Entrepreneurial Lessons From A Multi-Millionaire CEO Tai Lopez
Don’t even think about being an entrepreneur without reading this article.
The alarm buzz loud in my sleep. Annoyed, I smash its snooze button and try to drift back to sleep.
But, my eyes flutter open 5 mins later. My mind, bland as a blank slate and my room, ghost-quiet.
I sit up from the bed as heavy throbs send thunder-shocks through my skull. My body trembles as I place my shaky palms on my forehead, scrunching my face in pain.
I reach out for my phone on the side table. And at that moment, the memories from last night come flooding my brain.
I am in a dilemma, and I couldn’t sleep last night.
It was mid September last year, and my limbs feel numb.
Where should I start now? How do I keep going? What do I start doing?
My mind sprints over those questions over and over again. A tornado of thoughts hit me all at once, flipping every piece of stone in my mind inside out.
"I don't know where to start" I say to myself as I bring my almost limp hands to my face in defeat.
What’s Really Going On…
I just got back from school for the break, and I couldn't do any writing or coding while in school.
I'd to intensify my study for college stuff because the stakes were quite high.
The least grade you could have is a C. And if you score below that, you'll be withdrawn.
Plus, you don't really want to settle for the least grade, considering the ridiculously volatile situation you're in.
Anything could happen.
I am back home now and I feel stuck. I don't really know what to write about.
Coding hasn’t been up there either. I spent at least 4 months away from all that stuff.
It kinda feels difficult.
But last night, I watched Tai Lopez's interview with Neil Patel. The video clip was posted on Neil's YouTube channel.
It led me to wonder what more Tai Lopez could teach about life and business.
That was partly why I was up most of the night. This and my dilemma about writing.
What I didn't know was I would spend the next 3 weeks from that day fully immersed in Tai Lopez's content.
Fast forward to the present day, I’ve 9 crucial lessons I learnt from Tai Lopez in those 3 weeks.
1. Read Books
Tai's reading strategy fascinates me. He reads one book a day.
Rare.
Most of them are classics, non-fictional business, how-to and psychology-based books that shaped most of the life and business choices he has made throughout his journey.
I was utterly shocked to hear a human could read a book – large-sized book with tiny font in a day.
Some can't read that book in a year.
He made me realize there are few golden nuggets in a chunky book.
No publisher would want to put out a book with few words.
I get it. It's illogical.
That's why most books are filled with lots of yadda yadda here and there to meet their publisher's guidelines.
If you can get the golden nuggets from one book each day, you are a thousand times ahead of 95% of people on this journey.
Books are one of your mentors. Use the tools they give you.
Remember –
It’s not always about how many books you read. It’s what books you read. What are the contents? Are they thought provoking and mindset changing?
2. Experiment Ideally With 12 Things A Year.
Experimenting. Most people hate doing stuffs they think aren't worth their time.
Hey...
Try one new business idea each month. Try one new writing technique each month. Try one new editing technique each month.
Do one new thing each month and see how it goes.
If it flops, then great. At least you tried. If it scores, then congratulations. I hope you start experimenting more.
He said some smart people like Jeff Bezos do this one simple thing better.
They let other people experiment and watch what works best.
Keep that in mind.
But remember, other peoples' experiments may not always fully align with your desired experiment model.
Try some yourself. It is fun.
I just started Tik Tok a week ago and I'm loving it. But anyways, it's a story for another day.
The key factor here is learning the science of optimal stopping.
3. Is The Hard work, Hustle And The Grind Enough?
“Not necessarily” he says.
Come on now, it's definitely not the way you are thinking.
Let me explain. Read closely.
There were a group of engineers whose plane crashed in a forest in Columbia. Thankfully, no one die and no one was injured.
It was hot, creepy and pretty uncomfortable. It feels like a cactus plant up your lower back.
Obviously, they had to get out there. And fast.
But apparently, there were machetes on their plane.
So, some picked up machetes, and went cutting their way through the forest.
One wise one climbed a tree, and scanned the horizon. He saw a glimpse of the city nearby.
His excited brain cells almost caused him to leave the tree at that height and jump for joy.
One thing though. The other hardworking engineers were cutting in the wrong direction.
He climbed back down and inform everyone of his discovery.
Using that vital information, they cut their way through the right path, busted into the city, and they survived.
What conclusion do you draw from this? Think about it deeply.
Let me say this!
Find the smart answers/experiments and go turbo hardwork mode on it.
I promise you'll breakthrough.
4. Be Adaptable.
Do you know a hammer can't solve a screw's problem?
Don't be someone who only has a hammer in his tool box.
Not every problem is a nail because nothing works all the time.
5. Understand Persuasion
This morning, your stomach persuaded you to eat breakfast.
Last week, your body and mind persuade you to the gym.
Yesterday, your eyes persuaded you to watch Netflix.
Most things, if not everything in the world, need persuasion.
How will you persuade your brother to quit anime?
How will you persuade your dad to buy you that awesome car?
How will you persuade your boss to give you a raise?
How will you persuade your customers to buy your products?
Let me just say this! Read Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
6. The Pyramid Of Wealth
The bottom of the pyramid spells 'Debt'. The top spells 'Crazy level'.
Wealth, abundance, financial independence, health, and scarcity are in the middle ranging from top to bottom.
Will you figure out how to move up the pyramid?
Debt - $0 and below
Scarcity - $1 – $52k
Health - $53 – $72k
Financial independence -$73 – $120k
Abundance - $121 – $450k
Wealthy -$451 – $1 million
Crazy level - $1million – $1 billion
Strike out these 5 things:
1. What did you want to do at 14 years old?
2. What have strangers complimented you on since you were a child?
3. What did you grow up around?
4. What have you been doing in the last 10 years?
5. On a Saturday night when you’re out with your friends (not working), what can you talk about, all night, effortlessly?
If you can find the intersection between all of those, you have found your path to the good life and up the pyramid.
7. Dollar-Cost Averaging
Dollar-cost averaging, according to Nerd wallet, is the strategy of spreading out your stock or fund purchases, buying at regular intervals and in roughly equal amounts.
Tai says —
Put in a fixed amount of cash into your investment each month, balance your portfolio and let the 8th wonder of the world (the compounding effect ), according to Warren Buffet, take control.
8. Understand Your Cash Flow
Amigo, if you don't understand this, your finances might never recover. So read closely.
- Know the direction of your cash flow – is it on the positive or negative side of the curve. Or is it a flat line?
- 1% of your earnings must go to your opportunity funds (Like an emergency fund)
- 3% of your earnings must be invested in your knowledge.
9. Where Good Ideas Come From
Understand that –
The pace of innovation and good ideas that are going to come out of your brain are directly related to the size of the pool of information you're drawing from.
Therefore, the more knowledge you absorb, my friend, the more great ideas you'll come up with.
Recap
Now, you are done reading, let's recap
1. Read Books
2. Experiment Ideally 12 Times In A Year
3. Hard work, Hustle And Grind Is Not Necessary Enough
4. Be Adaptable
5. Understand Persuasion
6. The Pyramid Of Wealth
7. Dollar Cost Averaging
8. Understand The Direction Of Your Cash Flow
9. Where Good Ideas Come From
Tell me if you want tips from Gary Vee.
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