Advice I Wish Someone Gave Me When I Was 20

Recording this today, I'm a 45-year-old multimillionaire, but if I could go back and talk to my 20-year-old self and give him some advice, here are the 60 things I would share. Welcome to the Martell Method.
I went from rehab at 17 to building a $100 million empire and being a Wall Street Journal best-selling author. In this podcast, I'll show you exactly how to build a life and business you don't grow to hate.
And make sure you don't miss anything by subscribing to my newsletter at martellmethod.com. Number one, stop waiting for the right time.
Just make the time right. Most people, the most important thing they got to do is just make a decision.
Stop waiting to get ready and just do it. Number two, broke people buy distractions, rich people buy time.
You have to start investing in things that are going to save you time. Think about wash and fold laundry or meal prep or using the apps to bring stuff to you so you don't spend your time running a bunch of errands.
Number three, your 20s is when you get good. Your 30s is when you get rich and your 40s is when you get wise.
I look at my life in 10 year increments. The first 10 was to develop the skill to become valuable.
The next 10 was to figure out how to make money with that skill. The last 10 was using that to create my empire.
You have to dedicate yourself in decades to one focus. Number four, buy the way you want to be bought from.
Most people are so cheap, they get mad when buyers are cheap with them, but they're the ones that put the energy out there. So if you want people to easily buy from you, easily buy from other people.
Number five, winners lose more than losers ever will. Most people are scared to fail, but that's only true if you don't get the feedback.
If you take a shot on goal and you miss, but you learn how to take a better shot on goal, then that is actually a win. Don't be scared of failure.
Embrace it. Number six, self-esteem is the reputation you have with yourself.
If every

time you make a commitment to yourself, you let yourself down by not keeping that commitment,

then you erode your self-esteem, your self-worth, and you'll never fight for what you think you

deserve. Number seven, if it's not a hell yes, it's a hard no.
My frame is very simple. I ask

myself, if somebody asked me to do the thing they want me to do and it was today, would I say yes?

If the answer is no because I'm busy, then it's probably no. Even the good stuff is a no because if I don't say no, then I won't have the space to say yes to the great.
Number eight, say yes until you can afford to say no. You say yes when you have a lot of opportunities, but then if you're good, you get a lot more requests.
Then you got to learn to say no when things no longer serve you. Number nine, the best way to predict the future is to attract it.
Most people get confused because they think they gotta create success. My philosophy is that I attract success.
I pull my future into my present by being very clear on what I wanna achieve and taking action. Number 10, you can't complain about the outcomes you didn't get from the work you didn't do.
Stop expecting things to be easy. They're not and they never will be because if you're not doing the work, then you can't get the outcome.
Number 11, broke people talk about people. Rich people talk about ideas.
Just listen to yourself when you're with your friends. Are you talking about other people or you're talking about possibility? Are you talking about ideas? Are you talking about creation? Or you're focusing on talking about the easiest thing to talk about, which is shit about other people that aren't even there.
Number 12, don't take criticism from people you wouldn't take advice from. My philosophy is very simple.
I only take advice or criticism from people who are already where I want to be or have done the thing I want to do. Number 13, how you do anything is how you do everything.
Most people discount the small things, but those small things lead into big things. If you take care of your environment, then the business will be taken care of.
If you take care of your space, then your team will be taken care of. Focus on doing the small things right to get the big things to come to life.
Number 14, the quality of your life is determined by the quality of your habits. So you got to figure out what are the three to five things that if you do every day will set you up for success.
Number 15, the best revenge is massive success. When I was growing up, I was that kid that the other kids in my neighborhood weren't allowed to play with.
Now I earned that label and trust me, I didn't always make the best decisions. But when I decided to turn my life around, I didn't focus on proving them wrong.
I just focused on becoming undeniable. Number 16, winners focus on winning.
Losers focus on winners. If you compare yourself to everybody else, then you're always looking for why you're not good enough.
And the truth is you're only competing against one person and that's you from the past. Number 17, most people are too afraid of looking stupid to ever get good at anything.
Think about all the people you see on social media. The reason they're good is because they decided to start, even though in their head, trust me, because I'm one of them.
I thought I have nothing to share. People are going to think I'm dumb.
This is dumb. I still decide to do it because if you think everything makes you look dumb, you'll never try anything.
Number 18, it's not about having time. It's about making time.
The truth is, is nobody creates time. Nobody has extra time.
We all have the same amount of time. You either decide to allocate it properly or you don't.
You're a hundred percent accountable for that. Number 19, your mind will believe what you repeatedly tell it.
Anytime somebody asks me, how you doing, Dan? I always answer the same way. Incredible.
Incredible. Freaking amazing.
Awesome. Thanks for asking.
Why? Because you will believe what you repeatedly say. So I reprogram my mind using mantras like that and many others to keep myself focused on who I want to become.
Number 20, 80% of your problems would be solved if you just went to bed on time. It's kind of crazy, but this simple life lesson will change everything for you.
Set an alarm for when you go to bed and just honor it. Get to sleep.
Nothing exciting happens late at night when you can have an early start to your day. Number 21, the problem isn't lack of resources, it's lack of resourcefulness.
Most people think, well, I don't have the money to start that or the friend group or the experience. The truth is most people that have won in life, they're just more resourceful.
They don't make a list of things that tell them they can't do something. They get good at finding the resources needed to solve the problems.
Number 22, learn to be alone without being lonely. One of the most powerful skills and processes I've learned is become the person who needs nothing from anybody.
If I can be happy with nothing, then I'm going to be ecstatic with a lot. Number 23, work while they sleep so you can live like they dream.
Most people would rather sleep in and snooze on their life, but you're different. You're going to get up early every day, do the hard things, and live a life that 99% of people only dream of.
Number 24, you teach people how to treat you. If somebody does something that I don't agree with, I say it right away.
I don't accept people stepping all over me. Number 25, money is a tool, not the goal.
I think of money like a battery. It's an energy source and we want to use money as a tool to improve our life.
You don't want to hoard it. Before we get back to the the episode if you want to jump start your week with my top stories and tactics be sure to subscribe to the martel method newsletter it's where you'll elevate your mindset fitness and business in less than five minutes a week find it at martell method.com number 26 if you're always available you're not valuable you should be the kind of person that puts themselves out there so everybody knows who you are.
You should be easy to find, but hard to get a hold of. That's what makes you valuable.
Number 27. You don't attract what you want.
You attract what you are. Most people think they got to do more to be successful.
I would argue you have to be more. It's not do then become, it's actually become then do.

