How to not waste your 20s (this may sting)（from Dan Koe）#

原文#

When I was a teenager, I was scared to death at the thought of wasting my 20s.

Not because I didn’t believe in myself, but because of how common it was.

Yesterday, I went to the gas station before the gym and was reminded of what the average college experience looks like.

When I walked in, there were 4 dudes in polos, boat shoes, and kaki shorts, each with messy hair that looked unwashed as if they just woke up (at noon).

Each had a case of beer, one had a mega pack of Fireball shooters.

I couldn’t help but cringe at the thought of how they were going to feel that night, the next day, and possibly the next week.

I get it though.

I’ve been in their position multiple times.

But they weren’t in college. They were easily closing in on 30 years old. And I couldn’t help but think that, if I didn’t decide to fully commit to living a good life, I would be right there with them, as that is one of a few default outcomes in today’s society. Different people have different lives, sure, but I do not see how a clear thinker can justify that type of behavior.

The truth is, by the time most people turn 23, they repeat the same 6 months for the rest of their life.

The same job. The same bars. The same video games. The same raves. You have a few euphoric experiences because you’re now over the age of 21 and want to do things you’ve been told not to do for your entire life, then you try to make most of those experiences a consistent part of your life. And unless you started pursuing some form of higher goal before you fall into this trap, you do not understand what a fulfilling life is, so you do not try to make that a priority. All you know is going to school and “having fun.”

Unfortunately, everyone wants you to go down this path, even if they say they want great things for you, because this is what happens when you only pursue the goals that others have assigned to you.
Unless you make the conscious decision to never live like the average person, which is difficult to do because you are surrounded by average people who feel threatened if you don’t stay average, you will end up average.
The default path in life is so mind-numbingly repetitive yet mentally demanding that it only becomes harder and harder to make the decision to change.

In this letter, I want to discuss what you can do as someone entering into or journeying through their 20s.

I want to provide a look into the mindset, habits, skills to acquire, and principles that lead to an overwhelmingly high quality of life in today’s world.

If you actually read it (and burn it into your brain) I do not see why you can’t completely change your life.

Before we begin, Superhuman90 (a 90 day life reset and intense dopamine detox with lifestyle, training, and nutrition protocols to get your life back on track) goes live in 3 days.

The pre-order price will increase at that time.

If you want your mind and body to be more energetic, creative, confident, and ready to take on this world of temptation and distraction, consider enrolling here. ↗

What Would Socrates, Tesla, or Krishnamurti Do?#

The advice I give in the next section will be the advice I would give my younger self.

So, I want to start with a few different perspectives. That way, you benefit from this letter whether you like my advice or not.

If we could go back in time and talk to some of the greatest thinkers, what advice would they give to make the most of your 20s?

Socrates#

It is better to be a conscious fool than an unconscious success.

The most radical thing you can do in your 20s is not to “get ahead” of everyone else, but to discover who you truly are beneath all the noise of society’s expectations.

In your 20s, you possess the dangerous combination of energy and ignorance. You mistake confidence for wisdom, activity for progress, and accumulation for fulfillment.

You say you want to become “who you were meant to be,” but do you truly know who that is?

Before you can make the most of your twenties, you must first discover what “most” means for you specifically.

Question everything, especially your own assumptions about what success, happiness, and the good life are.
When someone tells you to build a business or make more money, why? For what purpose? What kind of person will that make you?
Embrace not knowing, because the beginning of wisdom is knowing that you know nothing. Your 20s should be spent in experimentation and discovery.
Reflect daily, why are you doing what you’re doing? If you don’t do this, you will find yourself in a life you didn’t intend.

Beware of replacing one form of unconscious living (mindless pleasure seeking) with another (mindless goal-chasing).

Krishnamurti#

The problem that young people face is not that they lack ambition or goals, but that they are living entirely from psychological conditioning.

Their goals aren’t their own. Instead, they were programmed into them by what society, family, education, and culture want for them.

They mistake this conditioning for their own authentic desires and intelligence.

Learn to observe without choosing. Watch your own fears and ambitions without immediately acting on them, rejecting them, or accumulating something to numb them.
Question everything you’ve been told you should want. You’ll be surprised at how many options you eliminate, giving you immense clarity.
Understand that psychological time is the enemy of living. The mind that is always living for the future misses the extraordinary nature of what is actually happening now.

