I'm 40. If You're In Your 20's or 30's, Watch This

Today is my 40th birthday and if I could go back to talk to my younger 20 year old self and give him some advice, here are 40 things that I would say. Number one, make sure you are climbing the right mountain. Too many of us are exhausted because we are doing too little of the things that bring us joy and are chasing someone else's definition of success. This is why it is far better to be climbing slowly up the right mountain than it is to be climbing fast up the wrong mountain. When you focus on direction over speed, you'll find greater enjoyment in the journey. Number two, stop making your health a side hustle. The moment that you sacrifice your health is the moment that your overall well-being begins to deteriorate. Your health is the most valuable asset you have. Without it, nothing else matters. Life is hard enough as it is. Don't make it harder by not looking after yourself. Energy you see is earned and not given and it is earned by sleeping more, eating better and exercising on a daily basis. So work with your body, not against it. If not, you will eventually be faced with no choice but to spend a lot of time dealing with illness later in life. Number three, how you spend your days is how you spend your life. If you are not prioritizing the daily actions necessary to achieve your goals, you will never arrive at where you would like to be. I mean, how can tomorrow be any better than today if you don't do anything different today? You will never change your life for the better unless you change something you do daily. So care less about results and more about your daily habits because world-class results automatically follow world-class habits. And this leads me on to number four, take responsibility for your life. No one is coming to save you and this is why you must step up and become the hero of your own life. Taking full ownership of your life is the most empowering thing that you can do because the pain of doing nothing with your life will always be worse than the pain of doing something with your life. Most people unfortunately are allergic to personal responsibility, preferring instead to complain and blame. Don't be most people. Number five, have a bias to action. The only real failure in life is never trying or taking action on the things that matter most to you. The average human life is short, right now globally it is at 73 years and so you only have one shot at this. We all know deep down that life is short and we will face death eventually but few of us appreciate this. If we did, we would make very different decisions. Losing my mum at just 17 years old taught me the fragility of life. The future is never guaranteed and the loss taught me the importance of living in the present. Time is something we can't make more of so we must be careful about what we decide to give up a day of our life for because once it is gone, it is gone forever. And this leads nicely onto number six, extraordinary results come from repeating ordinary actions over an unordinary amount of time. Much of success in life you see is built by consistently doing the work that most are not willing to do and if you can't do something consistently over a long period of time you probably won't succeed at it. There is no such thing as an overnight success, only over time success. So be patient with the process and impatient with taking action. Number seven, choose your life partner wisely. Ryan Holiday wrote an article in 2015 called the perfect spouse is the best life hack no one told you about and I would have to agree with his thoughts because without having my wife Laurie by my side I would not be enjoying many of the things that I get to experience today. We have been together for nearly two decades. My success is our success. Her success is our success. And when faced with challenges and setbacks we look to overcome and learn from them as a team. When choosing a life partner therefore be with someone who shares the same values as you and who is also focused on being better than who they were yesterday. Number eight, the hardest times in life equip you with the wisdom to create the best moments of your life. Just because your past was hard does not mean your future cannot be amazing. It is from life's inevitable challenges that you enjoy your greatest personal growth and discover more about who you truly are. And the tougher the times the more clarity you get about what really matters and what doesn't. Number nine, public speaking is one of the most powerful skills that you can develop. Your ability to touch people's hearts and minds by educating and inspiring them will open you up to a world of opportunities. So develop your storytelling skills and watch your career blossom. Number 10, speak to yourself in the same way you would to someone you deeply care about. This is because the most powerful dialogue that happens is the one within yourself each day. Your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Number 11, one of the best ways to advance your life is to simplify it. Less clutter, physical, mental and digital paves the way for clearer thinking and more focused action because nobody performs well when pulled in a dozen different directions. Number 12, be fully present when spending quality time with people, especially your loved ones. One of the greatest gifts that you can give people is the feeling that they have been heard, understood and appreciated. This is because people do not want your time as much as they want your presence and energy. So wherever you are, be there. Whether that is having dinner with a friend, playing with your children or spending quality time with your partner. Number 13, the only competition that matters in life is with yourself. Yesterday's you, last month's you, last year's you. Focus on outdoing your past self and you will flourish. And if you are going to look at others, look at them for inspiration, not comparison. Number 14, not everyone will like you and that's okay. When you put yourself out there, you will always have some people that will hate you whatever you do. That's okay. You're not ice cream. You can't please everyone. You can't escape being judged. So you might as well live a life true to yourself, not a life lived for others. Number 15, get clear on your priorities and productivity becomes easy. How will you know that today will have been a productive day? Begin with the end in mind, work backwards and move forwards with purpose. Number 16, be bold and take some risks. Not all risk takers will be winners, but all winners are risk takers. If you want to enjoy a life that most can't, you must do what most won't. So be bold and start stretching yourself out of your comfort zones. Put that ask out there. Start on that idea that you've been thinking about for so long. Go to that event. Say yes to that opportunity. Do this every day and your life will flourish. Number 17, you get what you focus your energy on. Focus on things to complain about and you will attract more things into your life to complain about. Focus on things to be grateful for and you will attract more things into your life to be grateful for. Number 18, be prepared for the best laid plans to not go the way you expect. I wanted to develop a successful career in finance after graduating from university and then the financial crisis happened, which was actually a blessing in disguise. Otherwise, I wouldn't be sitting here right now talking to you. And my friend opened a new restaurant four months before the COVID pandemic shut everything down. Sometimes life doesn't go according to plan and it ends up being the best thing that has ever happened to you. The harsh reality is that when you commit to doing something with your life, you will face inevitable setbacks and failures. However, how you respond to them will be the difference between giving up too early and bouncing back stronger from the wisdom that you have gained from that experience. Which leads me nicely on to