Chapter 1: Understanding the Role of Speed

There's a fundamental principle we must acknowledge:

Time deteriorates everything.

In more scientific terms:

All systems tend to progress from a state of order to disorder. Thus, everything is in a constant state of decay. The only variable is the speed of that decay.

In simpler words: Everything is falling apart.

This includes you, me, the chair you're sitting on, your car, that mountain—everything in sight is subject to decay.

What varies is how quickly these things are deteriorating.

However, here's the fascinating part: humans possess the capability to slow down or even reverse this decay…

We achieve this by infusing energy into a system.

Now let’s get a bit technical. Formulas for Life

To rephrase Newton's First Law of Motion:

An object at rest remains at rest, while an object in motion continues in motion.

This concept is crucial to grasp, especially when you’re embarking on your journey to earn money or launch your first venture; at that point, you are essentially at rest.

You lack traction, forward motion, and inertia in your favor.

Therefore, initiating that flywheel is the first challenge you must conquer.

To achieve this, we need to provide sufficient energy to set the system in motion.

Now, let’s delve deeper:

The kinetic energy of a moving object is essential to our discussion, as it's directly correlated to the object's mass and the square of its speed.

But here’s the key takeaway: the importance of speed cannot be overstated in this equation.

The rate at which we introduce energy into a system is nearly everything.

To connect this with the concepts of wealth creation or entrepreneurship, let’s break down the money-making formula:

Volume x Leverage = Wealth

Here, volume consists of two main components:

1. Duration: The length of time you engage in the activity.
2. Iteration: The number of times you repeat the activity.

If we consider the second aspect, the faster we execute a task, the more repetitions we can achieve.

Do you see how speed consistently emerges as a critical factor in our equations?

It is indeed a universal constant.

Now, among these two elements, which do you think is more significant?

Let’s evaluate the Success Formula:

Success = ((Skill x Hard Work x Duration) x Iterations) ^ Luck

When we lay out this formula, it's clear that Luck is the most pivotal element.

Many believe Luck is entirely beyond their control, but that’s a misconception. Here's a video that explains how to enhance your luck's surface area.

Now, putting Luck aside, let’s concentrate on the SECOND most critical variable in the Success Formula: Iterations.

As Naval aptly puts it:

"It's not about the 10,000 hours; it's about the 10,000 iterations."

The secret, then, is to accelerate the rate at which we iterate, allowing us to cycle through the Success Formula more frequently (thereby enhancing our chances of success).

Imagine this:

If you were playing baseball and could take an infinite number of swings, you'd eventually hit a home run.

Now, if we could cut the time between swings in half, you'd effectively double the number of home runs within the same timeframe.

Time and again, we return to the foundational principle that SPEED is a vital factor for success.

Let’s layer on another familiar idea:

Knowledge is power.

Unfortunately, that's only partly true.

Knowledge is merely potential power; it’s ineffective unless acted upon.

However, when we DO apply it, something intriguing occurs:

We learn.

Learning takes place when we apply theoretical knowledge in real-world scenarios.

This is crucial because, in almost every situation (especially regarding wealth creation), the fastest learner emerges victorious.

It’s only through action that we discover what works and what doesn’t.

There are countless things you remain unaware of until you attempt to do them, which is why Facebook's motto for a long time was: Move fast and break things.

The insights gained during the process of doing are far more valuable than the mistakes made along the way.

As I mentioned earlier, Time is detrimental to everything.

However, it particularly accelerates the decline of one thing: Motivation.

When dealing with motivation, remember this: Every moment that elapses between the inception of an idea and the commencement of meaningful action exponentially raises the likelihood of failure.

Many of us have encountered this firsthand.

You conceive a brilliant idea or lofty ambition. You dive into research, consume every relevant YouTube video, and read every book available. You gather as much information as possible to transition into the planning phase.

During this period, if you’re like most people, you document your grand idea as a goal and perhaps even share this exciting ambition with those around you.

But then, something shifts.

Time drags on, distancing you from the initial spark of inspiration. With each passing second, your excitement and motivation begin to wane.

This phenomenon explains why 80% of New Year's Resolutions fail to extend beyond January.

If you’ve ever seen a project fizzle out just weeks after you were so enthusiastic, you’ve experienced one of life’s harsh realities:

Inspiration is fleeting.

The Science of Motivation

Here’s a basic overview of neurobiology:

Your brain releases dopamine when you set a goal.

Dopamine is a fascinating neurotransmitter that rewards us for progressing toward an objective. It serves as the Motivation Molecule that propels us into action.

However, we’ve discovered ways to trick our brains into releasing cheap dopamine for merely SETTING a goal, rather than achieving it.

You see the issue with this, right?

Receiving rewards before undertaking the hard work makes it challenging to maintain motivation long enough to actually complete the task.

Typically, after three weeks of exposure, we become accustomed to this superficial dopamine boost and begin to lose interest in that project or goal.

Since nothing significantly alters in our lives except this fleeting dopamine rush and perhaps some notes on a whiteboard, we find ourselves no closer to our goal than when we began.

I was personally trapped in this cycle for the first 28 years of my life.

Things began to improve only when I realized two crucial points:

First, Discipline outweighs Motivation.

This is such a profound topic that it deserves its own video, so check it out here.

Second, I learned how to transform motivation into momentum, which I’ll share with you next.

In essence, we’ll learn how to capitalize on our inspiration to convert massive action into traction, leading to progress.

But first, we've discussed the significance of speed… but what exactly are we accelerating?

