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The Key to Elon Musk’s Success

CNBC:

That’s according to author and historian Walter Isaacson who wrote Jobs’ biography and is working on one about Musk. Isaacson says that Musk — like both Jobs and Gates — is unemotional when dealing with employees or colleagues, and uncompromising when it comes to fulfilling his grand vision for his businesses.

“That ability to not be as emotionally, empathetically engaged in order to see [their] vision through. It’s something Steve Jobs had, it’s something Bill Gates [has],” Isaacson said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday. “It’s something a lot of these people have, because they’re not looking for affection from the person sitting across from them. They’re looking to get rockets to Mars.”

In the past, some of Musk’s employees at Tesla have described him as an extreme micromanager who isn’t shy about expressing his displeasure when workers fall short of his lofty standards, or fail to meet his overly ambitious deadlines. He can be harsh, and not always easy to work for, but also often inspiring and funny, employees have said.

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Pursue a Mission

Ben Settle:

How did he go from super schlub to super Villain? What was his secret?

Answer:

The guy decided to pursue a mission.

A mission (in his case, build a multi-million dollar business and never have to be under anyone else’s authority) that transcended himself. He started out near penniless, poured his heart and soul into it every day, and went after it without apology, pause, or apprehension.

The result was a total transformation in his life — financially, emotionally, and professionally.

That’s the kind of transformation a man with a mission can experience.

In fact, when you encounter a Villain with a clearly defined mission you will instantly know it.

You’ll see it in his eyes.

You’ll hear it in his voice (especially when he tells “war stories” about pursuing his mission).

And, you’ll feel it in the vibe he gives off just being in his presence.

There is something about a Villain with a mission other people are irresistibly drawn to. A Villain on a mission doesn’t care about what anyone — man or woman — thinks about him.

Instead, he cares only for his mission. As a result, women can’t help but be attracted to him (regardless of his looks), and will even compete with each other to be his minion.

Men, on the other hand, are inspired and intimidated by him. They want to be like him (even if they think they can never be him), eagerly submit to him, and stand in line just to become one of his lowly

henchmen.

A mission gives a Villain charisma.

Charisma gives a Villain power and influence.

And power and influence gives a Villain the world. But, it all starts with your mission.

A Villain without a mission is as useful as a eunuch. Just as a man without testicles cannot procreate, has no drive, and is pitied by men and women alike, a Villain without a mission

has no value to those he wishes to subjugate. People will, in fact, reject, mock, and be repelled by a Villain without a mission.

If you don’t have a mission you must get one. Today.

No excuses or putting it off until the New Year or when you’re “ready.”

What kind of mission should you pursue?

That is entirely your choice and nobody can make it for you.

It can be financial (building a business empire), or creative (becoming a world-famous musician, best-selling author, or celebrity actor), or religious (founding a church or organization to support your faith), or becoming the best there is in the world at a particular skill (shooting, poker, hunting, racing, professional sports, etc), or anything you want.

A mission is a personal quest and I can’t tell you what yours should be.

What I can tell you is, once you do have a mission you must nurture, protect, and ruthlessly pursue it. It must be the first thing you work on when you wake up in the morning, and the last thing on your mind when you drift off to sleep.

Friends, dames, even family must come second, with your mission being your most urgent priority. I am not saying to shirk any familial or marital responsibilities. But realize your loved ones’ happiness, security, and emotional/financial well-being trickle down from you — the man on a mission in their lives.

It’s like when flying a major airline. If the cabin loses pressure an oxygen mask drops down and you are told to put it on before trying to assist anyone around you. So it is for a man with a mission. Your mission is your oxygen mask.

Bow only to the altar of your mission.

Not to dames.

Not to friends.

And not to another person’s company, government, or society.

Put your mission first and you will automatically become a charismatic and influential Villain. Just the decision to achieve a mission — and then working towards it each day — will set forces in motion that will change your life, and the lives of those you love and wish to rule over.

In time, money will be attracted to you.

Dames will flock to you.

Family, friends, and acquaintances will respect you.

And power, influence, opportunity, access, and the best of life’s pleasures will be yours for the taking.

Yes, you will have setbacks.

Yes, you will have challenges.

And yes, you will want to quit at times — and probably have to hear the opinions of lesser men who are afraid of your success and the power it will grant you.

After all, in nature if you put crabs in a bucket, and one tries to climb out, the other crabs will pull it back in. Such is the fate of any man who decides to pursue a mission.

So be ready for challenges, and don’t be surprised when they happen. Just realize the thrill of achieving your mission and the joy of working on it will give you the greatest satisfaction you can ever experience.

A bad day working on your mission is better than a good day living a boring life of mediocrity like everyone else you know.

And the best part is, all it takes is a decision to define your mission and go after it. The rest will take care of itself.

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Steve Martin – Preparation

The Hollywood Reporter’s profile on Steve Martin:

In person, Martin appears tailored for five-star hotels. If he got the memo about suits not surviving the pandemic, he’s chosen to ignore it. He’s arrived early, in a crisp navy blue number, and offers a salutatory fist-bump, explaining that he’d been trying to liberate himself from handshakes for years. Taking a seat in a leather armchair and swinging his left leg across the right, he is sedate compared to the frenetic banana he’s been on so many stages and countless screens. But he isn’t stingy with punchlines, either. Martin seems keenly aware of what’s expected of him.

