Accomplish More By Working Less And Not Giving A F@#k
The 1 Dirty Secret They Just Don’t Want You To Know
Enough catchy titles. Let us start with a catchy teaser!
LTT is the secret sauce your granny never gave you the recipe for. It is the reason Arnold was smiling in the gym while other bodybuilders were crying and left behind in the dust. It is the reason Elon Musk is going after Mars and Jeff Bezos might be the first space-miner trillionaire on the planet. (or on Mars?) The reason Vegeta pushed back against Beerus but Goku still surpassed him. (*pic above, sry for the anime nerd talk). It is the propellant that fueled our ambitions to send Armstrong to the moon and it is the one dirty little secret that can change your life forever if you grow a pair of balls and fully embrace it.
Story-time! You hope your kids will get to know you growing up. But you were just too stressed out to wear a condom spending last night with that random girl. Maybe at least her boyfriend will take care of the child. A typical night? You’re an asshole, a player and you could never be in a real relationship. Why would you? You don’t care. You want to make progress. You are an alpha. Work is your battleground and you are on top, never behind! Always one step ahead, one more all nighter, one more intrigue, one more power-play.
Your work kills you. Literally! Your doc told you you have the heart of an 80 year old. You are laughing. Looking forward to join 27 Club together with all the other rockstars that died at this age. Your life consists of 80 hour work weeks, making too much money, spending it on hookers, wild parties and stimulating drugs. Others mornings consist of coffee and tea while you a running on a mixture of powered caffeine, modafinil and concerta.
The teenage kids love you and want to be just like you. Your mom is worried and your former loser friends don’t talk to you anymore. Normal people just hate your guts. You are a true rockstar. It is the world against you and you will jump out of your glass office on the 46th floor before they catch you.
Revealing the Secret Sauce
Sounds fun. Right? False. Or not? Insanity is fun. At least for a while. But there is one problem with it. It doesn’t work, at least long-term. The secret is, you want to hear it, it is …
…. drums, drums, drums … and some cocaine ..
LTT — Long Term Thinking
Wow! Long-term thinking. I could never have thought about that. Thank you! You are a genius! sarcasm … F@#k you!
But remember the last time you were running because of someone else? The last time you sacrificed sleep for finishing that report or that paper? Because it was “urgent”, because their was nothing more important to do in that situation. The last time you sacrificed your health for what? It was necessary to do that. The last time you abandoned the thing you really wanted to do? I will guarantee you one thing. It never changes. Because first you are to young and school is more important. College is more important. Your grades are your future. Everything depends on today. How well you perform on that exam tomorrow. Well! In reality obviously work is more important. You are not an undergraduate anymore. And in reality, after all , raising your kids is the most important thing. And you know what, at sometime you just don’t want to do it anymore. Watching your grandchildren grow up and just shut the world up is more important. You are too old now. You don’t have the strength anymore. You are dead and you may as well consider yourself dead already. Society demands it, everyone has to do it. It is the circle of life.
Bla Bla Bla. Soon you are dead!
Have you ever thought about what you want out of life? What is important to you? What you should prioritize? What the puzzle pieces are that gradually build up you long-term vision? Have you even thought about your long-term vision or were you caught up in what your parents or boss told you to do?
Think about that for 5 minutes before you continue reading that article. Do it for yourself! Do it for that better version of yourself that is somewhere in there. Somewhere inside you.
Have you thought about it yet? Don’t lie to me! Stop that convenience and think until your brain hurts. Get out that dusty notebook and squeeze out every last thought in your head.
So …, here we are. Back again! Puh, that must have been a quite intense 5 minutes. I hope you are ready to change your life.
The Truth about LTT
LTT is a philosophy and one of the strongest and probably the most important one you will ever encounter. LTT is about beginning with the end in mind. About ignoring the noise and social pressure to fit in, defining what is really important to you, escaping the rat race, focusing on the things that matter the most to you and ignoring the rest.
LTT is not a quick fix. It is no gadget. No three week power program. It is a way to live your life. A way to think ahead, know what is important to you and what is not.
While there are many ways to think about LTT, there are three basic principles that have to be followed.
Principle #1: Structure
Structure your thoughts. Get out that notebook and start writing. Never used a diary? Start now. If you don’t have enough self-awareness life will just happen to you.
Use a structure as follows or something similar. If you can’t do it, do what you can and don’t be afraid to reiterate.
Define Goals, Habits, Rules. Plan ahead and Examine your Results!
**Long-Term Vision** 50 years to Death or Beyond
What do you want to leave behind? How do you plan to turn the world into a better place?**Middle Term Goals** 10 to 25 years
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Where will you be living and what are you working on? What skills and resources are required for that?**Short Term Goals** 5 year or shorter
How are you going to acquire that resources? What skills do you need to learn? What people do you need to meet? How can you leverage your time and skill the best?***Operating Goals, Planning, Habits and Rules**
How are you planning your week? What habits are you practicing? How do you evaluate your day? How do you measure progress? How do you socialize? How do you avoid distractions and social media?
Principle #2: Ethics
Without the right ethics you will not come far. We split ethics into three distinct groups:
Work Ethic and Integrity: Do what you set out to do! Work on your Vision continuously!
Social Conformance: Don’t conform! Never crave superficial affirmation!
Humanistic Ethics: Don’t be evil! Serve society and build a better world! Teach and help others!
Principle #3: Never Sacrifice The Long-Term for the Short-Term: Know when to Stop!
Never, ever do that. If you sacrifice the long-term for the short-term you will not just lose the long-term, but the middle- and long-term will soon be the short-term and you lose it all. Know when to stop! It is 8 pm and you have not finished the paper yet. It can wait. You will lose some points? You boss will be mad? Someone will be thinking bad about you? That is okay. Embrace it! Know when to stop. Consider finishing your work. On the next day you will be in the rat race again. On less sleep, more caffeine, less power and an overarching pressure that you will never be good enough. Stop it! It is enough. You think you can perform if you are constantly draining yourself? You can only do what you can do. You are okay. We are all human beings and not machines. Work hard, but also relax, enjoy time with friends and never ever sacrifice the long-term for the short-term. You are worth it!
If you are going to sleep while the world seems not to be stopping you know you have done it!
Just do It!
Please don’t wait! Do it now! Don’t wait until tomorrow. It will never happen. The time will never be right and your responsibilities will only increase with time. The future is not in some distant fairy tale. It is now. And you are the author!
