Why I read a book a day (and why you should too): the law of 33% | Tai Lopez | TEDxUBIWiltz

Summary

In this inspiring talk, the speaker emphasizes the transformative power of mentorship in achieving the 'good life'. Drawing on personal anecdotes and historical examples, the speaker illustrates how learning from the experiences of successful individuals can significantly impact one's health, wealth, love, and happiness. The speaker advocates for the 'Law of 33%', engaging with mentors at various stages of life, and stresses the importance of humility, perseverance, and the wisdom found in books. The message is clear: mentorship is a powerful tool for personal and professional growth, and by following certain rules and principles, anyone can find their path to success.

Takeaways

• 🤝 Mentors are powerful catalysts for personal growth and success, capable of transforming lives through their guidance and experience.
• 💡 Success in life can be imagined through hypothetical partnerships with successful individuals like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, the Dali Lama, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Mother Theresa, emphasizing the impact of mentorship.
• 👵 The importance of role models is illustrated through a personal story about the speaker's grandmother who was inspired by a tenant, Edith Knox, to move to California.
• 🎬 Hollywood is used as a metaphor for the struggle and dreams of many, highlighting the disparity between those who succeed and those who do not.
• 🧐 The speaker's quest for the 'good life' is rooted in Aristotle's concept of eudaimonia, encompassing health, wealth, happiness, and love.
• 📚 The speaker's grandfather imparts wisdom about the complexity of life and the need to seek guidance from multiple mentors rather than expecting to find all answers from a single source.
• 🌍 Travel and reading widely were part of the speaker's journey to gain insights into health, wealth, love, and happiness, emphasizing the value of diverse experiences and perspectives.
• 💼 The speaker's encounter with Mike Steinback, a financial advisor, underscored the importance of seeking mentorship in business and finance to overcome financial struggles.
• 📈 The 'Law of 33%' suggests dividing one's social interactions into thirds: helping those less advanced, interacting with peers, and learning from those significantly ahead.
• 🔝 The '10x Rule' encourages seeking mentors who are ten times more successful than oneself to learn from the best and aim high in one's aspirations.
• 📘 Books are presented as treasure troves of wisdom from great minds, past and present, and the speaker advocates for a selective and repeated reading approach to extract valuable insights.

Q & A

What is the main message of the speaker regarding mentors and their impact on personal success?

The speaker emphasizes that mentors have the power to significantly transform one's life, suggesting that having the right mentors can lead to success in various aspects such as business, investing, happiness, health, and social impact.

How does the speaker's grandmother's story illustrate the influence of a mentor?

The speaker's grandmother was inspired by Edith Knox, a piano player who rented a room in her house. Edith's unconventional behavior, like wearing pants and doing exercises, left a lasting impression on the young girl, influencing her decision to move to California later in life.

What was the speaker's initial approach to finding the 'good life' and why did it change?

Initially, the speaker tried to find one person who had all the answers to designing his life. However, his grandfather advised him that no single person could provide all the answers and instead sent him books, indicating that learning from multiple sources and experiences is essential.

What is the significance of the 'Law of 33%' mentioned by the speaker?

The 'Law of 33%' is a guideline for how to allocate time among different groups of people. It suggests spending 33% of time with those less advanced, 33% with peers, and the remaining 33% with those significantly ahead, who can provide mentorship and inspiration.

What does the speaker mean by the '10x rule' in the context of finding mentors?

The '10x rule' suggests finding mentors who are ten times more successful or advanced in a particular field than you are. This approach is meant to ensure that the mentor is far enough ahead to provide valuable guidance and insights.

How does the speaker describe the importance of humility in the pursuit of success?

The speaker uses the story of Sam Walton, who despite being a billionaire, was found crawling on store floors to learn from others. This illustrates the importance of humility in being open to learning from others, regardless of one's own success.

What role does perseverance play in the speaker's narrative about achieving success?

Perseverance is portrayed as a key factor in achieving success. The speaker shares stories of individuals who did not give up, even in the face of repeated rejection, eventually gaining the mentorship and knowledge that contributed to their success.

Why does the speaker encourage the audience to read more books?

The speaker views books as 'hidden treasure' and a means to access the wisdom of great minds. Reading is presented as a way to gain knowledge and insights from successful individuals, both past and present, to improve one's own life.

What is the significance of the stoic versus epicurean philosophy in the speaker's message?

