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All right, welcome back friends to a another great episode on the book, burn the boats. This is the editorial series, book episode. So without further ado, let's jump in Matt Higgins is the author who was a former shark judge on the show sharks where they do the business acquisitions and, and I believe he's a nine figure entrepreneur. And he's got quite a bit of a story, you know, I'm going to be completely honest, overall, I thought the book was okay. I did believe there was quite a bit of fluff a lot of stories. And I understand the essence of why that is, it's to kind of give you examples with what he's saying and why he's saying it. But to me, it just felt like the book could have been much, much shorter. I do understand many books in the personal development space are like this. And that's why many people also don't read it, and rather get summaries or listen to something like one of these podcasts episodes. But that's what I'm here for. So we're just going to condense and talk about some of the best points. The book is cut into three parts. And Part one is about trust your instincts. And this resonated with me very well, that the beginning of the book here, we have this point where he talks about Julius Caesar, who sailed from Rome to conquer England. And after the ships arrived, he saw that their men were way outnumbered. So what did he do? He made sure there was no exit strategy. He said, a fight to the death burn the boats. Right. And he ordered just like that. There was no way home. And I think that's so that, that's so crazy, right? That that resonated with me very strongly, though, right? Because this isn't just some made up fiction from a movie. This was true, this was real life. This is fight to the death, quite literally. And this is essentially where the term burn the boats kind of comes from the reference here, right? So to me, I just think that's so interesting, that if somebody in that state of mind can do that to the level of survival hood, then we should be able to do that for something so much smaller scale, right? Like starting that business, or starting that podcast or starting that YouTube channel, or, you know, taking on that dance class or whatever the thing is that's holding you back. Right. So I want to jump into the second point about the illusion of backup plans. And I do agree with this, I do think backup plans hinder you from going all in to become successful because you always have this exit strategy this out. And I will reference that there is a difference between going all in and being reckless about it. Right. I do believe that there is I do believe there is an importance to having downside protection, you don't want to just have no logical understanding of burning the boats. Without, you know, for example, let's see the Julius Caesar thing, right? If he knew his men were not ready to fight, he probably wouldn't have done that. Right. So but he knew his men were strong, and that they needed that push. But this is a whole thing about, you know, having a downside contingency plan, versus going all in and being reckless. So, you know, obviously, you know, your situation best and you know how to weigh it. But I do think having a backup plan is not smart. But having a downside protection slash safety net can be beneficial. So let me give an example. Because I think this might be a little muddled of an ideology here. There's a difference between burning the boat and going all in on a business when you have $30,000 of debt, versus clearing the debt, and maybe even making a few months of savings for emergencies and or living expenses, and then starting the business. Right. So that's my example here. Because although you wish, you definitely have a light under your ass on the first example, but that might be too stressful and that might give you too much anxiety. And that would be counterintuitive on the other end of the spectrum, right? So I do believe having a downside protection plan but burning the boats is the way to go. So burn the boats when you're ready. I think that's a strong point to be made here. And I want to there's the third point, I believe, is the danger of hesitation. I've seen so many people hesitate to start that first step is often the hardest. What do they say 80% of the fuel is burned from the rocket, to just get it off the ground, the rocket ship just to get off the ground, about 80% of the fuel is burned. So it only takes about 20% for the rest of the momentum to kick which is very applicable to life. And weirdly enough coincides with the Pareto principle, the 8020 Pareto Principle, like many things in this world, but think about it, right? The hardest step is the first one. Once you get that going, it's all momentum from there and growing and evolving and trying new things, right. But 80% is definitely that first step. It's always the hardest, many people talk, many people hesitate. But that's why you got to jump just count more backwards from five and just jump, I did do an episode with Mel Robbins five second rule. And that's where she talks about just jumping by counting backwards from five and doing what you need to do. The fourth point is the power of self talk, I do believe self talk is really important, because your closest relationship is not your spouse, it's yourself. It's not your friends, it's yourself, it's not your dog, it's yourself, right, because you have more thoughts with yourself than anybody else, or any conversation you could possibly have. And a lot of us actually just think in autopilot. So a lot of the negative self talk is just autopilot at this point. And it takes a lot of effort. Anyone that's gone through this can vouch, it takes a lot of effort to consciously change the negative self talk, because it becomes so automated over time that you don't even realize you're doing it anymore. Oftentimes, it takes an external source, somebody a spiritual awakening something right to just shake you up and realize where you are at that moment of negativity or that negative space. And I think a powerful point, the author, Matt here says is using this example of second person, right, so talking like you're talking to somebody else, and I do this and journaling, and I think it's really powerful, it works really well. It works wonders. And he's saying the same thing, which is very self, which is very reassuring. Right? So for example, instead of saying, for example, when he was on the sharks, the first day of the show, he was really nervous as what he was saying. And he was saying, you know, instead of saying, I meant to be here, I meant to be here, he said it in a second person as if he was talking to himself at somebody else. And you're saying, Matt, you are meant to be here. And he said, that helped him a lot more. And I believe the same ideology applies because you are reading, reading it or hearing it as if you're talking to somebody else. And it for some reason registers much better that way, as if you're having a conversation because you know, like I say, we're, we're human creatures, we're people. We're people of we're humans, right. So we need human connection. So I think having that you relationship really helps reinforce that. And the last point here in trust your instinct, section one is about risk management. And I kind of already went over that about how there's a difference between going all in and being reckless. It's all about committing fully, but being aware of the risks not ignoring them. Right? So part two is no turning back. Right? So trust your instincts is part one. Part two is no turning back. I have three points here that I think is important. Matt talks about the Yerkes Dodson law, which is basically this bell curve. For those of you that are into statistics, or know what I'm talking about, you know, you have a bell shaped curve. And the beauty, the sweet spot is the dead smack middle of the bell curve, which is where anxiety is at the optimal to have you go and actually do something you don't want zero anxiety. You don't want too much anxiety. There is a sweet spot there. And if you look up Yerkes Dodson law, you'll see the little bell curve of fear versus anxiety. But the whole point here is to say that having some anxiety is good, you need to have something to run away from and run to.