If you want to make the most of your 20s, understand there is no path to uniqueness. The moment you follow someone else’s formula (start a business, make money, or self-actualize), you are living secondhand. Copying. Imitating.

Nikola Tesla#

Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine.

The fundamental problem in young people is not laziness or distraction (though these are symptoms) but rather intellectual cowardice. They fear being thought a fool more than they fear mediocrity.

Develop an unshakeable faith in your ability to see what others cannot.

Tesla was called mad for envisioning wireless communication across oceans. For believing alternating current could power the world. For seeing energy patterns that existed only in the mind’s eye.

Yet these “impossible” visions became the foundation of modern civilization.

Young people have accepted other boundaries that others have drawn around possibility.

Cultivate magnificent obsession by choosing one great work, not a career, but a mission that could take decades. Let it consume you.
Learn to think in systems, because everything is connected (electricity, magnetism, matter, consciousness). Train your mind to see invisible connections.
Embrace solitude, because the crowds will never understand true innovation until it arrives fully formed. Learn to work alone with your thoughts.

Young people today have unprecedented access to knowledge, yet lack the patience for deep contemplation. They seek quick results rather than profound understanding.

How To Not Waste Your 20s#

If you can learn how to learn, how to think, and how to earn, you become an unstoppable force.

The issue with the advice of wise teachers is that they often believe they are “above” prescription.

Rather than giving you something to try, test, and fail with, they simply tell you to try, test, and fail. That’s fine, but I do not think the problem is prescription. The problem is the inability to see a prescription as a tool that, if it does not work for your situation, can and should be dropped. The problem is not understanding that there is no “one right way.”

Personally, the advice that has helped me the most has always been harsh. When a friend looks me dead in the eye and says, “You’re fucking up your life. Stop it. Do this instead.” I’m much more inclined to do the thing.

That said, I want to focus on the actions that will (1) teach you about yourself (2) help you think for yourself (3) aid in the discovery of your own path and (4) set you up for some form of success in today’s world.

Your Ideal Lifestyle Always Comes First#

Every year or so, I catch myself taking on too many responsibilities.

I say yes to multiple projects or business opportunities. I fill up my calendar with meetings and events. I tell myself that I can handle it, that I’m capable of doing more.

But then I ask myself, “Is this the life I actually want to live?”

Most of the time, the answer is “no,” and I realize that I was either persuaded by another to adopt those goals or that there were rogue ideas in my head that influenced my decision-making.

This is when I let everything go and attempt to completely reset my life ↗.

Now, I have become quite clear on my ideal lifestyle over the years.

I want to wake up, go on a walk, write about my interests for about 2 hours, go to the gym, read new books, build creative projects, eat great food, and feel as if I am making consistent progress toward my goals.

I’ve determined that when that lifestyle is maintained, my mind, body, spirit, and business have ample space to grow, and I do not bog myself down to the point of life becoming repetitive and mundane, because I leave space for the novel.

Walking keeps you lean, maintains circadian health, improves creativity and productivity, and pulls you away from the fast-paced world that everyone wants you to participate in.
Writing ↗ is the crux of thinking, learning, and attracting an audience to your work. My entire business stands on 2 hours of high-leverage writing per day.
Reading new books based on genuine interest improves mental metabolism. When new ideas come in, they need to come out, and they can be used as fuel for creativity.
The gym and creative projects provide structure for mental and physical progress. Without them, the natural tendency is for mind and body to decay.

I’ve discovered that without these habits, life becomes substantially worse. My mind narrows. I feel as if I can’t birth new ideas for my work, so my work starts to suffer, and I think on the surface because I am only worried about survival. Nobody built anything great in survival mode.

Here’s my advice:

Before you make a decision that could impact your future, consult with your ideal lifestyle.

If it does not align, tread carefully.

If you do it anyway, be ruthless in eliminating it when the time comes.

If you do not know what your ideal lifestyle is, forget everything I’ve said and take on any opportunity that comes your way. Gain experience, reflect on that experience, and slowly start to make decisions that move away from the parts of that experience that you never want to live through again.

Start Building The Business Now#

Everyone and their mother is telling you to start a business.