The speaker contrasts stoicism, which involves delaying gratification for long-term goals, with epicureanism, which focuses on immediate pleasure. The speaker advocates for a stoic approach to achieve the 'good life' by being disciplined and focused on long-term success.

How does the speaker use the poem by Chief Tecumseh to conclude his talk?

The poem by Chief Tecumseh is used to inspire the audience to love, perfect, and beautify their lives, and to serve their people. It reinforces the speaker's message that mentors can help one achieve a meaningful and purposeful life.

Outlines

00:00

🌟 The Power of Mentors

Emily Biegas translates and Maricene Crus reviews a motivational speech highlighting the transformative power of mentors. The speaker uses examples of renowned figures like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, the Dalai Lama, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Mother Teresa to illustrate how having expert guidance can significantly enhance one's life. The speaker also shares a personal story about his grandmother’s influence and discusses the importance of finding mentors to achieve success and fulfillment.

05:02

📚 The Value of Multiple Mentors

The speaker recounts a pivotal moment from his youth when he sought life advice from his grandfather, who instead sent him books, emphasizing that wisdom comes from various sources. This experience led the speaker to explore diverse mentors and their teachings, traveling to 51 countries and focusing on different aspects of life. The journey underscored the necessity of external knowledge and the importance of seeking wisdom from multiple mentors rather than relying on a single source.

10:02

🔑 The Mentor Rules: Law of 33%

The speaker introduces the Mentor Rules, particularly the Law of 33%, which advises dividing one’s time among three groups: those less experienced, peers, and those far ahead. This approach ensures personal growth, peer support, and aspirational guidance. The speaker emphasizes the need for humility, perseverance, and the invaluable insights gained from mentors. He shares stories of successful individuals, highlighting the importance of seeking knowledge from those significantly more advanced.

15:03

📖 Embracing Books and Stoicism

The speaker advocates for the profound impact of books, considering them as hidden treasures and mentors in their own right. He encourages a lifelong commitment to reading, focusing on key insights rather than speed. Additionally, he contrasts the philosophies of Stoicism and Epicureanism, urging the audience to adopt a Stoic mindset that prioritizes long-term goals over immediate pleasures. This philosophical approach, combined with continuous learning and resilience, is presented as essential for achieving the good life.

Keywords

💡Mentor

A mentor is an experienced and trusted advisor who imparts knowledge, wisdom, and guidance to those seeking to learn and grow. In the context of the video, mentors are depicted as powerful catalysts for personal transformation and success. The speaker illustrates this by imagining scenarios where famous mentors like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet could drastically enhance one's success in business and investing, emphasizing the transformative impact mentors can have on one's life.

💡Success

Success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose and is often associated with wealth, fame, or personal achievement. The video's theme revolves around the pursuit of success, with the speaker suggesting that having the right mentors can significantly increase one's likelihood of achieving it. The concept is explored through hypothetical scenarios and personal anecdotes, highlighting the importance of mentors in achieving various forms of success.

💡Role Model

A role model is a person whose behavior, example, or success is emulated by others. In the video, the speaker discusses the importance of recognizing role models and how they inspire us to achieve our goals. The speaker's grandmother's story about Edith Knox serves as an example, showing how a role model can influence one's life direction and aspirations.

💡Hollywood

Hollywood is both a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, and a symbol of the American film industry. The speaker uses Hollywood as a backdrop to discuss the追逐 of dreams and the stark reality that not everyone who pursues them achieves success. It serves as a setting to explore the difference between those who make it and those who do not, suggesting that mentors and a clear path can make a significant difference.

💡Eudaimonia

Eudaimonia, derived from the Greek, refers to a state of happiness, flourishing, and often associated with Aristotle's concept of 'the good life.' The speaker references eudaimonia to describe the holistic goal of achieving health, wealth, happiness, and love. It is used to illustrate the multifaceted nature of success and the pursuit of a meaningful life.

💡Mental Shortcuts

Mental shortcuts, as mentioned in the video, refer to the accumulated wisdom or strategies derived from studying successful individuals, which can be applied to one's own life to achieve similar outcomes. The speaker uses this term to describe the process of learning from the experiences and knowledge of others, particularly through reading and personal interactions with mentors.

💡Humility

Humility is the quality of being modest and not overly proud or self-assertive. The speaker cites the story of Sam Walton to exemplify humility, showing that even after achieving great success, one should remain open to learning and not let ego interfere with the pursuit of knowledge and improvement.

