Peter D. Kaufman

They're knocking down these drinks.

When's the world going to give me something, man?

When am I going to get mine?

Well, what did you ever do?

Did you get up in the morning and smile at the world?

No.

You either did nothing or you scowled and hissed at the world and you're getting back exactly what you would expect to get back if you understood how the world really works.

So why don't more people go positive first?

Daniel Kahneman himself answered this, and it's what won him the Nobel Prize.

The human brain weighs potential losses far more heavily than they do equivalent gains.

We'll sacrifice 98% upside to avoid a 2% chance of rejection or embarrassment.

Peter also quotes baseball legend Lou Brock, show me a man who's afraid of appearing foolish and I'll show you a man who can be beat every time.

Or you can think about this the same way that I do.

So much advantage in life comes from being willing to look like an idiot in the short term, willing to be uncomfortable.

My friend Harley Finkelstein has a great way of framing this too.

He calls it cringe tolerance.

And it's something most people can't get over.

If you can get over the momentary fear of looking like an idiot, the uncomfortableness of that, then you can accomplish amazing things.

For example, I send a lot of cold emails and text messages to anyone I'm interested in having on the show and learning from.

And it works.