So much so that “buy my course” has become a meme.

Which is unfortunate, because it turns many people away from it. People can smell the sales tactics from a mile away, and everyone has a course nowadays (I have multiple, lol).

Yes, some courses suck, but to completely close yourself off from an interest-based education (you know, the thing that actually leads to an effective skill stack and unique life) because a few people on the internet made it “uncool” is the mark of stupidity.

That said, I’m not here to sell you on a specific business model. I simply want to lay down some ideas and let you make a decision for yourself. Here’s why I hold the belief that everyone should start (but maybe not continue with) a business:

Autonomy (making independent decisions that align with personal values and goals) is fundamental to the psychology of enjoyment and fulfillment. Many jobs promise “autonomy,” yet you are still being assigned projects and tasks.
An increase in challenge and skill is necessary for growth. Growth is necessary for developing the complexity of the self. The complexity of the self is necessary for the depth of experience. The top 1% of careers allow for this type of development, but it is baked into any level of entrepreneurship.
Any objection around needing startup capital, connections, or knowledge are irrelevant in the digital age. If you can’t start your dream business, you can start a business that eventually allows you to start your dream business (i.e. a personal brand + freelancing, digital product, or coaching - as cringe as those may sound to you).
Your brain is wired to hunt. Entrepreneurship facilitates this part of your brain. You weren’t meant to be a monkey in a cubicle. I apologize if that stings, but that metaphor is beyond an accurate representation of body + mind + today’s environment.
If your ideal lifestyle comes first, it creates the constraints that allow for creative solutions. You do not have to work 12 hours a day. If you move the right levers (like having the skill to write a post that reaches millions) you can work 1 hour a day and make more than many top paying jobs.
Credentials are dying and people crave authenticity. AI creating content as an excuse signals a lack of critical thought and time spent in the game.

I have many more, but I’ll spare you an entire book, because I already wrote one, and you can read it free on my Substack (Purpose & Profit ↗).

I realized early that I hated working on other people’s dreams. My life was always better when I chose a project that aligned with my ideal lifestyle. Motivation became intrinsic, obsession was almost inevitable.

Here’s the thing through…

There is a barrier to entry. Any form of success will require 1-3 years of sustained trial and error. Most of your effort will not bear any fruit until you go through this period of having no idea what you’re doing.

You can either spend 4 years to get a degree and maybe get the job you want, or you can spend 2 years lost in the unknown with exponentially higher upside and a skill stack that makes you unemployable.

Go To The Gym#

No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.

– Socrates

You live in your body.

It should be considered your full-time job to learn about it, train it, and take care of it.

I don’t care if it’s bodybuilding, Olympic lifting, powerlifting, running, yoga, pilates, or water aerobics.

Most people neglect their bodies, and it reflects in their minds, spirituality, and creative work.

It seems as though everyone loves the idea of creating art in their hobbies or work, but when it comes to the entire plane of physical existence, they don’t see the importance of doing the same.

If the biosphere were wiped out, the noosphere would lose its foundation.

In other words, if the world were destroyed, everything built on top of it would follow suit.

If you disrespect your body, you disrespect everything it provides for. Your mind. You creativity. Your projects. Your relationships. Your finances.

I do not believe that you can only do one thing well.

I believe that intelligent, high-leverage routine design around 3-4 fundamental habits (learning, building, training, socializing) is what provides the substrate for greatness to be born.

Master These Skills & Topics#

If you want to become future-proof, prioritize self-study around these topics

Epistemology – the study of knowledge, so you can derive truth from known facts, so you can sift through misinformation and prevent poor decision-making
Systems thinking – the ability to observe reality from a higher, more holistic level, because a whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Psychology – how to discern and understand the motives of yourself and others
Persuasion – so you can spot persuasion tactics from others and use persuasion to strive for mutually beneficial value exchange
Marketing and sales – applied psychology and persuasion as media, so that you can attract an audience to and earn from your independent work
Writing – externalized thinking, the ability to communicate the unique value of your mind
Agency – the ability to set and pursue your own goals without permission, so that you become in control of your life
Research (self-education) – how to chase information on a subject that is conducive to your personal goals, or hunt for knowledge to learn into your survival wired psyche. We survive on the plane of knowledge in today’s world

If you were to pair these skills with your personal goals and interests, you would learn to create your own path in life.