💡Perseverance

Perseverance is the continued effort to achieve a goal despite difficulties or obstacles. The video emphasizes the importance of perseverance in the pursuit of success, using examples such as Bill Gates' journey to becoming a billionaire and the story of a real estate investor who persistently sought mentorship.

💡Books

Books are presented in the video as repositories of wisdom and knowledge, available to anyone who seeks to learn from them. The speaker encourages viewing books not as one-time reads but as recurring sources of insight and guidance, akin to having a conversation with a wise friend. The emphasis is on the transformative power of reading and learning from the experiences of others.

💡Stoic

A Stoic is someone who follows the philosophy of Stoicism, which emphasizes the control of one's emotions and the acceptance of life's challenges with resilience. The speaker contrasts Stoicism with Epicureanism, advocating for the Stoic approach of delaying gratification for long-term gain, which is essential for achieving the 'good life' as described in the video.

Highlights

Mentors have the power to transform your life.

The Law of 33%: Spend 33% of your time with people lower than you, 33% with peers, and 33% with people ahead of you.

Find mentors who are 10 times further ahead than you to avoid the blind leading the blind.

Humility is crucial for success; even billionaires like Sam Walton remained humble and curious.

Perseverance is essential; success stories often involve overcoming significant obstacles.

Books are hidden treasures; they allow you to learn from the greatest minds in history.

Adopt a stoic mindset by sacrificing present pleasure for future gains.

Read at least one book a week to continuously gain knowledge and insights.

Embrace the idea that the hard path is what makes success great.

Aristotle's concept of eudaimonia emphasizes the good life through health, wealth, happiness, and love.

Successful individuals like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet had mentors who guided them.

Mentorship can significantly accelerate your path to success and fulfillment.

The modern world is too complex to find all answers from one person; seek guidance from multiple sources.

Travel and diverse experiences can provide valuable lessons and perspectives.

Everyone wants the good life, but it requires following specific rules and putting in effort.

Transcripts

Translator: Emily Biegas Reviewer: Maricene Crus

Everybody wants the good life,

but not everybody gets the good life, right?

Imagine for a second

if right now, today, how much more successful would you be

if you just started a company

50/50 with Bill Gates as your business partner

and he was using every trick of the trade that he used to build Microsoft

into one of the biggest companies in the world?

Imagine how much money you'd have in your bank account today -

how much more money, I should say -

if Warren Buffet was teaching you how to invest in the stock market,

showing you what he used to build Berkshire Hathaway

into a $140 billion company.

Imagine how much happier you'd be today

if the Dali Lama was your personal guide,

showing you how to find fulfillment in life,

in the little things that most people overlook.

Imagine how healthy you'd be today

if when you woke up,

you went down to your gym,

and Arnold Schwarzenegger was waiting there,

who was your personal trainer,

showing you how he built his body

into the most fit body maybe ever, right?

Imagine the change you'd be making in the world,

the injustice you'd be solving today,

if Mother Theresa and you were running a charity together

and she was showing you what she learned

on the streets of Calcutta, helping the poor, the sick, and the dying.

Mentors have the power to do this in your life.

I think everybody here recognizes the importance of a role model.

But in the next few minutes,

I'm going to show you how mentors are more powerful

than you can possibly imagine

in their ability to transform your life.

It's interesting that I'm here in Luxembourg,

because my grandmother was born not too far from here,

in Berlin, Germany.

She's 96 years old, by the way,

and she said, "Tai, tell them hello."

So, hello from my 96-year-old grandma.

(Laughter)

She said, "There was a role model, a mentor that I had

when I was a little girl."

She was born in 1918 in Berlin,

and she said, "We had a renter in our house."

Edith Knox, who was a famous piano player

from California in the 1920s.

She said, "Tai, this woman made such an impression on me."

She rented a room for a summer,

and she said, "Edith Knox wore pants."

My grandma said, "I'd never seen a woman wear pants."

Apparently, in Germany in the '20s, no women wore pants.

And not just regular pants. She had an orange jumpsuit on.

And then she'd play the piano, and Edith Knox, every hour,

would stand on her head for exercise.

My grandma was like 7 and she said,

"Tai, I thought if that's how women are in California,

one day I'm going to move to California."

And sure enough, she ended up in California.

That's part of the story of how my family ended up in California.

I'm from California. I flew here.

It took me 20 hours to get here, and I'm from Hollywood, specifically.

So Hollywood, the "Land of Dreams."

