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I'm 28. Here's How To Get Ahead Of Most 20 Year Olds

Dan Koe27:12Added Aug 31, 2026

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Contributed by 刘嘉琪

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  1. Your 20s are the tutorial phase

  2. 00:00This video is going to piss some people
  3. 00:01off because it's for a very specific
  4. 00:04type of person and I'm going to sound
  5. 00:06extremely inconsiderate to most people,
  6. 00:08but that's the only way that I can get
  7. 00:10the severity of this situation across.
  8. 00:12So, with that said, consider the nuance
  9. 00:15of my normal videos turned off as of
  10. 00:18right now. The people who get angry with
  11. 00:20the brutal honesty that's about to come
  12. 00:22are often those who have pretty terrible
  13. 00:24lives. They haven't grown past the age
  14. 00:27of 20 to 25. They are the people who
  15. 00:30have not yet realized that the best way
  16. 00:34to make the most of your 20s is to make
  17. 00:37them your worst. Because you really only
  18. 00:39have two options. The first is to use
  19. 00:41your 20s to become the person that you
  20. 00:43were meant to be. And the second is to
  21. 00:45repeat the same 6 months for the rest of
  22. 00:47your life. If you don't nearly max out
  23. 00:50your potential in your 20s, you can
  24. 00:52simply observe society and see where
  25. 00:55your life will probably end up. In
  26. 00:57essence, you get stuck in this loop of
  27. 01:00anxiety and overwhelm, and you just
  28. 01:02attempt to live your past peak
  29. 01:05experiences. You go to the same bars and
  30. 01:07the same raves, and you play the same
  31. 01:09video games. When you turn 20, you start
  32. 01:11having the best peak experiences of your
  33. 01:14life because you're old enough to try
  34. 01:16new things now. But you haven't yet
  35. 01:18realized that those should be and are
  36. 01:21the lowest peaks of your entire life.
  37. 01:24And so what happens is people register
  38. 01:26those as, oh, these are the good days.
  39. 01:29This is the peak experience. This is
  40. 01:31where I feel amazing. And they try to
  41. 01:33repeat that over and over again. And
  42. 01:35when they're not doing that, they crave
  43. 01:38the peak experience. They want the
  44. 01:39euphoria that they associate with
  45. 01:41happiness when happiness is not
  46. 01:43euphoria. So the result of this is that
  47. 01:45you just fill your entire life and it
  48. 01:47becomes your routine to engage in these
  49. 01:50extremely shallow activities that aren't
  50. 01:53leading to a good life. And eventually
  51. 01:55it becomes your identity. It just
  52. 01:56becomes second nature. You shut your
  53. 01:58mind off and you're just automatically
  54. 02:00doing these things and it's very hard to
  55. 02:02get out of. Most people plateau around
  56. 02:04the age of 23. And then when you start
  57. 02:06to ask them like what are you doing with
  58. 02:08your life in a genuine way? You're
  59. 02:10asking like hey like what are you doing?
  60. 02:12Are you improving your career? What?
  61. 02:14You're just talking with them. What are
  62. 02:15you doing with your life? They
  63. 02:17confidently say that I'm just living
  64. 02:20life. Like they they label what they're
  65. 02:22doing as living life. And these people,
  66. 02:25they haven't come around to the
  67. 02:27ramifications of staying the same
  68. 02:29because they don't realize that there's
  69. 02:31no such thing as staying the same.
  70. 02:32There's only you get better or you think
  71. 02:35you're staying the same, but you're
  72. 02:36actually just getting worse. And that
  73. 02:38worst doesn't show up until years later.
  74. 02:42So, as you can tell in society, most
  75. 02:44people turn 30 to 40 years old with the
  76. 02:47emotional maturity of a 15-year-old. The
  77. 02:49world rapidly pushes forward and it's
  78. 02:51continuing to push forward even faster
  79. 02:54while your mind, body, spirit, finances
  80. 02:57stay in the same place when in fact
  81. 02:59they're you're just digging them all
  82. 03:01deeper into this hole. And the deeper
  83. 03:03you get into this hole, the light at the
  84. 03:06top is more difficult to see. And if
  85. 03:08you're stuck in this 30foot deep hole,
  86. 03:12how are you going to dig yourself out of
  87. 03:13that? So, the purpose of this video is
  88. 03:15to show you that your 20s are the
  89. 03:18tutorial phase. They're not the main
  90. 03:20game. They're the preparation, not the
  91. 03:23main event. So, I just want to give you
  92. 03:25three traps to avoid and three things to
  93. 03:27do because I've been in this position,
  94. 03:29right? I'm talking [ __ ] about these
  95. 03:31people who get stuck and stay the same
  96. 03:33for 6 months at a time when I was that
  97. 03:35person. And I can confidently say that
  98. 03:37my life has gotten substantially better
  99. 03:40since I made the decision to stop doing
  100. 03:42that. So, I want to help shine a light
  101. 03:44of awareness in a way that can shift the
  102. 03:46beliefs in your mind that allow you to
  103. 03:48notice new opportunities and change
  104. 03:50certain aspects of your life so you can
  105. 03:52continue to get better. Not in a
  106. 03:54self-improvement dopamine junkie kind of
  107. 03:56way, but in a way that makes sense. If
  108. 03:59you can set yourself up in your 20s,
  109. 04:01your quality of life will only continue
  110. 04:03to increase. And that's even when your
  111. 04:05youth is no longer on your side. So, the

