You Can Become The Best In The World At What You Do With These Simple Things
The only constraints in life are those set by your mind.
The best in the world is a title we all want.
It doesn’t matter what you do. Being mediocre sucks ass. What’s the point of being given the gift of life only to throw it down the toilet and become average?
I know what you’re thinking: “That’ll never be me.”
The reality is most people aren’t that more skilled or talented than you.
Most people waste large parts of their life or cruise through in a cocoon of comfort that blinds them from the Matrix they’ve trapped themselves in.
I’ve spent the last 8 years studying the best in the world from writers, to athletes, to navy seals, to public speakers, to founders – and they all appear to think and practice some version of these things.
Begin as a loser
Being a loser takes no effort at all. That’s why it’s the best way to start.
A friend of mine started as one. He wanted to build an eCommerce store and so did many of our mutual colleagues.
He’d stay up late eating $2 noodles and raising money needed to buy stock. Everyone else in our circle with a similar goal spent time tinkering with websites and getting lost in branding.
He got his website live within a few weeks. It was rough and didn’t look as good. But it was live, so he got to start selling products on day one using paid ads.
Meanwhile, his competitors who began at the same time spent months talking about market strategy and “picking the brain” of anybody who could say the word “eCommerce.”
Within a few months his business took off.
He paid someone to go back later on and finesse the website's design. Customers were buying so he started to learn what they wanted and the problems they faced.
His fellow eCommerce lovers didn’t ship anything. They spoke to sooo many people. Many talked them out of their dreams.
“It’s too hard. You don’t have eCommerce experience.”
So they quit and stayed at their jobs.
A loser is a deeply unprofessional amateur. I love them. I was one for years. The label of loser has zero expectations.
It reminds you of where you’re starting so you don’t blow up your ego and think your Bill Gates every time you get an idea.
Ideas are bullsh*t. They’re worth nothing.
Losers execute their way to legendary status and launch.
Talk to smart people wearing overcoats
You can become the best in the world faster when you talk to those who already are.
The problem is many people ask the best in the world for advice and get nothing. That’s because they don’t know what they’re doing.
If you want help from the best in the world you’ve gotta get in the game.
Here’s what I did to join the top 1% of the writing world:
I paid to go to events run by masters, then I reached out. If you’ve spent money with someone they see you differently. A purchase brings you into their world.
I offered experts a stupid amount of money upfront. I got this trick from my friend who offered one of the highest-paid speakers in the world $5000 to have coffee with him. The guy didn’t take his money, but the confidence cut through all the noise of the wannabes who didn’t get a meeting when he did.
Learn how to send a direct message (DM). Better yet, pay someone who’s great at persuading to write the DM for you.
Follow up. Sending one request to get an expert’s time won’t get you anything. You have to be ruthless and assertive. Pro tip: become great at getting on the good side of personal assistants. They’ll prioritize your meeting when you do.
What’s weird about getting an expert's perspective is that if you do enough research, you start to see there are very few.
In the writing world, three of my favorite writers all got coached by Jon Morrow of SmartBlogger. Each of those writers has made over 6-figures. Is that an accident?
Nope.
Very few are the best in the world at what they do. Look for similar names of experts that constantly get mentioned by others in your field.
Pretend there are no rules
Rules and labels destroy brains.
If you follow the rules it’s easy to become stuck. What worked before may not work again. That’s why I like to reinvent the rules.
The only constraints in life are those set by your mind.
Don’t let past limitations hold back your future. Do things how you want to do them. Follow your intuition.
When you make up the rules you’re being true to yourself – there’s no greater joy than living in alignment with who you are and what you believe.
The one thing 99% of people refuse to do
Consistency is the only way to become the best in the world. READ THAT AGAIN.
You know this deep down. The problem?
We lie to ourselves. We pretend we’re different or we’re too busy. Or we pretend we have been consistent, when really, we’ve been a lazy ass.
There are three ways to fix this problem:
Schedule your best in the world activities in your digital calendar. Also write them on a physical calendar. Every time you do the activity, cross that box on the calendar with a red pen. Once the habit is built your brain’s automation takes over.
