WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.880 My margin for error continues to shrink. 2 00:00:02.880 --> 00:00:05.120 Welcome to the game where we talk about how to get more customers, 3 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:07.120 how to make more customers, how to keep them longer, 4 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:09.520 and the many failures and lessons we have learned along the way. 5 00:00:09.520 --> 00:00:11.360 I hope you enjoy and subscribe. 6 00:00:11.360 --> 00:00:12.400 Hey you, what's going everyone. 7 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:13.280 Happy Thursday. 8 00:00:13.280 --> 00:00:16.560 Hope you guys are having a good second half of the week. 9 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:24.400 I wanted to bring up a habit that I think is central to being successful. 10 00:00:25.040 --> 00:00:28.000 And it's really, really, really, really, really not sexy. 11 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:32.080 And the more I think about it, there are so many other pieces 12 00:00:32.080 --> 00:00:33.760 that flow into this single habit. 13 00:00:34.400 --> 00:00:37.920 And when I observe people who are doing better than I am and whatnot, 14 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:42.080 they usually have this really dialed in. 15 00:00:42.080 --> 00:00:46.240 And the reason that no one does it is because it's so freaking hard. 16 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:50.240 All right, and it all revolves around energy. 17 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:55.520 And so what I mean by that is how to maximize your output as an entrepreneur. 18 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:57.520 At the end of the day, all we have is ourselves. 19 00:00:57.520 --> 00:00:59.120 And so that's why so many entrepreneurs 20 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:04.000 are obsessed with increasing their personal throughput, 21 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:05.760 like how much they can produce. 22 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:06.560 Right? 23 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:08.240 You know, myself included and probably you. 24 00:01:08.240 --> 00:01:12.720 And a lot of us started on this path and wanted to increase our output 25 00:01:12.720 --> 00:01:14.000 by getting in shape. 26 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:17.360 And so when we were younger or whatever we had that moment in our lives, 27 00:01:17.360 --> 00:01:19.360 we were like, you know what, I'm going to start taking control of my life. 28 00:01:19.360 --> 00:01:20.640 I'm going to start controlling what I eat. 29 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:23.680 I'm going to start working out, drinking water, all that kind of stuff. 30 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:28.320 And I think that there are levels to creating clear output. 31 00:01:28.320 --> 00:01:34.800 And so an easy example of this is like, if you've been on a workout kick for a while, 32 00:01:34.800 --> 00:01:36.320 or you've been training for a long time, 33 00:01:36.880 --> 00:01:41.120 if you ever stop training and stop eating the way that you've now grown accustomed, 34 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:45.120 all of a sudden you feel sluggish and foggy and unclear. 35 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:47.120 And you're like, man, I feel terrible, right? 36 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:50.800 And I also think that as we get older, and I'm not saying I'm old, 37 00:01:50.800 --> 00:01:53.520 but just as I personally have gotten older, 38 00:01:53.600 --> 00:01:56.800 my margin for error continues to shrink, right? 39 00:01:56.800 --> 00:02:02.640 Like the amount of my wiggle room on fucking this up has gotten smaller and smaller and smaller, 40 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:06.560 which is why I think very genuinely the reason people, many times, 41 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:10.720 drink less and less as they get older is because they simply can't recover from it. 42 00:02:10.720 --> 00:02:13.200 I think that people would drink as much as they could it, 43 00:02:13.200 --> 00:02:16.160 as much as they did in college, as adults, 44 00:02:16.160 --> 00:02:19.280 if they could bounce back from it like they did when they were 18, right? 45 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:20.800 That's just a pure theory of mine. 46 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:22.640 But I don't think that humans fundamentally change. 47 00:02:22.640 --> 00:02:25.120 I think that the equation of cost and benefit changes, 48 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:27.680 and that is what changes their behavior, right? 49 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:31.360 And so the single habit of the single routine, and I'm going to get to it, 50 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:36.160 it changes and affects everything in your life, 51 00:02:36.160 --> 00:02:38.480 which is why it's so hard, right? 52 00:02:38.480 --> 00:02:43.040 It's one singular habit that affects how you eat, 53 00:02:43.040 --> 00:02:49.280 who you see, where you go, all of that into one thing, and that habit is sleep, 54 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:52.320 all right? And I know that's like, man, is that anti-climactic? 55 00:02:52.320 --> 00:02:54.640 Is Alex going to talk about sleep? I am. 56 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:58.160 And I think it's because, as entrepreneurs, 57 00:02:58.160 --> 00:03:02.160 we need to be able to monitor our energy levels in order to succeed. 