There is no secret sauce
A short conversation with one of the wealthiest people in Australia started as a request for advice. They would not give any. What they gave me instead was a reading list.
They told me that they don’t give advice or mentorship. That they’ve never received any value from it. In their words:
I have never had a mentor (plenty have offered) or asked for this type of advice, and I never really received advice or mentorship of any real value even though some people along the way felt strongly compelled to offer it, often forcefully and in a highly critical form.
They shared the view that other people’s advice is often from their own unique experience and is often wrong, or at least much less valuable when applied to your own circumstance.
They said that instead of seeking advice they had “read a lot and studied and experimented and failed and learned and then finally succeeded.”
They implored that there is no “secret sauce” or “special sprinkle,” only what you create in yourself by observing, reading, thinking, noticing, learning, by experience and careful thought.
I get lots of requests so the only thing that I can really offer is some of the reading that has allowed me to create, build and grow.
This is the reading they particularly like, and use extensively in work:
Process and problem solving
- The Goal, Eli Goldratt.
- It’s Not Luck, Eli Goldratt. A way of applying the Thinking Processes.
Psychology and cognitive bias
- Bringing Out the Best in People, Aubrey Daniels.
- Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman.
- Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely.
Randomness and logical fallacy
The Incerto, by Nassim Taleb:
- Fooled by Randomness
- The Black Swan
- The Bed of Procrustes
- Antifragile
- Skin in the Game
Take these slowly—they are full of deep knowledge and some need significant practice to be fluent in them. The books are to do with business management, systems thinking, psychology, cognitive bias, statistics, randomness, resilience and the human condition. All deep basics that can construct solutions to every problem and break open opportunities you did not see before.
Before you have what you want in life, and especially when you’re young, it’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling like you need to have your prayers answered by someone older. Someone more experienced. Someone who can give certainty on your pathway.
But the truth is, if you have your mind, access to the internet, the ability to self-reflect, and the will to win, you can accomplish anything with time.
You will never get the certainty you’re searching for, and searching for it will distract you from doing the thing that actually matters. Starting the business. Solving your own problems with the world’s information at your fingertips. Thinking from first principles on the best next step in your career.
Thinking that you need X or Y to succeed is a belief constraint that gives you a convenient excuse for your lack of progress.
The truth is that there are no rules.
There are innumerable ways that people have succeeded, and how you succeed will not be how someone else succeeded.
Do not be trapped by dogma.
The message here is not “don’t seek mentors or advice.” The message is that you can succeed just as much without mentors, or on the back of your own will.
As they signed off:
Your own passion, curiosity, focus, and dedication is all you need to succeed.
This applies to anything that you feel you ‘need to succeed.’
Don’t let a perceived lack of a critical ingredient rob you of the will to try anyway.