Welcome to The Vault.
Every Sunday, I send out ten pieces of winningcore—insights, lessons, and stories to help you win in business, sports, and life.
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On Focus
On Focus (Again)
“This sounds really simplistic but it still shocks me how few people actually practice this. And it’s a struggle to practice. It’s this issue of focus. Steve [Jobs] was the most remarkably focused person i’ve ever met in my life. And the thing with focus is it’s not this thing you aspire to or decide on Monday, “oh i’m gonna be focused”. It is an every minute thing. You can achieve so much when you truly focus. One of the things that Steve would say—because I think he was concerned that I wasn’t—he would say, “how many things have you said no to?” And I would have these sacrificial things that I’d tell him, but he knew that I didn’t really want to do them, so there was no real sacrifice. What focus means is saying no to something that you think with every bone in your body is a phenomenal idea and you wake up thinking about it, but you say no to it because you’re focusing on something else.”
– Jony Ive
On Passion
On Obsession-Maxxing
This guy set the record at 180% then trained for another 9 months to hit 200%. Half of me laments at what this guy could accomplish if he applied himself to something useful. The other half thinks this is f*cking incredible and obsession justifies itself. If you have an interesting take on this, drop it in the comments.
On Soulless Goals
‘Don’t get psyopped by online success p*rn into making a private jet and $100k watch your highest ambition in life. They’re soulless goals—unworthy of your attention and antithetical to the unleashing of your spirit. You should chase winning because you were born a winner. You should pursue victory because it calls out to you. You should envelop yourself in the thrill of the chase and the glory of progress because ascension is the best game ever created. Material possessions and high status experiences will come as a byproduct. Pay them zero attention as you attack the mission.’
– @winning.therapy
Imagine if Napoleon’s greatest ambition was fine silk robes and the fastest horses in France. Imagine if Caesar had obsessed over owning the finest palace in Rome. Imagine if any of the great men you revere had drooled over material possessions and high status experiences. How disappointing. How sad. How unworthy of such great spirits to lust after such soulless goals.
On The Creative Act
Thoughts and habits not conducive to the work:
– Rick Rubin, The Creative Act (h/t @dustinthomas)
On Overnight Success
“People talk about, “wow you’ve had such success and it’s just been so overnight and whatever”. Well, whatever success I’ve got has come after like 8 years of just nothing working out.”
– Quentin Tarantino
PSA: It always takes time. Even when it looks like it didn’t.
On Brain Plasticity
– @kpaxs
On Using Your Life Well
“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly” – Marcus Aurelius
On Going To War (With Yourself)
— Robert Greene
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