This is where my bias starts to shine.

Writing, specifically, has changed my life. I’ve refined my own system to last around 1-2 hours a day, and it is the source of most of my business success, learning, agency, understanding of psychology and systems, and more. This is why I created 2 Hour Writer. ↗

Above All, Focus On Leverage#

Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.

– Archimedes

Leverage is the ability to amplify your inputs to create disproportionately larger outputs.

It’s doing more with less.

It’s getting maximum results from minimum effort, time, or resources.

In today’s world, leverage comes from capital, people, technology, knowledge, and network. And if you don’t have leverage, you must invest your time in acquiring it.

Without leverage, your results are directly tied to your time and effort (a linear relationship).

You work one hour, you get one hour of results.

This limits your potential.

But if you spend your time acquiring leverage, you start to break into exponential growth.

Companies can scale beyond what their founders could do alone by leveraging people (and founders can scale beyond what they could 10 years ago by leveraging technology like social media, software, and AI).

Investors make money while they sleep by leveraging capital.

Authors can reach millions of people without speaking to each person directly by leveraging writing (media).

Software can serve billions from a single codebase by leveraging code.

In my own experience, I always knew that I did not want a life where I trade time for money. I knew that some form of entrepreneurship was the only way to create various forms of leverage in my life.

So, I tried to build every digital business model under the sun, made freelance web design work, realized I was still trading time for money, started writing on social media to build an audience, started a newsletter, built digital products, focused on cash flow, and now I can use that cash flow for higher leverage companies like software and ecommerce, which I’ve been building for a few years now.

In short, and if you want to start now, here’s what I’d recommend:

Audit your time – note activities where, if you stop doing them, the results stop.
Develop a high-leverage skill – invest 1-2 hours daily for 6-12 months into writing, coding, sales, or marketing, and once you have money, investing.
Build your own thing – a blog, YouTube channel, newsletter, digital product, app, template library, investment portfolio, physical product, etc. Start the business.
Automate and systemize – for repetitive tasks, create templates or checklists, document the process, refine it until it gets the most results it can, and potentially use automation tools or AI to take it a step further.
Find your tribe – attempt to help 3 people per month with no expectation of return, join communities where like-minded people or potential customers are, and share what you are learning publicly on social media.
Practice hiring and training – hire a VA for basic admin tasks, partner with someone whose skills complement yours, and when problems become too painful for you to solve on your own, bring adaptable people onto your team.
Scalable income streams – negotiate equity or commission as an employee, convert a service into a product as an entrepreneur, etc.
Distribution = freedom – build an email list, build an audience, make content a dedicated part of your deep work blocks.

No matter where I research more about leverage (in an attempt to ensure that my own bias doesn’t take over here) the “fast track” advice seems to always be: learn a valuable skill, create content, and invest your cash back into assets that compound.

Start with 1 hour of learning a day.

Shift to 1 hour of learning and writing a day.

Build a digital product or service that you can generate cash flow with and validate an idea, then turn it into a more scalable, higher-risk company.

Thank you for reading.

I hope you found value in it.

– Dan

Again, Superhuman90 (a 90 day life reset and intense dopamine detox with lifestyle, training, and nutrition protocols to get your life back on track) goes live in 3 days.

The pre-order price will increase at that time.

If you want your mind and body to be more energetic, creative, confident, and ready to take on this world of temptation and distraction, consider enrolling here. ↗

中文#

当我十几岁的时候，一想到会虚度二十几岁这段光阴，我就害怕得要死。

不是因为我对自己没信心，而是因为这种事情太普遍了。

昨天，我去健身房之前顺道去了趟加油站，这让我想起了普通人的大学生活是什么样子。

我走进去的时候，里面有四个穿着Polo衫、船鞋和卡其色短裤的家伙，每个人都头发蓬乱，看起来没洗过，好像刚睡醒（当时可是中午）。

每个人都拿着一箱啤酒，其中一个还拿着一大包火球肉桂威士忌小酒版。

一想到他们那天晚上、第二天、甚至接下来一周会是什么感觉，我就忍不住为他们感到难堪。

不过，我也理解。

我自己也曾多次处于他们的位置。

但他们不是大学生。他们眼看着都快30岁了。我忍不住想，如果当初我没有下定决心全力去追求一个美好的人生，我现在很可能就会和他们一样，因为那是当今社会中几种默认的人生结局之一。当然，不同的人有不同的生活，但我实在看不出一个头脑清醒的人怎么能为这种行为辩护。