58 00:03:02.160 --> 00:03:04.000 And I know this sounds like a really boring topic, 59 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:08.720 but I'm telling you, every single person who makes a ton of money that I know 60 00:03:09.600 --> 00:03:12.960 has a super dialed-in sleep system. 61 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:15.760 So it's not about, like everybody talks about daily routines on the ship, 62 00:03:15.760 --> 00:03:18.800 I've seen a zillion routines, I personally don't really have one. 63 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:21.680 Like, I've seen all, you know, some people attribute their success to the fact 64 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:23.120 that they do x, y, and z. 65 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:28.800 Like, I just think it comes down to being able to have energy and be maximal in your output. 66 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:33.280 Now, the reason this trickles to everything is because if you always, like, 67 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:36.960 to sleep well, you have to pretty much go to sleep at the same time every day, 68 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:39.360 and you have to wake up at pretty much the same time every day. 69 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:42.080 And you also can't do things to impair your sleep. 70 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:43.760 And so here's the trickle down effects of that. 71 00:03:43.760 --> 00:03:46.160 It means that when you travel, you change time zones, 72 00:03:46.160 --> 00:03:48.000 it fucks with you, right? 73 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:51.040 If you drink and go out, it fucks with you. 74 00:03:51.040 --> 00:03:56.640 If you normally go to sleep during the week at nine and go to sleep on the weekends at 1130, 75 00:03:56.640 --> 00:03:57.440 it fucks with you. 76 00:03:57.440 --> 00:04:00.000 Your body doesn't know about weekends or weekdays, 77 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.400 it just knows about how your body's supposed to feel, right? 78 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:08.640 And so I think what a single thing that we can, like, for me, that has helped, 79 00:04:09.760 --> 00:04:13.360 because I'm not, I'm really bad at doing things unrepeatedly. 80 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:14.320 I'm really bad at it. 81 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:21.760 But one thing that has helped me is having a bedtime more than a wake-up time, right? 82 00:04:21.760 --> 00:04:24.320 When I screenshot my wake-ups at four o'clock in the morning, 83 00:04:24.320 --> 00:04:27.840 it's not because I have an alarm that goes off, it's just because I wake up, right? 84 00:04:27.840 --> 00:04:33.440 And so I think it's much better, like, it's not worth trying to cut your sleep to five hours 85 00:04:33.440 --> 00:04:36.800 so that you can wake up at four, like, that's not the game, it's not sustainable, 86 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:38.640 and you're also going to be stupider. 87 00:04:38.640 --> 00:04:42.080 Like, there's all the data in the world shows that when you don't sleep much, 88 00:04:42.080 --> 00:04:43.440 you are a dumber, right? 89 00:04:43.440 --> 00:04:47.840 You get fatter, you're hungrier, you're dumber, you're slower, you have lower processing power, 90 00:04:47.840 --> 00:04:50.880 you have worse short-term memory, all of those things are affected. 91 00:04:50.880 --> 00:04:54.400 And as entrepreneurs, if the only thing that we have is our brains and the decisions we make, 92 00:04:54.960 --> 00:04:57.680 like, it stacks all the chips against you, right? 93 00:04:57.680 --> 00:04:59.920 You're also more emotionally reactive, right? 94 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:04.240 You have less control in that you're prefrontal cortex because you don't have enough sleep, 95 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:07.680 right? I'm sure there are some times that you've woken up, or, at least, 96 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:10.640 where I've woken up and I'm like, man, there's literally nothing that could bother me today. 97 00:05:10.640 --> 00:05:12.560 Like, I feel awesome, right? 98 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:16.720 And I think it's really about how can we recreate that environment, 99 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:20.240 that mental suit of feeling on a consistent basis, 100 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:22.240 and what are the prerequisites for that? 101 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:25.600 And this is why it's hard, and this is why it's so hard, 102 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:31.920 because there are so many things that I do not do simply because of my sleep, right? 103 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:35.280 People invite me out all the time for dinner at 7. 104 00:05:35.280 --> 00:05:37.840 Well, I'm in bed by 8.30 or not. 105 00:05:37.840 --> 00:05:41.120 So, it's not going to work, and if it's a 30-minute drive there, 106 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:45.360 you know, that means that I have to leave the dinner at pretty much 8, right? 107 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:48.720 It's like, you go there at my drive 30 minutes to get there for a one-hour dinner, 108 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:50.720 drive 30, like, I'm not going to do that, right? 109 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:55.360 And so, there's a lot of social occasions that I can't go to or I have to leave early from, 110 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:58.480 right? And it seems lame and it's hard, right? 