Transcription
I hope you're doing great. I want to start off this lesson asking you a question: Why did Aristotle sleep on the floor? And I'm going to answer that question in a moment.
But we live in a world where comfort is celebrated, and yet great producers are comfortable being uncomfortable. You do your best work. You become your most productive self when you play out on the jagged edges of the unknown parts of your promise. You've got to be willing to be uncomfortable on a consistent basis for you to produce your masterwork. You've got to be uncomfortable to push the limits of your craft so your limits expand.
I had a friend who was one of the top-selling authors in the world. I'm talking about massive numbers of books sold. And at the peak of his powers, here's what he did: He rented a hotel room, excuse me, a motel room in a foreign country where he lived for one year. This was a man who could live in those beautiful houses. He could fly private. He could have whatever he wanted. He could live like a king. Instead, what did he do? He pushed himself to be a spartan. He pushed himself to live in a motel room and eat inexpensive food. Why? So he could write his next masterpiece.
Getting nothing fails like success. And one of the key challenges you're going to face as an ultra-producer and a great creator and a true artist and someone who really is a multiple masterwork producer is you're going to get to a place where you're so successful, it'll be easy to take it easy. And what I want to do, with love and respect but also challenge you, is to remind you about this key point, which is: If things are too convenient for you, if you are not pushing yourself on a consistent basis, then you will lose the inspiration and the fire and the hunger in the belly that you first had when you were starting out, completely anonymous, maybe with a chip on your shoulder, set out to show the world what you can do.
And so, I simply want to remind you in this lesson to put yourself in uncomfortable positions. Aristotle used to sleep on the floor, I think it was once every month, just to remind him not only to stay grounded but to not lose the passion, to always get better, not to be too comfortable, not to live in luxury, which can be very, very dangerous.
I want you to really think about that. Where have you lost your fire? Because the thing about a master is she always thinks she's an amateur. The thing about a professional is they always maintain a white belt mentality. It's very rare to get to world-class, but the people who sustain world-class over decades, they are always thinking like beginners. They are always practicing and thinking, adopting the white belt mentality. They are always sleeping on the floor, so to speak. They are always outlearning the competition. They're always growing every single day. They're always thinking about how may I optimize my tools and my craft and my workspaces and my environments, and what course can I take, and what live event can I go to, and who can I find as a mentor, and what fresh conversations can I have?
I mean, here's something to think about: If you are the most successful person in your neighborhood, maybe today is a great day to move into a new neighborhood. And please, on a regular basis, sleep on the floor.