Knowledge For Men Archives

Sir John Hargrave is an author, comedian, and entrepreneur. After launching one of the world’s first humor websites, Zug.com, in 1995, he went on to author two books: Sir John Hargrave’s Mischief Maker’s Manual and Prank the Monkey.

His comedy has appeared in The New York Times, USA TODAY, The Boston Globe, Businessweek, Entertainment Weekly, and more. A self-proclaimed technology geek, Hargrave has appeared on MSNBC, The BBC, Comedy Central, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He lives in Boston with his wife and two children.

Favorite Success Quote “Your brain can  be reprogrammed” Key Points

1. You Have to Become Aware of Your Mind & The Stories You Tell 

One of the first steps to changing any habit or self belief is to become aware of it and how it is affecting you. If you want to fix problems in your romantic, financial, or physical life, you must first become aware of them.

In a day and age where we have millions of bits of sensory data thrown at us every second, it is often hard to get focused and calm your mind enough to really analyze what’s going on beneath the surface. This is where things like NLP, meditation, affirmations etc become essential.

The first step to mastering your life is to master your mind. You must become aware of all the thought processes that go through your head on a daily basis and start taking control of what you can.

2. How You See Yourself Will Eventually be Who You Become 

One of the most self evident truths of life is that you become what you think and speak about most of the time. If you constantly tell yourself that you suck and that you are useless, you will eventually find that it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy in your life.

However, the same is true for positive self talk, if you are constantly telling yourself that you are the best and that you will succeed no matter what, your brain will finds ways to make this a reality in your life.

The stories you tell yourself determine your destiny. Make sure you are telling the right story.

3. Ask Why 5 Times 

Perhaps the most powerful exercise that you can do to discover the truth about various situations in your life is to ask yourself why five times.

If you think that you suck with women. Ask why, again, and again, and again, as many times as necessary until you find they true answer.

You can use this in any area of your life, for any question you are struggling with, it will quickly reveal the true reasons and intentions behind every choice, question and struggle you are facing.

Grant Cardone is an international business and sales expert. He has authored 4 business books and customized sales training programs for Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, success-minded individuals and entrepreneurs.

Cardone, a dynamic, highly sought after international speaker, captivates audiences with his down-to-earth, entertaining speaking style as he tackles timely topics regarding sales, marketing, branding and entrepreneurship, outlining what people need to do to thrive in the new global economy..

In Grant’s second appearance on the Knowledge for Men show, we delve deeper into how to create a successful life and business and what mindsets and philosophies you need to make 2015 your best year ever.

Key Points

1. Perfection is Just an Excuse for Inaction

So many people claim to be perfectionists. They say that they don’t want to publish any content until it’s perfect, they can’t write that book, release that podcast, publish that website, until it’s absolutely perfect.

The cold reality is that perfectionism is simply an excuse for inaction.

No, you’re not a perfectionist, you’re just not taking action. You don’t have writers block, you just aren’t writing. You don’t have any excuse to be sitting on your ass!

Realize that you will never be perfect, the content you create will never be perfect, nothing you do will ever be quite perfect. But you must take action anyways!

Imperfect action is better than no action, and the only thing you can do worse than the wrong thing is nothing. So get out there and start creating, start selling, start whatever has been on your heart and be willing to work through imperfection until you achieve success.

2. You’ll Never Make a Shot You Don’t Take 

A huge fear that prevents many entrepreneurs from taking action is the fear of failure. What they don’t realize, however, is that the greatest failure is inaction.

It is impossible to succeed at something you do not try. If you attempt a new job, business, relationship, or take some big risk and “fail” you have learned something and moved closer towards the life of your dreams. If you sit on your ass, not taking any action; you have seen nothing, done nothing, and achieved nothing.

If you want to be a success, you have to be a massive action taker, get out there and tear it up! Feel the fear and do it anyways. Start that business, ask that girl out, move out and travel the world. Life is too damn short to live in fear of failure. You must make the fear of regret greater than any fear of failure could be.