111 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:02.800 It's hard to do that. It's hard to do to not go out on the weekends and change my schedule 112 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:06.400 because everyone else does, right? And even a lot of entrepreneurs do. 113 00:06:06.400 --> 00:06:08.960 It doesn't mean that they're bad. It's just, they're different, right? 114 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:14.640 Hey, Mosin Asian, quick break, just to let you know that we've been starting to post 115 00:06:14.640 --> 00:06:16.800 on LinkedIn and want to connect with you. 116 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:20.000 All right, so send me a connection request and note letting me know that you listen to the show, 117 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:23.200 and I will accept it. There's anyone you think that we should be connected with, 118 00:06:23.200 --> 00:06:27.680 tag them in one of my or Layless posts, and I will give you all the love in the world. 119 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:28.800 All right, so let's get back to the show. 120 00:06:29.440 --> 00:06:37.600 And so, a couple of takeaways around this, at least for me, is that every entrepreneur that I 121 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:41.360 know that's super successful has dedicated time where they're uninterrupted every day. 122 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:47.200 And that, to me, means you're either staying up really late or you're waking up really early. 123 00:06:47.200 --> 00:06:50.800 I actually, if you think about it from a lifestyle standpoint, I think it might be easier 124 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:55.680 to stay up really late because it allows you to have a little bit more of a social life. 125 00:06:56.640 --> 00:07:00.640 And then you can still have your work time afterwards if you're disciplined enough to do that. 126 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:05.040 I wish I could do that, even in college, I never worked past 9 p.m. 127 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:06.800 Like I did it, and I'm just like, I'm shocked. 128 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:09.360 Like I just, that's how I function personally. 129 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:14.160 And so I always, I was always the guy who'd be like, you know, I'd be subworking at 9, 130 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:17.840 and then I would wake up at 3 or 4, and then I would start working again because I just knew 131 00:07:17.840 --> 00:07:23.200 I was useless, right? And so for me, because of how my body works, it's kind of less convenient for 132 00:07:23.200 --> 00:07:27.840 me, which has been, it's taken a toll on a lot of things in my life, and that's why it's a big trade-off. 133 00:07:27.840 --> 00:07:30.960 And most people aren't willing to make it with their actions, right? 134 00:07:30.960 --> 00:07:36.800 Like the trade-off of not drinking, right? Because it impairs my sleep most of the time is hard, 135 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:40.160 right? Now there's trade-offs, you know, if you go to a wedding or it's your wedding or you know, 136 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:42.560 whatever it's like, then then understand the trade-off. 137 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:46.160 The thing is, is the lower the barrier is for when you make that trade-offs, the more likely it is 138 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:49.840 to happen all the time, right? And then all of a sudden you're drinking because this taco Tuesday, 139 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:54.160 right? And so, you know, it's kind of like the weight loss plan is like, well, it was a special 140 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:58.560 occasion. Donuts are on Wednesday. It's like, you know, at some point you have to draw a line, 141 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:01.840 and for most people they don't have the discipline, and so they have to go all or nothing. 142 00:08:01.840 --> 00:08:05.200 And myself included, I spent two and a half years where I didn't drink anything, right? 143 00:08:06.080 --> 00:08:10.720 We started to drink a little bit more now, trying to balance things. I think that the ultimate goal 144 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:15.920 is to be able to have things and not be, to use things and not be used by them, right? And so 145 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:25.360 to bring this all to a head, right? Weekends, right? Not changing your schedule on the weekends. 146 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:32.720 Huge, incredibly difficult. Not going out during the weekdays at all on social events that I know 147 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:36.720 are going to get me jacked up emotionally or adrenaline or whatever, so that when I get home, 148 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:42.240 I have to spend another hour unwinding to get to bed at a later time, right? And so I think the 149 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:49.760 single habit, at least for me that's been game changing, has been always allowing myself to sleep 150 00:08:49.760 --> 00:08:56.240 as much as necessary or as much as my body needs, but focusing more on my bed time, right? And by 151 00:08:56.240 --> 00:09:01.920 doing that, it does rule out a lot of activities in my life, and that is hard. Like, it's really hard 152 00:09:01.920 --> 00:09:08.320 for me. Like, I'm a social person. I like seeing people, but I can't a lot of times. And it also 153 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:12.720 means that I can't travel as much as I would normally like to because when I go across time zones, 154 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:16.720 it really