事实是，大多数人到了23岁以后，余下的生命就只是在重复同样的6个月。

同样的工作。同样的酒吧。同样的电子游戏。同样的锐舞派对。你会因为终于年满21岁，可以做那些整个成长过程中一直被禁止做的事情而获得一些短暂的狂喜体验，然后你试图让这些体验成为你生活中固定的一部分。除非你在落入这个陷阱之前就开始追求某种更高层次的目标，否则你不会理解什么是充实的人生，所以你也不会把追求它作为优先事项。你所知道的就是上学和”找乐子”。

不幸的是，每个人都希望你走上这条路，即使他们嘴上说希望你成就大业，因为当你只追求别人为你设定的目标时，就会发生这种情况。
除非你做出清醒的决定，决不像普通人那样生活——这很难做到，因为你被普通人包围着，如果你不安于平凡，他们会感到威胁——否则你最终就会变得平庸。
这条默认的人生道路是如此的重复到令人麻木，同时又消耗心力，以至于做出改变的决定只会变得越来越困难。

在这封信里，我想和你探讨一下，作为一个即将进入或正处于二十多岁这个阶段的人，你可以做些什么。

我想让你深入了解那些能够让你在当今世界拥有极高生活品质的心态、习惯、需要掌握的技能以及原则。

如果你真的读了（并且把它深深烙印在脑海里），我看不出你有什么理由不能彻底改变你的生活。

苏格拉底、特斯拉或克里希那穆提会怎么做？#

我在下一部分要给出的建议，也是我会给年轻时的自己的建议。

所以，我想先提供几个不同的视角。这样，无论你是否喜欢我的建议，你都能从这封信中受益。

如果我们能回到过去，与一些最伟大的思想家交谈，他们会给出什么建议，让我们充分利用二十几岁的时光呢？

苏格拉底#

做一个清醒的傻瓜，也好过一个无意识的成功者。

你在二十多岁时能做的最具颠覆性的事情，不是”超越”其他人，而是在社会期望的喧嚣之下，发现真正的自己。

在你二十多岁时，你拥有能量与无知危险组合。你把自信误认为智慧，把忙碌误认为进步，把积累误认为满足。

你说你想成为”你应该成为的人”，但你真的知道那个人是谁吗？

在你充分利用二十多岁之前，你必须首先弄清楚”利用”对你个人而言究竟意味着什么。

质疑一切，尤其是你自己关于成功、幸福和美好生活的假设。
当有人告诉你创业或赚更多钱时，问为什么？为了什么目的？那会让你成为什么样的人？
拥抱未知，因为智慧的开始就是认识到自己一无所知。你的二十多岁应该在实验和发现中度过。
每日反思，你为什么要做你正在做的事情？如果不这样做，你最终会过上一种你本无意选择的生活。

谨防用一种无意识的生活（盲目的享乐）去替代另一种（盲目的追名逐利）。

克里希那穆提#

年轻人面临的问题不是缺乏抱负或目标，而是他们完全活在心理制约中。

他们的目标不是自己的。相反，是社会、家庭、教育和文化希望他们拥有的东西被编程进了他们的头脑。

他们误将这种制约当作自己真实的渴望和智慧。

学会不加选择地观察。 观察你自己的恐惧和抱负，不要立即采取行动，也不要排斥它们，更不要积累什么东西来麻木自己。
质疑所有你被告知应该想要的东西。 你会惊讶地发现你排除了多少选项，这能让你获得无比的清晰。
要明白，心理时间是生活的敌人。总是为未来而活的心智，会错过当下正在发生的非凡本质。

如果你想充分利用二十多岁，就要明白，通往独特性的道路是不存在的。当你遵循别人的公式（无论是创业、赚钱还是自我实现）的那一刻，你就是在过二手生活。是在复制。是在模仿。