Number 28, no response is a response and a powerful one.

You don't have to reply to every email that comes to you.

You don't have to answer every phone call and you don't have to reply to every text.

Don't feel like you need to explain yourself to everyone.

Number 29, you either get better or you get bitter.

I remember going to my high school reunion

and every time I'd meet somebody,

they would say stuff like, hey, remember back in the day we did this or that? And I'm just like, what have you been up to lately? Because it sounds like you've been just living the same life and honestly regressing. Don't be that old guy saying, back in my day, I used to bench 225.
Where are you at today? Number 30, time is the most expensive thing you have. So don't waste it scrolling on social media or talking to people that take your energy.
Focus your time on things that matter most to you, like your family, your health, your goals. Push your life forward.
Number 31. Wealth is built with patience and loss with ignorance.
The people that have created real wealth, sustainable wealth, they got rich and they still got it. It's because they've kept being curious.
They wonder what's going on around them. They don't pretend like they know it all.
Don't get cocky as you build your empire. Number 32, the secret to success is consistency, not intensity.
I'm not impressed with somebody that can get up and go to the gym for 14 days in a row. I am impressed with somebody who can be consistent over six months.
Number 33, you're only as strong as your weakest habit. Having a bunch of vices, habits, decisions that you're not proud of, like eating too much, drinking too much, being addicted to your phone.
It's kind of like going on a hike with a backpack full of rocks. You can do it.
It's just going to be way harder and it'll definitely slow you down in a big way. Number 34, regret will hurt more than failure ever will.
I call this regret minimization. When I fast forward to my last day, my last breath, I don't want to be laying on my deathbed with a bunch of regrets.
So every day I minimize my regrets by taking action today. I don't wait.
I don't push off. I don't get in the mood.
I don't wait for my feelings to feel good. I just do.
Number 35, never argue with someone who is committed to misunderstanding you. Truth is most people aren't going to get you and it's not your responsibility to have to explain it.
It's okay leaving people in the reality that they find themselves with. You want to learn to pick your fights because you don't want to be in a fight with somebody who doesn't want to see you in.
Number 36, if you're always the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. It feels good to be the top dog, the smartest person in the room, the person that has all the answers.
Problem is the way to be successful is you got to get comfortable being the smallest person in the room. Number 37, don't let temporary people create permanent wounds.
Friends come into your life for either a reason, a season, or a lifetime. If you know the difference, you decide to let those people stay in the past.
Number 38, distractions destroy more dreams than lack of resources ever will. Most people don't lack opportunity, they lack focus.
Number 39, if you've never contradicted yourself, you're not growing fast enough. What that means is that if you're truly on a growth journey and you're reading and you're investing, you're going to develop new points of view, which means that your new beliefs are different than the old ones.
So if you keep believing the same thing you used to believe, then are you really growing fast enough? The key in all of this is to be confident about what you believe. That's why I say often wrong, never in doubt.
Number 40, get obsessed with the process, not the outcome. Fall in love with the art and the betterment and the person you're becoming as you pursue the goal, not the actual goal itself.
If you disconnect from the need of achieving something to be happy, instead be happy in the process of achieving, that's a life of fulfillment. Number 41, winners make adjustments, losers make excuses.
If you wanna win, you're gonna have to tweak things.'re going to have to learn from whatever happened and move forward. The people that try and never try ever again is because they make excuses for themselves.
It's never their fault and they don't learn anything. Don't fall into the trap of explaining yourself out of winning.
Number 42, if you want an extraordinary life, stop making ordinary choices. The whole point of being extra is that you're doing things that other people wouldn't do.
If everybody around you is saying that's a good decision, you might want to be concerned because for you to be extraordinary, you need to be extra. Number 43, if you hang around with five winners, you'll be the six.
Most people are the byproducts of the people they spend the most time with. If you do not make a decision to find those other five people and work your way into that friend group, then you're just going to make it hard on yourself.
Number 44, the best investment you'll ever make is in yourself. If you can invest money in becoming better so you can increase the money you make when you do work, that's the best return you'll ever get.
Stop investing in stocks initially and start investing in you. Before we get back to the episode, if you actually want to know what my real life looks like and see the people and the businesses and the companies I buy and my family and just like how I make it all work, go follow me on Instagram, Dan Martell, 2Ls and Martell on Instagram.
It's where I show the behind the scenes, the real deal, real time. I'd love to see you there.
Have an amazing day. Number 45, you don't get paid for time.
You get paid for value. If you could take a million dollars and turn it into 10 million in 30 minutes, you would get paid a lot of money, millions of dollars for that magic trick.
It's not the amount of time you work. It's the value you create in that time.
So focus on increasing your value and disconnect your earning from your hour. Number 46, if you chase two rabbits, you'll catch none.
Sequencing equals success. If you want to be successful, you need to know what's the one thing, the one domino that if you go all in will help you get that result.
You have to pick one focus and go all in. Number 47, success is never own, it's rented.
Every day, you have to pay rent. You gotta pay your dues.
You gotta show up, you gotta be consistent, you gotta put a smile on, and you gotta do that over long periods of time. Rent is due every day, you need to stay consistent.
Number 48, money follows momentum, not perfection. Money loves movement, money loves speed, Money loves decisiveness.
The key is you have to move fast and fix things as you're building. Number 49, if your goals don't scare you, they're too small.
I used to think I was thinking big and then I moved to San Francisco and it went from being a millionaire to being a billionaire. Because if you showed up to a coffee shop talking about your million dollar ideas, people would literally stop talking to you and walk the other way.
You have to dream bigger, but even more important, execute harder. Number 50, confidence isn't thinking you're better than others.
It's knowing you don't have to compare. Confidence isn't a lack of being humble.
It's the certainty that you know you do the things you say that you're going to do because of who you are. That's why you have to learn to run your own race.