messes with me. And so a lot of times when I go across time zones, I try and keep the same 155 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:23.600 sleep schedule. So when I was in Southern California, I was waking up at like two o'clock, two 30 in the 156 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:30.400 morning because it was two hours behind, sorry, two hours behind, my Austin time. So I tried to change 157 00:09:30.400 --> 00:09:33.840 as little as I could, which means that I was like going to sleep at like seven or seven 30s, 158 00:09:34.560 --> 00:09:37.600 right? And that means all the people that were in Southern California were like, we'll do, 159 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:41.520 let's hang out. I'm like, ah, I'm in bed. And they're like, seriously? It's seven. And I'm like, 160 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:47.040 I don't study, you know? And that's hard. It should. And I'm not saying it's the best way. I'm just 161 00:09:47.040 --> 00:09:52.720 saying, I think that when I look at a lot of people who are really successful, they have this one 162 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:58.640 aspect dialed in and it has so many ramifications to the rest of their lives because you can't have 163 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:07.600 any kind of habitual habits or output if the one thing that starts or ends your day is variable. 164 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:16.000 Right? And so I think that if you can make that piece a foundation, a cornerstone of how you live, 165 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:21.360 then you will always have as much energy and clear, you know, clarity and you will be able to 166 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:24.480 make better judgment and better decisions. And I know this is definitely not like, hey, 167 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:30.080 here's how to close a predicate of the phone in three minutes type of tactic. But I can't tell you 168 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:35.600 how important I really truly think it is and how I can witness this character trait or rather, 169 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:39.920 you know, human habit in the people who are successful and the people who don't. And I think it's 170 00:10:39.920 --> 00:10:42.960 because it requires other character traits. You have to have discipline. You have to have to be 171 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:47.040 able to make trade-offs. You have to really be able to prioritize the things that are important 172 00:10:47.040 --> 00:10:50.480 in life. And those are all skills that some people don't have. And so if you can do that, 173 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:56.080 then you have to ask yourself, is this thing worth the trade-off of me being at 100% tomorrow versus 174 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:02.800 80% and I think that that 20% extra is what compounds over time and what separates Kobe Bryant 175 00:11:02.800 --> 00:11:07.840 from the rest of the NBA because he always took that 20% again and again and again and again and 176 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:14.000 again. And then within five years, the gap is so wide that no one can catch up with you. 177 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:21.040 So I know this was less of a tactical one. I just, it's so important to me because it's changed 178 00:11:21.040 --> 00:11:26.080 the way I live my life. And when people who do know me are like, oh yeah, all my friends are like, 179 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:31.040 oh, Patrick, bad time, right? And I take those slags and, you know, I take those body punches because 180 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:35.200 it's true. You know what I mean? And it's a trade-off and it hurts because I don't, you know, 181 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:39.200 I'd like to see people and they're like, well, I can't do anything before that. And I'm like, 182 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:43.360 well, then I guess we can't hang out. And so, and like, I have those real conversations, 183 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:49.920 honestly, all the time. And so I guess I'm saying this to say, if you have been struggling with 184 00:11:49.920 --> 00:11:54.400 maintaining, you know, the, a routine or a specific habit because everyone around you is not in 185 00:11:54.400 --> 00:11:59.600 support of it, I think it's welcome to the club. And I think it's just, are you willing to make 186 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:03.440 that trade-off for what you want? And I just never want to look back on my life and be like, well, 187 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:07.680 I'm glad I worked at soccer Tuesdays rather than getting what I wanted out of life. So anyways, 188 00:12:07.680 --> 00:12:12.240 I thought I'd share that with you so that if you are struggling with it, I don't think it gets 189 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:18.640 easier. I think it's still just as hard for me now as it was before. But I think I'm just more 190 00:12:18.640 --> 00:12:23.280 used to it. And I've kind of trained my surroundings, the people who are around me in my life, 191 00:12:23.280 --> 00:12:29.120 they just know that this is a trade-off I'm not willing to make when 99% of humanity is willing 192 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:34.080 to make that trade. And I think that separates the 1% from everyone else. So anyways, how about 193 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:39.520 an amazing Thursday? Hope that was useful for you. And keep being awesome and I'll catch you guys soon.