  112. Don't listen to anyone who doesn't have the life you want

  113. 04:08first trap is don't listen to anyone who
  114. 04:11doesn't have the life you want. Because
  115. 04:13the people who have the life you want
  116. 04:15are extremely rare. They're less than 1%
  117. 04:17of the population. And the other 99% of
  118. 04:20people are those who just blabber about
  119. 04:22how you should live your life when they
  120. 04:24wasted their own. And if you listen to
  121. 04:26them, then you're probably going to
  122. 04:28waste your life as well. These are the
  123. 04:30people where they are adamant on
  124. 04:32convincing you that you should do
  125. 04:34something in order to live a great life
  126. 04:36because that's what they did and they
  127. 04:38don't know what a good life could have
  128. 04:40been for them. They're adamant on
  129. 04:42convincing you that the greatest things
  130. 04:43to do are the greatest things that they
  131. 04:45did and those things aren't that great
  132. 04:47at all. If you bring them your goals
  133. 04:49that sound close to impossible, they'll
  134. 04:52tell you to be more realistic. They'll
  135. 04:54tell you to create a budget. They'll
  136. 04:56tell you to invest your measly savings.
  137. 04:58They'll tell you to go out and have fun
  138. 05:00and make the most of your 20s when they
  139. 05:02have no idea what making the most of
  140. 05:04your 20s means. And then they will tell
  141. 05:06you that during that time to set
  142. 05:08yourself up in this boring mechanical
  143. 05:11life through a thing called a job doing
  144. 05:13work you hate until you turn 50 as if
  145. 05:15that's some like twisted right of
  146. 05:17passage, right? That that's all they're
  147. 05:20focused on because they have this
  148. 05:21industrial mindset. It's like, okay, you
  149. 05:23need to go to school, get a job because
  150. 05:25that's what your grandpa and great
  151. 05:27grandpa and great great great grandpa
  152. 05:29did. And they don't understand how
  153. 05:30technology is changing career paths and
  154. 05:33that you can actually do something
  155. 05:34different. So, when you go and you take
  156. 05:36that to them, they it doesn't even
  157. 05:38register in their brain. It it puts them
  158. 05:40into survival mode because they're
  159. 05:42afraid that you aren't going to survive.
  160. 05:44Many people say they want the best for
  161. 05:45you, but in reality, they just don't
  162. 05:47want to feel inferior to you. So you
  163. 05:50have my permission and you should give
  164. 05:52yourself permission to ignore most of
  165. 05:54what these people say. Just practice
  166. 05:56deliberate ignorance. You can entertain
  167. 05:59the thought, but don't let it into your
  168. 06:01mind. You need to do your own
  169. 06:03independent research and you need to
  170. 06:05actively search for the less than 1% of
  171. 06:08the population that have the life you
  172. 06:11want. And you need to listen to their
  173. 06:13advice. Take it, experiment with it.
  174. 06:15still don't take it as law, but you
  175. 06:17eventually need to take the best parts
  176. 06:20of the people who have the life you want
  177. 06:22and you need to turn it into your own

