Introduction
Most people believe that success comes from being more disciplined, working harder, and getting more done. While these factors can get you into the top 10 - 20% in many fields, the rules change completely if you want to reach the top 1% or even the top 0.1%. This article explores these new rules, based on the teachings of Joe Hudson, a renowned coach who works with top companies like Apple, Google, and OpenAI.
Joe Hudson and His Impact
Joe Hudson is a secret coach that top companies in Silicon Valley pay handsomely to help their CEOs and executive teams stay ahead. The author discovered Joe's work a year ago, binged his online content, and attended his invite-only in-person retreat. Joe's teachings have transformed the author's life, and he hopes they can do the same for readers.
Warning: This is a Deep Dive
Before starting, a warning is in order. This article is long, and there will be a temptation to skip ahead or look for summaries. However, the habits discussed are not simple productivity hacks. They are deeper than what is typically covered in productivity or success videos. Even if you are a self-improvement enthusiast, you likely haven't mastered these five habits. But if you apply them, you'll become more successful and experience more joy and fulfillment.
Habit 1: The Iterative Mindset
The Common Approach
Most people, when faced with a new project or goal, believe that success involves meticulous planning, endless research, and waiting for everything to be perfect. This often leads to getting stuck and being afraid to start.
The Top Performers' Approach
In contrast, the top 0.1% focus on something different. Every successful CEO Joe knows cares more about the pace of the company than getting things perfect. They have an iterative mindset, which means they don't care about making mistakes as long as they are moving forward.
Why Pace Matters
It's hard to steer a ship that doesn't move. By focusing on forward momentum, you create an iterative cycle. You can change your approach based on reflection, customer feedback, and how the world reacts, allowing you to learn quicker. In contrast, relying solely on a mental model leads to slower learning.
Taking Action with Minimal Preparation
Instead of waiting until you are 80 - 100% prepared, start with 20% preparation and focus on the iterative mindset. Do the thing, get data, and improve over time. Joe emphasizes prioritizing pace over perfection. The book "Ready, Fire, Aim" exemplifies this iterative mindset.
Overcoming Analysis Paralysis
Ask yourself if you operate with an iterative mindset or if you get stuck in analysis paralysis. Most people struggle with this, so the author asked Joe why. Joe explained that one reason is the fear of making mistakes publicly.
Fear of Public Mistakes
The Root of Inaction
Most people don't take action because they are afraid of being judged. The author used to struggle with this when starting his YouTube channel. A quote from Epictitus, "if you want to improve be content to be thought foolish and stupid," helped him overcome this fear.
Dealing with the Fear
One way to deal with this fear is to remind yourself that no one thinks about you as much as you worry they do. Everyone is busy with their own lives. Joe, however, has a different approach, which leads to the second habit.
Habit 2: Changing the Relationship with Failure
The Usual Response to Failure
When we think about potential failure or making mistakes, we generally try to avoid those situations. We suppress our fear, use willpower to power through, or avoid taking risks altogether.
The Top Performers' Perspective
According to Joe, the top 0.1% understand that the key is not avoiding failure but changing their relationship with the internal experience that failure triggers.
The Role of Emotions
It's not the judgment, criticism, or failure itself that we're afraid of. We're afraid of the feeling, the internal state, that failure might bring up. To understand this better, we need to look at how our brains work.
The Habenula and Its Function
Deep inside our brains, there is a region called the habenula. It acts as an anti-reward or disappointment center. When things don't go as expected, the habenula becomes active and sends signals to other parts of the brain involved in motivation, dampening down dopamine and reducing our drive to repeat the action.
A Biological Survival Mechanism
This is a useful survival mechanism in some situations, like avoiding stepping on a thorn again. But in the modern world, where taking risks is necessary for success, it becomes unhelpful.
Learning to Love the Emotional State
Joe suggests falling in love with the emotional state, whether it's success or failure. Visualize both success and failure and feel the associated emotions. This makes the action clear and easier to take.
The Author's Initial Skepticism
The author was initially skeptical of this idea. He thought it was "BS" and that Joe was a scammer. However, after meeting Joe, learning more about his clients (including Sam Altman, the founder of Twitter), and experiencing the transformation in his own life, he realized the value of these teachings.
Working with Emotions
Typically, the hard part about an emotion is the resistance to it, not the emotion itself. For example, sadness feels different when you resist it compared to when you embrace it. By working on the resistances, you can experience the emotion in its complete form.
Getting Curious about Emotions
Another approach is to get curious about the emotional state. Every emotion has a signal. Anger might indicate a boundary issue, anxiety could mean you're not taking care of yourself, and sadness might suggest a need for transformation. By looking forward to these signals, you're less likely to be overwhelmed by the emotions.
A Simple Exercise
When you have an emotional experience, instead of distracting yourself, stop and get curious about how it feels in your body. Notice where it is, how high or low, how dense, and the differences between the center and the outside. This helps you realize that emotions aren't as scary as they seem.
The Impact on Decision-Making
Emotions drive everything, even though we like to think of ourselves as logical. By learning to feel the feelings, we can make better decisions. Joe shared his origin story of how he learned to deal with emotions after being kicked out of a house.
Psychological Backing
Modern psychology, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), supports the idea that suppressing difficult feelings makes them stronger, while acceptance allows them to pass naturally.
Addressing Real Consequences
Some might argue that it's not just the feeling but the real consequences of taking action. Joe responds by suggesting imagining the worst-case scenario and how you would feel if you were at peace with it. This helps you realize how much of your decision is based on emotions.
