can be learned and mastered like a game.

• The speaker identifies a common struggle where people believe they are inherently bad at things because they are not good at them initially.
• They consider this mindset to be dangerous and aim to deconstruct it.
• The speaker believes success is built on skills, character traits, and correct beliefs.

"And it reminded me that a lot of people struggle with this, which is they believe that they are inherently bad at things because they are not good at them."

The quote highlights a psychological barrier that many individuals face: the misconception that an initial lack of proficiency indicates a permanent inability. The speaker challenges this notion as a limiting belief.

• The speaker outlines a progression for building success: developing skills, character traits, and ensuring beliefs are correct.
• Beliefs are seen as essential throughout the process, especially the belief in one's ability to acquire new skills and traits.

"So I think one of the most valuable beliefs because in terms of building on success, in my opinion, first you need to develop skills, then you need to develop character traits to make sure that you do those skills."

This quote explains the speaker's philosophy on personal development and success. It asserts that belief is foundational to the acquisition of skills and the development of character traits necessary for success.

• The speaker discusses a conversation with a friend who wanted to switch careers due to insufficient earnings.
• They suggest that acquiring a valuable skill set, like sales, can lead to higher income.
• The friend's belief that she is not a salesperson is challenged by the speaker, who points out her lack of sales training.

"And she was like, I'm not good at sales. I'm not a salesperson. And I was like, well, how many hours of sales training have you gone through? She was like, none."

The quote illustrates a real-life example of how the lack of training, rather than inherent ability, is often the reason for not excelling in a particular skill. The speaker uses this example to demonstrate the importance of skill acquisition for career advancement.## Investment in Skill Development

• Discusses the importance of investing time to develop a skill, using marketing as an example.
• Highlights the unreasonable expectation of being good at a skill without putting in the effort.
• Emphasizes that lack of investment leads to lack of proficiency.

Well, none. Well, then why is it reasonable that it would be unreasonable for you to be good at this skill, given the amount of investment you've made?

The quote underscores the direct correlation between the time invested in studying a skill, like marketing, and one's proficiency in that skill. It points out the irrationality of expecting to be good at something without dedicating time to learn and practice it.

• Addresses the common fear of math among business professionals.
• Argues that basic arithmetic is sufficient for business success.
• Distinguishes between being bad at math and not understanding the concepts behind the math.

And I can see people starting to freak out because they're like, I'm not good at math, and I have to lean back or lean pressure onto that belief because one that's a belief that will literally never serve you.

The quote highlights the speaker's observation of people's anxiety towards math, particularly in the context of business. It suggests that this belief is unhelpful and needs to be challenged for individuals to progress.

• Differentiates between mathematical ability and comprehension of business concepts.
• Explains that the belief of being bad at math is often a misunderstanding of terms and concepts.
• Points out that this belief acts as a barrier to learning and success.

And the thing is that people mistake that they are bad at math, when in reality they do not understand the concepts that create the math.

This quote clarifies that the issue is not an inherent inability to do math but a lack of understanding of the underlying business concepts that are expressed mathematically. This misconception leads to self-imposed limitations.

• Discusses how people identify with their perceived skill levels.
• Explains how this identification can prevent them from succeeding in areas they believe they are poor at.
• Emphasizes that this mindset is a significant obstacle to achieving success.

And so I think that for me, one of the cornerstone beliefs that has helped me a tremendous amount, I just want to share it with you, is that if someone can, therefore I can.

The quote suggests adopting a belief that anything someone else can do is also possible for oneself, provided one is willing to put in the same effort. This belief is presented as a foundation for personal growth and overcoming self-doubt.

• Advocates for an action-oriented approach to achieving goals.
• Suggests that actions are impartial to one's current skill level or sense of deservingness.
• Proposes that consistent practice leads to improvement regardless of starting ability.

And the nice thing about actions is that they are agnostic to your level of deservingness and skill.

The quote emphasizes that actions, such as practicing a skill, do not discriminate based on one's initial ability or perceived worthiness. It implies that consistent effort is the key to improvement and eventual success.## Personal Success and Effort

• Most people don't take significant action towards success.
• Success is often seen as unreasonable without significant time and effort invested.
• The speaker emphasizes the importance of consistent effort to achieve success.

"Because most people do nothing. Most people do absolutely nothing except for deal with their emotions on a regular basis and procrastinate and give themselves reasons for why they are not successful. Besides the obvious one, which is that it is not reasonable that they would be successful given the amount of time and effort they've put in to achieving it."

This quote underscores the common lack of action and self-imposed barriers that prevent most people from achieving success. It points out that success is not a reasonable expectation if one doesn't invest the necessary time and effort.

• The speaker does not run ads or sell products, focusing instead on supporting entrepreneurs.
• Encourages listeners to spread the word about the podcast to help entrepreneurs.
• The speaker believes that by sharing the podcast, listeners can positively impact others.

"And so the only ask that I can ever have of you guys is that you help me spread the word so we can help more entrepreneurs make more money, feed their families, make better products, and have better experiences for their employees and customers."

The speaker requests listeners to share the podcast as a means of supporting the entrepreneurial community. By doing so, they can contribute to the success and well-being of others.