尼古拉·特斯拉#

让未来去道出真相，根据每个人的工作和成就来评价他们。现在是属于他们的；而未来，那个我真正为之奋斗的未来，是属于我的。

年轻人的根本问题不是懒惰或分心（尽管这些是症状），而是智力上的怯懦。他们害怕被别人当成傻瓜，胜过害怕自己变得平庸。

培养一种不可动摇的信念，相信你能看到别人看不到的东西。

特斯拉曾被当成疯子，因为他设想跨洋无线通信，相信交流电可以驱动世界，能看到只存在于脑海中的能量模式。

然而，这些”不可能”的愿景却成为了现代文明的基础。

年轻人接受了别人为可能性划定的界限。

培养一种崇高的专注，选择一项伟大的工作，不是一份职业，而是一个可能需要几十年完成的使命。让它完全占据你。
学会系统性思考，因为万物相连（电、磁、物质、意识）。训练你的头脑去看到那些无形的联系。
拥抱孤独，因为在创新完全成型之前，大众永远不会理解它。学会独自与你的思想共处。

今天的年轻人拥有前所未有的获取知识的途径，却缺乏深度思考的耐心。他们寻求快速的结果，而不是深刻的理解。

如何不虚度你的二十多岁#

如果你能学会如何学习、如何思考、以及如何赚钱，你就会成为一股不可阻挡的力量。

那些智者建议的问题在于，他们常常认为自己”超脱于”具体处方之上。

他们不给你可以尝试、检验和失败的东西，而只是告诉你要去尝试、检验和失败。这没问题，但我认为问题不在于处方本身。问题在于，人们无法将一个处方视为一种工具——如果它不适合你的情况，你可以而且应该抛弃它。问题在于，人们不明白”没有唯一正确的道路”这个道理。

就我个人而言，对我帮助最大的建议往往都是很刺耳的。当一个朋友直视着我的眼睛说：“你在搞砸自己的生活。停下来。换这个做。“我更倾向于去行动。

话虽如此，我想聚焦于那些能够（1）让你了解自己，（2）帮助你独立思考，（3）协助你发现自己的道路，以及（4）为你在当今世界取得某种成功打下基础的行动。

你理想的生活方式永远排在第一位#

每隔一年左右，我都会发现自己承担了太多责任。

我对多个项目或商业机会说”好”。我把日程表塞满了会议和活动。我告诉自己我能处理好，我能做更多。

但随后我问自己：“这真的是我想要的生活吗？”

大多数时候，答案是”不”，我意识到我要么是被别人说服接受了那些目标，要么是脑子里有些杂念影响了我的决策。

这时，我就会放下一切，尝试彻底重置我的生活 ↗。

如今，经过这些年的摸索，我对自己的理想生活方式已经非常清晰了。

我想要醒来，去散个步，花大约2小时写写我感兴趣的东西，去健身房，读新书，做创意项目，吃美食，并且感觉自己正朝着目标持续迈进。

我确信，当这种生活方式得以维持时，我的心智、身体、精神以及事业都有足够的成长空间，我不会把自己拖累到生活变得重复和乏味的境地，因为我为新鲜事物留出了空间。

散步能让你保持精瘦，维持昼夜节律健康，提高创造力和生产力，并将你从每个人都想让你参与的快节奏世界中拉出来。
写作 ↗是思考、学习以及为你的作品吸引受众的关键。我的整个事业都建立在每天2小时的高杠杆写作之上。
基于真正的兴趣阅读新书，能提升心智的新陈代谢。当新想法进入时，它们需要输出，并可作为创造力的燃料。
健身房和创意项目为心智和身体的进步提供了框架。没有它们，身心自然会倾向于衰退。

我发现，没有这些习惯，生活质量会大幅下降。我的思维变得狭隘。我感觉自己无法为工作孕育新想法，于是工作开始受影响，我的思考停留在表面，因为我只担心生存问题。没有人能在生存模式下创造出伟大的东西。