Jordan Peterson talks about this all the time, when it comes to goals, you need to have something that you're running from and running to otherwise it's not enough motivation to actually do anything. Otherwise you're just too comfortable and stuck in the status quo. Point to is reframing challenges. So suggesting this change in mindset from saying I have to do this, I have to do that. I have to do this, to saying I get to do it will turn any difficult situation from an obligation into an opportunity and I've done this and I believe it works so well. Right? So there's so many times in life you'll say, Ah, right. I have to man I have to Did this episode I'm so tired. Now I get to edit this episode where so many people are waiting to see it, and I should be so grateful. Right? So it really reframes the sense of gratitude of turning an obligation into an opportunity. And I really liked that point I use it, I think it works well. And honestly, you should try it out too. And the last point is very interesting. He calls it the, it's essentially the sunken cost fallacy, it's where we tend to go all in on something, we've already invested too much time, money, or energy, and or all three into, right, so it's hard to let go of a past investment of either of the three or all. So for example, when I was doing medicine, it was hard for me to let go of that path. It took me a long time to think over it, because it was I had invested so much time, money and energy. So but it was something that I realized it was what I needed to do to go towards my higher purpose and succeed even bigger than I ever could have dreamed of, to follow my childhood vision and dream of everything I wanted and more, which wouldn't have happened if I continued medicine, because of the time commitment it takes to become a doctor, you give up all of your 20s. And I just couldn't do it. I had this urge to want to do business. Even when I was in studying medicine, I really wanted to do business. And I always wanted to do business. And I'd even tell people, you know, I want to be financially free as a doctor. So I could go to Doctors Without Borders, because you don't get paid anything to do doctors at borders. But I wanted to really badly I tell people all the time. When I say I tell people all the time, just certain people, I would tell because, you know, I believe telling certain people your goals will help you get closer to them. And that's proven me right when it came to eventually getting the CDC position. But I do believe that many people I remember when I quit, sorry, let's say redirected. I like that better. When I redirected myself for medicine. Many people asked me if I regret it, why did they do it? And it was one of those things I can only answer in hindsight, but it is one of the sunken cost fallacies I could have kept going just for the sake of, you know, oh, Shiva stuck it through, you know, like, so what, you know, 10 years are gonna go by no matter what, anyways, I might as well have the 10 years of doing what I preferred, rather than just having the white code but being upset about it, right, I've met so many doctors that, honestly wish they had changed, I wish they had done something different. And to me, the biggest goal in my life is to live life with the least amount of regrets. So leaving that and venturing into the uncertainty and the unknown, of this entrepreneurship type of world was the path for me. Anyways, now we're at section three, and he talks about building more boats. So I've thought about this a lot. And I wholeheartedly agree with some of the points he's making here. utilizing social media, the emphasis on leveraging social media and your public status for business growth, it's always been something I've thought about as an entrepreneurial mindset of mine. It was something I tell my friends all the time is, my entrepreneurial mind always talks about how important it is to leverage social media and a increasing audience. Audience base. Obviously, I also value integrity. So I don't want to just sell people something just to sell them something. Because now that you have a large audience, people buy, but they trust you. And that trust means a lot to me. So I wouldn't just sell people things, but I do as a whole nother topic. But the point is, you know, leveraging social media, and I do believe there is, unfortunately, I'm not a big social media person. But I do believe there is a strong importance to have a strong media presence so well, like what can you do, right, you either can't fight them, join them. Otherwise you get left behind, we could always be like those people 40 years ago that were fighting against computers and tech. And look now right, I'm talking to you through tech, thrown into the internet, which is just as cloud based bridge of networks. And it's getting to you through an RSS feed. So I mean, look how far we've come right. And the next phase is AI and stuff so we could be you know, humans are very resistant to change. And I understand that so well. But you know, if you don't move with the tide, you're fighting against it and it's a losing battle. So the best we can do is roll with the tides and take what serves you and leave what doesn't, right so for example, as much as I use AI in my day to day business, podcast life. I will never let technology overcome To me and make it my whole life, right? I do like, right. So. And the last couple points is he talks about