  178. Get your taste of distractions, fast

  179. 06:24through trial and error. Now, the second
  180. 06:26trap is to get your taste of
  181. 06:28distractions fast because most people
  182. 06:31treat their youth as a currency instead
  183. 06:34of investment capital. They party and
  184. 06:36they smoke and they watch Netflix at
  185. 06:39night and they just lounge around all
  186. 06:40day. And those things aren't necessarily
  187. 06:43bad and they aren't the end of the world
  188. 06:45in and of themselves, but they destroy
  189. 06:47the benefits of being young where you
  190. 06:50have time, you have energy, and you have
  191. 06:52focus. Now, I was a dumb college kid,
  192. 06:54too, but the distinction there is that I
  193. 06:57was always working on something that
  194. 07:00would somehow buy my freedom. I didn't
  195. 07:02know what that was. I was just working
  196. 07:04on various opportunities that I was
  197. 07:06researching and coming across in terms
  198. 07:08of starting a business or getting
  199. 07:10healthy or learning how to master my
  200. 07:12mind. I was always into
  201. 07:14self-improvement. Not what
  202. 07:15self-improvement has become, but in
  203. 07:17bettering myself because I knew at such
  204. 07:20a young age that I didn't want to end up
  205. 07:23overweight, obese, low energy,
  206. 07:26financially unstable. I wanted to take
  207. 07:28control of those things fast. And I can
  208. 07:30tell you just by like trying just an
  209. 07:32hour a day, even when I was in college
  210. 07:34and I was partying and I was doing all
  211. 07:36of these things, I still felt the desire
  212. 07:39to set aside time to research and try
  213. 07:43things and build things. And even though
  214. 07:45most of them failed, when you actually
  215. 07:47try something, when you do something in
  216. 07:49reality, that's when you learn. So if
  217. 07:52you continue to do it over time, try and
  218. 07:55fail. It doesn't matter if the business
  219. 07:57doesn't take off because you stack all
  220. 07:59of these skills that lead into something
  221. 08:02working in the future when all of the
  222. 08:04right pieces come together. So, I'm not
  223. 08:06telling you to get rid of these
  224. 08:09distractions altogether. I'm not telling
  225. 08:10you to stop partying. I'm not telling
  226. 08:11you to stop smoking weed or doing
  227. 08:14whatever it is that you do that is
  228. 08:15draining your time, energy, attention,
  229. 08:18focus. But it would be wise to get your
  230. 08:21taste of them quickly. That way you can
  231. 08:24recognize them as mistakes, but you
  232. 08:27won't recognize them as mistakes unless
  233. 08:29you have a goal that you are actively
  234. 08:32working toward. Because in order for a
  235. 08:34goal to have gravity for you to be
  236. 08:36disciplined or motivated to achieve that
  237. 08:38goal, you have to have some form of
  238. 08:41energy invested into it. You need to
  239. 08:43spend a month working toward a goal so
  240. 08:46that you actually feel the pain of no
  241. 08:49longer working toward it or you can
  242. 08:50register the smoking weed or being lazy
  243. 08:54or eating junk food as a mistake.
  244. 08:56Because if you aren't, let's say, going
  245. 08:57to the gym as a goal, then the alcohol
  246. 09:00isn't going to take away your
  247. 09:02performance at the gym. If you are not
  248. 09:05working on a business, then again, the
  249. 09:08alcohol, the partying, the weed, it
  250. 09:10isn't going to affect your mental
  251. 09:11clarity for making more money inside of
  252. 09:14the business. Most people aren't working
  253. 09:16towards meaningful goals. So, all of the
  254. 09:19distractions that they're engaging in
  255. 09:22aren't distractions to them. So, the

