The newsletter which curates & delivers the best mind hacks, mental health tips & high performance strategies to you every single week.

🚀 LIFE HACK

9 Actionable Steps To Surround Yourself With Great People… (Proven To Positively Impact Your Health, Income, Relationship & Happiness!)

As Goethe said...

As Jim Rohn said...

Or, as philosopher & great stoic, Seneca, said it very poetically almost 2 millenniums prior (before his death in 65 AD)...

The impacts of our environment — specifically, the people who we spend time, voluntarily or not — on our beliefs, behaviors & our results in life is tremendous…

What’s better, this isn’t just an intuitive or philosophical insight anymore either…

Thanks to modern scientific research & study, the impacts of the people one spends time with on their actions are well-documented backed up what the great thinkers & philosophers above suggest…

For example, based on the data of 12,067 people from 1971 to 2003 (32 years), as part of the Framingham Heart Study (one of the largest, longest-running health studies ever conducted!), researchers found that:

• Weight Gain: if your friends are overweight/obese, your risk of obesity is 45% higher than normal over the next 2-4 years…

• Smoking: you're 61% more likely to become a smoker yourself if you are friends with people who smoke…

• Happiness: if you’re friends with people who are happy (those who report high levels of life satisfaction) you’re more likely to be happy & experience high levels of life satisfaction in your own life too...

Conclusion: you should strive to spend time with people who think about the world & live their life as you’d like to & avoid those who will impact you in negative ways (‘bad influences’)

All of this does beg the question though… (which is the part that few ever talk about) & that’s this…

Assuming you know what you want in life…

Well, to kickstart this week's newsletter, we're going to cover 9 actionable steps you can explore to do exactly that...

1. Audit Your Circle (& Its Influence On You)

The first (& easiest) step you can take is to simply audit your existing circle (those you already know & spend time with), to become more aware of how these different people are either positively or negatively influencing you in various areas of your life…

…as well as how you can spend your time differently amongst just your existing friends...

2 . Become Aware Of The Influence

If you can’t do anything else, at least become more aware of when people are unconsciously influencing you...

For example, if your uncle is the total opposite of the type of person you want to be, you don’t have to ‘cut’ him from your life (same applies to all family & good friends, contrary to some extreme advice out there) by simply become much more aware of the influence he may be unconsciously having on you to reduce its effects...

Love him in this example. Care for him. Connect with him. Talk to him. However, intentionally decide with yourself that you don’t want to be influenced by him much.

Then listen more carefully to each word, knowing that you can choose to form better interpretations to the incoming information.

3. Go To The Right Places To Meet The Right People

The next & most obvious step is to go out into the world & to meet, connect with & spend time with new people…

There are, of course, countless ways to meet people… be it in a forum somewhere, in some group on social media, at a networking event, at a coffee shop, randomly on the subway, or through a connection passed along to you by a friend…

Although a good question to ask for this step & to optimize your search is…

If you wanted to find devoted Christians for example, where could you go? A church might be a good place to go…

What about fitness enthusiasts? Well, go to the gym at 6am in the morning — a time & place that draws the most committed individuals while repelling those who don’t prioritize their fitness as much.

The same applies to all types of people & groups…

Put simply, there are places where certain groups of people congregate, as well as certain things (like hobbies) that they tend to engage in in those places…

Using this information to put yourself in situations where you're much more likely statistically to bump into exactly the type of people you want to meet…

4. Work For Less (With Better People!)

Earning $67,000 per year working with a great group of people whose values align with yours, who are very happy, joyous, fulfilled & support you, is probably a better choice than earning $74,000/yr but working with people who you don’t like & don’t want to be like...

In that same way, earning less from clients inside a business that you love working with (& positively influence you in other ways) is usually a better choice than earning more from clients that bring you down...

Instead of just focusing on maximizing your short-term income, focus on creating the lifestyle you want (you’ll be grateful for this!)

5. Find Work That Literally ‘Forces’ You To Spend Time With Amazing People

Building on the last step, you can do work that literally ‘forces’ you to spend time with amazing people you can watch, observe & learn from...

If health & fitness is important to you, you can work at a gym.

This way you’ll literally be ‘forced’ to spend time with people who are, not saying ‘I’ll workout tomorrow’ but those who are working on their health today…

You can observe them. Listen to their conversations & absorb their outlook on health. You can learn how these people who actually go to the gym think about their fitness differently than those who don’t show up for exercise daily (& model these distinctions in mindset.)

Or, go work at a luxury 5-star hotel or coffee shop, a golf course, visit a high-end tailor, or eat at a fancy restaurant, as there you’ll get something much more financially rewarding than just your immediate paycheck: the ability to learn, listen to, observe & model the actions, behaviors & habits of highly wealthy individuals.

6. Get A Mentor (Or A Coach)

Oprah Winfrey was mentored by Maya Angelou. Henry David Thoreau was mentored by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Mark Zuckerberg was mentored by Steve Jobs. Leonardo Da Vinci was mentored by Andrea del Verrocchio. Raphael was mentored by Leonardo Da Vinci. The list goes on & on.

An incredibly high percentage of those who have reached a world-class level had mentors...

This doesn’t mean you can’t succeed without a mentor... but research continues to show how positively mentoring (or coaching) can impact learning speed & one’s progress to mastery…

7. Build A Platform

What do Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey, or to lesser extent, Tim Ferriss all have in common?

