
February 7, 2020
Treat Your Life As An Experiment – James Altucher on the Modern Wisdom Podcast (Part II)
Check out the Modern Wisdom Podcast Episode Page & Show Notes
Check out the Podcast Notes for Part I
Key Takeaways
- Constantly run experiments to figure out how you can improve various aspects of your life—keep them short and low-budget
- You can’t think your way to your passion; you have to go out into the world and do things
- Your true calling lies at the intersection of what you’re good at, what you love to do, what you people will pay you for, and what society needs
- You don’t have to be the best in the world at a specific skill—take 2-3 skills your good at and combine them to create something great
- Don’t be afraid to take two steps back to move four steps forward
Intro
- James Altucher (@jaltucher) is a chess master, writer, entrepreneur, investor, and comedian
- He also hosts The James Altucher Show (Podcast Notes)
- Host – Chris Williamson (@ChrisWillx)
Books Mentioned
- Choose Yourself by James Altucher, the book James is most known for
- James recommends Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power
- Stillness Is The Key by Ryan Holiday
- Before Ryan was a bestselling author, he dropped out of college to apprentice under Robert Greene
Treat Your Life Like an Experiment
- Constantly run experiments to figure out how you can improve various aspects of your life
- For example, to improve his comedy skills, James did stand-up on the NYC subway, hopping from cart to cart where he immediately had a new audience to experiment with different jokes
- With any experiment, reality will reflect back to you whether or not it’s a good idea
- Keep experiments short and low-budget—their purpose serves to give you an idea of what you like/don’t like and to test out whether it’s worth pursuing an idea further
- James is currently experimenting with producing videos on YouTube and TikTok v
- Try to minimize friction with experiments
- If you’re interested in salsa dancing, for instance, don’t spend hours trying to find the best class—pick any random one and give it a shot
- 🎧 You can’t think your way to your passion; you have to go out into the world and do things
- “You have to actually do in order to know” – James Altucher
- (You won’t know what writing a novel is like until you sit down and try)
The 🔑s to Success
- Your true calling lies at the intersection of what you’re good at, what you love to do, what people will pay you for, and what society needs
- James adds: “It’s at the intersection of all of your interests where you’ll probably find your passion and make the most amount of money”
- You don’t have to be the best in the world at a specific skill—take 2-3 skills your good at and combine them to create something great
- Take Chris Turner: He combined stand-up comedy with rap—he’s now one of the most popular comedians in the world even though he’s only 27-years-old
- James combined his investing experience with his writing skills to create an investing newsletter
- 🎧 Oftentimes, specific skills will seem worthless—it took James 12 years before he began making money writing!
- “You can’t succeed by just being better; you also have to be different” – James Altucher
How to Skip The Line
- James believes the 10,000-hour rule only applies to repetitive tasks
- Skip the line to becoming the best by focusing on the 10,000 experiment rule:
- Every time you run an experiment, you’ll have the opportunity to learn a new skill or develop an existing one
- Experiments also allow you to hone multiple skills at once:
- When performing stand-up comedy in the NYC subway, James was developing both his comedy and social skills
- A huge online platform (i.e., a podcast, social media, or YouTube audience) makes it easier to connect with experts in any field
- Developing a relationship with an expert and being able to learn from them directly saves you weeks or months of practice!
2 Steps Back, 4 Steps Forward
- Don’t be afraid to take two steps back to move four steps forward
- Ryan Holiday, for instance, dropped out of college to apprentice under author Robert Greene, who later landed Ryan a job at American Apparel. Ryan then quit that job to work under another bestselling author—Tim Ferriss—before becoming one himself.
- 🎧 James wanted to make TV shows but lacked the necessary experience, so he took an IT job with HBO to get his foot in the door. Later on, he pitched a successful web show, which ended turning into a TV show.
- “I was the only programmer ever in the IT department to be shooting a pilot for HBO” – James Altucher
Additional Notes
- If you’re a podcaster, experiment with different formats and interviews
- Sometimes it’s better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond
- Don’t ask someone “How can I help you?” — that gives them homework to do (they have to figure out what they need help with). Instead, say, “Here are 10 ideas. I can help with any of them. Interested in any?“
- “Give away your ideas freely … And give them away as simply as possible so there’s little work on the other person’s part” – James Altucher