3. Success Takes Persistence and Determination

Grant spent over half of his life in the single minded pursuit of success. Along the way, he failed countless times. By his own estimation, he has made hundreds of thousands of sales calls, and only succeeded at a rate of 20%. But that 20% has allowed him to make hundreds of millions of dollars and become one of the world’s leading authorities on sales and business success.

Realize that if you want to succeed, it will take time. It may take ten years, it may take 20, it takes however long it takes. While this may seem like a big sacrifice, the simple reality is that the true sacrifice is living a mediocre life for those 10-20 years.

If you want to be successful, if you want to wake up every day with a smile on your face, a beautiful women next to you in bed, a full bank account and a happy life, it will take hard work.

But it will be worth it.

4. Never Abandon Your Purpose 

Many men (especially men with family’s) believe that it is a somehow noble gesture to give up on their hopes, goals, and dreams for their family. They believe that it is somehow a worthy life to forgo everything you have ever wanted to create and be remembered for for the sake of your wife and kids.

While this may sound selfless and chivalrous on the surface, you have to dig deeper to realize the more sinister implication.

If you wake up every day, miserable and angry about the job you have to work so you can provide for your family, how do you think that will affect your relationships at home?

If you come home every night, so exhausted that you barely have to energy to lay on the couch and watch TV, much less spend time with your kids, how do you think this will affect your family’s view of you? They don’t see the hours worked so they can lead their comfortable lives, they only see a father who is too tired and miserable to truly invest in his kids.

If you abandon your dreams and desires for a steady paycheck, what lessons are you teaching your kids, especially your sons? What will their outlook on life be when they see their father, their role model grinding through an existence that he doesn’t enjoy for a salary that still isn’t enough?

Now let’s flip the script.

Imagine that instead of giving up on your dreams, you grabbed your balls and jumped off the deep end. You went for it!

You would spend a while (years possibly) in financial risk (likely no more than you already have in a 9-5), investing tons of hours into a business that may or may not succeed, giving up time with your friends, wife, and children. But there is a light at the end of this tunnel.

After you have put in your time, after you have invested the blood, sweat, tears, and heartache into your dream, it will finally pay off. Your financial worries will be gone, you will have boundless energy, waking up every day to a life that inspires and excites you, and you will have more free time than you ever could doing something that you hated.

How would your family view you now?

They would see a strong man who had dreams and goals and took action on them despite obstacles. You would have more time to spend with them, more money to take vacations and have adventures with and most importantly, more joy, because now you are building an incredible life in all areas, and you aren’t sacrificing anything.

If you want to live a happy, fulfilled life, you have to make this mental shift. You are not doing your family any favors by giving up on your dreams.

If you want your children to live the happiest, most successful lives possible, then you will lead by example and teach them to go after life with all that they’ve got and not to waste one second on dull, uninspiring and unfulfilled work.

David Wagner is a spiritual teacher, men’s group leader, and proud father who has dedicated his life to the exploration of personal transformation.

He travels widely leading workshops and retreats for people from all walks of life from all over the world. He is the host of The Whole Manchilada Podcast, is a featured meditation teacher on Yogaglo.com, and serves on the faculties of Kripalu and Omega Institutes.

Favorite Success Quote “Success is messy.” ~T. Harv Eker Key Points

1. Fearlessly Look at Your Bullshit 

One of the biggest challenges that modern men face is to look at themselves without bias or emotion and examine the bullshit in their lives.

To fearlessly look at your life and examine your bullshit, taking full responsibility for it and where it has gotten you takes courage and backbone. Realize that you can never completely eliminate all the bs in your life, but you can become aware of it and mitigate its effects in different areas.

Be courageous, be fearless, take an honest look at yourself in the mirror and be willing to face whatever it is that you see.

2. You Can do the “Right” Thing and Still be Screwed 

Something most men today do not realize is that they can do all of the “right” things by family and society’s standards and still be completely fucked.

Going to college, getting a good job, coming home to a mediocre marriage and a night full of sitcom reruns and reality TV is not success, it’s barely existing.