Or for most people, it's the land of broken dreams.

Every year, 100,000 people move in and out of Hollywood.

Some come to be movie stars, actors, singers, writers, comedians.

Most go home empty-handed.

So I live up in the Hills,

and I'm surrounded by all these celebrities.

I have one on my left, one on my right.

I often think, "Why did these celebrities make it?

What did they do differently that allowed them to make it?"

Because in Hollywood, everybody wants something,

but not everybody gets what they want.

So I want to talk a little bit about that today.

Because life is short.

I think we all realize the sands of time quickly can slip by in your life.

And you don't want to be old when you finally get the good life,

or too old. Right?

It's like the Dutch saying,

"We're too soon old, too late smart."

Steve Jobs said, "I didn't want to be be the richest man in the graveyard."

And I realized this.

I remember back, I was younger

and Alan Nation, one of my mentors, he had told me,

"Tai, what did you want to be when you were 16?

That's the truest version of yourself.

What did you want to be when you were 16?"

And I remember at 16, I wanted to find the good life.

Aristotle talks about eudaimonia, his definition of the good life.

Health, wealth, happiness, love. All those things.

I remember going, "It's too hard. How am I ever going to figure this out?

There's so many hard questions. I'm 16.

I got to figure out what college to go to, what religion I'm going to follow,

who I'm going to marry, what politics, where to live,

what career and path to pursue."

And I had this idea. I was like, "I know the perfect idea."

I'll find one person -

I thought this was so genius, it turned out to not be so smart -

But I'd find one person who had all the answers.

So I wrote a letter.

The smartest person I could think of was my grandfather.

I wrote this letter: "Will you tell me how to design my life?"

TED is about T-E-D.

The "D" is about Design, the designed life.

So I said, "Will you help me design my life?"

And I was so excited.

Four days later I got this letter back from my grandpa

I read it and it said, "Sorry, Tai, I can't help you.

The modern world's too complicated.

You will never find all the answers from just one person.

If you're lucky, a handful of people along the way will point the way."

And I was like, "Ugh!" So much for my shortcut.

But seven days later, a package came.

It was books.

My grandfather had a 20,000-book library,

and he had sent me some old dusty ones.

A 1,000-page volume. 11 books.

"The Story of Civilization," by Will and Ariel Durant.

I was like, "1,000 pages? This is too much."

But I see now, he was giving me a hint, I didn't understand it.

There's this myth that you have to go inward to find truth.

But the truth he was saying is you have to go outward.

If you can download the consciousness, the mindset of people

who have gone before you -

the smartest, the wisest, the most intelligent,

the most experienced people -

then you will get what you want.

And so I went on, and I started writing down note cards.

I called them mental shortcuts. And I was reading these books.

And then I started traveling. I went to 51 countries.

I'd read a book and say, "Let me go visit this person in person."

So I went to New Zealand and Australia,

South America, Argentina, Ireland, all over the world.

I was focused on those 4 things: health, wealth, love, and happiness.

I decided to focus on health and happiness.

I lived for two years with Joel Salatin

on his famous sustainable agricultural organic farm.

Then I spent 2 1/2 years with the Amish.

No electricity, trying to see what was life when we lived in community.

I made one mistake. I forgot about money.

That's one of the things, so eventually, I ran out of money.

I had to do the thing nobody wants to do, call my mom and be like,

"Mom, I know I'm an adult, but I don't have any money.

Do you mind if I come stay at home until I get back on my feet?"

She had a mobile home in Clayton, North Carolina.

I went and she said,

"Sorry, Tai, I don't have a room for you, but you can sleep on this couch."

So I remember laying there at night, like: "Did I mess up?

Did I miss out on the good life?

Here I am, I have no college degree.

My skills? I could milk a cow with the Amish."

That wasn't a very marketable skill.

I remember I had like $47 in my bank account.

I had a car, but it had holes in the floor.

Somehow it had rusted through,

and if you accidentally would put your foot down,

it would chop your foot off. So I didn't want to drive it anywhere,

or pick anybody up in that car.

I remembered back to what my grandpa said, "Look outwards."

So I started asking around: "Will somebody help me?"

My uncle said: "You need somebody who'll show you how to make money."

So I was like, "Great idea. I'm going to go find somebody."

But I didn't have any gas money.

I was stuck there at my mom's house. I had $40.

I walked to the kitchen. That's what I could afford to do.

I found the yellow pages and opened them up.

