4 Strategies That Help Me Not Want To Quit Ep 304

Alex, reflecting on a moment of burnout after a successful $4.4 million month, emphasizes the importance of longevity for entrepreneurs to avoid quitting—the only true failure. He shares four strategies that have helped him manage stress and maintain high-quality decision-making: exaggerating negatives to desensitize emotional reactions, bracing for worst-case scenarios, gaining perspective by comparing current issues to extreme hardships, and recognizing the impermanence of achievements to focus on personal meaning. By applying these techniques, Alex advocates for choosing meaningful pursuits, ensuring sustained engagement and success in business.

• Entrepreneurial success is largely attributed to longevity in business.
• The ability to continue playing the game is what defines entrepreneurial success.
• Longevity is threatened by the likelihood of quitting, which is the only way to truly fail.
• A defined framework for problem-solving is crucial for managing stress and avoiding burnout.

In March of 2019, my wife and I were walking together after just having finished a $4.4 million month, and she turned to me and she said, alex, let's just shut it all down. She's like, I'm so tired of this. I'm so burnt out. I just don't want to do this anymore. And it was at that moment that I realized that in order to progress in the entrepreneurial game, we had to change the way we operated, the way we thought.

This quote highlights the moment of realization that to achieve sustainable success and avoid burnout, entrepreneurs must adapt their operational and thought processes.

And so if you're an entrepreneur and you're a business owner, the number one thing that I've seen that creates success is longevity, meaning that you can continue to play the game, because at the end of the day, none of us is going to quit business, or hopefully not quit business.

This quote emphasizes that the key to entrepreneurial success is the ability to persist in business over an extended period, which is defined as longevity.

• Stress management is pivotal for entrepreneurs to maintain longevity in business.
• Entrepreneurs should expect increased stress with scaling revenue and business size.
• A framework for managing one's thoughts and emotions is essential to handle stress effectively.

So if you're stressed in your own business right now, like, add a zero to whatever your revenue is, and you'll have ten times the potential for stress if you were ten times bigger or 100 times the stress if you were 100 times bigger, which depends on who's listening, we may be that for you.

This quote explains that stress in business is proportional to the size and revenue of the business; larger businesses potentially face more stress.

• Four real-world strategies are shared to eliminate pressure and create longevity.
• The first strategy involves exaggerating the negativity of a situation to reevaluate its impact.
• This approach is particularly effective for minor to medium-sized business grievances.
• Imagining repeated exposure to a negative event can lead to desensitization and reduced emotional response.

So the first that I do, whenever I have any kind of negative situation is I go 1000 x negative, all right? And then I reevaluate.

This quote introduces the first strategy for dealing with negative situations by exaggerating their impact to gain perspective and reevaluate their significance.

And so when I think and I imagine myself experiencing this negative thing over and over and over and over again, it's called negative visualization,

The quote describes the process of negative visualization, where imagining repeated exposure to a negative event can help in reducing the emotional impact it has on an individual.

• Alex discusses the importance of emotional resilience for entrepreneurs and business owners.
• He emphasizes that the quality of decisions made by individuals is crucial in the marketplace.
• Alex suggests that by becoming immune to emotional disturbances on the first try, one can make better decisions.
• He believes that protecting one's mind from emotional disturbances is key to living a fulfilling life.

"And so if I can decrease the likelihood that I make bad decisions and I can do that on a regular basis, then this is something that protects my mind."

This quote highlights Alex's strategy for making better decisions by minimizing emotional disturbances, which he views as a form of mental protection and a contributor to a fulfilling life.

• Alex shares his approach to starting new habits, such as working out or eating healthier.
• He advises expecting the worst circumstances to mentally prepare for challenges.
• By bracing for the worst-case scenario, individuals can build psychological resilience.
• Alex uses this technique to emotionally prepare for potential obstacles in maintaining new habits.

"So rather than saying, okay, I'm going to go work out and feel excited, right, to go work out, I'm super pumped. What I want to do is I want to plan and prepare my mental state for when it comes time to work out. I'm going to be exhausted."

Alex describes his method of setting realistic expectations for new habits, such as working out, by anticipating moments of exhaustion and stress, which helps him remain committed regardless of circumstances.

• Alex mentions that he doesn't run ads or sell products on his podcast.
• The only request he has for his audience is to help spread the word to assist more entrepreneurs.
• He emphasizes the importance of audience support through ratings, reviews, and sharing the podcast.
• Alex believes that audience support can have a significant impact on other entrepreneurs.

"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."

This quote expresses Alex's singular request for his listeners to help disseminate the podcast's content, which he sees as a way to positively affect the lives and businesses of other entrepreneurs.

• Emotional bracing involves imagining a distressing event occurring repeatedly until it loses its impact.
• This method serves as a "pain anchor," providing perspective on current problems by comparing them to more severe potential events.
• The practice is based on the idea that experiencing or imagining significant pain or loss can offer the "gift of perspective."
• By immersing oneself in the worst-case scenario, minor problems seem to shrink and become inconsequential.
• Alex uses the example of personal loss, like the death of a loved one, to illustrate how significant events can recalibrate one's emotional response to smaller issues.

