Transcription
They really brainwashed an entire generation of founders to look up to someone like Alex Hermoszi instead of someone like Naval. Ramen Kant. Herzosi's philosophy dominates founder culture. It's about sacrifice, push, out grind everyone else, out work. How much do you want it?
I'm only talking about this because I used to do that. I used to be the one who sacrificed everything. And I want to say that building something great does require a lot of sacrifice. It does require a lot of push. But the problem with pushing lies in the long-term effects. I would argue that a lot of people end up empty-handed. Not financially, but spiritually and mentally. You end up burning yourself out. You end up really having to drop everything. You end up losing these important things in your life that you didn't pay attention to because you were so focused on the thing that you thought you wanted. Quite frankly, you're building a prison and calling it a business. You're on a hamster wheel chasing the next thing, never quite getting enough.
So, if you're someone who's already figured out a lot of the life stuff, a lot of the business stuff, but deep down inside you know that something's off, you're not quite the person you want to be. You're not showing up in the way that you want. You're not joyous, you're not having fun, you're not cracking jokes, you're holding on, and you feel like something's off, but you can't put your finger on it. This video is for you because I think Naval has figured this out and he argues it in such a beautiful way and his philosophy has really changed my life and counterintuitively it not only did it make me more happy and more present and more joyous but it also made my businesses grow even faster.
So what's the difference between Hormosi and Naval? Hormosi's philosophy is all about ruthless execution. It's about knowing what to do and then just doing it. It's about execution and sacrifice. Whereas Naval says that you must find something that feels like play to you and like work to others. Sheer execution and force and ambition, he says, is not enough to contribute in a meaningful way. You are sacrificing, yes, but you're also enjoying the act of sacrificing. You're enjoying the thing that you're doing. So even if there wouldn't be anything at the end, even if you wouldn't get anything at the end, you're still happy.
I think the biggest difference between Hormosi and Naval is the time difference. Hormosi's time horizon is much shorter. It's like what can you do today, which is extremely important. Extremely important. But Naval's time horizon is what's your life's work? What's your contribution to the world? How do you contribute to the best of your ability to the capitalistic society? Another difference, Hormosi says that you escape the competition with the sheer volume of work you're going to do. And Naval says that you escape competition with finding something that's so uniquely yours that no one else can compete.
Hormosi is talking about the game, right? He's like, play the game. But Naval is not playing the game. He's an investor, yes, but he doesn't have a podcast. He doesn't have a book. He hasn't capitalized on all this success. He just because it doesn't feel aligned. It doesn't feel authentic. He's prioritizing the things that are important to him. He doesn't give a [ __ ] about what anyone else thinks. And I feel like that's how you find purpose. That's how you find fulfillment. That's how you are happy. That's how you focus on the things that are uniquely yours. You know, the most important thing in the universe is to be the fullest expression of your authentic self and playing the game is probably not that. The game is someone else has made the rules, you know. So authenticity versus the game, that's the comparison here.
All right, some insights. Force always creates counterforce. Hormosi is all about forcing things. It's about just do the thing regardless if you feel like it or not. Just force it. Naval is almost saying that you should utilize the flow, you should utilize this river of life and just, you know, instead of swimming against the current, search for the current, understand the current and then swim with the current and you're going to get much further, even though the other person is forcing something. I'm sure you notice this if you're applying a lot of force. You notice how maybe it manifests in the way that you deal with other people, how you deal with strangers, how annoyed you get by the traffic, like these kind of things. It's all this counterforce.
Why I feel so strongly about this topic is because when you understand how compounding works, compounding not in a financial sense of, you know, you put your dollar cost average every week or every month and then that thing compounds. It does compound. But in the same way, the small actions and small habits that you exercise on a day-to-day basis, they all compound. So if you're compounding this counterforce, you're compounding getting annoyed by the traffic or complaining about [ __ ] or, you know, resenting your partner or something like that, that thing compounds, you know. And if you feel happy and cheerful and positive and inspired on a day-to-day basis, that also compounds and it compounds to something unimaginably great. And that's why I feel so strongly about this because you need to be present with building something that you care about to find something that feels like play to you and like work to others.
Another insight, I think pushing often comes from fear. At least when I was pushing, I was always afraid of something. I was afraid of losing this client or not being enough. I was afraid of not feeling like I'm doing enough or not feeling worthy. I was feeling like I will be cast aside. I was feeling like if I enter this room, these people are not going to accept me, if X, Y, Z. But when you think about those things, you subconsciously start attracting them. When you place importance and thought into something, by law of attraction, you're attracting it to you. So just by trying to avoid it so hard, you're actually attracting it to you.
And the last insight I'd say is there's something to be said about cycles. And we talk about purpose and fulfillment and you should find the thing that you know you're uniquely good at and you are supposed to be doing that you're aligned with. But the thing is that alignment works in cycles, or I think we as humans work in cycles. In different literature, it's referred to as different cycles. Some say it's not even Naval says it's sometimes it's like around four-year cycles. Someone says that it's nine-year cycles. Someone says seven-year cycles. I say it's let's say four to eight-year cycles we live. And during each period, each cycle, there's like a core thing in your life that keeps happening or keeps ruling your life. Maybe it's a work project, maybe it's family, maybe it's your struggles with yourself or something that you need to learn. We live in these cycles. And when we're talking about alignment, you might be aligned today, but you might be out of alignment tomorrow because you've lived to the end of that cycle. And now it's time for you to discover the next thing. And it's so difficult to do, to be honest, to find that next thing. That's the quest is to be present and aware and humble enough to walk away from something that you've been building for the last, let's say, eight years. And that's just part of life.
To conclude, I'd say oftentimes if you're a young person watching this, let's say 15 to 25 or 30, depends when you start, it's very important to listen to advice from, for example, Hormosi that's really about take action and just do the thing and just take one step at a time regardless whether you feel like it or not. I think that's very much amazing entry-level advice. But when you've already figured out a lot of stuff with business, a lot of stuff with yourself, then I think it's less important to hear that and more important to hear something else like this or the things that Naval is saying to prioritize that fulfillment part because in the beginning, you just need to take action to even get experience to know yourself, to know what you like, what you're good at, etc., etc., etc. Later on, when you've gotten enough feedback, you've gotten enough data, you've gotten enough reps in, then you know, okay, here's what I'm good at, here's what I'm not, here's what I want to do, here's what feels good, here's what doesn't, and then you start figuring out, okay, this is the thing that I'm supposed to be doing. This is likely my purpose. This feels aligned, you know.
Okay. Last thing I want to say, Hormosi is likely quite aligned himself. Like he just seems to be a person that loves the game. He finds fulfillment in the game. Maybe it's because he's conditioned himself to do that or that's actually his deepest core. I mean, he's giving amazing entrepreneurial education for free on the internet. If that doesn't feel fulfilling, nothing does. But I think he just loves the game. But I would argue that most people don't love the game. Most people are interested in family and in sports and in nature, in other things. Most people who follow his stuff, I feel like are missing a huge part of life. So that's some food for thought. Hopefully this was insightful. Good job for making it all the way through and I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. I would really love to hear what do you think. Is there something that you disagree with? And if this was something that spoke to you, please follow me on Instagram, Levy Builds, and subscribe to the channel. That would mean a lot to me. Thank you so much and see you in the next.