“One time Steve was visiting at Saturday Night Live, and I had seen him do [David] Letterman the night before,” says Tina Fey, who has forged a friendship with him over many projects — most recently as his true-crime podcasting foil on Only Murders. “I said, ‘You were so funny on Letterman last night.’ And he very matter-of-factly said, ‘Well, you have to kill every time.’ It was chilling to me, but it’s true. Comedy people can’t go on talk shows and blather like actors. We’re supposed to deliver. Steve always delivers.”

Delivering does not just happen, even for Martin. “He phoned me up once and said, ‘Do you have a minute to hear some jokes? I’m doing Jimmy Kimmel in two months,’ ” says Short. ” ‘And you’re already working on it?!‘ That’s why he’s Steve Martin. That’s why he’s still Steve Martin.” (Michaels, too, has gotten those calls and is quick to clarify: “Most people I know prepare on the drive to the show.”)

Martin takes an almost scientific approach to developing his material. The blueprint for this can be found in Born Standing Up, the 2007 memoir of his stand-up years — “I don’t know a comic who hasn’t read that book,” says Amy Schumer. “He’s in the comedy DNA of me and everyone I know” — in which he recounts the often surrealist routine he honed over the course of the 1970s.

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Sharing Your Work / Subtle Attacks

Lisa Tener on what to do when someone tries to take the wind out of your sails:

In terms of the writing–he’s not your target audience. I would be very careful of not giving the book to someone who is not your target audience right now. I would focus on getting feedback from people who are your target audience–probably mostly women. And people you trust to be kind, who will offer helpful, specific feedback.

And:

One of the lessons here is to be careful who you share your work with. Once someone has proven untrustworthy (i.e. it’s not like he gave you some great feedback that was very specific and helped you improve the book the first time he looked at it), do not trust them with an additional read. Lesson learned.

It sounds like his was also an energetic attack, meant to undermine your creative energy, confidence and success. So, maybe spend some time in nature, do whatever you need to connect to your life-force and rejuvenate your spirit. Envision yourself taking back any life-force energy he may have “taken” with his attack. Don’t dwell on it, though. Reconnect with your strength and from that place, ask what’s next. It may be very helpful to work with a coach or a healer to clear the trauma of this and un-create whatever beliefs about yourself that fed into this attack.

My sense is that when someone has a passion as you do, it’s no accident. You are meant to write this book and all the support you need to make it compelling is available to you as you remain steadfast.

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Aubrey Marcus

Aubrey Marcus:

When it was finally time for the festivities to begin, Marcus stepped up to the mic in the center of the room. Those of us sitting with our backs to him promptly swiveled our chairs around, and opened our notebooks. After a brief welcome, he explained that we’re going to begin with an exercise that will help us connect with our “life force energy.” This simple practice first taught to him by his “kung fu master,” he said chuckling a bit at the mention, was one of the “first things that shook the cage a little bit,” when he was just a teenager, way before he felt himself transformed into a triceratops.

He then led us in shaking out our hands. Then 10 seconds of rhythmic breathing.

“Okay, now what you’re going to do is you’re going to imagine there’s a life force energy that runs through your body that’s linked to your breath,” Marcus explained. “Now take your hands in front of you, and get ‘em nice and close, and when you expand it’s going to be like a bellows, and you’re going to feel like you’re stretching the energy between your hands like taffy. And then as you breathe out, imagine you’re condensing that energy into a dense disk between your hands.”

“As your hands get close, it should feel like opposing magnets. Do you feel the tension?” he asked.

Reader, I felt it.

“Once you feel that energy, take that energy and then push it all the way up your Chakras from your root, all the way through your chest. Imagine that chi, that life force energy, straightening out the lining, strengthening and energizing all those systems in your body.”

Not gonna lie, 5 minutes of breathing and stretching my life force like taffy felt pretty nice.

“Dope,” Marcus says, as we opened our eyes. “Now on a scale of one to Dragonball Z, how did you guys feel? Could you feel it?” A sea of hands shot up around the room. “Good.”

“That’s really what started me on my path,” he continued. “That was my first moment of awakening and just feeling something that was beyond the scope of what I’d normally known.”

It was the moment that set him on a path toward finding the truth, he said. “When people ask ‘what happens when you die?’ Well, I don’t expect anyone to take my word for it, but I feel like I know. I’ve traveled there. I’ve seen it,” he says, with the certainty of someone pointing out that water is wet. And when I looked around the room it was clear that his fans found comfort in this assuredness about the magic inside of everyone—inside themselves. They too wanted to know. I can’t fault them for that.

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Tom Bilyeu – You Can Learn New Things

Tom Bilyeu:

That’s what I call “The only belief that matters”. ⁣

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Fuck talent. ⁣

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Fuck the idea of being born with shit. ⁣

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It’s true that some people are more naturally gifted, but it’s also true that that doesn’t fucking matter. ⁣

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Once you believe that you can change then you’ll be willing to put in the time and energy to gain new skills. ⁣

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And that’s the game – the whole game. ⁣

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It’s all about Turning your potential into actual skills. ⁣

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That’s how you get ahead. ⁣

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Never forget that skills aren’t about having a list of shit that you can out on a resume. ⁣

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It’s about actually being able to do shit that matters. ⁣

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And to do that you have to be able to build things and out perform the competition. ⁣

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And it all beings with one simple belief – you can learn new things. ⁣

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There has never been a better time. ⁣

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So go learn. ⁣

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Watch how it all stacks and shifts you into beast mode.