11 of the Smartest Ideas Ever Shared from Unlikely Geniuses
A quick read to interrupt your life patterns.
Smart people are humble as hell.
They speak their wisdom in a few short words and make it look effortless.
If you clicked this article, you’ve likely experienced patterns that run your life and lead to boredom. Every day can feel the same even though you try to change things up.
These are some of the smartest ideas that will mess up your thinking (in a good way).
“Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.”
— Roald Dahl
You spend much of life searching for answers.
Asking questions that start with how to strangers on the internet is a common late-night habit.
All of us are searching for something. It’s easy to think the answers are found at a seminar or by asking a guru.
Nope.
The greatest secrets to life are found in unlikely places. The most unbelievable place is right in front of you.
There’s a good chance you’re making the answers you seek far too complicated to find.
Finding answers is simple. Understanding them is complex.
“If you seek tranquility, do less” – Marcus Aurelius
Productivity p*rn has infected the internet.
Corporations have entire days full of meetings where KPIs are discussed in the hope of squeezing out some more revenue juice from employees.
If only big business and productivity gurus knew…
Doing less creates more.
All the busyness in your day is camouflaging the thinking time needed to do something great.
The same applies to finances.
By wanting less you don’t need to make us a lot of money. Suddenly, your life gets much simpler and you can trade less time for money.
“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.
The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.”
– Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was an a-hole that refused to pay Californian registration fees on his Mercedes Benz.
He was an unlikely genius though when it came to understanding storytelling. I crap on about storytelling a lot.
So many people don’t understand they are a content creator whether they like it or not.
Telling your story online can shape an entire generation.
I’ve reached over 500M+ views on my content by doing exactly that. I may not have changed a generation (yet) but I can see how it’s 100% possible.
Don’t underestimate your stories. Tell them online.
When you’re dead your stories will still live forever.
"The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does"
- Napoleon Hill
If you’re lacking money or opportunities, chances are you’re trying to cash in too quick.
I see it with writers all the time. They want to make 6-figures in the first 6 months.
You have to do more than is expected of you for free before anyone will notice you in the crowd. Took me most of my career to learn that.
Once you stand out, you can charge stupid amounts of money for what you do.
Make $0. Stop asking for money you haven’t earned.
Pass the threshold of participation. Then get rich.
"Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakes."
- Carl Jung
The good life is found when you work on the inside.
It’s why self-improvement is so damn important. It’s not about being cool and taking a cold shower at 4 am to check a box.
Self-improvement is working on the inside. The inside is the mind.
Until you know how you think, you won’t know how stupid you are.
"I... a universe of atoms, an atom in the universe."
Richard Feynman
This quote reminds us that while we think we’re damn important, in the grand scheme of things, not really.
This mindset helps obliterate the fear of being judged or the opinions of critics.
Nothing matters as much as you think.
So life should be lived as a wild adventure.
“I win or I learn, but I never lose.”
– Nelson Mandela
Rejection and failure ruin so many lives.
They’re the seeds of downfall for many potentially outstanding people. Either one can create voices in your mind that make you do dumb stuff.
Mindset determines everything.
Nelson teaches us that if we can understand we never lose and only grow from every experience, our entire life changes. Suddenly, we can do no wrong.
Badass.
"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”
– Heraclitus
You should be embarrassed by who you were a year ago.
That’s the beauty of online writing. I look back and go “wow, I told people waking up at 4am was a must haha.”
The cells that make up your body are changing every day. Every 7 years you’re in an entirely new body. Your brain changes too.
Stop thinking you are the same person forever, then die.
Start trying to improve so you don’t recognize your old self anymore.
“If a person gave away your body to some passerby, you’d be furious.
Yet you hand over your mind to anyone who comes along, so they may abuse you, leaving it disturbed and troubled—have you no shame in that?”
― Epictetus
The news does this all the time.
They program your brain with bullsh*t to make you fearful and earn money from your attention. Social media algorithms do the same.
They serve you up the same old content so you begin to live in a bubble and see mostly opinions you already agree with.
The trouble is we need to think for ourselves.
Trolls and haters are no better than CNN news. They seek to hijack your mind so they may spread more toxicity and use your connections for their gain.
It’s called attention arbitrage.
Stop handing your mind to weirdos on the internet.
Ignore comments. Ignore haters. Block morons. Turn off fear. Stop believing political actors whose #1 goal is to get re-elected to extend their career and maintain their ego.
“Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup.
You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
– Bruce Lee
The big idea is this: Be open-minded and flexible like water. Not rigid and difficult to move like a brick head.
Throughout life you’re many different people. Be fluid in personality. Be moveable with your opinions. Be willing to try new things.
“I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for?”
– James Baldwin
Why wake up every day and live someone else’s dream?
Maybe your parents or family want you to be a certain type of person or have the career they couldn’t. But is that what YOU want?
Doing what you want to do is real freedom. It’s what financial freedom can buy you when you stomp on the idea of consumerism and light it on fire.
Debt, corporations, and 9-5 jobs keep us trapped.
What we really want to do is explore our creativity and own our time.
Since I quit my job it’s my #1 goal to have nothing on my calendar. I let my curiosity drive me to the next project.
Before you die, do what you want to do even if nobody wants you to.
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👉 If you enjoyed reading this post, feel free to share it with friends!
The space from which you think and then write is phenomenal 👏
Thank you, Tim. 😊