Transcription
Look around you right now. The most interesting people you know, what sets them apart, what makes them different? They're not just good-looking. They're not just handsome and pretty. They've mastered specific habits that have made them magnetic.
Today, I'm going to break down the exact habits that you need to start doing and implement into your lifestyle; that's going to set you apart from the pack, create that blue ocean within the red ocean, and differentiate yourself from your competition.
First, you need to understand this. There are three types of hobbies. Number one, physical hobbies that build your body. Number two, creative hobbies that build your brand. And number three, lifestyle hobbies that build your character.
Let me break that down for you. Physical hobby. Number one, taekwondo or any other martial art, really. As you may know, I started taekwondo when I was very young. I was a national champion as a kid in New Zealand. I competed, did all that nonsense. But let me tell you this, it wasn't about the fighting, guys. It gave me discipline, respect, and it gave me a warrior mindset. Physical changes, you know, flexibility, strength, mental fortitude came as part of that. The natural aesthetic confidence you get from doing, you know, a martial art really changes who you are as a man. And also that belt system, you know, earning a next achievement, upgrading yourself in level applies itself down the line in life, too. The discipline you learn in a martial art such as taekwondo builds to everything else in your life.
Doesn't have to be taekwondo. It could be boxing, wrestling, jiujitsu. You know, I did hapido as well. Became the youngest black belt in Australia. That built that discipline early in my life. Number two, football—the best hobby you could possibly have in your life. Play football or any other sport. Here we talk about strategy, we talk about teamwork, and arguably mental intelligence, game IQ. Okay? You're not just trying to beat the [ __ ] out of each other, and you're not just trying to lift the most weight. You're trying to apply your brain in different ways, trying to beat your competition—strategy, teamwork. Also, putting in the work for small increments of progress is very, very similar to life.
People often ask me how do I have the discipline that I have and how do I, you know, go about working so hard? It's because my life as an athlete, from before I could even remember to what it was last year, it was always, always, always in the search of something greater. Always trying to be a superstar. And the last physical hobby is running. I believe that whether you want to bulk, cut, trying to get stronger, leaner, trying to look handsome, whatever it is, you need to be running. Need to. This changed my mental game completely. Especially when you do like hard running. And I'm not talking about zone 2 cardio that these run club people talk about. I'm talking about, you know, doing laps of 400 m, 400 m as fast as you can, five times, eight times, deepen that pain, hamstrings burning, lungs on fire. That kind of warrior mindset is actually harder than you think. Plus, it's such an easy way to burn calories. You know, if you make that part of your routine of running, you never have to do too much cardio in the gym and you just get aesthetic as [ __ ]
The thing that I love about running is that it is literally the purest form of you versus you. The purest form of you versus you. Because there's no literal standard. There's no concrete limit to what you can do in running. There's—it's always arbitrary. It's always dependent on so many factors: your diet, your nutrition, your mental fortitude, how much sleep you had last night. So, it's always a constant battle of you versus you. So, if you can lock in on running, I promise you your character is going to change so much.
Listen, physical hobbies, yes, they create, you know, that physical body and some sort of like mental characters, but being aesthetic isn't just about how you look. It's about being interesting. When you start developing your creative side, you become way more interesting, way more stimulating to other people. The way you think changes, the way you problem-solve changes.
Let me show you the creative hobbies that actually matter. Number one, videography. This is the one hobby that I can say positively changed who I was by 100 times. Learning videography, you know, teaching myself cinematography, teaching myself how to edit, how to film, how to—what angles, what lenses, all this kind of stuff. That's a creative hobby. And then you actually gain a deeper understanding, a deeper appreciation of movies. If I sit down and watch a movie now, I truly appreciate its cinematography. I truly appreciate the color grading that the colorist did. Okay? And also leads to greater appreciation of the outdoors, seeing beautiful landscapes, searching for beautiful scenery, events, adventures. Okay? Because of that, I lead a much more interesting life. I document that, I post that, you look more interesting. And as much as I hate to, you know, talk about living your life online, when you boil it down to the bare truth of it, that actually does matter—how you present yourself online. If you want to build a strong character and a strong personal brand, what you show online matters the most.
Number two, barbering. Why is this? Now, this gets way more personal, way more personal, cuz barbering isn't just about art. Isn't just about giving a service and a haircut. Cuz like—like running, it's kind of you versus you. You can always give a better haircut. You can always have more finesse, more detail, a tighter fade, cleaner sections, always. It's also about interpersonal skills, communication skills, social skills. It's all about creating personal relations to keep a customer coming back. It's almost like sales. See, sometimes I see some of my boys, they do sales calls; they practice sales calls with their friends, and I see the dynamic in there, and I can see that, you know, in barbering, it's there. Imagine you have—you start a conversation fresh every hour for 10 hours, and you do that for years. How good are you going to be at conversation? That's why barbering is an amazing creative hobby. You don't have to do it for that long; just by you sitting down with your boys in the garage and forcing yourself to have a chat—great way to catch up. Plus, keeps you and your friends together. Why I thought barbering was the best job ever is because I got to see my friends every week or two. Literally, tell me another job where you can do something like that. Not really. You can't.
