Advice for Achieving Wealth and Personal Growth

Success demands self-awareness, intentionality, and the courage to embrace change for growth.

### 40 Essential Life Lessons for Achieving Success and Wealth
* 💡 At 44, reflecting on my journey, I would advise my 20-year-old self to **avoid becoming proficient in things I dislike**, as **passion drives success**.
* ⏰ Establishing a consistent sleep schedule can enhance productivity, with the **compounding effect of daily discipline** leading to **greatness over time**.
* 🏋 Prioritizing health is crucial; a **healthy body fuels ambition**, while neglect can **reduce one's focus and energy**.
* 🤝 Surrounding myself with **supportive individuals who uplift and challenge me** has been transformative, contrasting with past relationships that **drained my energy**.
* 🌍 It's important to allow others to exist in their chosen reality without argument, focusing my energy on **personal growth** instead.
* 🤲 Humility should not be confused with self-deprecation; true humility is about **serving others while maintaining self-worth and confidence**.
* 🔄 Challenges often arise just before significant breakthroughs, serving as tests of **commitment and resolve** to achieve my goals.
* 📚 Finally, a commitment to **lifelong learning and self-improvement**, alongside setting **clear standards for how I wish to be treated**, lays the foundation for a **successful and fulfilling life**.

At the time of this recording, I'm 44 years old. If I could go back and talk to my 20-year-old self and give some advice on how to get rich a lot faster, here's what I would say. Number one: Don't make the mistake of becoming good at something you hate. When I started off, I thought I had to get great at everything, and it turns out that if you don't like something, if you hate doing numbers or doing sales calls or even doing customer support, when you get good at something you like doing, you can pay somebody else to take the things that you hate doing. Number two: Go to bed and wake up at the exact same time every day. If you take anything away from this video, having the time that you wake up every day to create, to be productive, and go to bed on time, most problems would actually be solved if you went to bed on time. The longer you do this for, it will compound into greatness. Number three: Your body is the only one you have. Take care of it. When people are healthy, they

have a thousand goals and dreams they want to go after. When they're sick, they have one: get healthy. Most people treat their body like a beat-up car, not like the million thoroughbred horse it actually is. If you've got the energy, you've got the focus, and you can push forward, you're going to run laps around everybody. Number four: stay close to people that want more for you, not from you. When I was growing up, all I had was people around me that were energy vampires. They kept sucking my energy and asking for things and never ever giving anything in return. And when I decided to do a friend inventory and clean up those people and start adding folks that wanted more for me, that pushed me, that expected me to do bigger things with my life, and they were my biggest cheerleaders, everything changed. Number five: normalize leaving people in whatever reality they have chosen. I used to argue with people. I used to get frustrated when people would try to sell me on their philosophy of living a life.

that's not too stressed out, and why do you need to have more? Can't you be happy with what you have? I realized that energy is better spent being better. That energy is better invested, surrounding myself with people that were also on that shared journey. The cool part is I don't get upset anymore; I just don't acknowledge it. I just allow them to stay in that reality that they've chosen, and every once in a while, you'll inspire them to come ask you how you've been doing it. Number six, being humble isn't about thinking less of yourself; it's about thinking of yourself less. People sometimes misunderstand my confidence in what I'm doing or the way I communicate as not humble. The truth is I'm all about service. You thinking small or being timid in your actions is actually not going to inspire or help anybody else, so put other people first but don't think less of yourself. Number seven, you get tested the most when it's your time to level up. This one I've seen

over and over and over again. When I was recording the audio for my book, I got the flute. When I was about to hit a new PR at the gym, I injured myself. When I was about to have a record month, somebody quit. And it's interesting how right when you're about to break through something in your life, something happens. And I always remind myself in those moments, I get to prove to myself that I'm as good as I think I am. When things are going great, anytime I'm being tested, I just remind myself, God is asking me, do you really, really want this? Number eight, improving yourself daily is the only addiction you need. I am addicted to the expansion of my being. I love waking up every day a little bit better, a little bit more refined, a little bit more focused, a little stronger, a little more confident, a little bit more full of joy, a little bit more full of grace. If you wake up with the attitude of just 1% better every day, and if you have a step

back that's okay. Give yourself a break, but just keep focusing on being better. Make that obsession the thing you go find every day that will change your whole life. Number nine is you teach people how to treat you. I see this all the time where someone is responding to a text message, and then they're upset that the person didn't email them, or a customer cancels a meeting, and you say nothing, and then they continuously cancel meetings on you, and you're just like, Why do they always do that? You teach people how to treat you. If you don't set your standard, you don't communicate your preference, if you don't hold that standard, then people around you are going to continue to do things that frustrate you because you haven't said anything. Whereas the first time they do it, and you tell them, that becomes the new norm. They will treat you differently, just like somebody who's always late. If you allow them to be late, you never leave without them, then they'll never learn the lesson, and you've taught them that that's okay.

