The Common Mindset of Unsuccessful People
"I'll do it later"
Before we get too deep into the article, I want to address a few common questions that pop into my inbox:
"Where should I be posting today?"
"What do I post if I'm not an expert?"
"How do you have TIME to post so much?"
Some of those answers are very mindset-based (you'll find help with that below).
But there are some VERY practical, tactical, and downright easy tips that make online writing a breeze, if you're into that sort of thing.
I'll reveal all in my upcoming masterclass: Become an Online Writing Machine... in 15 Minutes or Less Per Day
It's free.
But there is a seat limit.
Reserve your spot here while it's still early.
Now to today’s article…
I’ve never shared this before.
I’ve spoken about my past mental illness, but never said what type it was. Well, it was one part depression and one part anxiety.
I always saw the anxiety part as a negative, until recently.
See, a big part of any little success I’ve had is because I’m still slightly anxious. Things keep me awake sometimes. And I sweat the big stuff. This anxiety is free motivation. If I didn’t have it, I’d be a lazy ass and never get anything done.
Unsuccessful people are the opposite. They think to themselves, “I’ll do it later.”
It silently destroys their potential. And some of you may be suffering quietly with this toxic mindset and leaving a lot of money and happiness on the table as a result.
A sense of urgency is a superpower
I used to be a “do it later” kind of guy.
Being from Australia, we’re as laid back as you can get. We won’t get out of bed for less than $1000. We want naps, cold kombucha, and a hammock.
The problem is this cultural laziness has ruined our global competitiveness. Countries that can get stuff done are taking our jobs and destroying our industries.
I say “tough titty, Australia.” If you snooze, you lose.
When nothing is urgent you end up delaying the actions that lead to success.
You place taking action lower on the priority list, and this seems fine because you can’t see the devastation it’s causing, because none of us are fortune-tellers that can see the future.
But seeing big goals as urgent is crucial. It doesn’t mean everything, including buying a new pair of fancy pants, is urgent. It just means that the big goals like money, career, and relationships are acted upon daily.
It means you don’t say “someday” and think it’s okay.
This day is forgotten by most people
I spoke to a kind gentleman this week in his 60s.
He told me he was getting old and really needed to start working on his online goal. I felt confused. Getting old is one way to die. But not all of us are going to live to 85.
You can die of old age, but you can also die of a sudden cancer or get hit by a bus at age 21 as well. Why do we fall for this delusion?
Unsuccessful people have the mindset they’re going to grow old…and some people haven’t even figured out they’re going to die.
They’re living and acting as if they’re immortal.
When you live like this your sense of urgency disappears. Years of your life are wasted. Those years turn into decades. Before you know it, you’re 65 and still working an entry-level job on a mediocre salary.
We don’t need:
More money
More friends
More information
More strategy
More followers/subscribers/customers
No.
If you want to be successful you need to start treating every day as if it’s your last day. That’s the secret mindset of successful people, whether they realize it or not.
I learned this the hard way when I had a near-miss with cancer in 2015.
Suddenly, all deadlines moved to “today.” I said sorry to those I’d wronged. I reached out to family and friends I hadn’t seen in years and reconnected. I went on the holiday to America that I’d been talking about since I was 6 years old.
Everything just became more urgent.
Then the cancer decided to piss off, but bizarrely, I kept the urgency mindset. It’s responsible for any success I now have, and I want to take this moment to thank those cancer cells for the wake-up call.
When would NOW be a good time? – Tony Robbins
Stop accepting B.S. timeframes
Yesterday I rang my bank to ask how much longer it would take to open my new bank accounts. They told me 10 business days.
I lost my sh*t.
“I need you to do it faster. I’ve given you all the info. I can set up accounts online with a digital-only bank in 5 minutes. Why can’t you?”
I pushed the banker and didn’t accept their BS timeframe. They opened my accounts a day later instead of ten.
When you take this sense of urgency and apply it to every area of your life, everything starts moving 10x faster.
One year of progress happens in a month.