Society tells men that as long as they stay out of jail, and don’t hit anyone, they are doing ok. But the truth is, most men are dying, in fact, most men have been dying since they left college.

They give up their hopes and their dreams in favor of playing it safe and doing the “right” thing, they stay in terrible relationships that leave them drained and bitter because it’s the “right” thing, and they never risk stepping out of their comfort zone and expressing themselves fully because doing what everyone else does is the “right” thing to do.

If you want to be a real man, a man with grit, backbone, and balls, there will come a time in your life where you must abandon the so-called right thing in favor of “your thing.”

Fuck living for society, your friends, or your family. If you want to be a success and enjoy your life, you must do the things that will make you happy, not the things that everyone accepts as the “right” path to take.

3. There is No One Way to Express Your “Wild Man”

A common misconception in the world of men is that you somehow have to be this badass on a Harley Davidson, sporting a beard and a full sleeve of tattoos to be a real man.

The truth is that being a man is much less a matter of outward appearances and much more a matter of conviction and personal power. It’s a matter of owning who you are and fearlessly expressing yourself to the world

4. Avoid Simulation and Embrace Reality 

With the ever growing prevalence of video games and online porn, now more than ever before, it is easy for men to live out their dreams vicariously through virtual simulations.

Instead of going out and meeting women and getting to a place in their sex lives where they can have that vibrant, passionate, crazy sex, men are settling for sitting shamefully by their laptop, lotion in hand.

Instead of creating a life of freedom and adventure and purpose, men are leveling up their Dark Elf Wizard in Skyrim or World of War Craft or getting to the latest prestige in Call of Duty.

Men are settling for results that are far below what they are capable of simply because of the ease and comfort of simulation.

While porn and video games may have their place in some men’s lives, you need to look at why you are using these distractions and make the necessary changes so that your life is so kick ass that no simulation could ever compare.

Jairek Robbins was born in Santa Monica, California. He is a decorated performance coach and lifestyle entrepreneur who has applied his innovative methods to living a life of adventure, philanthropy, and entrepreneurship.

At the age of twenty-three, Robbins was awarded the Congressional Award Gold Medal from the United States Congress. By twenty-five, he gained international renown as the creator of a revolutionary approach to maximizing personal performance that accelerated organizational success for a wide range of businesses.

Robbins’s personal journey has included circumnavigating the globe on a ship, helping build schools and houses in multiple countries, cage diving with great white sharks, encountering silverback gorillas in Rwanda, and working as a volunteer in underdeveloped regions.

He supports a number of charities and nonprofits, such as the Change Heroes and the Pencils of Promise Foundation. He is also the author of the book Live It!: Achieve Success by Living with Purpose.

