Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: Why are trade-offs essential for achieving your goals?
You're not getting what you want out of your business or your life because you want too many things at the same time. You're not willing to make trade-offs and I will prove it to you. And so in this video, I'll break down the core problem and the way to frame the trades that you make at different seasons in your life.
Everything in life has trade-offs and people just need to determine the price versus the value. Like anything, There's going to be both of these things. And so when people say, I can't believe he did this, it's because they're only looking at the cost and not the payout. Now, if you say, hey, that guy made this trade, I wouldn't have made that trade, awesome.
And that's why you don't have to make that trade. Right. And so let me give you kind of like a frame of mind for this. I was thinking about this because we were, Layla and I were looking at home stuff lately and we're thinking about, you know, buying homes and all that kind of jazz. And one of the things that was such a striking example is that you cannot have it all.
There are many examples in life where it is. This is not a I'm sure you've seen it like you can have it all.
Chapter 2: What examples illustrate the impossibility of having it all?
You can't. Let me give you the example. If I say I want to have a house that's in a ski town, but I also want it to be near the beach, and I also want it to be secluded, but I also want to have a town and shopping and walking distance, and I also want it to be cozy and not too busy, but I also want it to have lots of space for activities and a yard, I can't have all those things.
They are literally structurally impossible for them to all be in the same thing. One, the beach and the snow mountain, probably not going to exist in the same house. If I want to have something cozy versus lots of land and space, probably not going to happen. If I want somebody to be in walking distance but also have a great aerial view, might not happen, right?
And so each of these things, that one could happen in a high-rise downtown. Okay, that one, maybe. But there's going to be some of these that you have to make trades. And I think... basically like confronting that is like the core element of what you have to do in life to move forward. And so many people stay in decision limbo.
They stay in purgatory and purgatory translated into reality that they don't achieve what they want.
Chapter 3: How can making conscious trade-offs impact your life decisions?
They don't get what they want out of life because they never make a trade to begin with. Right? And so, I'll give you a couple more common ones. Like should I get married versus should I not get married? This is not should I, it's just am I willing to make the trade, right? Should I have kids versus not having kids? Should I sacrifice my 20s versus sacrificing your 30s?
There are always trade-offs. Like if you sacrifice your 20s, you will miss out on some of the kind of youthful, fun experiences that some people have. Like that's a trade, that's real. You will give up on some of that stuff. The question is, what are you trading it for? Now, the worst trades of all are the trades that we don't consciously make, but still trade anyways, right?
Like you didn't get the fun experience of your twenties, but you also didn't build the nest egg.
Chapter 4: What common life decisions involve significant trade-offs?
You didn't build the reps. You didn't build the experience so that you could set yourself up in your thirties, right? And so a lot of like your thirties is a reflection of how you lived your twenties, just kind of taken forward. Now, some people I meet, loved their 20s. They backpacked across Europe. They had all these different experiences. They got culturally enriched. And I love that for them.
That wasn't the trade that I wanted to make. And so it would be ridiculous for me to say like, I want that. And I want to develop this very deep well of skill set that I can use for the rest of my life. Now, those people for sure build skills. Are those skills as marketable? Maybe, maybe not.
Chapter 5: How does fear of loss influence our decision-making?
I don't know. Some people are like, well, I could travel and learn. Maybe. I don't know. I mean, like Zuck didn't do that. Bill Gates didn't do that. Elon didn't do that. So again, there's also to what degree, right? How big do you want to go? And so I think like you can't expect a 1% outcome without having a 1% trade-off, right?
And I'll give you a different kind of, like I give you a house example. Let me go really, really small. You walk into a store, there's a pair of shoes you like. Okay, a pair of shoes you like. You look at the price tag, it says $500.
Chapter 6: What is the worst-case scenario when taking risks?
At that point, you make the decision, is it worth the trade? That's all it is, right? And then if you see somebody else make the trade, this is how dumb the internet is. They will then say like, that guy's an idiot. That guy's a moron. But the thing is, is that if that guy's a billionaire, who cares what he traded? Like for him, it made sense.
