Join my Newsletter - Follow Me On Twitter
The world is made up of systems that lead to outcomes and when you learn to change those systems, you're able to change your outcomes.
Work in it
Before you can change any of these systems you need to know how they work.
You can't do this from the outside looking in.
You need to work in it before you can work on it.
If you've never maintained a business, you're unable to truly give actionable advice on how to run one.
Telling someone to set up retargeting for their website when it only has 3 visitors a week is a waste of time and an opportunity cost.
All systems have stages and it's not until you reach a certain stage do certain optimisations make sense.
Immersing yourself in the system you want to change is the only way to see the tiny details that can be manipulated and more importantly when to manipulate them.
First, you grow, and then you optimise.
Plan further out
You may have noticed that a lot of people find it difficult to plan very far into the future.
Asking someone to plan out their next 5, 10, or 20 years is painful to watch.
We're usually wrong about the things we think we will want that far out, but that's not the point.
By making a plan in the first place, you have a point to work back from. What actions need to be taken now to get you to the result?
Having a plan for the future helps with decision-making in the present.
Are the decisions you're making now, helping you lay the groundwork for your 20-year plan?
What should you be doing now that your future self would thank you for?
Get solid on the basics
Social media has our brains wired for novelty, shortcuts and entertainment at the swipe of a finger.
Our attention is currency and we're being robbed day in - day out.
If you read a bunch of books on a topic or take a handle of courses, most of them cover a lot of the same stuff.
The boring bits, the unsexy bits.
There isn't an infinite amount of information contained in any one industry.
All of these compound to run complex systems.
If you just master the fundamentals of your system, you can move your way up past the dabblers. The ones that are forever spinning their wheels.
Cue some overused quotes:
"I fear not the man who has practised 10000 kicks once but I fear one who has practised one kick 10000 times" - Bruce Lee.
“Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect” - Teller.
Spending an absurd amount of time, deliberately practising the fundamentals can allow you to climb the ranks faster than most would believe possible.
Most things are not possible because nobody believes it's possible - Until someone does it ie: The 4-minute mile.
Action Pronto – Action Immediate
- Figure out how the system works
- Learn where the leverage points are
- Plan further out to make better decisions now
- Become a magician with the fundamentals of your field