I looked in the finance section and I found this guy.

I said, "I'm going to visit this guy."

So I got a suit out of the closet.

It wasn't mine, it was too big. It looked weird on me.

I don't know what I looked like when I showed up at that guy's house.

I got somebody to drive me in,

I showed up and Kathy, his secretary, opened the door and I walked back,

and Mike Steinback, from the phone book, I walked up to him and I said,

"Mike, you don't know me. If you show me what you know,

- you must know a lot about money, if you can afford a full-page ad

in the yellow pages -

if you show me what you know I'll work for you for free."

I'll never forget. He was sitting in this chair.

He had a big mustache. He looked kind of like Tom Selick.

He was sitting there, and he just rolled his chair towards me.

And he said, "You know, Tai? I've been looking for someone like you for 20 years.

Show up in the morning, I'll show you what I know."

And sure enough, he did show me.

And he began to mentor me on business.

And now I'm an entrepreneur. I'm an investor.

But I've continued on that path, traveling, finding mentors, reading.

I read a book a day.

I have a little book club, I write.

And what I've found in my research is that I wasn't the abnormal path.

Mentors - your ability to copy - is the biggest predictor

of the success that you will have in life.

As Picasso said, "Good artists copy, but great artists steal."

Right?

And I looked around, and it's interesting.

Did you know Albert Einstein had a mentor?

Every Thursday, he would have lunch with a mentor growing up.

Jay-Z, the rapper, he had a mentor.

Oprah Winfrey said she had two mentors.

Gandhi had a mentor.

Alexander, the Great, had Aristotle.

Bill Gates had Paul Allen.

Warren Buffet had Benjamin Graham.

There's something here that most of us

have missed out on.

So I want to share with you some things that I've found,

some specifics that you can do with mentors.

The first rule, I call it the Mentor Rules.

It's the Law of 33%.

You should divide up your life and spend 33% of your time

around people lower than you.

You can mentor and help them.

And they'll help you back by making you feel good about yourself.

It's good to know somebody's doing worse than you. That's that 30%.

Then you have 33% of people that are on your level.

These become your friends, your peers.

But that last 33% is what most people forget about.

Those are people 10, 20 years ahead of you.

They'll make you feel a little bit uncomfortable,

but that's what you want, and remember

you don't want to make the mistake most people make with mentors,

finding somebody just a little bit better than them.

You don't want to be the blind leading the blind.

So I call it the 10x rule; find somebody ten times further ahead than you.

If you want to learn how to grow a $1 million company,

you have to find somebody who has a $10 million company.

Don't be afraid to go to the top.

In-person mentors are amazing.

And you can get people like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates.

You'd be surprised!

My friend Frank heard a talk. He's a director in Hollywood.

He's like, "Tai, you won't believe this. I heard your talk and emailed some people.

And Elon Musk, the founder of Paypal,

the only man to own three companies worth $1 billion wrote me back and we had lunch.

You'd be surprised, because people remember.

They remember their struggle, and they'll reach out and help you, too.

Remember, everybody wants the good life,

but not everybody's willing to follow these rules.

You must follow these rules.

Next, humility.

One of my favorite stories in business, Sam Walton.

He becomes the richest man in America.

He starts Walmart, this big empire.

And he takes a trip to São Paulo, Brazil.

And when he's there, his host family gets a call from the police department.

They're like, "Come bail out Sam Walton. He's in jail."

By this time, he's an older guy. Billionaire.

They rushed down.

If you've ever seen the inside of a Brazilian jail cell,

it's not a good place for a 60-year-old billionaire.

And they asked the police, "Are you crazy? Are you arresting him?"

They're like, "We didn't know who he was,

and we found him crawling around the floors of stores."

They asked him what he was doing,

and he's like, "I was just measuring how wide the aisles were with a tape measurer.

I was trying to figure out if these Brazilians knew

something that I didn't know."

Already a billionaire. You'd think he'd be cocky.

You see, everybody wants the good life,

but not everybody's willing to be humble like Sam Walton was.

You have to be humble.

Next, perseverence.

The media has tricked us.

They only show us the success at the end, but Bill Gates started at 12.

It wasn't until 31 years old that he was a billionaire.

He said from age 20 to 30, he never took a day off. Not even one.

You must persevere,

and in your search for mentors you must persevere, as well.

I've been lucky to become friends

with one of the top real estate investors in the world.

I said, "How did you get started?"