They can meet with virtually anyone they want…

And they want they can do that is through their platform that they invite people onto.

So, what’s the advice?

Start a blog. Launch a podcast. Create a fan page. Start a video channel. Whatever. You can build a ‘platform’ on which you can invite great people to share their wisdom (usually in the form of an interview between you & them) & get to know them in the process.

This is also based on the idea that successful people generally want to share... they want to express & many care deeply about their impact & legacy.

So, create a platform which allows them to do that & it will allow you to spend tons of quality time learning from them.

Speaking of that book, in it, he laid out another profound strategy for spending time with amazing people...

8. The ‘Master Mind’

Napoleon Hill defined a ‘Master Mind’ as a...

The idea is to, not just surround yourself with great people, but have them actually work together, in harmony, to brainstorm, plan & support each other…

And the idea of a ‘Master Mind’ is even more applicable today than it was back during its introduction as today we are more connected…

You can find/join an existing group (or create your own) easier than ever before…

In the book Principles, Ray Dalio (one of the most successful hedge-fund managers of all time) starts by saying that his success has more to do with his ability to deal with his ‘not-knowing of things’ than anything that he knows…

And one of the things Ray Dalio would repeatedly do was put all his investment speculations, assumptions & predictions under the scrutiny of smart people around him (a ‘Master Mind’ of sorts - similar to Andrew Carnegie.)

You can join a ‘Master Mind’ & meetup regularly to exchange ideas, advise & suggestions — which you can even do it through the internet so no travel is required.

9. The Virtual ‘Master Mind’

There are brilliant people who you would probably love to learn from who

• 1) unfortunately have passed away, or…

• 2) who are alive, but you don’t have access to.

What if you were part of a ‘Master Mind’ group with all of these incredible world leaders who were giving you ideas, advise & suggestions for your life?

Well, it’s possible (if you’re willing to get creative).

And it’s through this idea of a ‘Virtual Master Mind...’

Just as some people get help making key decisions in life by asking themselves things like, ‘What would my grandma do?’ & feel as if their grandma is actually giving them suggestions (because they know exactly what grandma would say if she was sitting right in front of them).

Well, you can do the same with the life of anyone else you want...

If you learn about certain people enough — read biographies, research their life story, watch documentaries, etc — at a certain point, you begin to know what they would say in a given moment (almost as if they were right in front of you!)

Simply put: as you get to know their past, their beliefs & what they would do in given situations, you can then close your eyes, ask yourself ‘What would this person do here?’ & have great answers flood to you as if they came directly from these great individuals…

Now, repeat this with several individuals you look up to, really getting to know as much as you possibly can about them & you have your ‘Virtual Master Mind’ — a group of people you know or don’t, dead or alive, giving you advice as if they were sitting around your dinner table in person!

So, if you don’t have people in person you can be positively influenced by, that’s not an excuse either…

Instead, learn about people you look up to, get to know what they would advise & use this strategy of a ‘Virtual Master Mind.’

You can use these 9 actionable steps to spend time with people who are going to bring you up, support you & positively influence you to make smarter decisions & get better results.

💭 QUOTE OF THE WEEK

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‎‍🕒 PRODUCTIVITY HACK

Take Strategic Breaks… (To Boost Overall Productivity, Consistently Get Into ‘Flow’ State & Get Better Results)

What if we told you that one of the best ways to improve your productivity (if you do it in a smart way that is) is to… take breaks.

It’s true & here’s why + how…

Most people, on one side, get distracted by countless things during the workday… (we already offered the work structure that solves this — called ‘focus blocks’ — in a previous newsletter)

Yet, at the same time, they also don't get the benefit of taking breaks either because as they just attempt to power through the entire day (except for a lunch break, or when they need to go to the restroom)...

The problem with this, as the research once again proves, is that you start to see a sharp decline in focus & productivity over time...

Which is completely normal & natural…

If you use your body, it gets tired, fatigued & needs a break before it can keep going… the same applies to your mind; to the brain.

But most ignore this & just attempt to power through, like this:

And then, at the end of the day... (or the end of a week, or month, or year of working like this…) you crash!

Or, over many weeks, months, or years... you can even completely burn out (as you can also see here in this graphic above too ^).

Rest & recovery is critical for sustain high performance...

But, not just over the course of a day, week, month, or a year... but during the day as well…

If you want to be more focused & ultimately, more productive, over the long-term, you need to take breaks/recovery time.

How much?

And how often through?

Well, the research seems to indicate that, during the day, you should be taking a mini break every 60-120 minutes.

Which means, let's say you complete 60 or 90 minutes of focused, uninterrupted, distraction-free work… what should you do next?

Well, you should take a 5 - 10 minute break.

Let your mind rest for these few minutes...

Then come back & continue onto your next block of work.

By doing this, you're able to perform a lot, lot better over time...

Plus, over the long term & taking longer breaks (days off during the week & weeks off during the year) you don't risk 'burnout' which can wipe you out physically, mentally & emotionally for many months...

And so, while it may seem more appealing to just go at it non-stop (‘hustle culture’), it's much more sensible to take breaks, to rest & to recover...

Here's the framework (the comparison between taking breaks & not taking breaks over time):

^ This is much more sustainable & better over the long-term 😃 

If you’d like to learn more about how to boost focus, productivity & sustain high performance over time, check this out:

"Laser-Like Focus: How To Eradicate Distraction & Create Laser-Like Focus On Demand"