Habits To Become A Beast In Your 30’s - Alex Hormozi

The discussion emphasizes the trade-offs in how one spends their 20s, advocating for a focus on hard work over leisure to build a solid foundation for the future. The speakers argue that relentless dedication in early adulthood leads to better long-term outcomes, as it provides clarity and direction. They suggest that balancing work and life over longer periods, rather than daily, can yield more meaningful progress and satisfaction. The conversation also touches on the psychological impacts of having too many or too few options, emphasizing the importance of prioritization and specific ambition to reduce anxiety and sadness.

• The speaker introduces the idea that there are two primary ways to live your 20s: either by living them up and potentially becoming an underskilled 30-year-old or by working hard and potentially becoming an underlived 30-year-old.
• There is an acknowledgment that there are no do-overs in life, and one must accept the trade-offs inherent in whatever path they choose.
• A third option is briefly mentioned: balancing work and life, which can allow for both personal enjoyment and skill accumulation.

"There's no perfect way to live your 20s. You either live them up and become an underskilled 30-year-old or you work them up and become an underlived 30-year-old. You just have to figure out which you'd rather be, accept the trade-offs, and know that there are no do-overs."

• Emphasizes the inevitability of trade-offs in life decisions.
• Highlights the importance of accepting the consequences of one's choices.

"And door three, if you consider work-life, then you get to do both."

• Introduces the concept of a balanced approach.
• Suggests that it is possible to achieve both personal and professional fulfillment.

• The speaker shares their personal stance on hard work, expressing a willingness to be a beacon of relentless effort.
• They mention being okay with prioritizing work over mental health, believing that the other side (work-life balance) is overrepresented.
• The speaker argues that working hard in your 20s can lead to greater satisfaction compared to living it up.

"I am okay being a beacon of relentless hard work. I'm okay being the guy who says, '[__] your mental health.' I'm okay with it because I've given it a lot of thought."

• The speaker is willing to be an advocate for relentless hard work.
• They have considered the implications and are comfortable with their stance.

"I think that there is the other side is wildly overrepresented, and I'm willing to sit on the logical extreme because I think it will help more people."

• The speaker believes that the work-life balance narrative is overemphasized.
• They are willing to represent the extreme of hard work to benefit others.

• The speaker discusses the common dissatisfaction people feel looking back at their 20s, particularly those who chose to "live it up."
• They argue that working hard provides a clearer path to progress and satisfaction.
• The speaker reflects on the importance of discovering what truly matters in life through hard work.

"There are more people that I have met in my life who are dissatisfied by their 'live it up' 20s than dissatisfied by their 'work it up' 20s."

• Personal observation that more people regret not working hard in their 20s than those who regret working hard.
• Suggests that the clarity and progress from hard work lead to greater long-term satisfaction.

"Most of the time in your 20s, you have no idea what you want, but knowing what you need to do to work and move ahead is fairly straightforward."

• Highlights the uncertainty of desires in one's 20s.
• Suggests that the path of hard work is more straightforward and reliable.

• The speaker shares a personal anecdote about their university days, where they spent their maintenance loan during Freshers' week.
• They reflect on the countless hours spent working as a club promoter, questioning the balance between living and accumulating skills.
• The speaker acknowledges the tendency to romanticize the past and imagine different outcomes.

"I think a lot about the first day that I sat down at University. My first-ever seminar, I sat next to my future business partner for 15 years."

• Reflects on a significant moment that shaped their future.
• Emphasizes the importance of relationships and networking in early adulthood.

"I've spent between 5 and 10,000 hours stood on the front door of nightclubs. I've spent at least 3,000 hours stood on the front door of the same nightclub only on Saturdays."

• Illustrates the extensive time and effort invested in their work.
• Highlights the dedication and commitment to their job.

"In hindsight, you think, well, you imagine that you could have gone back and still accumulated all of the insights and the skills that you really value in yourself."

• Acknowledges the tendency to romanticize the past.
• Suggests that valuable skills and insights were gained through hard work, despite the sacrifices.

• The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of making informed choices and accepting the inherent trade-offs.
• They advocate for a balanced approach but lean towards the value of hard work and skill accumulation in one's 20s.

"What a waste of a life it would have been to quote 'live up' your mom's dream or your friends' dreams to then only get to your 30s and realize you didn't live it up and you also didn't work it up, and now you have neither."

• Warns against living according to others' expectations.
• Emphasizes the importance of making personal choices that lead to fulfillment.

• Dedication to work in your 20s and 30s can lead to significant personal and professional growth.
• Using these years to focus on work rather than leisure can yield valuable experiences and insights.
• Periodizing work and life can help balance intense work periods with more relaxed phases.

"I look for me with my Constitution at what I value most in myself almost all of those things have been accumulated by having a 20s and now a 30s that has been dedicated to work it up not to live it up to 4-day holidays in between those things now remembering that now is not forever I think is really important."

• The speaker emphasizes the importance of dedicating early adulthood to work, which has helped them accumulate valuable traits and experiences.

"You can accumulate all of that work all of that experience all of that explore time to work out actually I don't like doing admin stuff it turns out I'm really great at creative or I really don't like traveling it turns out I'm really great at routine."

• Accumulating work experience helps individuals discover their strengths and preferences, leading to more directionally accurate career choices.

• The idea of a "buy-in" period where initial hard work sets the foundation for future success.
• Starting this buy-in period earlier in life is easier and more beneficial.

"There's like a buyin you remember CrossFit you do the you do a buyin thing you go it's a one mile run and then it's this workout you have to do that buyin let's say everyone has to do that buyin doing that buy in when you're 25 is way easier than doing that buy in when you're 40 right."

• The speaker draws an analogy to CrossFit, suggesting that early hard work (buy-in) is crucial and easier when done at a younger age.