Favorite Success Quote “Life supports that which supports life” – Anonymous Key Points 1. You Must Give Before You Can Receive    Today, many men focus only on getting. Getting the latest car, getting the biggest house, or getting the hottest girl friend. Unfortunately, there isn’t much of a focus on giving.   Jairek believes that for anyone to be truly successful, they must approach all areas of their life with a giving mindset. When you focus, first and foremost, on adding value and improving the world around you, personal success is an inevitable byproduct.   When you make your business plan, ask how you can give value to the people you will be serving. When you start a new workout, ask who you can inspire to achieve optimal health. When you start a new relationship, ask how you can have a positive impact on your new friend or significant other.   No matter what you are doing, always ask how you can give value to others. Life is too damn short to be selfish.   2. Focus First on Intrinsic Goals    Jairek believes that one of the biggest mistake many people make when setting goals is that they focus first on extrinsic goals rather than intrinsic goals. Meaning that they focus on goals more about others than themselves.   For example, many of your reading this probably at one point in time, had the goal of graduating college. For many of you, this goal was set only to please your parents and not because it was something that you truly cared about.   Here are some examples of intrinsic versus extrinsic goals:   Intrinsic:   Going to college because you want to learn as much as you can and enjoy your field of study Learning a new instrument because you enjoy practicing and making music Getting fit because you care about your body and want to take care of yourself so that you can perform optimally Starting a business because you are passionate about something and want to share your gifts with the world.   Extrinsic:   Going to college because you don’t want to disappoint your family. Learning a new instrument because you think girls will like it Getting fit to impress others Starting a business because you want to make a ton of money   Always focus on goals that are about what you want from your life rather than what others want. Following a path because it is what friends, family or society tells you to do is a sure ticket to a death bed full of regrets.   3. Create Many “Whys” For Your Goals    Once you have found and set goals that are intrisitc and motivate you for the right reasons, you must create a compelling list of reasons to achieve those goals.   An old personal growth saying is that “Reasons come first, results come second.” You will not achieve anything of measurable significance unless you have reasons that anchor you to your purpose during hard times.   Jairek recommends taking your biggest goals and writing down five new reasons to achieve them or “whys” every day. If at the end of the year, you cannot find at least five solid, reasons that send chills up your spine just thinking about them, chances are, you are pursuing the wrong goals.   4. Focus on Fulfilling vs. Pleasurable   As old and cliche as it may sound, Jairek is a huge proponent of living your life in a way that is fulfilling in the long run versus pleasurable in the moment.   When Jairek was in school, he used to go to bed at 10 p.m. almost every night so that he could wake up and kick ass at school and business. Even though this wasn’t fun at the time, he is now one of the leading voices in personal growth, wildly successful in his business, and fulfilled in his family life.   Even though choosing growth in the moment is rarely fun, it will always, always pay off in the long run. So next time you are faced with a decision between short term pleasure and long term fulfillment, ask yourself what kind of life you want to be living 10 years from now and the answer should be clear.   5. Live It   All of the personal growth information, all of the seminars, podcasts and books in the world will not change your life unless you are actively living what they teach.   The reason that Jairek titled his book “Live It” is that the information he teaches is only useful if you are applying and living our what he teaches.   So go out there and take action, don’t let another day pass where you put off taking action on your dreams for any reason. Grab life by the horns and wrestle it to the ground. Achieve the life of your dreams and go Live It!

Adam Braun is a New York Times bestselling author and the Founder of Pencils of Promise, an award-winning organization that has broken ground on more than 300 schools for children in poverty around the world. He is also the Director of the Global Education Platform, an initiative conceived by the UN Special Envoy for Global Education to identify and accelerate breakthroughs in learning innovation.

He has been featured as a speaker at The White House, the United Nations and the Clinton Global Initiative. He has also been named to Business Insider’s 40 Under 40, Wired Magazine‘s 50 People Who Are Changing the World, and was selected as one of the World Economic Forum’s first ten “Global Shapers.”

Favorite Success Quote “Live not in dreams, but in contemplation of reality which is perhaps the future. “~Rilke Key Points

1. Passion is Over-rated Purpose is Enduring 

Many of the modern self help “gurus” and speakers talk constantly about finding and pursuing your passions. The simple fact is, passion fades away.

The excitement dies, you get bored, you move on. Purpose however, purpose is enduring.

If you can find your purpose, that one thing that you were put on this earth to do, and pursue it with your whole heart, you will be successful come hell or high water.

2. You Cannot Fake Authenticity 

Most people have a built in B.S. detector. They can tell when someone is disingenuous or inauthentic.

If you really want to make a difference in the world, if you really want to have an impact and live a life of purpose and joy, you have to drop the mask and be authentic.

Open up, be vulnerable, share the real you, unabashedly and unashamed of who you are or what people might think.

Many people may dislike you, some may even hate you, but if you try and please everyone, you will end up impacting no one.

3. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

One of the quickest ways to find your purpose, to get on track to live the life of your dreams is to break out of your comfort zone.

Do stuff that scares you, take that class you’ve been putting off, join that men’s group, leave everything and go backpacking across Europe.

Almost no one ever dies wishing that they had spent more time playing it safe. You only get one shot at this life. Put your neck on the line and get uncomfortable!