"The second one is you emotionally brace yourself. The third one is you imagine worst case."

This quote explains the process of emotional bracing, which involves preparing oneself for the worst-case scenario to gain perspective on lesser issues.

• Pain anchors are used to gain perspective on current issues by comparing them to past painful experiences.
• Reflecting on the pain of losing someone close provides a benchmark that can make other concerns appear less significant.
• By "soaking" oneself in the memory of a painful event, it's possible to minimize the emotional impact of current, less severe problems.
• Alex emphasizes the importance of this technique in providing context and reducing the perceived importance of ongoing challenges.

"So, for example, whenever you've had a family member die or someone close to you die, or some of you even have a pet die, depends on where you're at in your life, right? If you have something that was painful for you, right? All of us benefit. We get the gift of perspective from those who die."

This quote underlines the concept of gaining perspective from painful experiences, suggesting that the loss of a loved one can serve as a powerful anchor for emotional context.

• Alex discusses the infinite nature of problems in life and business, suggesting there is always something that could be improved or corrected.
• The friction and unhappiness in our minds arise from the discrepancy between expectations and reality.
• By imagining the worst-case scenario, one can actively diminish the importance of current issues.
• Alex has found that most problems become irrelevant within a broader context and are often not solved but simply cease to matter.
• Managing one's mental state is crucial for making high-quality decisions, especially as responsibilities and stress potentials increase with business growth.

"And so what I found is that over my life in the business, there's an infinite amount of problems. Truly, there's an unlimited amount of problems."

This quote reflects on the endless nature of problems and the importance of perspective in deeming them insignificant or manageable.

• Alex shares a personal worldview that the universe will expand until everything becomes a fine mist, rendering all achievements meaningless in the grand scheme.
• This perspective is not meant to be depressing but empowering, as it suggests that individuals ascribe their own meaning to their actions and experiences.
• The belief that nothing has inherent meaning allows Alex to approach life and its challenges with the understanding that their significance is subjective and temporary.

"I believe that the universe will continue to expand until eventually everything becomes a fine mist."

The quote encapsulates Alex's worldview on the impermanence of the universe and the consequent lack of inherent meaning in anything we do, which informs his approach to life and problem-solving.

• Alex discusses the concept of meaning-making in life.
• He asserts that one's brain chooses to create meaning from events that may inherently have no meaning.
• This perspective helps him to manage stressors and reduce the pressure he puts on himself.
• Alex reflects on the desire to leave a legacy and the realization that most achievements will eventually be forgotten.

"My brain is choosing to make meaning out of this when there was no meaning to be made to begin with."

This quote emphasizes the idea that individuals have the power to assign meaning to events in their lives, even when such events might not have any inherent meaning.

• Alex speaks about the common ambition to make a lasting impact.
• He points out the improbability of leaving a significant mark on the universe.
• He highlights the inevitability of being forgotten over time.
• Recognizing this impermanence helps Alex to alleviate self-imposed obligations and expectations.

"You're probably not going to leave a dent in the universe. And even if you made some big advancement, within 500 years, it'll probably be forgotten."

This quote reflects on the transient nature of human achievements and the reality that most people will not have a lasting impact on history.

• Alex uses his understanding of meaning and impermanence as a strategy to control his emotions.
• He considers this approach his "ultimate trump card" for dealing with life's inevitable stressors.
• By mastering his perspective, Alex feels he can better manage his decision-making processes.

"This is my ultimate trump card that I use to keep my emotions at bay and ultimately say, I am the master of my own universe."

Alex's quote reveals his method for maintaining emotional equilibrium by reminding himself that he controls the significance he gives to life's events.

• Alex identifies his purpose in life as learning.
• He explains that creating videos and teaching others enhances his learning process.
• He draws a parallel between teaching and having a deeper understanding of the subject matter.
• This approach to learning and teaching has become a structured process for him over time.

"My purpose in life, to my knowledge at this point, is to learn."

The quote captures Alex's self-identified purpose and passion for learning, which drives the content he creates and shares.

• Alex discusses the application of his philosophy to his business career.
• He suggests that by focusing on what he finds meaningful, he avoids burnout and remains committed to his work.
• He believes that aligning with meaningful pursuits allows him to outlast others in his field.

"If nothing has meaning except for what I choose to give meaning, then it means I can choose to only play games that I find meaningful."

This quote illustrates Alex's strategy for maintaining motivation and longevity in his business endeavors by engaging only in activities that hold personal significance.

• Alex expresses his commitment to improving his content and making it more engaging.
• He invests in coaching and courses to enhance his teaching abilities.
• He believes that while specific actions may not have eternal meaning, the values they represent can be everlasting.
• Alex chooses to dedicate his work to ideals he finds meaningful, which he considers eternal.

"Values are eternal, and values will exist even when everything disappears in the universe."

The quote underscores Alex's belief in the enduring nature of values, suggesting that they transcend the temporal existence of material achievements and legacies.