  256. Do everything in your power to never get a job

  257. 09:24third trap is to do everything in your
  258. 09:26power to not get a job. And this one is
  259. 09:28more personal to me because this is what
  260. 09:30I did and it drastically changed my
  261. 09:33entire life because when I was around
  262. 09:34the age of 15 years old, I just had this
  263. 09:37insight. I don't know where it came
  264. 09:39from. It just came to me. The insight
  265. 09:42was that if I got a job like most
  266. 09:44people, I would end up like most people.
  267. 09:47And when I look at most people's lives,
  268. 09:49I would understand that right as I
  269. 09:51accepted the job, a third of my time
  270. 09:53would be taken from me. That that's
  271. 09:56insane. a third of my time that I could
  272. 09:58use to better myself, do what I want,
  273. 10:00other things of that nature, create a
  274. 10:03type of work that I enjoy so that I
  275. 10:05don't hate a third of my life. It just I
  276. 10:08I don't know how that doesn't register
  277. 10:10to certain people. But then on top of
  278. 10:11that, another third of my life would be
  279. 10:14spent in this low energy state right
  280. 10:16after work when I'm drained from putting
  281. 10:19in energy to something that I hate. And
  282. 10:21you become what you focus on. So if you
  283. 10:22focus on something that you hate, you're
  284. 10:24going to become something that you hate.
  285. 10:25and the other third of your life when
  286. 10:28you get back from work, you're just
  287. 10:30drained. You don't want to do anything.
  288. 10:31I remember when I was working uh as a
  289. 10:34web designer at my 9 toive job. I I had
  290. 10:37been in the gym for my entire teenage
  291. 10:39years. It was very important to me. And
  292. 10:41that was the only time that I've ever
  293. 10:44started skipping the gym, right? I
  294. 10:46didn't want to go after work because
  295. 10:48that would just extend how much less
  296. 10:52free time I had to myself. I would go to
  297. 10:54work from it would take an hour to
  298. 10:56commute. So I'd get I'd leave at 8, get
  299. 10:59there at 9:00, clock out at 6:00 because
  300. 11:02an hour lunch and then that doesn't
  301. 11:04count to your towards your 9 to5 and
  302. 11:07then it's like okay I'm going to drive
  303. 11:08to the gym 10 minutes work out at the
  304. 11:10gym maybe an hour drive back home an
  305. 11:12hour and then I just have to go to bed
  306. 11:14if I want to get my sleep and actually
  307. 11:16live a healthy life and being healthy to
  308. 11:18me was a value then that sounds
  309. 11:21horrible. Now, the reason that I put
  310. 11:23this section at this point in the video,
  311. 11:25because if you've reached this point of
  312. 11:27the video and you agree with most of the
  313. 11:30things that I've said, you have similar
  314. 11:32goals, then I don't feel bad about
  315. 11:35saying this or prescribing this as a
  316. 11:37piece of advice and blanketing it. But
  317. 11:40the piece of advice is that you need to
  318. 11:42start a business. I know what type of
  319. 11:44person you are. You need to start one
  320. 11:46right now, and you need to begin working
  321. 11:48on it, and you need to make it a
  322. 11:50success. You're not the type of person
  323. 11:52that's going to go furiously in the
  324. 11:53comments and say, "Oh, not everyone
  325. 11:55should start a business because you are
  326. 11:57the person who wants full control over
  327. 12:00their time, energy, focus, and money."
  328. 12:04You understand that the good life and
  329. 12:07flow states and anything good in life
  330. 12:09stems from an increasing level of
  331. 12:11challenge that is matched by an
  332. 12:13increasing level of development in your
  333. 12:16mind, body, spirit, finances, etc. And
  334. 12:18at 99% of jobs, I'm not talking about
  335. 12:21the 1% that 99% of you aren't going to
  336. 12:25get. At the 99% of jobs, the level of
  337. 12:29challenge just stops after like 6
  338. 12:31months, right? You get used to the job.
  339. 12:33You've gone through the tutorial phase
  340. 12:35of the job. You're working on the task.
  341. 12:37It becomes normal to you. And then you
  342. 12:39just get into this repetitive routine of
  343. 12:41wake up, go to your computer, go to the
  344. 12:42office, wherever you go, and just do the
  345. 12:44same thing day after day. And that's a
  346. 12:46great way to waste 40 years of your
  347. 12:48life. It psychologically castrates you.
  348. 12:50And if you don't believe me, just
  349. 12:52research psychology for a year and you
  350. 12:54will understand exactly what I'm saying.
  351. 12:56Now, if this is one of your first
  352. 12:58businesses that you're starting, it
  353. 13:00doesn't really matter what kind of
  354. 13:01business you start. Because what you do
  355. 13:042 to 3 years from now will be completely
  356. 13:06different. You are simply starting a
  357. 13:08business and trying to make money
  358. 13:11because you aren't going to learn how to
  359. 13:13make money or start a business until you
  360. 13:15do it. There is absolutely no world
  361. 13:18where you're going to watch 40 hours of
  362. 13:19YouTube and read 10 books and magically
  363. 13:22within a year build a million-dollar
  364. 13:24business. It isn't going to happen. You
  365. 13:26have to go through the trial and error.
  366. 13:28You need to start whatever it is and
  367. 13:30then learn along the way to overcome
  368. 13:31roadblocks and you pivot along the way.
  369. 13:34you're going to start with a personal
  370. 13:36brand or a software company or an
  371. 13:37e-commerce through drop shipping or
  372. 13:39whatever the flavor of the day one is
  373. 13:41right now. One thing I would recommend
  374. 13:42is just doing something that is popular
  375. 13:44on YouTube because it if if it is
  376. 13:46popular, that means that yes, even
  377. 13:48though it's saturated, it works. So,
  378. 13:51just keep a finger on the pulse of the
  379. 13:53newer business models that are coming
  380. 13:55out. And if you actually commit to it,
  381. 13:58which 99% of people don't, then you will
  382. 14:00probably make 10 to 100K a month if you
  383. 14:04actually have a bone in your body that
  384. 14:07can improve and iterate and not quit
  385. 14:09after 2 weeks. Those who are not in the
  386. 14:11game just don't understand how little
  387. 14:14competition there actually is. Just
  388. 14:16because you're scrolling on social media
  389. 14:17all day or you see all this success,
  390. 14:19these successful businesses popping up,
  391. 14:21it's like 10 to 50 people that you're
  392. 14:24seeing. That's it. maybe a 100, maybe
  393. 14:26200. Out of 7 to 8 billion people on
  394. 14:29this planet, the echo chamber that
  395. 14:31you're in is so incredibly small, it's
  396. 14:34actually mind-boggling. The only
  397. 14:36successful people in an online business,
  398. 14:39as one example, are those who just don't
  399. 14:41care if there's competition and know
  400. 14:44that they can grab their piece of the

