Question to regain your perspective:

Would you trade lives with the person you're admiring?

My entire life changed when I realized one truth:

The people I read books about are never people I would want to trade lives with.

Everything in life comes at a price.

The people that society celebrate, admire, and applaud tend to be the ones who have achieved incredible financial success—but we're quick to ignore the real price of that success.

What tradeoffs or sacrifices did that person have to make to achieve that "success" you're admiring?

• What relationships fell by the wayside?
• What health and stress impacts did they endure?
• What freedom did they give up?
• What happiness did they delay?

The next time you find yourself comparing your life to someone else—admiring their success, or even feeling envious of it—ask yourself these questions.

Sometimes the life that looks like a great deal on the surface is a ripoff when you dig a little bit deeper.

Maybe it's time we start celebrating a different kind of success story.

P.S. If this question resonated, you're going to love my new book, which explores this idea in depth. ​Order it now​ to have it in your hands in three days.

Quote on the stories you tell yourself:

"We are what we believe we are." - C.S. Lewis

It's not the sheer difficulty of achieving something that stops you—it's the ease of continuing to tell yourself the story that you can't.

Pay close attention to the stories you tell yourself.

They create your reality.

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Framework for professional opportunities:

The New Opportunity Test

Last week, I shared the concept of the Right Now Test, a simple idea for saying NO more effectively to personal commitments.

Given the overwhelming response, this week, I want to share another simple, powerful system for making decisions around new professional commitments.

I call it my New Opportunity Test (3 steps):

• Step 1: Does this opportunity fall within my list of professional priorities? If no, say no. If yes, proceed to Step 2.
• Step 2: Is this a "Hell yeah!" opportunity? Writer Derek Sivers famously proposed this simple rule: If something isn’t a "Hell yeah!" then it’s a no. If it is, proceed to Step 3.
• Step 3: Assume this opportunity takes twice as long and is half as rewarding/profitable than you expect it to be, would you still want to do it? We tend to be overly optimistic when taking on something new. Force a degree of rationality into the decision. If the answer is no, say no. If the answer is yes, take it on.

Next time you find yourself staring at a shiny new professional opportunity, give the New Opportunity Test a shot.

It will help you take on the right opportunities, so you can deploy your finite attention into the things that matter (and say no to the things that don't).

This is an excerpt derived from the Time Wealth section of my upcoming book, The 5 Types of Wealth. Each section ends with a guide filled with proven systems for building that type of wealth into your life. This excerpt is one of ~50 actionable systems in the book. You can have it in your hands in three days!

Order The 5 Types of Wealth Now!

Passage on running your race:

This was a brilliant passage I came across in Arnold Schwarzenegger's ​Pump Club newsletter​ this week:

You’ve been led to believe that success comes from identifying a new competitive advantage no one knows about — and it’s the ultimate misdirection.

The wellness industry is built on the search for the magic pill. It forces you to major in the minor, doing the hardest thing possible for temporary changes that don’t last.

If you want to transform, it’s time to stop chasing fads and trends.

The real game-changer? Find the boulders — the big behaviors that lead to exponential improvement — and build a plan that fits your life.

Everyone says, “Health is a lifestyle.” But how often do you stop and ask yourself, “What do I want my lifestyle to look like?”

This is very much in line with how I think about life:

Identify what truly matters to you—and then go take actions to build your life around those things. Don't worry about what anyone else is doing. In life, you just need to run your race.

Special Note: After reading this and reaching out to Arnold's team, they invited me to do an exclusive Q&A on my book for members of the Arnold Pump Club App. Members get tons of discounts on cool products, access to the app, training library, book club, and live meetups. Also, every three months, they fly out a few members to train with Arnold at Golds. Pretty damn cool. You can join with a 7-day risk free trial ​here​.

Story on the power of progressive overload:

Milo of Croton was a six-time wrestling champion of the ancient Olympic Games in Greece. He was known for his otherworldly strength.

But the legend of how that strength was built is one can learn from:

According to the lore, one day, a young Milo saw a small, newborn calf near his home. He picked up the calf and placed it on his shoulders to carry around.

It was a challenging feat, as Milo was still young, but the next day, he returned and did it again.

Then the next day, and the next, and the day after that.

Each day, the calf grew, but so did Milo.

After some time, Milo was no longer carrying a small calf, but a young bull—and Milo was no longer a young boy, but a man with legendary strength.

The lesson: Small things become big things.

Progressive overload—the principle of slowly adding "load" to the muscle to spark its growth—is a useful tool in any arena of life.

Never bet against the person who just keeps showing up...