The Role of Emotions in CEOs' Decisions
Even billionaire CEOs have to come to terms with the fact that their decisions are emotional. Once they see the power of approaching feelings in a different way, they embrace it as it provides another avenue to clarity.
Habit 3: The Enjoyment Compass
The Analogy of Speed and Efficiency
Joe uses the analogy of a car to explain the difference between speed and efficiency. A fast car moves quickly from A to B, while an efficient car uses less fuel. Top performers seek efficiency rather than speed.
Hudson's First Law: Enjoyment Equals Efficiency
Most people think of efficiency in terms of how quickly they get things done, rather than how much energy they use. Joe argues that enjoyment is a better measure of efficiency. If you enjoy a process, you're more likely to do it, do it more often, and do it better.
An Experiment
An experiment can be done to compare the productivity of doing a task for the dopamine hit (just getting it done quickly) versus doing it with enjoyment. When you enjoy a task, you're more likely to think about how to make the most of it, leading to better results.
Scientific Validation
The idea that enjoyment leads to efficiency is scientifically validated. The broaden and build theory, discovered by Barbara Frederickson, supports this concept.
The Social Benefit
People are more likely to want to be around those who are enjoying themselves. This can help with attracting talent and customers.
Addressing Objections
Some might object to the idea that enjoyment can be applied to all tasks, like being a taxi driver or a dishwasher. Joe argues that enjoyment comes from how you do something, not just what you do. By being creative, there's always a way to enjoy something 5 - 10% more.
Using Enjoyment as a Diagnostic Tool
In a company, tracking enjoyment can be a great diagnostic tool. By asking employees to rate their enjoyment of meetings, you can identify areas of inefficiency and predict what might fail in the future.
Applying to Solo Work
Individuals can also apply this concept to their own work. By rating their enjoyment during a work session and analyzing how to improve it, they can gain interesting insights and take action.
Overcoming the Fear of Unprofessionalism
Some might worry that doing a task in an enjoyable way would make it unprofessional or not good enough. Joe argues that most innovation comes from doing things differently, and if you enjoy doing something, it's likely to be done well.
Habit 4: The Anti-Discipline Method
The Problem with "Shoulding" Yourself
Most of us try to motivate ourselves through willpower, obligation, guilt, or a constant internal monologue of "I should do this." Joe teaches that this approach creates internal friction and often backfires.
The Resistance to Force
Forcing yourself to do something creates a natural resistance. It's like working with dirty fuel, wasting a lot of energy. Instead, top performers recognize the importance of alignment and enjoyment.
The Sail Metaphor
The author uses the metaphor of a boat, where the action is the rowing or engine, and the amount of enjoyment is the sail. Enjoyment helps you go with the wind, making the journey easier.
The Reality of CEOs
Contrary to popular belief, many successful CEOs are not highly disciplined in the traditional sense. They are aligned with their work, enjoy it, and delegate tasks they don't like.
Choosing to Do Things
If there's something you have to do but don't want to, first ask if it really needs to be done. If it does, recognize that you're choosing to do it because you don't want to face the consequences. Then, look for ways to make the process more enjoyable.
The Power of "Want" over "Should"
The word "should" is a motivation killer. An experiment can be done by saying "I should do something" and then "I really want to do something" to feel the difference in energy.
The Myth of Inaction without "Should"
Some might think that without "shoulding" themselves, they would do nothing. However, natural evolution and the example of unschooling show that when people are not burnt out by self - coercion, they will eventually get motivated.
Eliminating "Shoulds" in Business
In business, eliminating "shoulds" can lead to more efficient and enjoyable work. For example, instead of feeling obligated to post on LinkedIn, find ways to make it something you want to do.
Duty and Obligation
Some might question where duty and obligation fit into this narrative. Joe argues that by breaking down what you're truly obligated to do and finding the underlying wants, you can turn obligation into something more fulfilling.
The Difference between Duty and Love
Joe believes that duty and love are different and cannot coexist. He doesn't feel obligated to feed his kids; he wants to because he loves them.
Overcoming Guilt about Non - Productivity
The feeling of guilt when not being productive often comes from learned behavior. By recognizing this, you can break free from the cycle.
Applying to Business Goals
If you want a particular outcome but resist the actions to get there, first understand the need behind the want. Then, realize that there are often multiple ways to achieve the goal, and you don't have to do things you don't enjoy.
Habit 5: Escaping Time Poverty
The State of Time Poverty
Most of us operate in a state of time poverty, feeling rushed, reacting to urgent demands, and struggling to keep up.
Time as an Ally
The top 0.1% cultivate a relationship with time where it becomes their ally. They don't work for time; time works for them.
Planting Seeds for the Future
They focus on long-term goals and plant seeds today that will bloom in the future. For example, investing in oneself, like learning to be a better speaker or communicator, can pay off in the long run.
Prioritizing High-Impact Tasks
Instead of just checking things off a to-do list for the dopamine hit, they look for the one or two tasks that will make everything else easier or go away.
The Importance of Not Rushing
Rushing leads to missing things. The phrase "slow is steady, steady is fast" holds true. Sleep - deprived and rushed people are less productive than those who take their time.
Personal Reflections
The author shares his personal takeaways from Joe's teachings. He recommends listening to Joe's podcast, "The Art of Accomplishment." The view framework has improved his marriage, and the idea of dealing with emotions when making decisions has provided more clarity.
Conclusion
By mastering these five habits - the iterative mindset, changing the relationship with failure, using the enjoyment compass, eliminating "shoulds," and escaping time poverty - you can become more successful and experience more joy and fulfillment. If you're interested in achieving your goals, check out the author's other video on the topic.
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