You have to be unreasonable enough to move faster and get people and organizations to move faster, too. Most of the world is lazy. They want things to go slow so they don’t have to work too hard. And moving slowly helps them keep their costs down.
Don’t fall for it.
Start asking for things to happen faster.
Cut all timeframes down by 50%.
Curveballs are a part of life
Some people love excuses. As soon as a curveball happens they stop everything.
“I lost my job”
“My partner is sick”
“My friend is dying”
“The bank froze my account”
“My cat/dog is having a bad day”
What’s your point?
This way of thinking pisses me off. Most people live as if curveballs don’t exist. Then one random moment of chaos happens and they stop everything.
Right now I can still hardly walk because I busted my ankle at the gym trying to be a hero by doing heavy calf raises. My baby daughter barely sleeps so I get 1-2 hours sleep a night if I’m lucky.
The neighbor next door runs a community hall. They don’t give a stuff about people like me who are trying to sleep. They operate for 8-9 hours a day at extreme volume with their musical activities. It’s like living next to a 24/7 21st birthday party, where the host is an out of control Joe Rogan-type who wants to fight every night.
I’m taking the bastards to court. It’s been stressful. I’ve spent over 100+ hours trying to solve it. My local government doesn’t give a fudge.
“Why’d you buy a house there, then, dumb-dumb?”
They think gaslighting me will solve the issue. They’re about to learn the hard way that I don’t mess around when it comes to the law. Either follow the law, or feel my legal wrath.
There’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Constable Tim Denning. Nice to meet ya.
Now, I tell you all this to demonstrate that I, too, have a load of curveballs being thrown at me right now as well.
Do I stop? Do I piss my pants in shock? Do I delete my to-do list? Do I cancel all Zoom calls? Do I cry “poor Tim, this is so unfair?” No, mam. I get on with the job.
Because every day we’re slowly dying and excuses are the snake venom that bite you in the ass and create regrets more dangerous than a needle full of heroin.
The secret is to expect unpredictability.
Because if you can get great at dealing with chaos and still take action on your goals, then your whole life will get easier. No problem will stop you in your tracks.
Someday = Never
Let’s finish here.
There is no “do it later.” That’s what losers say. If you don’t intend to take action on your big goals today, you likely never will. This isn’t about making everything urgent. No. It’s about making your dream/vision/goals urgent.
My goal is to reach 1B people online with my writing. I’m more than halfway there. I have that goal front and center every day. Nothing gets in the way. I’m a bulldozer ready to demolish anything not attached to this goal.
Stop living like you have time in the future. All it does is transfer the power of the present moment to some future version of you that will never exist. You’re robbing yourself blind. You’re ruining your life. Don’t do it, I beg you!
Successful people act in the moment. They have a massive and unreasonable sense of urgency. So their goals happen faster and they look smarter than they are.
Why not you?
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Tim, you need to separate those things that are significant from those things that really don't matter. Put your energy into what is important and let the rest be. Fighting to open a bank account a few days earlier is so trivial. Understanding that we all have an expiration date is important. So is understanding that more than 90% of what we accomplish in life is truely meaningless and transient.
Wake up, enjoy a cup off coffee, enjoy the morning for just being. Very little really needs to get done and few will miss you when you are gone. Relax, build relationships, and help people. Don't make it a race, there is no reward for accomplishments in the next life.
I’m glad things are working for you. I have a different perspective actually.
My mom died at three and I grew up with this urgency you are talking about. When I hit thirty, I had a big breakdown/breakthrough realizing I survived her oldest age.
I finally realized I had spent so much time running toward my goals that I had missed out on things that had mattered. I also had been making decisions in a dysregulated way from this urgency anxiety (I also have childhood trauma and CPTSD).
For me things have done a lot better letting myself have space, letting myself believe that maybe I won’t die in the next ten minutes and have to cram it all in.
Maybe different strokes work for different folks. Maybe it’s a balance. Maybe I just did the urgency thing too long and burned out. It is my default personally and it causes me harm so I have to intentionally go the other way.