• Assessing whether it's reasonable to be skilled at something based on the effort invested.
• The speaker had a conversation about understanding mathematical concepts and relates it to reasonable expectations of skill acquisition.

"And the only reason for this is because I had that conversation. I spoke at the mastermind where the girl talked about not understanding the math. And there's just so many repeated events like this where it's like, can you ask yourself, with reason, would it be reasonable for me to be good at this skill, given the investment I've made?"

This quote highlights the importance of reflecting on whether one's skill level is commensurate with the effort they've invested. It suggests that skill proficiency is a result of deliberate practice and investment of time.

• Young individuals may not be limited by the belief they can't achieve certain things.
• The speaker mentors an 18-year-old who is successfully wholesaling real estate due to his hustle and lack of limiting beliefs.

"And the thing is, he's too young to know that he can't do things yet. And what that does is it makes him incredibly dangerous because he hasn't been slapped in the face by the world yet. And so he believes that he can accomplish anything."

This quote discusses the advantage of youthful naivety in entrepreneurship, suggesting that not knowing one's limitations can be a strength, as it allows for greater ambition and risk-taking.

• The speaker mentors a young entrepreneur, providing guidance and resources.
• The mentee learned skills through free online resources and applied them successfully.
• The speaker instills the mentality that initial failure is a part of the journey towards skill mastery.

"And so I've been actively trying to speak that into him. And now he's homesailing real estate right? Now he's 18 years old. Right. I love this. Right. And how did he do it? He watched YouTube videos for free. Right. And then he picked up cold calling because I was like, this is a book you need to read for cold calling. And so he just started cold calling based on what the YouTube videos said off of a free list that he found on the Internet. And he closed his first deal as 18 year old."

This quote illustrates the process of how the speaker's mentee learned and applied new skills to achieve success in real estate. It emphasizes the value of mentorship and the accessibility of learning resources.

"But what I did was I prepared him mentally by saying, like, you're going to suck at this for a very, very long time. And eventually, after doing it so many times, it will be unreasonable for you to suck. And at that point, you will be good."

The speaker highlights the importance of mental preparation for the challenges of skill development, emphasizing that persistence and repetition lead to proficiency.## Growth Mindset and Learning

• Acknowledges a common deficiency in the mindset that expects immediate proficiency in new skills.
• Emphasizes the importance of allowing oneself to be initially bad at something as a natural part of the learning process.
• Stresses that consistent effort and practice over time lead to improvement and eventual mastery.
• Highlights the detrimental impact of preemptively dismissing one's ability to learn and improve.
• Encourages embracing the beginner stage as a necessary step towards growth and expertise.
• Suggests that a change in belief and approach can unlock an individual's ability to learn and grow.

"we are deficient in with that kind of concept, of, of course I am going to suck. It would not be reasonable for me to be good. But if I do these actions, it would, over time, be unreasonable for me to be bad at these things."

This quote introduces the idea that it is normal to not be good at something new and that improvement is expected with time and effort.

"And I think by doing that, you unlock a different ability to learn and by extension, grow."

The speaker suggests that accepting initial inadequacy is key to unlocking the potential to learn and grow.

• Discusses how self-limiting beliefs hinder progress, especially in the context of small business owners and beginners.
• Criticizes the mindset of declaring incompetence before even attempting to learn.
• Points out that such beliefs prolong the beginner stage unnecessarily.
• Encourages the audience to recognize and challenge their own self-limiting beliefs.

"It's a belief set that I find repeated, especially in people who are smaller business owners who are getting started, et cetera."

This quote identifies a pattern where novice individuals, particularly small business owners, limit themselves with negative beliefs.

"And it drives me nuts because it's just saying that you can't do something before you've even started."

The speaker expresses frustration with the defeatist attitude that people adopt without giving themselves a chance to try and learn.

• Shares a personal anecdote about overcoming a self-imposed label of being bad at math.
• Describes the transformative experience of challenging oneself to improve a skill without relying on aids, such as a calculator.
• Reveals a disciplined and intensive study regimen that led to high achievement in math.
• Uses personal growth in math skills as an example to inspire others to overcome their self-imposed limitations and to invest effort into skill development.

"Until I was 23, I thought I was horrible at math... I got a lot of stuff wrong for a long time, but over time, I started to get better at math because I did everything in my head."

This quote recounts the speaker's journey from believing they were bad at math to improving through persistent mental practice.

"I literally cheated my entire way through high school in math class just to get by... I studied so much harder on the math for the GMAT and I ended up doing hitting 99th percentile on it."

The speaker contrasts their previous academic dishonesty with their later dedication and success, illustrating the power of hard work and a changed mindset.

• Motivates the audience to try new things and to be patient with themselves during the learning process.
• Advocates for a reasonable period of being bad at a skill as part of the journey towards proficiency.
• Expresses hope that the audience will allow themselves the time and effort necessary to develop new skills.
• Sends a message of love and encouragement, wishing everyone success in their skill acquisition endeavors.

"I hope that if there's something that you want to acquire from a skill standpoint, that you will allow yourself to be reasonably bad until a point where it would be unreasonable for you to be bad given the amount of time and effort you've put into it."

The speaker encourages the audience to persevere through the initial struggle of learning a new skill with the understanding that effort over time will lead to improvement.