David Eschenlohr is a German with a Bachelor’s Degree in English from a Swedish University. He’s the author of the book Rite of Passage: Memoirs of a Survivor of the Pickup Community, in which he tells the story of a young man who descents into a vicious cycle of self-help and pickup.

His unique approach to ‘living a deeper life’ is the result of studying Zen under Master Poraj, taking seminars with the biggest dating company in the world; Real Social Dynamics, and the most experiences pickup coach in history; Alex Social, extensive solo world travel, studying culture in an academic context, furocious reading, critical thinking, and an open mind.

Originally from a small town, David has experienced some of the biggest cities in the world, and now promotes a simplistic, yet deep lifestyle which penetrates beyond social norms and superficial self-image.

Favorite Success Quote “If you don’t know what you want to do, just keep doing”~Anonymous Key Points

1. Don’t Follow Only One Voice 

Today, many people make the mistake of falling for the guru syndrome. The mentality where you fall prey to listening to only one expert or individual.

The problem with this is, that no matter how intelligent or influential any one individual is, the lessons that they teach are mass marketed and not tailored to your specific circumstances and stage in life.

For example, while the pick up theory in Neil Strauss’s The Game, may work for a young 20 something year old who is terrible with women, it is probably less effective for the young man looking for a partner to share his life with.

Fill your head with as many different voices (who have the results you want) as possible. Get your info from a wide variety of sources, and then take action based off of where you are in life and what your goals are.

2. Do Not Lose Your Authentic Self for External Goals 

On the way to the top, it is easy to lose your true self to external wants and desires. It is easy to become someone that you  are not in pursuit of a goal that may not even be yours.

The easiest way to ensure that this does not happen is to make sure that your goals are in alignment with who you really are.

An example that David shared was a friend of his who got into the pickup game out of a desire to meet and attract a beautiful girlfriend. Instead, by delving into pickup and getting caught up in the goals of the game, he began a lifestyle of rampant debauchery that was in-congruent with who he was.

Never lose sight of who you really are and what you want for the goals of others. Make sure that everything you set out to do is in alignment with your authentic self.

3. To Become Self Reliant, Do Your Own Thing 

One of the keys to being a happy, fulfilled man is self reliance, and the key to self reliance is to do your own thing. Go your own way, blaze your own trail and create your own life.

Life is too short to allow your path to be dictated by the wants and desires of others. If you have a goal or dream, go after it with all of your heart, regardless of popular opinion.

4. Learn to be Full in Movement Towards Your Goals 

Like Hal Elrod said on the very first episode of Knowledge for Men “Love the life you have while you create the life of your dreams.” It is key to realize that if you want to be fulfilled, you have to be full in and of yourself, regardless of any exterior goal.

Success is a journey and a direction, not a destination. Realize that you will never reach success, you will only move towards it. Learn to be whole and complete in yourself and with the life that you have now while you move towards the life of your dreams.

5. Screw Purpose Embrace Direction 

Today, the words purpose and passion are thrown out like candy. David is of the belief that instead of believing in one linear purpose for your life, you must develop a direction for your life.

Instead of having one ultimate goal for your future, develop a direction that you want to go. A path that you want to follow. Like the point above, it is key to realize that success is not a single event but a lifetime of reaching for bigger and better things.

So screw purpose and embrace your direction.

Tripp Kramer is the founder and CEO of the Tripp Advice podcast and blog, a resource for men to help them take their sex and dating lives to the next level.

Tripp was a traditional shy guy who decided to tackle his challenges with women head on. After years of practice and rejection, Tripp has devoted his life to helping other men have thriving dating lives through his eBooks, online courses, coaching and podcasting.

Favorite Success Quote “Successful people do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do”~Jeff Olson Key Points

1. You Will Have to do Crazy Shit to Succeed 

Whatever your goals are, you will probably have to do crazy shit to achieve them.

To improve his dating life, Tripp spent months of going out every night to meet and flirt with girls until he successfully went from “shy guy” to “ladies man” approaching women and having conversations he never thought he could do.

Whether you want to improve your dating life, run your own business, or master your health, you will have to do things that scare you shitless to get there.