And if you're on food stamps and minimum wage, $500 shoes, probably doesn't make sense for you. Probably not worth the trade. And so is the trade inherently good or bad? No, it's dependent on the person and their context. All right. All of these are examples of trade offs. Right. And so the question is, what are the trades and are they worth it?
Chapter 7: Why is embracing uncertainty crucial for personal growth?
The reason people struggle so much with making trades is because they know what they stand to lose, but not what they stand to gain. So the cost is guaranteed and fixed. But the upside is not, which is why it's so hard for so many people to make bets, especially on themselves. And so if you had a single belief that I could transfer to you is that you will figure it out if shit hits the fan.
And when shit hits the fan, if it does and it will, the reality is it's not gonna be as bad as you think it is. And so you have this fixed cost that you believe that will happen but isn't actually real because it's a fear inside of your mind. You think if this bet doesn't work, I will go homeless, lose all my friends, and die. But that's not reality.
The worst case scenario for most people who are social, as in like just are functioning members of society, is that you crash on someone's couch for a while. That's the actual worst case scenario. And I only say this because... If you look at homelessness, right, the vast majority of homelessness, not all, the vast majority of homelessness is due to addiction and mental health issues.
So my point is, most people have this fear. Now, even the people who are, I'll say, I'll be political, the unhoused, right, the unhoused, even the unhoused, it's hard to say, it's so funny. Anyways, even those folks still have food, still keep living, still have access to medical attention.
Chapter 8: How can shifting your perspective lead to a life without regrets?
Okay, at least in the U.S., in the developed world, okay? And so I say this because the worst case scenario is that you have no boss, you have food, right? You have medical attention if you need it, and you walk on the streets doing whatever the hell you want. That's the worst case scenario. Some people might say that's better than their current scenario.
And so when I think about this, I think about this in an inordinate amount, I'll say that to be honest with you, which is that like your level of subjective well-being doesn't change a dramatic amount throughout your life. a lot of it is inherent, right? Like your demeanor, your disposition. And I'll give you a simple example that makes people uncomfortable. So think about how were dogs created?
right? So there were wolves, right? And then there were some wolves that were a little nicer than the other wolves. And they were like, let's breed the nice wolves. And then nicer wolves, breeding nicer wolves, breeding nicer wolves, eventually you get a labradoodle, okay? Taken enough times. And so people don't like to think about humans in that same way.
But like fundamentally, if you've got assholes breeding assholes, they tend to make more assholes. And if you've got nice guys and nice gals, they tend to make more nice people. Of course, there's genetic variety that happens there. But over time, that does happen. And so that also happens with happy people and unhappy people, believe it or not.
And so a lot of that, like, of course you operate within your genetic potential. Of course, like you can move things like you can have genetics for muscle and never work out. And you're not gonna have the same level of muscle, right? Period. And so you might have genetics for more happiness or genetics for less happiness. Sure. And you want to maximize those things.
But I only bring this up to say, we have this idea that we're going to like, I'll do this thing and then I will be happy. I will do this thing and then all my problems will be solved. But our brains are only meant and evolved to keep us alive. And most of that is about finding problems and potential threats within our environment, which tend to keep us stressed out and unhappy.
And that core unhappiness, that core anxiety tends to move humans forward because we continue to innovate. We continue to try to solve problems because we all think that when we solve that problem, we're going to be happier. And we're not, but we do move civilization forward. And so I bring all of this up to say that the downside of your bets are not as bad as you think they are.
And the upside of you making it all work is also not as good as you think it is. And so it's really what do we want to do with our time? And so the people who are rewarded most in life are the ones who are willing to simply embrace uncertainty and just embracing the idea that you do not know what will happen.
And so big picture, zooming back out, if we were to quantify the trades that we're willing to make, right? In terms of, I know I'm going to lose these years. But I will probably look back on this time and not be upset by it because of what I got in return. And a lot of this comes down to the framing of life happening for you, not to you.
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