• Work-life balance should be considered over longer time horizons, such as years or decades, rather than daily or weekly.
• Intense work periods can be balanced with more relaxed phases, leading to better overall outcomes.

"You can have work life balance where I work for three years and then I have a more chill year and I think that most people think about work life in terms of their split of the day rather than their split of the year or the decade."

• The speaker suggests rethinking work-life balance by considering extended periods of intense work followed by more relaxed times, rather than daily balance.

• The concept of hyperbolic discounting: the tendency to focus on the present and undervalue the future.
• Understanding that current situations, whether good or bad, are temporary can help maintain perspective.

"Remembering that now isn't forever is and that's such a great frame like a hyperbolic discounting and inability to be able to imagine that this is not the way that it's always going to be and that's good for good things and for bad things."

• The speaker highlights the importance of recognizing the temporary nature of current situations to avoid overreacting to both successes and failures.

"Good things aren't as good as you think they are bad things aren't as bad as you think they are so if you if you us."

• The speaker emphasizes maintaining a balanced perspective, acknowledging that neither good nor bad situations are as extreme as they might seem.

• Measuring success over extended time frames (e.g., weekly) rather than daily can offer more flexibility and reduce the pressure of daily perfection.
• A weekly outlook allows for adjustments and compensations, making it easier to stay on track with long-term goals.
• Focusing on the most critical tasks over a longer period helps in prioritizing and achieving significant progress.

"People measure the amount of calories that they need to eat per day but very few people measure the amount of calories they need to eat per week."

• Daily measurements can lead to a sense of failure if one day goes off track, whereas weekly measurements provide a broader perspective.

"If you have a weekly outlook, then all of a sudden you're like, 'Oh, well, I can have a pizza tonight. I'll just skip most of my food tomorrow besides protein.'"

• A weekly perspective allows for occasional indulgences without derailing overall progress.

• Balancing multiple roles or tasks within a short period can lead to inefficiencies and cognitive strain.
• Adopting a narrow focus for longer periods (e.g., months) can lead to better results in specific areas.

"When it's 'I'm gym guy this morning, I'm work guy this afternoon,' it's tough."

• Switching between multiple roles in a single day can be challenging and less productive.

"This is an argument for sort of aggressive periodizing. I'm a hyper proponent of one single narrow focus."

• Advocating for dedicating extended periods to a single focus area to maximize efficiency and outcomes.

• Sadness is described as a perceived lack of options, leading to feelings of hopelessness.
• Anxiety arises from having many options but no clear priorities, causing a scattered feeling.

"Sadness is a perceived lack of options. It's why it feels like hopelessness because you don't know what to do."

• Sadness stems from the inability to see available choices or paths forward.

"Anxiety is many options but no priorities, which is why you feel scattered but you can't decide."

• Anxiety is the result of having too many choices without a clear direction or priority.

• Effective prioritization requires saying no to certain activities to focus on what matters most.
• Understanding that maintaining a skill requires significantly less effort than improving it.

"What priority means is that it comes before everything else."

• Prioritization involves placing one task or goal above all others to ensure focused effort.

"The amount of effort that it takes to maintain a skill versus the amount of effort it takes to grow a skill is like one-tenth the amount of effort."

• Maintaining a skill is much less demanding than the effort required to develop or enhance it.

• Allocating effort efficiently between maintaining and growing different skills can lead to better overall progress.
• Recognizing when to shift focus from growth to maintenance to optimize resource allocation.

"This is where the effort arbitrage is so important in terms of allocation."

• Efficient effort distribution between different tasks or skills can maximize productivity and progress.

• Allocating effort across multiple goals results in minimal progress.
• Concentrating effort on a single goal can lead to significant achievements.
• Periodization of effort allows for big wins over time.

"If you put 1 out of 10 on 10 things, you will make progress on none. You will make the same amount of progress that you could have made if you just did one out of 10, which is none."

• Spreading effort too thinly across multiple tasks results in no substantial progress on any of them.

"But the extra three points that you save on the nine, you could put on one other item and have a 10 out of 10 or a 13 out of 10 in effort."

• Redirecting effort from multiple tasks to a single task can lead to exceptional progress and results.

"After every periodized chunk of time, have a Big W or win that you can look back on and say, 'I did that and therefore I am.'"

• Periodically focusing on one goal at a time allows for significant accomplishments to be achieved and celebrated.

• General ambition can cause anxiety due to its vague nature.
• Specific ambition provides clear direction and actionable steps.
• Breaking down large goals into specific tasks reduces anxiety.

"General ambition gives you anxiety; specific ambition gives you direction."

• General ambition is overwhelming and anxiety-inducing, whereas specific ambition offers clarity and focus.

"There is nothing more anxiety-inducing than 'I want to be better and I don't know what at and I don't know how.'"

• The uncertainty of general ambition leads to stress and confusion.

"Specific ambition gives you direction, and I think the concept of specific versus general ambition ladders up to bundled terms."

• Specific ambition translates abstract goals into concrete actions, providing clear direction.

• Sadness often stems from a perceived lack of options.
• Identifying actionable steps can alleviate sadness.
• Clarity on what needs to be done provides a pathway out of sadness.

"A perceived lack of options is what causes sadness, not a lack of options."

• The perception of not having choices leads to feelings of sadness.

"All I have to do is figure out what I need to do, and figuring it out becomes the option."

• Finding a clear course of action can help overcome feelings of sadness.

"I have Clarity on the one thing that I need to do to pull myself out of this moment of sadness."

• Understanding the specific steps needed to address a situation can mitigate sadness.

• Focusing on one goal at a time leads to significant progress and big wins.
• Specific ambition reduces anxiety by providing clear direction and actionable steps.
• Overcoming sadness involves recognizing and acting on available options.