People sometimes seem too unaware. Even delusional I’d dare to say. They appear to think that just believing and hoping or even acting someway, will be enough to get them to the desired outcome.
Among the most classic examples is when someone believes that by working 12 hours a day for $6 an hour will make him rich.
Well, that could actually be somehow true if he could live up to 2000 years. But we all know this ain’t an option.
Some others also think that they will be successful by reading all kinds of stupid things that pass on their Facebook wall, and others that they’ll have the body of a God by eating pies, cookies and french fries (or some don’t care about anything at all).
But what most people seem to ignore universally is that most systems in existence are basic or complex input/output systems (I/O in computer language).
Animals, machines, trees, and humans are all input/output systems.
In other words, all these systems get some kind of input, they process it, and they come up with an output.
Think of a motor, it gets gas as an input, and it produces thermal energy (which goes wasted), kinetic energy (which is our desired output) and fumes (a nondesirable output at all).
The better the quality of the gas and the better the condition of the engine, the better the performance (output) of our car.
Humans function in a similar way. The better food (input) we consume, the better our health and performance (output) will be. Simple right?
But what’s tricky and seems to elude most people is the fact that exactly the same analogy works for our mind as well. The better “mental food” we consume, the better ideas and behavior we produce.
Let’s see how it works for each pillar.
Health
I assume the analogy is straightforward but nonetheless I’ll make a mention here due to its tremendous importance.
Besides the observable inputs, we all seem to grasp, like meats, fish, eggs, vegetables, etc. there are many other “hidden” dangers of poor quality input that we don’t really understand. Simple carbs are one such example. All starches and sugars are bad quality food, and the only reason they exist is that they’re cheap and convenient to store.
Humans aren’t designed to consume such products. Starches, sugars, trans fats, alcohol, etc. are the worst quality input we can give to our body (and mind).
Due to complex metabolic reactions (insulin production, blah blah) which are beyond the scope of this article, all these foods contain “empty calories” that do more harm than good.
Consequently the more of that we consume the worst the output will be. Chronic illnesses, fatigue, low mental clarity and diminished cognitive capability just to name a few.
Actionable steps
By just eliminating all starches, sugar, trans fat and alcohol, you’ll achieve a solid 80/20 result.
Read the “Primal Blueprint” and the “UltraMind Solution” that are a fantastic start to become aware of what your ideal input and output should be.
Relationships
The same principle applies to your social circle as well. Whether it’s your mother, your spouse, your best friend, your neighbor or your sweetheart you all get input from these people.
Unfortunately, most of the times, this input is of low quality. According to anecdotal evidence (my experience that is), 99% of this input is real shit.
Full of limiting beliefs, no ambition, low-level technical expertise, and fears, these people will do more harm than good. Whether directly (first level connections), or indirectly (through social media, TV, magazines, some books, non-first level connections, etc.) all their output is of the lowest possible quality.
It’s like junk food for the mind.
They will subconsciously try to project their incompetence and bad social conditioning to you by saying stuff like, “girls prefer sweet guys,” or “you don’t need money if there’s love,” or my old time favorite “I’d never cheat on you, you’re my soulmate.”
Don’t fall into this trap. If you want to have good quality relationships (of the highest output), whether they are friends, sexual partners or business associates, you should always strive around people of high quality. No shortcut for this.
If your input comes from a guy with a failed marriage and a huge alimony on his back, you better stay away from his advice about building a successful relationship. Get my point?
Actionable steps
Stop exposing yourself to such kind of input. If cutting off these people is impossible (i.e. your father), at least minimize the input you get from there. Master the art of pacing and deflecting. Getting yourself involved in dispute, is an uphill battle. Always maintain rapport (especially with average people), and let your work speak louder than your words.
When people see that you have achieved what they think it was impossible, they will ask for your advice. Then and only then, do your due diligence, if you believe they’re up to the task help them by all means. If you still think they’re sub-par move along.
Always Remember. Your goal is to network up. Open your mind broader. More and better input = more and better output. That’s all we should care for.
[bctt tweet=”If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” username=”projectbebest”]
Also, read “Sapiens,” “Connected,” “The Selfish Gene” and “Influence” if you want to get a clearer view how much people influence each other and why they do most of the things they do.
Wealth
Why do you think most people are poor? Because they’re stupid?
Not at all.
On average, people have the same brain capacity more or less. The same ~100 billion neurons in their brains. In other words, we all carry the same engine in our frame.
What separates successful people from average people is what kind of gasoline they feed their engine. While some people prefer TV, soap operas, porn, video games (I like video games as well, but I try to keep it at a minimum), and meaningless gossip, some others read tons of books about money making, technical articles, podcasts about entrepreneurship, attending business meet-ups, etc.
In other words, they feed their engine (their reality) with the highest quality gasoline. If the majority of your inputs comes from watching the evening news about government taxes and poor people who can’t pay their social security, your mind will revolve around these ideas.
It’s virtually impossible to hear all day long people on social media or in reality complaining about stuff (due to their incompetence or laziness) and yet believe that a miracle will happen to you and you’ll become a multi-millionaire.
It’s very tough for anyone to think he belongs to the 0.0001% of the population. No matter what the sector is. If you want to make it big time, you must adjust your input.
Actionable steps
Like in almost every case, before you start seeing results, you should feed your engine with top quality gas.
- Throw your TV out the window
- Un-follow 99% of your friends on social media, until you find new ones that’ll make you a better person (not a worse)
- Stop listening to anyone that his ambitions are very low
- Associate with people who have very high aspirations and they take actions about it, even if they’re not highly successful yet
- And start getting input from people who are at the level you aspire to reach someday
Eliminate your fears about money. Only poor and incompetent people think of money as an evil or unimportant thing. Make your peace with money and start thinking of ways to have more of it. Align your current reality with your desired reality.
Stop discussing financial issues with poor people. Remember the example with the divorced guy before. It’s ridiculous to seek financial guidance from a man who can barely pay his bills, isn’t it?
All your input should be about, success, greatness, wealth, financial freedom, and higher purpose in life.
Although the books I could recommend in this field are numerous, I’ll stick to only a few of them to get you started.
Take a look at this post for my top 5 wealth book recommendations.
Closing comments
From now on, whenever you want to feed something your “engine,” take a moment and think. Think of yourself like it is the highest quality car. Imagine yourself as a Ferrari and ask.
If my body and soul were a Ferrari, would I put that kind of gasoline in there?
Would I eat that crap? Would I watch this lame soap opera? Would I discuss money with a penniless folk?