You will have to put in the work, you will have to lose sleep, you will have to bust your ass… but it will be worth it.

2. The Worst Isn’t that Bad 

When most guys start the process of getting better with women, they are scared to death of rejection. They are scared of getting slapped or getting a drink spilled on them, but in reality, the worst that will happen probably isn’t that bad.

In his years of approaching and dating women, Tripp’s worst rejection was merely a girl walking away from him in the middle of a conversation.

Chances are, the things that terrify you aren’t even close to reality. Failure is not as bad as you may imagine it, so get out there and just start. The worst that can happen isn’t that bad.

3. You Learn to Manage Fear… Not Eliminate it

A mistake that many guys make is to think that they will one day completely eliminate fear from their romantic lives…simply put you won’t.

You learn to manage fear, to accept fear for what it is and see it as a call to action.  So learn to feel the fear and do it anyways, if you aren’t a little scared you aren’t growing!

As JFK said “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.”

4. Train Yourself to Regret Inaction More than Failure

Remember the old quote that “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take?” Well that is doubly true with dating and approaching women.

You must train yourself to make the pain of not taking action, more painful than your fear of rejection. Realize that every woman you meet, could be the love of your life.

If you do not take action, you could have missed out on one of the greatest romantic experiences of your life. Learn to make this feeling more painful than any slap in the face could ever be.

5. Take Baby Steps 

Some guys will have no issue going out and immediately approaching and talking to women, but for others, merely holding eye contact with a girl is enough to make them nervous.

Wherever you are, learn to take baby steps and master this skill a little at a time. The general progression goes something like this.

Going Out:

In the beginning, just go out to bars and clubs or any other venue and just get comfortable being in these locations by yourself. If you want to talk to other people or meet women, great! But for starters, just focus on getting out there.

Eye Contact:

After you get comfortable being in these new venues, start looking girls in the eyes when you walk by them and flashing a quick smile. Don’t worry about saying hello or getting a number, just make eye contact and consider it a win.

Start an Indirect Conversation:

Now that you are getting more comfortable at venues, and starting to be ok around women, begin starting indirect conversations. Innocent things like asking for an opinion on something, asking for directions and simply saying hi.

Direct Openers:

Once you are comfortable starting and holding conversations with women about random events or other topics, start being bold and forth right about your intentions. Walk up to those girls and let them know that you find them beautiful and want to get to know them better.

Keep in mind that when you are starting these direct conversations there are a few things you can do to accelerate the interaction.

Stance: Stand in front of her with good posture and your shoulders slightly angled towards her, not parallel to hers.

Eye Contact: When you are speaking or listening, keep consistent eye contact and smile

Listen: Actually listen to what she has to say and show interest in her and her life.

Physical Escalation:

Now it’s time to get physical! Go in for a sexy high five (a normal high five that you hold for just a second longer than you would high fiving a guy friend).

Touch her on her lower back, get close and whisper something to her, twirl her around, do anything you can to break the touch barrier in a fun and non creepy way.

Closing:

Now that you are comfortable appraching, talking to, and getting physical with a girl, it’s time to seal the deal. This is the part of the interaction where you get her number, invite her on a date or head back to your place for drinks.

If you have really mastered everything up to this point, this can actually be one of the easiest parts of the whole interaction (give that she is attracted to you)

6. Getting Good With Women is a Gateway Drug to Success

If you can get good with women, you can do anything. Use your experience of mastering your dating life as a catalyst to master other areas of your life.

Tripp realized after getting good with women that he wasn’t fulfilled in his 9-5 and wanted to start his own business focused on his passion of helping men master their romantic lives… Thus Trippadvice was born.

Go out there and master your love life, and then use that success as a way to achieve massive success in all other areas of your life.

Dale Thomas Vaughn – a champion of purpose, has worked with some of the most influential people in the world including billionaire industry moguls, academic thought-leaders and international heads of state.

He has written and edited seven best-selling books, run with the bulls in Pamplona, trekked the 500-mile pilgrimage that is the Camino de Santiago, become a certified specialist of wine, and both succeeded and failed in the world of business.