  401. Set goals that f*cking scare you

  402. 14:46pie, too. Now, on to the first thing
  403. 14:48that you should do. We just went over
  404. 14:50the three traps. Now, we're going to go
  405. 14:51over the three things you should do. The
  406. 14:53first is to set goals that [ __ ] scare
  407. 14:56you. And when I was mapping out this
  408. 14:58video, I I felt like this ball in my
  409. 15:01chest of emotion of thinking back to the
  410. 15:04time where you think to yourself like, I
  411. 15:06can't believe how far I've come. Right?
  412. 15:08You don't see how far you've come until
  413. 15:11you reflect on it and look back and see,
  414. 15:12wow, I've actually accomplished all of
  415. 15:15these things. When you're an executor,
  416. 15:16when you're an action taker, you're a
  417. 15:18doer. You just do things, right? It's
  418. 15:21just a part of you. It's what you do.
  419. 15:22You can't wake up and not make some form
  420. 15:24of progress. And so when you look back,
  421. 15:26you're like, "Holy crap." Like, I
  422. 15:28actually made it that far. I published
  423. 15:29two books and it doesn't even feel like
  424. 15:31I published two books. Like, I feel as
  425. 15:33if I've made my younger self proud
  426. 15:35because little Dan never would have
  427. 15:38freaking guessed that I would have
  428. 15:39actually written two books or been the
  429. 15:42CEO of a small and scrappy startup
  430. 15:45company or built such a wide influence
  431. 15:47on the internet. Like, he wouldn't have
  432. 15:48even thought of that. Now, the problem
  433. 15:51with this is that the pursuit of
  434. 15:53greatness is often shot down by people
  435. 15:56who never do anything great. They see it
  436. 15:58as shallow or materialistic or they see
  437. 16:01getting rich or achieving goals as just
  438. 16:03that. They they only pinpoint it. They
  439. 16:06put a spotlight on that and they're
  440. 16:07like, "You're a bad person because you
  441. 16:10want to make money or you want to be
  442. 16:13famous." I don't want to be famous, but
  443. 16:15that's like I don't consider myself
  444. 16:16famous either. I think I have a pretty
  445. 16:18large influence, but that's the
  446. 16:20byproduct of creating value in the way
  447. 16:23that I'm creating it, such as a YouTube
  448. 16:25video. But these people don't understand
  449. 16:27that there is something there. There's
  450. 16:30something deep. In my personal opinion,
  451. 16:33the deepest and most meaningful things
  452. 16:36come from the pursuit of materialistic
  453. 16:39or shallow things. Because you can only
  454. 16:41reach the depths once you've scratched
  455. 16:43the surface, once you've started digging
  456. 16:45down. And by not pursuing anything but
  457. 16:48the domain of spirituality, which that's
  458. 16:51only one domain. There's also the
  459. 16:53material, the money, the mind, the body,
  460. 16:55the health, etc. You you have to do all
  461. 16:57of these things if you actually want to
  462. 16:59become a well-rounded individual. And
  463. 17:01the thing with pursuing these goals that
  464. 17:04scare you or even scare your younger
  465. 17:06self or that your your younger self
  466. 17:08wouldn't have even conceived is that it
  467. 17:10it just that alone is a source of energy
  468. 17:13that is so potent that even the world's
  469. 17:16strongest stimulant just can't compare
  470. 17:18to it. It feels so good. And that's not
  471. 17:20sustainable. Don't try to sustain it.
  472. 17:22But I'm sure you felt that when you're
  473. 17:24pursuing this big grand vision that is
  474. 17:27just a massive source of intrinsic
  475. 17:30motivation. It's like a cosmic pull that
  476. 17:33is just calling you to become your
  477. 17:36higher self. It's your calling. It's a
  478. 17:37self-imposed calling. So to replicate
  479. 17:39this, I want you to pull out a sheet of
  480. 17:41paper and I want you to write at the top
  481. 17:4410 goals 10 years. And I want you to
  482. 17:46write down 10 goals that make you
  483. 17:49physically uncomfortable for one year at
  484. 17:52a time for 10 years. And then you're
  485. 17:55just going to focus on one massive goal
  486. 17:58per year. Why? Because your mind expands
  487. 18:01to fill the goals set for achievement.
  488. 18:03It's like Parkinson's law, but for
  489. 18:05goals. And because building a $1 million
  490. 18:08company takes almost as much effort as
  491. 18:11building a $100 million company. And if
  492. 18:14you don't believe that, you don't
  493. 18:15understand it. You don't understand that
  494. 18:18when you set a massive goal, it changes
  495. 18:21the actions that you take. If you're
  496. 18:23trying to build a $1 million company,
  497. 18:25you're going to take $1 million actions
  498. 18:27because that's your goal. If you try to
  499. 18:29build a $100 million company, you're
  500. 18:31going to go down a pretty different
  501. 18:34direction in order to get there. And you
  502. 18:36only have 8 hours of work in you a day.
  503. 18:39It takes the same freaking amount of
  504. 18:41effort. And one could even argue that a
  505. 18:43local coffee shop owner or a restaurant
  506. 18:46owner works so much harder than someone
  507. 18:49who has started an online business and
  508. 18:51they make so much less because the goal
  509. 18:55of it is much smaller. The opportunity
  510. 18:59in it, the leverage in it is much
  511. 19:01smaller. Now, there's lots of context
  512. 19:03missing there and there's obviously ways
  513. 19:05to build chains of these coffee shops or
  514. 19:08other things of that nature, but we live
  515. 19:10in 2025 and for most people, starting an
  516. 19:13online business is a lowerc cost way to
  517. 19:16go with a much higher upside. And with
  518. 19:18the internet, it's a lot more common now
  519. 19:20that hard work doesn't lead to much in
  520. 19:23isolation. You can spend 10 years
  521. 19:25writing a book and that doesn't mean
  522. 19:26that that book will get you rich. It
  523. 19:28doesn't mean that people will read it.