how he's never met a wildly successful pessimist. And I do agree with this point, I've met so many people that say that, Oh, you know, I'm a realist, or I'm a pet, you know, but you do need a certain level of optimism and hope and conviction. And he, he talks about this fine line of walking between delusion and confidence. And I do believe that's so true, you do need a little bit of delusion to make your dreams happen, which I believe is a better term is conviction. But other people will see it as delusion, because only you know, your true vision better than anybody else until it happens, right. And then when it happens is everybody agrees it's conviction. But before it happens, it's a little bit of delusion. But I believe optimism and successes is definitely a crucial aspect. And I agree, I've never met anybody wildly successful, that's a pessimist either. And success is arbitrary, right? For one person, a million dollars might be successful, and to another, it's only 100 million might be successful. Right. So moving on to point three. And the last point for today's episode is people over ideas. I did talk about this in the past, and I do believe this whole world is about understanding people. It's about understanding social structures and social climates, social having social awareness, right? Because I can't stress this enough that you're not just investing in ideas, you're investing in people, and the better you can understand people, the better your life will be overall. I mean, I can say that with confidence, understanding people and understanding pattern recognition has been my biggest strong suits in life. And I do believe that has helped me come a long way. Because it gets me into rooms that I never thought I'd be it seemed a friend groups I never thought I would have. I have connections of people with large networks, I would have never imagined net worth in networks that I would have never imagined. One of my friends, he quite literally has worked with Beyonce and saw Nick Cannon go from a nobody to who he is today. So there's so many, or a friend of mine who told me about his mindset and his journey into the Olympics, as you know, representing the United States and just people with people with astronomical success. And I think it's because I understand people. I also work hard. I understand pattern recognition. And why that might be important is because whether it's the podcasting space, where I recognize patterns ahead of time, or its people, right, so for example, anytime I walk into a group of a big group of people, I don't know, or social setting that I'm not used to, or many of them, I don't know, I'm often very silent, for at least a good while, actually, I'm very quiet, very observant of my surroundings, and I get a good sense of what's happening, who's talking to who, who's friends with who, I don't do this deliberately. I'm not like a psychopath from I'm not like Joe Goldberg from you, who just sits there and stares. But you know, I'll smile, I'll keep mental notes. It's just how my brain works, I notice things and I'll keep a small little mental note. And I'll be like, okay, so they're flirting, so they must have interest in each other. And this person is friends with that person. And these people are very easygoing, that person looks a bit more reserved, and you start making these patterns. And next thing, you know, you're understanding the social dynamics. And then I assess whether I one want to even be in this vicinity, or not, which I've walked away from groups before, I'm like, this is not this whole crowd is not my crowd, or all gravitate to a singular person, which I believe this person in this group is someone I would resonate with. And so in such a such like that, right? So understanding people understanding patterns of social structures is so important. And I honestly should make an episode on that alone.
I can't wait to do more video podcast episodes. So I can kind of go a little bit deeper into this and stuff like that, and you can kind of see what I'm talking about. But I do believe there's just so much power to understanding people. It takes more than just ideas to make it in this world. I think if you can understand people to an emotional, spiritual, physical level, they feel a lot more trust in you, they feel more comfort with you, and they're much more willing to take upon your vision, right? I don't know there's so many benefits. And honestly, I It's a whole nother episode that I can make and I think I will I think that's a good episode. And with that, I will say thank you all for checking out this summary of the best points that I kind of picked up from this book and And, you know, overall, I think there were some small nuggets of gold in here that I decided to share. And, you know, it's always a blessing to get to hear from people with like nine figure net worth, like Matt Higgins. So appreciate him taking the time to make this book anyways. And thank you all for listening. If you think you know, somebody that would get value out of this, please share it with them. You know, please support the community in any way you can, any way you would like. And I'm just very grateful that you spent time with me. I know you could spend your time doing anything and I don't take that lightly, like I say in many of my episodes, so thank you all. I really appreciate you and remember everybody you either learn from or you learn from. Thanks, bye