Today, through his award-winning work with The EmpowerMentorship Institute, Dale helps men discover what they want from their lives and then empowers them to make a concrete plan to go do it.

Favorite Success Quote “The aim of life is self development, to realize one’s nature perfectly”~Oscar Wilde Key Points

1. You Have to Take Your Masks Off 

If you want to live your life to the fullest possible capacity, you have to take your masks off.

You can no longer live your life in-authentically to please others, you must be true to yourself and who you want to be. Do not allow social, familial or societal norms to govern who you are.

If you believe in something that is controversial or unpopular, voice your opinion. If you want to live your life in an uncommon or even frowned up way, do it! Don’t let anyone or anything stand in the way of you living your truth.

2. Introspect 

One of the most powerful tools in your arsenal for discovering yourself and your purpose is introspection.

In today’s busy world, we almost never have any time alone and in silence to spend with our thoughts. For Dale, he achieves this time by hiking, for you, it may be morning meditation, an ocean swim, or a long walk outside.

Do whatever you need to do to clear your mind and get the time you need to reflect on who you are, where you are going, and what you want out of life.

3. Get a Plan for Your Life

Once you have spent time in introspection, the next step is to develop a plan for your life.

Who do you want to be? What do you want to achieve? What legacy do you want to leave? Once you have the answer, write out a plan for yourself to get there.

Set goals and deadlines, challenge yourself and create a bulletproof plan for achieving the best life ever.

4. Break Your “Everest Goal” Down 

When you are setting your plan, you will likely have an “Everest Goal” something that is incredibly far off and difficult to achieve.

It is important that you start on the path to this goal by setting smaller, six week goals, completing these small goals and then reassessing where you are with relation to the end.

5. Surround Yourself With the Right People

Now that you have clarity on who you are and what you want to achieve, you have a vision for who you want to be, and you have smaller goals set to help you achieve that vision, it is time to start surrounding yourself with people who can help you make that vision a reality.

Your social circle is one of the most important factors to your success. We all know the Jim Rohn quote that “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” and it holds true with regards to your purpose.

Surround yourself with likeminded men and women who will help you and encourage you on your personal growth journey, who have been there, done that and can help you make sure that you don’t make the same mistakes.

Remember, who you associate with is who you become. Make sure you are associating with the right people.

6. Follow the Six Steps to Manliness 

In the show, Dale shared with us the six key pillars to manliness. Whatever your personal definition of manliness is, all six of these will show up in your life in some way.

1. Purpose: Every man must have some purpose in his life bigger than himself, something he wants to accomplish before he dies that will leave a lasting legacy.

2. Balance: Every man need to have balance in his life. He must be sure to prioritize family and fun as much as he does his work.

3. Adventure: If you aren’t adventuring some, you aren’t living. Life was meant to be lived on the edge, not in a chair.

4. Sophistication: Find things that spark interest in you and pursue them with a passion.

5. Community: No man is an island, and having a support group of amazing people will be one of the greatest accelerators on your road to manliness.

6. Leisure: You only live once, have a little fun, relax a little, you don’t always have to be “on.” All work and no play is a sure fire way to live a boring life.

Gary Carmell is President of CWS Capital Partners LLC, an investment management firm specializing in the acquisition, development, and management of apartment communities throughout the country. Gary joined CWS in 1987 and has been instrumental in growing the company’s asset base from $500 million to nearly $3.0 billion.

Originally from Chicago, Gary has a B.A. from UCLA and an M.B.A. from the University of Southern California. He is a CFA Charterholder, member of the Young President’s Organization, and provides frequent commentary and speaks periodically to CWS’ 700+ investors. He currently resides in Tustin, CA with his wife and two children.

Gary is also the author of “The Philosophical Investor: Transforming Wisdom into Wealth”

Favorite Success Quote “It’s better to be a meaningful specific than a wandering generality”~Zig Ziglar Key Points

1. Open Your Mind to Other Ways of Thinking 

One of the core beliefs behind Gary’s book is that to be successful in life, you need to open your mind to new ways of thinking and living.