  524. Make as much money as you can

  525. 19:30It doesn't mean that it's good. Now, the
  526. 19:31second thing to do is to make as much
  527. 19:34money as you can. Why are we trying to
  528. 19:37make as much money as we can? Are we
  529. 19:38doing it because we're bad or because
  530. 19:41we're evil people who just want to make
  531. 19:43a lot of money? No. We're actually doing
  532. 19:46this as a way to supercharge the growth
  533. 19:50and development that we have throughout
  534. 19:52our 20s and our 30s because money is
  535. 19:55tricky, right? So many people don't see
  536. 19:58it for what it is because it's so
  537. 20:00intimately tied with our self-worth and
  538. 20:03our morality and our survival. So when
  539. 20:06people try to make money or hear about
  540. 20:09money, they have all of these beliefs
  541. 20:11about it that they don't think they can
  542. 20:12change or they register those beliefs
  543. 20:15that were conditioned into their head as
  544. 20:17truth. Your parents tell you to save
  545. 20:20your money. Your pastor tells you to
  546. 20:22shun money or not worry about it. And
  547. 20:24your culture that runs on money tells
  548. 20:26you it's not important. And so you
  549. 20:29listen to all of these things and then
  550. 20:31you just get piled into the ground
  551. 20:33because you have these bills stacking
  552. 20:35up. You can't get what you want in life.
  553. 20:37And you feel guilty or bad for pursuing
  554. 20:39something that you want in life and you
  555. 20:41start to think that you can't make money
  556. 20:43and be a good person at the same time
  557. 20:46with that is just categorically false.
  558. 20:48So am I telling you to make a bunch of
  559. 20:50money and be evil? No. I'm telling you
  560. 20:52to develop yourself, develop your mind,
  561. 20:54and develop your finances so you are a
  562. 20:57well-rounded individual who can make
  563. 20:59their own decisions when it comes to
  564. 21:01money because you've experienced it.
  565. 21:03Very few people actually decide to see
  566. 21:06beyond the virtue signaling that is
  567. 21:08rampant on social media and everywhere
  568. 21:10else and form their own opinion about
  569. 21:12what money is and what it can do for
  570. 21:13you. I do not care how spiritual you are
  571. 21:16or how intellectual you are. If you have
  572. 21:19a poor psychological relationship with
  573. 21:21money, you are not as developed as you
  574. 21:23think you are and you are not living as
  575. 21:25good of a life as you think you are
  576. 21:27because money is involved in almost
  577. 21:30every single decision you make. And if
  578. 21:32you have a poor relationship with it,
  579. 21:34then your life is going to be pretty
  580. 21:35terrible. And we don't live in
  581. 21:37pre-industrial times anymore. No, you
  582. 21:40are never going to go back and live like
  583. 21:42your ancestors, not in a modern world.
  584. 21:45You aren't going to go back in time. And
  585. 21:46so the objection here is okay but Dan
  586. 21:49what if I just want to make as much as I
  587. 21:51need and that's perfectly fine but again
  588. 21:53you are limiting the level of challenge
  589. 21:56that you can take on in any domain of
  590. 21:58your life. You can be mostly happy and
  591. 22:01satisfied and that's great. A lot of
  592. 22:02people live great lives, but for those
  593. 22:04listening to this, I think you will
  594. 22:06resonate with the fact that you don't
  595. 22:08want to reach a point where you relive
  596. 22:10the same 6 months over and over again
  597. 22:12for multiple years for the exact reasons