number 10. It's better to admit you walked through the wrong door than to spend a lot of time in the wrong room. See, oftentimes we're born into a city that we didn't choose, a school that we didn't choose, a friend group honestly we didn't really choose; they just sat next to us in high school. And instead of acknowledging that maybe that scenario, that place isn't the best for us, and moving on, we stay in it way too long. And I will tell you, the faster you can acknowledge and move, the better your life's going to be. Number 11. You waiting for a sign is a sign. Back when I was a teenager, I made a series of bad decisions that landed me in jail. And in that moment, I turned to God and I said, Show me a sign. The fact that I was asking was the sign. The fact that I needed him was proof. The fact that I was at Rock Bottom sometimes is God showing you that he is the rock at the bottom. So you don't need another sign if you want

one this is it number 12. Nothing you've gone through has made you weaker. Anytime somebody's struggling or having an issue in their business or their personal life, I always remind them that you've gone through worse, you've made it through it, and the reason why you are who you are today is because of those conflicts, those challenges, those setbacks. We don't get better without having to go through things. This is just another opportunity for you to grow. Number 13. Everything wants you when you want nothing. The person that has the most power, the most confidence, the most status in a room, is a person that needs nothing from anybody else. When you come off as somebody that's needy, it feels that way, that energy is kind of like icky. When you can get to a place where you don't need anything and you focus on you and what you can control, that's actually when abundance is going to show up into your life. Number 14. You have to be willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time to be successful. If you have a

vision for your life that is bigger than anything anybody around you today is trying to do. Then they won't understand why you do what you do, and that's normal. It means they're going to misunderstand you. They're not going to understand why you're doing certain things, why you're sacrificing, why you're showing up a certain way, and that's okay. Because all those people that misunderstood you will brag about being your friend once you win. Number 15: When things get easy, go hard. Every time I get to another level and things start getting easy, I remind myself how I used to act when I was starting off. Most people start to climb that mountain, have some success, and then chill out. My whole thing is, why am I not acting the same way I was when I had nothing? Because I had a vision for my life. It was way bigger. And if anything, you should go hard when things start getting easy to remind yourself that you're still fighting for the bigger dreams. Number 16: Only ask for advice.

from people who have been where you want to go. If the person giving you advice has never achieved the thing you want to do, then their strategy is going to be flawed. It doesn't matter how many books they've read. It doesn't matter how many things they think other people have done. It doesn't matter how many stories that they share about things they heard from somebody else. If they themselves have not done it, then their feedback is going to be tainted. It's going to be flawed. And honestly, they're going to give you the wrong blueprint to achieve. So always find the people that have been to the place you want to be and ask them for their advice. Number 17, the word no is a complete sentence. You're allowed to just say no. I know that you're worried about hurting people's feelings, but what about your feelings? Have you ever said yes to somebody and you went to a thing and then you're there and you're like, Why am I here? Or you get on a call with

somebody that you don't know that somebody introduced to you 3 months ago, and you're like, Why am I on this call? You're allowed to just say no, and a no today is a yes to your future. Number 18: Don't dim your light to make other people feel comfortable. If you shine in your light and being who you are and be authentically yourself blinds other people because that is too much for them, then I'd rather you be too much, and they can go find less. Number 19: Have a primary aim for your life. People ask me all the time, Why are you so motivated? My response is, Why are you not more motivated? I know why I'm here. I know what my life is going to stand for. I know what my purpose is. When we have that primary aim, it becomes the fuel to pull us forward to achieve some incredible things in our lives. Number 20: Stop reading books; start studying them. See, there's a difference. If I'm reading a book just to say I read it, I'm not