And number three, cooking. Yep. Creative hobby. Very important. Cooking. Being competent as a man. Being able to cook for yourself. There's nothing that makes me more disappointed when one of the boys maybe stays with me and they can't [ __ ] cook for [ __ ]. I just look at him like he's a kid. Like, you literally can't feed yourself. How are you going to feed a kid? How are you going to provide? You can't. You need to be able to cook. You need to be able to, like, source it up in the kitchen every now and then. When you cook, you become the guy that can host dinner parties. You become the guy that can host events at your house. You become the guy that people can rely on, depend on. You look competent, guys. Start simple, right? Learn three good meals, expand from there. Very easy. You know, next time you want to try something, search up YouTube videos on how to cook. Make a wish list.
Now, the next section, lifestyle hobbies. These may not be as noticeable, but they're just as important. These will transform your mindset and transform who you are as a person from the inside out. Number one, reading. It isn't just about knowledge. It gives you depth in conversation, being able to talk about various topics. The other day, I was sitting down the coach with an acquaintance, and we were having a conversation about politics and history. And the other guy next to me just could not talk about that. And afterwards, he told me that he kind of regretted not investing time over the years to learn about certain things, not read about history, because we were actually having a very stimulating conversation. And that makes you way more interesting. If you can talk about, you know, the Babylonians, if you can talk about the Roman Empire, if you can talk about Alexander the Great, what he did, if you can talk about Christopher Columbus and his travels, if you can talk about, you know, the Mesopotamians—that's a lot more stimulating conversation. And it may come up once every 5 years, but it may come up at the right place at the right time with the right person, and that becomes an opportunity because you seem interesting. People like that, people buy from people they like, and that's where you get opportunity.
In hindsight, another improvement to your life by reading is just better vocabulary, being able to present your topics and your ideas in a better manner, being able to conversate and flow much more naturally. You know, obviously I had lots of practice cuz I went to university and I had to write lots of [ __ ] essays and [ __ ]. But by—by reading, you literally, like, read sentences, and it's subconsciously ingrained in your mind, and you think like, "Wow, that was a very interesting way to present that point." And you start to do that in conversation; you seem a lot more intelligent, a lot more competent, and there you go—drastic improvement in your life. Think about this for a minute: What are three books that you have read that have made you more knowledgeable or more interesting? If you can't answer that question, well, we know what we need to do.
Number two, solo traveling. I don't have to spend too much time on this. Solo traveling—amazing, amazing experience. Can't recommend highly enough. Number one, you have no one to rely on. Out of your comfort zone, okay? And you gain real experiences. You become super competent. If you want the fastest way possible to become a competent individual, go traveling in a third-world country that doesn't speak English by yourself. I guarantee you, you will become way more competent. Way more competent like that.
And number three, journaling and meditation. Just being able to understand your thoughts, recognize what you are thinking, talk about your life—pros, cons, wins, losses, future plans, pathways to get there, what you need to implement right now in your life to get that goal. Journaling and meditating will open your eyes in ways that you never thought possible before. Emotional control—become less reactive in social situations. You're able to set clear goals. You're able to, you know, be more fluent in your daily activities just by sitting down and writing your goals. Become way more fluent in your daily routine. You know, 12 I'm going to do that, 3 I'm going to do that, 6 p.m. I'm going to do that. You go to sleep with a clear head knowing exactly what you're going to do tomorrow. You wake up, you don't [ __ ] around, and you just get it done. Life is going to move like that. You're going to wake up tomorrow, and you're going to be 45, 50, and you look back and you're going to realize that you spent 15 hours every day on your phone. We can scrap that whole experience from happening by just setting clear goals and journaling and meditating. It isn't hippie [ __ ] guys, right? It is mental dominance. Take charge and lead your life in a proper manner.
And the last creative hobby, you know, that will improve your life is obviously learning a language. Just by being able to conversate in a different language, you automatically—it's like—it's like you play a video game and you open the whole new section of the map. There's just so many—like you can't even imagine—so much more opportunity, so much people to talk to. It's easy as that. Plus, there's nothing probably more aesthetic than when you're in a foreign country and you order at a restaurant um in their home language. Like, how cool is that?
So, here's my challenge to you right now. Pick one of those hobbies in each category and stick to it and be consistent for the next 90 days. Remember, guys, being aesthetic isn't just about how you look, right? It's about who you are. These hobbies will transform you into the total and complete package. And like I said, if you are curious to learn more on how you can transform yourself as a character and become the best version of yourself, fulfill your potential, guys, click that link below, join my school community. We've got over 300 absolute straight menaces in there improving their life. If you want a community that pushes you forward and the knowledge that you need to do so, that's for you, right? With that being said, guys, stay sharp, stay handsome, and I'll catch you later. Peace.