He said, "Back when he was 19, I decided I wanted to do real estate.

I lived in a little town, but there was one developer who was pretty good.

So I went down to the developer's office. I met the secretary.

I said, 'I'd like to meet this developer.'

She said, 'Sorry. He's a busy man. He doesn't have time to meet you.'"

He went back the next day. She turned him away.

17 times!

He said on the 17th time, the lady felt bad for him and she said,

"Here's what you do. Hide behind the plant by the elevator.

When he comes out of his office at the end of the day,

jump into the elevator.

And he won't have a choice. The doors will close.

And you've got four floors to convince this guy

that you're worth talking to."

I don't know what my friend said, but he said enough

that when they got to the bottom of the elevator,

that developer said, "Meet me at the airport in the morning.

We'll go down to my private jet. You can come down with me to Florida.

I'll show you how I invested in hotels down there."

Sure enough, my friend learned from this mentor

and became one of the wealthiest real estate investors in the world.

He persevered, because, you see, everybody wants the good life,

but not everybody's willing to persevere to get it.

You must persevere.

Next, books.

Books you should see as hidden treasure.

Think about it,

because as I said, mentors are great in person,

but some of the great mentors are no longer alive -

Shakespeare, Darwin, Freud, Mahatma Gandhi.

But if I told you all those people were in my house

and they're going to be there this Saturday answering questions,

- magically I can make that happen - would you show up at my house?

Of course everybody would buy a plane ticket and end up in California.

They are there in my house.

They're on my library. They can be in your library, too.

Talking about Sam Walton.

This is a man who made $160 billion for himself,

more than all the other billionaires, basically, combined.

He wrote a book on his death bed.

How many people have read it?

It's a tragedy that not every businessperson's read a $5 book

by a man who built an empire.

It's because the modern education system has turned people off from books.

You have to rewire your brain. Let me show you a few quick tricks.

First thing: stop seeing a book like a one-time event.

See a book like a friend.

You read it over and over. You come back.

And just like friends, you pick a handful of them.

I recommend you find 150 books.

There's 130 million. You can't read that many.

But 150 you can read over and over for the rest of your life.

There's no rule, either, at how fast you have to read them,

at what pace. I set my own pace.

People say, "How do you read a book a day?"

Sometimes I take a week.

But sometimes, books only have one or two things worth reading.

In fact, most books only have that.

So I'll flip through the pages.

I like to go through it three times.

First time, I read the table of contents at the back.

The second time, I go a little faster.

The third time, I just focus on one chapter.

See yourself like a gold miner just looking for that one nugget.

Then put it back on the shelf.

The average American buys 17 books a year.

Maybe reads one a month. You should read at least one book a week,

because remember, everybody wants the good life,

but not everybody's willing to read to get it.

You must read more.

And lastly, stoic versus epicurean.

One of the first books that I read, this 11-set volume I got from my grandfather,

there was a quote that I wrote down.

"A nation is born stoic and dies epicurean."

Stoics were people willing to sacrifice present pleasure

for something better later.

You could say they were investors.

Epicureans live for now.

They were consumers.

They said, "You only live once."

There's a saying, "If you're in a room

and you don't know who the sucker is, you're the sucker."

You never want to be the sucker.

Guess what the media wants to do.

I can tell you, I'm from Hollywood.

They bombard you. We see on average 2,000 ads a day.

They're trying to sell you something.

Luxury comes at the cost of killing your hopes,

your dreams, your ambitions.

So toughen up a little bit.

Be a stoic.

When was the last time you went a week without eating sugar?

Or walked instead of taken a car to get groceries?

Or did 100 push-ups?

Or turned the air conditioning off?

Toughen yourself up. Take a cold shower.

Everybody wants, but not everybody toughens up to get the good life.

You must toughen up.

So in closing,

I'll share with you my favorite poem, Chief Tecumseh.

He says,

"Love your life.

Perfect your life.

Beautify all things in your life.

Seek to make your life long,

and its purpose in the service of your people."

Mentors will help you do that.

They are the shortcut that you want.

You don't want to do it the hard way.

Find a mentor, no matter if you're just starting out

or if you're already experienced.

There's always someone to learn from.

You must follow those rules.

Be humble. Persevere. Read more. Toughen up.

Remember, it's going to be a little bit hard.

It's like Tom Hanks says in that one movie,

"It's supposed to be hard.

The hard is what makes it great."

If you do these things, you will find the good life.

Thank you.

(Applause)