The Lies You Have Been Told Since You Were Born
The insight you gain is not directly proportional to the volume of words spoken. One little line from the right mentor or book can change your life more than years spent listening to average people.
Tai Lopez Oct 01, 2014
So your main focus should be on figuring out where all the insightful people have gone, and then going there. 

For today’s Book-Of-The-Day, I was reading “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer.
 
It's the story of a kid who decides to leave the modern world and go live in the Alaskan wilderness. 

He dies trying (spoiler alert), but he left us with a lesson that's not apparent at first glance.

You see, he escaped more than just the modern world. He escaped the endless 'noise' that bombards you and me. 

A study by Jay Walker-Smith found that the average person is exposed to 3,000 advertisements a day. That's 900 before 9 am.

How different would your life be if people weren't trying to force you into things that aren't in your best interest? 
 
I just gave a talk in New York City on how to change your life.

[Check out this selfie from the talk]



(I'm in London this week giving a talk, so if you’re in Europe, come hang out.)

I talked about the 25 cognitive biases that cause you to make mistakes.

One of these biases in the 'availability bias.'

The deep, subconscious part of your brain burns less glycogen/fuel and is more likely to act on something when it’s easily available to you. When you don't have to work that hard to understand it... When you can just lay back mentally like a baby and let someone spoon feed you ideas...

This is a hardwired problem with our brains. We will naturally gravitate towards easy ideas (even if they are stupid), despite the fact that a better option may exist that that takes a little more effort to search out and comprehend.

Why do you think the Kardashians, 50 Shades of Grey, and junk food are bestsellers? 

Because they are mindless/effortless to digest.

Even if you don't watch those shows, read those books, or eat that junk food, this effects you more than you probably realize.

 
When I talked at the L.A. Convention Center last month, I asked 600 people, “How many here read the new, bestselling business books?’"

 
About 400 hands went up.

 
Then I asked...

 
“How many here have read the old, ‘Made in America’ autobiography by Sam Walton?" 

One person raised his hand (and he told me later it’s because he’s on my newsletter - haha).

 
I said: “Only one person here has read a short, $5 book written by the only man who ever made more than $160-billion dollars. And I know why. It's because it doesn't have a fancy cover and it's not highlighted on Amazon.com or shown on the front shelves at Barnes and Nobles.”

You have to dig to find unavailable books with insight like that one.

That one little book has more practical ideas for you on business and becoming financially independent than the twenty, current best selling business books all combined. 

(Probably because Sam Walton made more money than Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg... all combined...)

 
You hardly ever hear about Walton's book. 

 
Why is the world making the best stuff the least available? And the stupid stuff the most available.

 
It makes no sense - UNTIL - you do the math:

 
Availability bias = Profit for someone.

Shiny objects. 

Smoke screens.

They take your money and place it into someone else's wallet.

So, the next time you walk into a Barnes & Noble, watch T.V., go grocery shopping, or surf online, remember someone is steering you towards what I call 'wealth re-distribution'.

That's a fancy way of saying, taking money out of your pocket and putting it into theirs.

They don’t necessarily care if that transfer/sale is in your best interest.

If it provides them with a high profit margin, they’re going to move you to it.
 
I’m not saying this is some conspiracy or even that there’s anything wrong with the dynamic.

 
Business is an extension of life. It’s a competition. People want resources. Businesses want your money. That’s not evil or inherently dishonest. It’s just the way the world works.

 
But to live the good life, you have to understand your natural biases to control the inflow/outflow of your brain (and wallet).

Guard your brain at least as well as you guard your body.

 
You might have to do something extreme to take back control of your mind.

Maybe get on a plane and fly to someone in a far off land to get the insight you need to jumpstart your life.

 
I remember when I was 19 or 20, I took a 10,000 mile trip to find insight like that - all the way to Tasmania to meet a guy named Bill Mollison. He wasn’t very well known in mass media. He was an 'underground' biologist, scientist, and teacher, and was known as the "father of permaculture.”

 
I had to scrape together the money, track down his address (he was a hermit), get on a plane, fly 25 hours, and risk my life driving little roads through the countryside of Tasmania to get to him. (I learned by almost dying that in Tasmania, farmers don’t keep their livestock behind fences, so they just walk out onto the road. I was driving 80 miles an hour around a curve and BOOM - almost slammed into a whole bunch of sheep, but that’s another story...)

Remember: 

 
Seek and you will find. 

Ask and you will receive.

 
Knock and the door will open unto you.

 
But notice, YOU have to knock.

You can't outsource the asking, seeking, and knocking. It won't work.

You can't go to a gym, sit down, and ask your personal trainer to lift the weights for you while you watch.

Insight only comes to the actual person doing the seeking - lifting the 'brain barbells.'

 
And just because something is a New York Times best-seller or is the top rated T.V. show - doesn't mean it's 'worth a damn.' (Remember your worth-a-damn factor is the number one framework in the  67 Steps program I created for you to live an amazing life.)

 
The Kardashians is the number one TV show in the world - it's easily available - but it's garbage (in the same way that sugar and junk food are fast, empty carbohydrates that leave you overweight and diabetic).

50 Shades of Grey is the Amazon bestseller - it's easily available, but it will rot your brain.

Try a new way - a faster way.

You don't want to be like the poet, John Keats, when he said, "And if I had had time I would have made myself remembered.”

Time is short. If you want health, wealth, love, and happiness:

Become a 'seeker.' 

Become an 'asker.' 

Become a 'knocker.'

And be careful. Don't major in minors (stupid things, easily available to you).

As the ancient poet, Li Po said, “When the hunter sets traps only for rabbits, tigers and dragons are left uncaught.”

While the rest of the world is out chasing rabbits and living lives of quiet desperation, you go out and do big things.

Go catch some tigers and dragons.


Stay Strong,

Tai
Tailopez.com
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P.S. Remember, cognitive biases are normal and somewhat functional (although evolutionary mismatch is a huge problem once you realize it's happening to you). I go into a ton of detail into mastering cognitive biases, and how to succeed in having the good life, in my 67 Steps program.



P.P.S. I rarely do events. I just landed in London, UK and will be speaking here tomorrow/Saturday Sept. 20th. If you're interested in seeing how this event can change your life, check out this page for more information.

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