  598. 22:15we stated at the beginning of this
  599. 22:17video. And there are very few things
  600. 22:19that you can continue to progress at
  601. 22:22that aren't your work, your mind, your
  602. 22:24body, your spirit, and all of those
  603. 22:25things are intertwined and you need to
  604. 22:28survive. Entrepreneurship and value
  605. 22:30exchange is an infinite game. Now, as
  606. 22:34dangerous and as evil as money can be,
  607. 22:37you can't build rockets or feed the
  608. 22:39world without it. Money is a globally
  609. 22:41accepted form of value. And if money
  610. 22:43just ceased to exist or people started
  611. 22:45making less, the world would get bad
  612. 22:48very fast because people don't work when
  613. 22:52they aren't motivated with a reward.
  614. 22:54That doesn't have to be your only
  615. 22:56reward, but that's why people work. Now,
  616. 22:58we're going to talk about this in like
  617. 23:00two videos from now. The next video is
  618. 23:02going to be on the three decisions that
  619. 23:04will make you rich. And then after that,
  620. 23:06it's how to learn anything in two weeks.
  621. 23:08So, with that, making money is a skill.
  622. 23:12You just it's so tied in with your
  623. 23:14identity that you don't see it as
  624. 23:15something that you can practice and
  625. 23:16improve. We're going to talk about how
  626. 23:18to learn anything in two weeks in that
  627. 23:20video. But for now, just understand that
  628. 23:24making money is like learning a language
  629. 23:26or learning how to play the guitar. The
  630. 23:29difference is that when you try to make
  631. 23:31money, one, you need another person
  632. 23:33involved and you usually need to
  633. 23:36interact with other people. That means
  634. 23:37that your ego is going to come into
  635. 23:39play. Your values and beliefs are going
  636. 23:41to come into play. When you're playing
  637. 23:42the guitar, it's pretty obvious. You
  638. 23:44just pick a song, you try to play it,
  639. 23:46you look up how to play that specific
  640. 23:48note, then you continue learning how to
  641. 23:50play the notes, and then eventually you
  642. 23:52can play the song. And then you picked
  643. 23:53up techniques, and you go to play
  644. 23:54another song, and then it's easier, and
  645. 23:56then it's easier, and then it's easier.
  646. 23:58The thing is that with instruments or
  647. 24:00video games, so many people are okay
  648. 24:02with playing video games and getting so
  649. 24:04good at them. But with those, there's no
  650. 24:06risk. It doesn't matter if you fail.
  651. 24:09With making money, it matters if you
  652. 24:11fail. And that's exactly why it's
  653. 24:13important to do because that's how you
  654. 24:15practically overcome caring about what
  655. 24:17other people think or managing your
  656. 24:19emotions. Entrepreneurship and making
  657. 24:21money are deeply spiritual because you
  658. 24:24experience more negative thoughts,
  659. 24:26negative emotions, negative experiences
  660. 24:28that you can work through. When you're
  661. 24:30stuck meditating all day or you're only
  662. 24:33worried about these minor irrational
  663. 24:35things in life, you're not actually
  664. 24:37putting weight on the bar. You aren't
  665. 24:40bench pressing 315 pounds with your
  666. 24:43mind. You're lifting a five pound
  667. 24:45dumbbell because you're upset that
  668. 24:48someone cut you off in traffic. That's
  669. 24:50not a high magnitude. That's not a high
  670. 24:52weight that you're training with to
  671. 24:55build more mental muscle to make

