Adopt a growth mindset by choosing to believe your brain is plastic and you can learn and improve at any age; then, voraciously study the mechanisms of learning and dedicate yourself to consistent effort and work to get better.
Prioritize sleep as a critical component for cognitive optimization and overall well-being by going to bed early (e.g., 9 PM on weekdays), avoiding alarms, and allowing yourself to sleep as much as needed to wake naturally.
Practice daily meditation, specifically diaphragm breathing, to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, reduce anxiety, and eliminate background stress, thereby achieving a calm, stress-free state and improving overall well-being.
Optimize for the present moment and construct your life around activities that provide energy and deep fulfillment, rather than living out of sync with your current state to hit a future target like feeling good on your deathbed.
Achieve fulfillment by becoming someone you are proud of, building hard-earned skills that serve both yourself and others, and embracing difficult, non-pleasurable tasks to become extraordinary and contribute meaningfully.
Construct your life around activities that genuinely give you energy and a deep sense of fulfillment, recognizing that while children can offer instant biological fulfillment, other paths can also lead to profound gratification.
Prioritize doing work that makes you feel alive and deeply fulfilled, even if it means stepping away from a financially successful path that is draining your energy and making you unhappy.
Actively seek out disconfirming evidence and smart, well-educated individuals to identify personal suboptimal areas and make different choices for a better life.
Consciously expand your vision and aspirations beyond what you currently see or believe is possible, as human potential is often limited by the perceived magnitude of achievable dreams.
Build a company and brand around authentic value creation, fostering community, and allowing the personalities of the founders and team to shine through, rather than solely focusing on product hawking.
Instead of trying to ‘mind control’ or convince people, focus on clearly sharing your vision and embodying genuine excitement to attract collaborators who are naturally resonant and enthusiastic about your goals.
When hiring, seek to align your company’s needs with the employee’s long-term aspirations by identifying what skills they want to build or what ’next thing’ they want to achieve, creating a mutually beneficial relationship where both parties gain.
Engage in consistent physical exercise five days a week, even if you dislike the process, recognizing its critical importance for strength, longevity, and cognitive optimization, and for the satisfaction of accomplishing difficult tasks.
Prioritize injury prevention during strength training by developing a keen awareness of your body’s mechanics; if you detect any imperfection in form or improper muscle engagement (e.g., glutes not firing, lower back loading) during warm-ups for exercises like deadlifts or squats, abort the session immediately.
Consider a high-fat, low-carb or ketogenic diet if experiencing chronic inflammation or pain, as it significantly improved wrist pain for Tom Bilyeu, indicating anti-inflammatory properties.
Maintain a strict whole-foods, high-fat, low-carb diet with varied vegetable sources, eggs, olive oil, and diverse meats (beef, chicken, lamb, pork), limiting ‘cheat’ meals to rare, single occasions rather than entire days.
Incorporate regular intermittent fasting into your routine, and at least once a year, undertake a five-day water-only fast, ideally preceded by a ketogenic cycle to optimize fat burning.
Avoid chronic sleep deprivation, as even two weeks of four hours of sleep per night can significantly impair glucose disposal (leading to insulin resistance) and hinder memory consolidation.
When experiencing physical pain, practice mindfulness by focusing solely on the present moment of the pain and your breath, rather than anticipating its worsening or duration, to potentially alter your experience of it.
Reframe ‘selfishness’ to recognize that personal desires, such as seeing others succeed or building a great company, can be powerful motivators that lead to positive outcomes for everyone involved.
To achieve significant success, identify prevailing industry norms and adopt a contrarian approach, but ensure your unique strategy is ultimately correct and effective.
Structure your life around work that is so enjoyable and aligned with your passions that you are naturally drawn to it, even over leisure activities, making it easy to sustain long-term effort.
Actively protect and cultivate playfulness in your life and relationships, especially when pursuing ambitious goals that might lead to hardening your personality, as it’s crucial for maintaining emotional balance and healthy interactions.
Avoid working around the clock on tasks or goals that you do not genuinely love, as this can quickly lead to emotional and physical drainage rather than fulfillment.
In a startup or growth environment, offer employees the opportunity to choose any job they desire, provided they commit to developing the necessary skills and becoming the right person for that role.
Recognize that negatively valenced emotions like depression, sadness, anxiety, and fear are typically rooted in past events or future anticipations, rather than the present moment, which can be a step towards addressing them.