going to retain it if I'm reading a book 'cause I'm studying it to not only apply to my life to then teach other people. That consumption, that level of comprehension is going to change and shift my beliefs, my actions, and the way I show up for other people. That's what it means to study a book. Number 21: always assume positive intent. You're driving, somebody cuts you off. You can use that moment to get road rage and get pissed off and start flipping them the bird and screaming at them and then take the whole morning processing how that person did you wrong. Or you can assume positive intent, that maybe they're in a rush 'cause somebody they love is in the hospital. Either one is as likely to be true. The second one enables you to not emotionally over-respond, keeping you focused on your dreams. Number 22: put your own mask on first before helping others. When the plane's going down, they tell you put the mask on so that you have the capacity to help people around you. Most of you guys get distracted by other

people's dramas, other issues, and it takes you off of your pursuit to becoming better. The truth is you can't help those other people until you get the resources. So, if you keep getting distracted, Ed, and you don't get those resources by the time they really need your help, you're not going to be ready for it. Number 23: look for problems, don't avoid them. I can tell you that the quality of your life, the size of your life, is correlated to the size of problems you have in your life. So, instead of being worried about having big problems, actually go find bigger problems to solve. Number 24: your new life will cost you your old one. If you want to move forward, it's going to require you to change the way you've been, which will mean that how you've been living will not work for the future, 'cause if it did, you'd already have the things you want. So, if you're not willing to reassess, let go, cut things out of your life, then you'll always be held

back from your past, from creating a brighter future. Number 25: Confidence comes from keeping the commitments you make to yourself in private. Most of you want more confidence, but the truth is, you rob that confidence every time you make a commitment that nobody else knows about, and you don't follow through. You don't get up at 5:00 a.m. when you said you would. You don't go to the gym when you said you would. You don't eat clean when you said you would. And every time you do that, you chip away at your confidence to the point where you start having self-doubt, anxiety, imposter syndrome. Number 26: Dedicate a decade, not a day. Some people go to the gym once, and they can't shut up about it. They're like, Oh my God, I got an arm pump. That was so great. I'm not impressed with anybody that does something for a day, a week, a month, even for a year. When you're willing to dedicate a decade of your time, energy, focus, and resources to

achieving something, trust me, the world will cude in your favor to be great. Number 27: treat others the way you want to be treated. If you want more love in your life, then give more love. If you want higher quality relationships, then be a better friend. The more you show up with respect, with motivation, with positivity, with non-judgment, the rest of the world will treat you the exact same way. Number 28: tell people about them. The most powerful thing you have is the acknowledgment of somebody doing something great in your life. You never know when that word, that sentence, that moment might be the thing that actually could have saved somebody's life. And I know that sounds dramatic, but I've seen it happen so many times. You have no idea what people are going through around you, and that one compliment at the right time for the right person might be the thing they needed to stop a downward spiral. Number 29: if you keep running into bad people, you may be the problem. I was training with my buddy the other day.

and he's a bit of a complainer. I was like, Hey man, do you realize that you complain a lot? He's like, I've never really noticed that. I was like, Yeah, and I bet your friends complain a lot because misery loves company. So if a lot of drama is in your life, you might be the person creating the drama. It's nobody else's fault. Like, go look in a mirror. Number 30: Avoid drama and gossip at all costs. If you want to be a high-level person, don't spend time in drama and gossip. They're allergic to it. As soon as they hear it, they run away from it. Why? Because they're spending all their time in a place of opportunity and creation in the future, and in that space, there's no place for that drama and that gossiping. Number 31: Fear gives bad advice. In those dark periods, those moments where you want to give up, where you just feel like you've had enough, just know that that is when you are giving yourself the worst advice. Don't

take it from you. Find somebody else. Give them the scenario and ask maybe two or three people. That's the best way to overcome those moments where you're full of fear. Number 32: It's never too late to change. I don't care if you're 87 or 27. I'm telling you today, in this moment, you have an opportunity to decide to change your life. And everybody had to take that first step. I had to take that first step. I had to start at zero. Everybody goes through it, and today could be the day for you. Number 33: Get rid of all your vices. And I'm talking about all of them. Talking about the gambling, the porn, the social media, the news, the sugar, the friends, the drama. Some of you guys are addicted to things that you don't realize are holding you back. If you want more, you have to let things go from the past so that you have space for the more. Number 34: If you're addicted to your phone, your life just isn't interesting enough. If the best thing you got is