When it comes to generating wealth, two areas require increased speed:

1. Speed of Decision-Making
2. Speed of Execution

Enhancing Decision-Making Speed

"Every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." — Lao Tzu

For me, that first step isn’t physical; it’s mental.

It’s a decision.

A decision to advance, to take action… or to remain stagnant.

Many of us find it challenging to make significant decisions.

This makes sense because the Latin root of the word decision means to literally cut off.

It signifies that you eliminate all branching alternatives and options that could lead you in various directions and instead commit entirely to one path.

This can be daunting for most of us, as we often experience FOMO—the fear of missing out on what could have been.

Consequently, we often hesitate, dipping one foot in while keeping the other safely on the shore.

The outcome?

You never truly progress because you cannot reach the opposite shore until you fully commit and leap into the water.

So, the sooner you leap, the better; if nothing else, you’ll arrive at the other side to discover it’s not what you expected, allowing you to return and try again.

This is the Iterative Process we discussed earlier.

So, how can we enhance our decision-making speed and confidence?

One technique I find useful is maintaining a Decision Journal.

I previously created a video on this titled Master the Art of Decision Making, so feel free to check that out for a deeper dive.

Here are the key points:

There are just two essential questions to consider initially:

1. How crucial is this decision?
2. To what extent is this decision reversible?

For example, deciding what to have for lunch is reversible but not particularly significant.

These types of decisions should be made quickly, after which you can move on.

The same applies to decisions that are both reversible and trivial, like choosing which socks to wear.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter, so just make the decision and proceed.

Things become more complex when we face decisions that are both significant and difficult to reverse.

This is when we want to measure twice and cut once.

Tools like the Decision Journal can help clarify the implications of a decision before you make it.

However, here’s the important part:

Once a decision is made, the outcomes typically depend less on the decision's quality and more on the Speed and Quality of Execution.

In fact, most decisions can be made to work with the right amount of execution.

In my experience, Speed and Quality of Execution result from focus and a clear vision.

If you can envision your destination clearly and have constructed a solid plan to reach it, all that remains is to execute to the best of your ability.

Now here's something intriguing:

The skill of execution improves with practice.

The more you engage in it, the better you become.

So, if I could offer one piece of advice, it would be: just do more.

No kidding—whatever path you’ve chosen to generate income or build a business, just do more of it.

Over time, you’ll excel at it… after which you can concentrate on doing less but doing it better.

But not until you've established a baseline competency through sheer repetition.

To further illustrate this point, let me share: The Pottery Story

Once upon a time, an art instructor divided her class into two groups.

She informed Group One that their entire grade for the semester would hinge on the quality of a single vase they would create throughout the term.

Conversely, Group Two would be graded solely on the number of vases they produced over the same period.

So, we had one group focused on quality and the other on quantity.

What do you think happened?

Surprisingly, the quantity-focused group not only crafted MORE vases… but their vases were significantly BETTER than those produced by the quality group.

Here’s the lesson:

Increased practice typically enhances your chances of success.

Let’s rewind a bit…

Earlier, I mentioned that the longer the interval between conceiving an idea and initiating meaningful action increases the risk of failure…

But what does meaningful action entail?

My friend Shaan Puri has developed what he calls a Project Kickoff. Let’s dissect that.

The Project Kickoff

This is a straightforward five-step process:

1. Define what winning looks like

It surprises me how few people take the time to clarify what winning means before launching a project.

As a result, many traverse life feeling like they’re failing at nearly everything.

The astounding part is that YOU get to dictate the rules of the game you’re playing, so winning can be defined however you wish.

When determining what winning looks like, be specific about what constitutes a good outcome versus a phenomenal one.

2. Set two clear and measurable goals

One should be your ambitious goal, while the other is your OVER THE MOON goal.

In both cases, ensure the goals are measurable and have deadlines.

For example: I aim to lose 15 pounds by February 15th or I want to generate an extra $10,000 by the end of this month.

3. Establish your anti-goals

This is simply a way of expressing: I don’t want to achieve this goal if it comes at the expense of this, this, or that.

For instance: I don’t want to lose 15 pounds if it means skipping dinner with my partner once a week or I don’t want to earn an additional $10,000 this month if it means missing more than three of my kids’ soccer games.

Anti-goals articulate the price you ARE and ARE NOT willing to pay in pursuit of a goal.

4. Create a Back of the Envelope Roadmap

Don’t confuse this with an exhaustive business plan or detailed process.

All you’re aiming to do is identify the major milestones and potential obstacles.

That’s it.

Don’t overthink it.

Just ensure it’s adequate enough and then swiftly move on to:

5. Gain one hour of momentum IMMEDIATELY

This is where motivation meets action, resulting in traction.

This is THE most critical aspect of the process.

The objective here is to spend one hour taking significant, meaningful action.

Perhaps it’s constructing a functional landing page or outlining a new product to present to a friend for feedback.

Whatever it is, ideally, by the end of this hour, you should have something tangible to display for your effort.

Something that you can hold up and proudly say:

Look at this; I made this. This is REAL.

By accomplishing this, you'll have tackled the hardest part.

You’ve transformed an object at rest and altered its relationship with the world.

Now it’s in motion, and if you continue to infuse energy into the system with speed, it will accelerate until it becomes UNSTOPPABLE.

Stay Hyperfocused, My Friend.

AV

Don't feel like reading?

Watch the video here instead.

In this video, Dr. Joe Vitale discusses the significance of a positive money mindset and the importance of speed in financial matters.

In this video, Joe Vitale explains unconventional methods to attract money more quickly, emphasizing the principle that money loves speed.