我的建议是：

在你做出可能影响未来的决定之前，先咨询一下你的理想生活方式。

如果不符合，就要谨慎行事。

如果你无论如何都做了，那么当时机成熟时，要毫不留情地将其舍弃。

如果你不知道自己的理想生活方式是什么，那就忘掉我说的一切，去抓住任何出现的机会。获得经验，反思这些经验，然后慢慢地开始做出决定，远离那些你永远不想再经历的部分。

现在就着手创业#

现在几乎所有人都在告诉你创业。

以至于”买我的课程”都成了一个梗。

这很不幸，因为它让很多人望而却步。人们能从一英里外就嗅到销售套路，而且现在人人都有课程（我自己就有好几个，哈哈）。

是的，有些课程很糟糕，但因为互联网上少数人让它变得”不酷”就完全将自己与基于兴趣的教育（你知道的，那种真正能带来有效技能组合和独特人生的东西）隔绝开来，这是愚蠢的标志。

话虽如此，我在这里不是要向你推销某个特定的商业模式。我只是想抛出一些想法，让你自己做决定。为什么我坚信每个人都应该创业（但也许不一定非要持续下去）：

自主权（根据个人价值观和目标做出独立决策）是获得快乐和满足感心理基础。许多工作承诺”自主权”，但实际上你仍然是被分配项目和任务。
挑战和技能的提升是成长所必需的。成长是发展自我复杂性的必要条件。自我复杂性是获得深刻体验的必要条件。顶尖的1%的职业允许这种发展，但它也融入了任何层次的创业中。
任何关于需要启动资金、人脉或知识的反对意见，在数字时代都无关紧要。如果你无法开始你梦想中的事业，你可以先开始一个事业，最终它能够让你开启梦想中的事业（例如，个人品牌+自由职业、数字产品或咨询——无论这些词在你听来多么俗气）。
你的大脑天生就适合”狩猎”。创业恰好能满足大脑的这一部分。你天生就不该是格子间里的猴子。如果这话刺耳，我道歉，但这个比喻非常准确地反映了身体+心智+当今环境的现状。
如果你的理想生活方式优先，它就会创造出约束条件，从而催生创造性的解决方案。你不必每天工作12小时。如果你推动正确的杠杆（比如有能力写出触达数百万人的文章），你每天只需工作1小时，就能赚得比许多高薪工作还多。
证书正在消亡，人们渴望真实性。AI生成内容成为逃避思考的借口，这表明缺乏批判性思维和在这个领域的实际投入。

我还有很多理由，但我不想写成另一本书了，因为我已经写了一本，你可以在我的Substack上免费阅读（《目标与利润》 ↗）。

我很早就意识到，我讨厌为别人的梦想而工作。当我选择一个符合我理想生活方式的项目时，我的生活总是会变得更好。动力变成了内在的，专注几乎是必然的。

但问题是…

创业是有门槛的。任何形式的成功都需要1-3年持续的试错。在你度过这段完全摸不着头脑的时期之前，你付出的大部分努力可能都不会有结果。

你可以花4年时间拿个学位，然后也许得到你想要的工作；或者，你可以花2年在未知中摸索，获得指数级更高的回报，以及一套让你”无法被雇佣”的技能组合。

去健身房#

在身体训练这件事上，任何人都没有资格当门外汉。一个人活到老却看不到自己的身体所能展现的美与力量，这是一种耻辱。

– 苏格拉底

你住在你的身体里。

你应该把了解它、训练它、照顾它视为你的全职工作。

我不在乎是健美、奥林匹克举重、力量举、跑步、瑜伽、普拉提还是水中有氧操。

大多数人忽视了自己的身体，而这会反映在他们的心智、精神和创造性工作中。

似乎每个人都喜欢在爱好或工作中创造艺术的想法，但谈到整个物质存在层面，他们却看不到做同样事情的重要性。

如果生物圈被摧毁，心智圈也将失去其基础。

换句话说，如果世界被毁灭，建立在它之上的一切都将随之而去。

如果你不尊重你的身体，你就不尊重它所提供的一切。你的心智。你的创造力。你的项目。你的人际关系。你的财务状况。

我不相信你只能做好一件事。

我相信，围绕3-4个基本习惯（学习、创造、训练、社交）进行智能、高杠杆的日常设计，才能为伟大的诞生提供基础。

掌握这些技能和学科#

如果你想变得经得起未来考验，请优先自学这些主题：

认识论 – 研究知识的学问，这样你就能从已知事实中推导出真理，筛选错误信息，避免糟糕的决策。
系统思维 – 能够从更高、更整体的层面观察现实，因为整体大于部分之和。
心理学 – 如何辨别和理解自己及他人的动机。
说服力 – 这样你就能识破他人的说服技巧，并运用说服力去争取互利的价值交换。
市场营销和销售 – 作为媒介的应用心理学和说服力，这样你就能为自己的独立工作吸引受众并从中获利。
写作 – 思维的外化，能够传达你思想的独特价值。
自主性 – 能够自主设定和追求自己的目标，无需许可，这样你才能掌控自己的生活。
研究能力（自我教育） – 如何主动追寻那些有助于实现个人目标的信息，或者说，如何像狩猎一样去获取知识，以适应我们为生存而 wired 的心理。在当今世界，我们在知识的层面上生存。