being distracted by Doom scrolling on social media. Go pick up some hobbies. Go get around people that are living life a little bit more exciting. I'm telling you, if you start doing things in the real world that freak you out, that scare you a little bit, that push you over your edge, that's way more interesting than you just sitting there getting these dopamine hits on social media. Number 35: Take on as much responsibility as you can. You've got capacity. Offer to help people, especially people that are in a position to serve you and your dream going forward. Always say yes. Always say yes. The person that's always available will figure out through that overwhelm how to get more done, and eventually, you'll be the person that they default to to get involved in really cool projects. Number 36: Don't blame anybody else but yourself. I'm talking anybody. I'm talking all circumstances. At the end of the day, as soon as you blame somebody else for where you're at, you lose control. As soon as you acknowledge that nobody's coming to save you and that you

are in control of your life, your decisions, your circumstances, and no matter what anybody else is doing, you will then unlock the ability to move forward. If it's other people that need to like me or do things to be successful, I'll never win. Number 37: be blissfully dissatisfied with where you're at in life, and I got this from my coach, Ed Milet. You want to understand that what you've got today, you should be crazy grateful for, as little or as big as it is. But at the same time, know and believe that you are here and created for something more, and that's the dissatisfied part. It sounds like a dichotomy, but I'm telling you, you can have gratitude and at the same time realize you were created for more. Number 38: make time for what matters to you. If you tell me your family's important, your girlfriend's important, your best friend's important, show me in your calendar where you've dedicated time to it. See, a lot of people say things are important, but they don't make them a

priority any new request from strangers end up in their calendar way before the thing that they said is important. If it matters to you, you make time for it. Number 39: respect comes from admiration, not fear. I look up to people that are givers, that have done big things. I'm not looking up to people or respecting folks just 'cause I'm scared of what they might do to me or they won't accept me. For example, you might have a boss, and you're worried they're going to fire you all the time. That person isn't a good person. I want to follow a leader that's going to hold me to a higher standard, that's also going to show up and coach me to become better. That's somebody I admire. When you can change your frame to find the people that you admire because of how they show up in the world as a giver, you'll change because you're not going to dim your light to help somebody that wasn't going to help you unless it helped them. Number 40: life is a mirror.

not a window. See a lot of you guys are spending time looking out the windows, comparing yourself to other people, and the truth is your life is a reflection of who you are. The world isn't as it is; the world is as you are, and it is a mirror. So, if you want the rest of the thing to get better, you got to get better, and it's based on what you see when you look in that mirror. Are you capable? Are you creating? Are you pushing forward? That's the most powerful lesson out of all of them. If you want to learn the eight Money Rules that I wish I knew in my 20s, click the link, and I'll see you on the other side.

40 Brutal Truths I Wish I Knew in My 20s

Dan Martell

Don't waste time getting good at things you hate; focus on what you enjoy and delegate the rest.

Establish a consistent sleep schedule to boost productivity and overall well-being.

Surround yourself with positive, supportive people and prioritize your own self-improvement every day.

Teaching people how to treat you is crucial for setting boundaries and standards.

Acknowledging when you're in the wrong situation and moving on quickly can lead to a better life.

Wanting nothing from others brings power and confidence, while being misunderstood on your journey to success is normal.

Seek advice from those who have achieved what you want to do, as their insights will be more valuable.

It's okay to say no and prioritize your own feelings and goals.

Have a clear purpose in life, study books for deeper understanding, assume positive intent in others' actions, and take care of yourself first before helping others.

Keys to Personal Growth and Helping Others

Helping others requires first gaining the necessary resources, so distractions should be avoided.

Embracing and seeking out bigger problems to solve can lead to a more fulfilling life.

Building confidence comes from keeping commitments to oneself, and dedicating a decade to a goal is more impactful than short-term efforts.

Complaining can create drama in your life, so it's important to recognize and avoid it.

Fear often leads to giving bad advice, so seek input from others during tough times.

It's never too late to change your life, and letting go of vices can create space for new opportunities.

Key Principles for Personal Growth and Success

Taking control of your life and decisions is crucial for moving forward.

It's important to be grateful for your current situation while also striving for more.

Making time for what matters and respecting others through admiration, not fear, can lead to meaningful relationships and personal growth.