number 19, don't fear failure, fear regret. More often than not, success is born out of a series of setbacks, wrong turns and failures. So when you avoid taking action because you are afraid of failure, you actually hurt your chances for success. There is a beautiful Japanese saying that goes, if you feel like you are losing everything, remember this, trees lose their leaves every year. Yet they still stand tall, waiting for better days to come. Number 20, the purpose of life is a life of purpose. You are not born into this world to just pay bills, scroll aimlessly through social media feeds, watch television, do things you hate and then die. You are born with unique gifts and talents. And it is life's greatest adventure to discover what these are and to share them with the world. Don't go through life accepting that five out of seven days are going to be spent doing something that does not bring you joy or fulfillment. Live each day with intention so that you own your days rather than your days owning you. Number 21, knowing yourself is the beginning of true wisdom. This is because you can't have self-development without self-awareness, for you can't change what you are not aware of. Number 22, on the days where it feels like you will never make progress, just remember how far you have come. If you can't be grateful for what you currently have, you will never have enough. Appreciate where you are in your journey, even if it is not where you want to be, for every season serves a purpose. Number 23, stop filling your calendar with junk. If you want your life to change, you must make space for it to happen. Nothing more can be added to a full calendar. A calendar that can often be filled with things that you have said yes to, just to please other people and activities that would take you away from the very things that will help you make progress towards where you want to be. Number 24, if you did the work that you are currently avoiding, you would have the results that you want. At a minimum, you will always end up in a better place by doing the work than avoiding it. Overthinking on the other hand is the death of all great ideas and opportunities. You don't have to have it all figured out in order to move forward. The clarity you seek will come from the action that you take and the next piece of advice will help with this. Number 25, get important tasks done early in the day when your energy is at its highest. Once these are done, whatever else happens later in the day, you will have already had a productive day. Number 26, have patience with the journey ahead. To become a success story, you must be willing to look stupid and like a beginner for a long time before you start getting things right. Too many people ignore their dreams because they dislike the idea of being a beginner and learning slowly. So don't let impatience and the fear of embarrassment become the biggest hurdle to your growth. Sometimes it takes 10 years to get that one year that will completely change your life. Number 27, act from your future, not your past. Let's fast forward to a year from now and imagine that your life is the best that it has ever been as a result of your own intentional choices. What choices did you make today and in the coming weeks and months that made this reality a possibility for you? Number 28, level up your network. The fastest way to make meaningful progress in any area of your life is to design an environment around you that makes it impossible not to succeed. Your circle of friends will also change as you grow and this is all part of the personal development journey. It is why your new life will cost you your old one. It is part of your evolution and becoming as you move into the next phase of your growth. Not everyone is focused on being better than who they were yesterday and that's okay. Number 29, commit to learning on a daily basis. There is this 100 hour rule which states that if you spend 100 hours a year deepening your knowledge in your chosen discipline, which is around 18 minutes a day, you will be better than 95% of the world in that discipline. So what will you spend your 18 minutes today learning about? Number 30, you are the architect of your destiny. You are both the sculpture and the sculptor with your thoughts shaping your entire reality. Your thoughts therefore can either be the gateway to limitless achievement or a prison cell for your potential. Number 31, focus on making a difference, not just a living. Your value is determined by how much more you have given to the world than you have taken from it. Add value to people's lives each day however small and watch your life transform. Number 32, unknown paths often lead to the most rewarding journeys. When you surrender to the unknown, you allow yourself to explore and experiment. So be open to new experiences, constantly meet new people, try stuff just because it is interesting and fun and do a few things that you will be excited to tell your kids about someday. Number 33, spending money on things you don't need or want just to impress others is the fastest way to go broke. Instead, learn how to invest and then put that money to work for you so you can grow your financial wealth over time. This way, you are able to tap into the power of the compound effect, the eighth wonder of this world. Just look at Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors the world has seen. 99% of his current wealth was created after his 50th birthday. Number 34, do stuff that makes you feel alive. Focus your energy on things that make you come alive and away from the things that make you miserable. This is key to fulfilling your potential. Number 35, you will have good seasons and bad seasons. You can't control the weather, only be prepared for it. And this leads me to number 36, don't tie your emotional well-being to something in the future that may or may not happen. Doing so will mean that you will end up living as if you are never going to die and then die having never truly lived. And your present will be full of anxiety, frustration and stress. Inner peace comes from accepting what you can't control and focusing your energy instead on what you can. Number 37, listen to your heart. There is a reason why the longest journey you will make are the inches from your head to your heart. Too often, we ignore our intuition and innate wisdom and place too much importance on the opinions of others, many of whom have not succeeded in what you are trying to do with your life. In fact, number 38, don't take advice from those who haven't done what you are trying to do. Everyone has advice to share with you. Just make sure you are taking it from someone who has been in the arena and not sitting on the sidelines as a spectator. Number 39, leadership begins with you. You cannot be an effective leader of others if you are not powerfully leading yourself first. Lead yourself by living with intention each day and very soon your life will transform in the most magical of ways. And this begins with taking care of your physical and mental energy for you can't give what you don't have. And finally, number 40, it is never too late to make a change. At some point, you have to be honest about the gap between the life you want to live and the life that your daily habits are currently leading you towards. If your habits are causing that gap to widen, then do something about it. It is never too late to make changes in your life to close that gap between where you are now and where you want to be. I hope you found this video useful. Choose a few to implement this week and see how simple adjustments to the way you operate can create dramatic change. And make sure to keep this in mind, you will suck at most things in the beginning. With commitment, consistency, persistence and patience however, anything becomes possible. If you enjoyed this video, it would be amazing if you could subscribe, leave a comment below and give it a like. Thank you for watching this far and I will see you in the next video.