Get an accountability partner. Tell them your goal(s) and check in with them once a week to update them. Do the same for them. If you have no one, then go on the Fiverr app and look under coaches for the term “accountability.” Hire one.
Choose a punishment. This is how you get leverage on yourself and stop the lies generated by your brain. What happens if you don’t do it or get lazy? I like financial penalties. Choose your own poison.
Surround yourself with disasters
Those who are the best in the world experienced many disasters on their rise to the top. If you expect disasters you’ll be better prepared for them.
Disasters lead to massive failures.
Failures teach you the lessons needED to become the best in the world.
The truth is second-hand information will only get you so far. For a lesson to stick you’ve got to experience it. If you can’t deal with rejection or failure you’ll never become the best in the world.
Case in point, yesterday I had an article rejected by a major publication.
The feedback was brutal. “You can’t say ‘big balls’ online. This article is incredibly inappropriate.”
I felt deflated and embarrassed. Maybe I took things too far?
A day later I shook the harsh feedback off and submitted the story to another publication.
It went mega-viral.
Only through disasters do you find your true potential.
This is the way.
Don’t overdo it
Becoming the best in the world is easy to overdo. I’m the burnout king and know all too well what happens.
Schedule time to do nothing and let your mind wander. Take breaks while you work. Go on holidays to escape the path to greatness for a while.
A busy mind will never be the best in the world.
Let downtime synthesize your thoughts and trigger aha-moments that make you look like a genius.
One trick that works is to empty your brain before you sleep. Bring up your favorite note-taking app and write everything down that’s in your head. Then go to sleep.
An empty brain gets 10X better rest.
Create a badass system
When you sit down to do the work required to be the best in the world, it’s easier when there’s a process. Back-of-the-envelope is best.
To be in the top 1% of writers in the world, I came up with this rough process (it changes every few months as I learn more):
Write on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9 am to 6pm.
Network via Twitter and LinkedIn DMs for 30 mins a day
Edit my writing on Mondays
Find awesome images for 2 hours on Sundays
Publish at least 8 articles a week
Look at the data from my stories daily to see what the audience is most interested in
See how when you have a system the steps are much easier? I started with a simple system. I wrote for 1 hour for one day every week. As I got better I adapted the system.
Perfection is never the goal. Having a rough plan is so you know what direction to begin from.
Fear is when things start to get good
You’ll never grow if you stay in comfort.
Growth gets you to be the best in the world. If you’re not feeling fear regularly something is wrong. Fear happens when you go beyond anything you’ve experienced before and try to get to the next level.
Be aware of fear. How often does fear show up?
Right now I have a fear of performance. I’m recording a course tomorrow and have a 1-hour workshop with people who’ve paid a lot of money.
I’m scared sh*tless which is another way of saying it’s going to test my existing skills.
Be motivated by something you give a crap about
When you care about your lofty goal it’s easy to find hidden energy reserves.
I care about changing the world through writing so it’s simple to wake up and do it.
All of us have that one thing. The thing that we can talk about effortlessly that we wish we were doing while being at work in an office of broken dreams.
“Live with passion” is an underrated strategy.
When passion shines through it’s easier to become the best in the world.
Why?
Because you’re not going to reach high places by yourself. You can’t do it all. You need other people to help, and they’re secretly attracted by passion.
Final Thought
Waking up as the best in the world at something is an amazing feeling.
I’ve got lucky to be able to do it as an online writer. There’s nothing better than loving what you do. Before you die, you get to decide how big you’ll go.
Go big or go home as we say in Australia.
Life’s too short to be average. May as well try to become the best in the world. Even if you fail, the journey will be worth it.
You’ll have endless stories to tell. At least you’ll become an interesting person people want to hear from.
Join the top 1% in your field. It’s where all the rewards and fulfillment lie.
This instalment of Unfiltered is free for everyone. I send this email weekly. If you would also like to receive it, join the 50,000+ other smart people who absolutely love it today.
👉 If you enjoyed reading this post, feel free to share it with friends!
One of your best posts Tim. Goose bumps….
I totally agree. I get to do my passion every day of my life. I cannot wait to get up every morning by 530 am and get started.