如果你将这些技能与你的个人目标和兴趣相结合，你将学会如何创造自己的人生道路。

这里开始显露出我的个人偏好了。

具体来说，写作改变了我的生活。我已经提炼出自己的写作系统，每天只需投入1-2小时，它是我大部分商业成功、学习、自主性、对心理学和系统的理解等等的源泉。这就是我创建 2 Hour Writer ↗ 的原因。

最重要的是，专注于杠杆#

给我一个足够长的杠杆和一个支点，我就能撬动地球。

– 阿基米德

杠杆，就是能够放大你的投入，从而创造不成比例的巨大产出的能力。

就是用更少，做更多。

就是用最小的努力、时间或资源，获得最大的结果。

在当今世界，杠杆来自资本、人力、技术、知识和网络。如果你没有杠杆，你就必须投入时间去获取它。

没有杠杆，你的结果直接与你的时间和努力挂钩（线性关系）。

你工作一小时，就获得一小时的结果。

这限制了你的潜力。

但如果你花时间去获取杠杆，你就能开始实现指数级增长。

公司可以通过利用人力，实现远超创始人单打独斗的规模（而创始人现在也可以通过利用社交媒体、软件和AI等技术，实现远超10年前可能的规模）。

投资者通过利用资本，在睡觉时也能赚钱。

作者通过利用写作（媒介），无需与每个人直接交谈，就能触达数百万人。

软件通过利用代码，用一个代码库就能服务数十亿人。

在我自己的经历中，我一直知道，我不想过那种用时间换钱的生活。我知道，某种形式的创业，是为我的生活创造各种形式杠杆的唯一途径。

所以，我尝试了几乎所有数字商业模式，做过自由职业的网页设计工作，意识到我仍然在用时间换钱，然后开始在社交媒体上写作以建立受众，创办了 newsletter，构建了数字产品，专注于现金流，现在我可以利用这些现金流去投资杠杆更高的公司，比如软件和电商，这些我已经做了几年了。

简而言之，如果你想从现在开始，我的建议是：

审计你的时间 – 留意那些一旦停止做，结果也会随之停止的活动。
培养一项高杠杆技能 – 在6-12个月里，每天投入1-2小时学习写作、编程、销售或市场营销，等你有钱了，再学习投资。
建立自己的东西 – 博客、YouTube频道、newsletter、数字产品、应用程序、模板库、投资组合、实体产品等等。开始创业。
自动化与系统化 – 对于重复性任务，创建模板或检查清单，记录流程，不断优化直至获得最佳结果，并考虑使用自动化工具或AI更进一步。
找到你的圈子 – 每月尝试不求回报地帮助3个人，加入志同道合者或潜在客户所在的社区，在社交媒体上公开分享你正在学的东西。
实践招聘与培训 – 雇佣一名虚拟助理处理基本行政任务，与技能互补的人合作，当问题棘手到你无法独自解决时，吸纳有适应能力的人加入你的团队。
可扩展的收入来源 – 作为员工，谈判争取股权或佣金；作为创业者，将服务转化为产品等等。
渠道 = 自由 – 建立邮件列表，建立受众，让内容创作成为你深度工作时间中固定的一部分。

无论我在哪里深入研究杠杆这个概念（试图确保我的个人偏见不会主导），“快车道”的建议似乎总是：学习一项有价值的技能，创作内容，然后将你的现金重新投资到能复利的资产中去。

从每天学习1小时开始。

过渡到每天学习+写作1小时。

构建一个能产生现金流的数字产品或服务来验证一个想法，然后把它变成一个更具可扩展性、更高风险的公司。

感谢你的阅读。

希望你觉得它有价值。