Number 51, if you can't lead yourself,

don't expect others to follow you.

Just like in a plane, before you help anybody else,

you have to put your mask on.

And too often people are ready to give everybody else advice

on what's going wrong in their life,

but they don't wanna look in the mirror and ask themselves,

am I being honest about what's going on in my life?

Number 52, good is the fricking enemy of great.

The most people that achieve a little bit of success

Thank you. but they don't wanna look in the mirror and ask themselves, am I being honest about what's going on in my life? Number 52, good is the fricking enemy of great.
The most people that achieve a little bit of success, they stop. Now all of a sudden they've got something to lose.
They forgot why they started in the first place. They climbed that mountain of success and set up shop halfway through because things are now good.
There's nothing to run away from. There's no pain to avoid.
The challenge is, is all great people never settled. And that's what a mediocre life comes from.
If you want to live a great life, never settle. Number 53, you're not overthinking, you're under-executing.
All your self-doubt comes from a lack of doing. Just get up and move forward towards your goals.
It will erase all self-doubt. Number 54, if you want better answers, ask better questions.
The better the question, the better the life. And what's crazy is your questions will dictate your future.
Number 55, if you hate Mondays, you're doing life wrong. You have to design a life where you get excited to get out of bed.
It's the people, it's the projects, it's the energy, it's you. At the end of the day, what you put out is what you get back.
So find work that lights you up. Number 56, your vibe attracts your tribe.
It's so crazy, but your energy, how you feel attracts other people that also vibe and feel that way. So what you need to do is just put out your vibe.
If you're a happy person, smile. Somebody asks you how you're doing, say freaking amazing.
If you love to work out, tell everybody about your last workout. Be the person who expresses themselves so that other people that resonate with that will lean in.
They'll talk to you. Number 57, you receive what you desire for others.
If you want to get in the best shape of your life, desire that for other people. If you want to be rich, help other people get rich.
If you want to be happy, help other people be happy. It's so interesting that what you want for other people is what you'll get back in return.

Number 58, your life is the byproduct

of your most dominant thoughts, feelings, and actions.

If you're not happy with where you're at,

then ask yourself, what am I thinking about?

How am I feeling about my situation?

And what am I doing about it?

If you look at those three things,

you can change your whole life by just that focus.

Number 59, weak people chase pleasure

Thank you. about my situation, and what am I doing about it? If you look at those three things, you can change your whole life by just that focus.
Number 59, weak people chase pleasure, strong people chase purpose. If you want to live a life of fulfillment, you have to do hard things.
You have to continue to expand and to grow. If you keep looking for the easiest path, then you'll never live a life of purpose.
Number 60, you don't need more information. You need more execution.
Some people are addicted to shelf help. The truth is you already know what

you need to do. Now it's time to just go do it.
Thanks for listening to Martell Method. If you

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