  672. Self-actualize

  673. 24:57yourself more capable. Now, the third
  674. 24:59thing to do or to focus on is to
  675. 25:02self-actualize. Because if the
  676. 25:04overarching aim for the entirety of your
  677. 25:07life is not to self-actualize, then it's
  678. 25:10to self-sabotage. So every single action
  679. 25:12that you take should align with the
  680. 25:15purpose of self-actualization. And if
  681. 25:17they don't, then I would assume that you
  682. 25:19don't have a deep reason behind why you
  683. 25:22do what you do. And it's extremely
  684. 25:24difficult to explain the gravity of this
  685. 25:27because most people don't think about
  686. 25:29the outcome of their actions. They have
  687. 25:31a myopic focus on short-term pleasure
  688. 25:34that slowly beats them into a pulp
  689. 25:36without them realizing it until decades
  690. 25:38down the road. That is the worst
  691. 25:40possible place you could imagine
  692. 25:42yourself. Health issues that caught up
  693. 25:44with you, a mind that can adapt to the
  694. 25:46changing technological landscape. The
  695. 25:48actions you took were never a fully
  696. 25:50conscious choice, so they never led to
  697. 25:52anything great. I shouldn't have to
  698. 25:55explain the decades of psychological
  699. 25:57research that have amply dissected human
  700. 25:59needs and development. I shouldn't have
  701. 26:01to explain that if you don't
  702. 26:03self-actualize, you will experience a
  703. 26:06world of unnecessary pain and you won't
  704. 26:08know what to do about it. So for your
  705. 26:10own good, you need to train your mind to
  706. 26:13zoom out. You need to make it a habit to
  707. 26:16adopt the perspective of the highest
  708. 26:19version of yourself and consult with
  709. 26:21them before you make a decision. It
  710. 26:24needs to become more than second nature.
  711. 26:26It needs to just become the thing that
  712. 26:27you automatically do that when a
  713. 26:29decision comes up that is important, you
  714. 26:32consult with the higher version of
  715. 26:34yourself. Who do I not want to become?
  716. 26:36Who do I want to become? Or what life do
  717. 26:39I not want to live? What life do I want
  718. 26:41to live? And then you allow your
  719. 26:43decisions to be shaped by those answers.
  720. 26:46And you don't need to be perfect. You
  721. 26:48don't need to make every perfect
  722. 26:49decision in life. You just need to
  723. 26:51understand that most people never make a
  724. 26:53conscious decision in their life. and
  725. 26:54that if you simply do that, you will
  726. 26:56live a better life than them. Now, if
  727. 26:58you want to read more about human
  728. 27:00potential or becoming future proof or
  729. 27:02learning AI and business and internet
  730. 27:05stuff, subscribe to my Substack. The
  731. 27:07link for that is in the description.
  732. 27:08Other than that, thank you for watching
  733. 27:10this video. I'll see you in the next
  734. 27:11one. Bye.
I'm 28. Here's How To Get Ahead Of Most 20 Year Olds — Transcriptly