Don’t view the world as all black and white, based solely off of the experiences you had in one small part of the world. Travel, meet new people, explore new cultures and beliefs, be willing to challenge your most cherished ideas and you will become a better man because of it.

2. Surround Yourself With People Who Can Help You Make Better Decisions

Like nearly every individual that Andrew has ever interviewed, Gary spoke highly of the importance of having mentors and high achievers in your inner circle.

If you want to be successful in business and in life, then you must surround yourself with people who can call you out when you aren’t living up to your potential, people who can help you discover previously unknown solutions, and people who will help lift you up to higher levels.

3. When You Experience Difficulties Face them Head On

One of the lessons that Gary learned from his time in the investment world is that you must face challenges head on. When dealing with clients, Gary had to keep them apprised of the state of their investments, and this meant telling them when things were going downhill.

The sooner you face a problem, the sooner you can solve it. Be willing to do the difficult thing and stare down whatever problem you have in your life until it is eradicated.

To millions of people across the globe, the name Bob Proctor is synonymous with success.  Long before his role in the movie The Secret sent him into the realm of superstardom, he was already a legendary figure in the world of personal development.

His insights, inspiration, ideas, systems, and strategies are the dimes on which countless lives have spun —  the sparks that have ignited career transformations, personal epiphanies, inner awakenings, and the creation of million-dollar fortunes the world over.

As a speaker, author, consultant, coach, and mentor, Bob Proctor works with business entities and individuals around the world, instilling within them not only the mental foundations of success and the motivation to achieve, but also the actionable strategies that will empower them to grow, improve, and thrive in today’s ever-changing world.

Favorite Success Quote “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal”~Earl Nightingale Key Points

1. You Must Apply What You Learn 

During Bob’s journey of personal growth, one of his greatest strengths was that he was an implementer. Like Bob,  most people on this site, have read “Think and Grow Rich” and have mentors investing into the  and giving them advice.

The reason for Bob’s success?

He actually applied everything he learned. He followed the action steps from “Think and Grow Rich,” when a successful person told him to do something, he went out and did it.

If you want to achieve success in your own life, you must be a massive action taker and rapid implementer. Don’t just read success books, live them. Don’t just listen to advice, follow it. It is only by action that you will achieve the success you desire.

2. Mentors Are One of The Most Important Aspects to Success

Throughout Bob’s journey he had some of the most prolific and successful individuals in the personal growth world as mentors. And the fact is, almost every successful person has had someone pouring into them and helping them on their path to the top.

If you want to be a top level achiever, it is imperative that you surround yourself with the kind of people who will help you get there. Become friends with individuals who make you uncomfortable, who are so far ahead of you that they intimidate you, and make you push yourself to achieve new levels of success.

No man is an island, and the quickest way to the top is to find people who are already there willing to give you a hand.

3. You Can Build Yourself an Incredible Education 

Like many successful individuals, Bob had no formal education, in fact he never finished high school. However, the education he was able to receive through experience and mentors was worth far more than any degree or letters after his name.

If you want to be successful, you must become a self educator. Read as many books as you can take action on, go to as many seminars and courses as you can afford, and surround yourself with as many high achievers as you can find.

Through self education, belief, and massive action taking, success is all but inevitable.

4. You Don’t Decide on a Purpose; You Discover It 

Bob’s advice for anyone feeling lost or unsure, is to spend time alone, writing about the legacy you want to leave, and the way you want to live your life.

It is his belief that we are all guided by something bigger than ourselves and that we all have a higher purpose to achieve. And while we may not be able to alter that purpose, if we discover and follow it, we will set ourselves up for a life of fulfillment and success.

5. Forget Yourself Into Immortality 

One of Bob’s core beliefs is that we must focus on others to become true successes. As the quote from Emerson states above, we must, “Forget ourselves into immortality.”

Because it is only by focusing on others and leaving legacy of selflessness that we can become truly great.