video

Inthepastfiveyears,

moreandmorepeoplehaverealized

thatthe40-hourworkweekisascam.

Ifyourememberwheneveryonewaslockedinsidedoingremotework,

mostpeoplerealizedtheirworkcouldbedonein30minutes.

Butthisisn'tametaphoricalscam.

I'mnotjustsayingthistosayit.

It'sanactual

mathematicalscam.

AndI'llproveit.

Meetingsaboutmeetings,emailsaboutemails,

alwaysbeingonthevergeofreplacement,

neverhavingownershipovertheworkyou'redoing,

puttingonamaskassoonasyoustepintotheoffice,

it'sexhaustingtonotbeyourselfeverysingledayfor40years,

payingtensofthousandsofdollarsforaneducation

thatdoesn'tguaranteetheabilitytorepaythatdebt,

sittingarounddoingmeaninglesswork,

feelingasifyouarewastingathirdofyourdaythatdrainsyou,

makingitdifficulttowanttodoanythinginthesecondthird,

whichmakesyouwanttostayuplatetogetthemostoutofyourday,

whichruinsthelastthird.

CharlesDarwinwrote19booksandcreatedthetheory

ofevolutionworkingthreetofourhoursaday.

Meanwhile,

you'retryingtolookbusyforeighthoursbecausethat's

whatrealworklooksliketoyourbossandparents.

Now,

apatternI'venoticedinsuccessfulpeoplethatdidn'tsacrifice

theirlifeforsuccessisthattheyphysicallyworkedverylittle,

yetpeopleseethemashardworkers.

Mentally,

theywerealwaysthinking,

plotting,

andscheming.

Theyworkedintheirmind.

Andoncetheywereclearontheir

idea,

theyexecutedwithspeedthatotherscouldn'tcompetewith.

Thenewstatussymbol,

inmyeyes,

istoachievemoreinlesstimewhilemakingitseemeffortless.

Peopleshouldn'tbelieveyouwhenyoutellthemthatyouonlywork

threetofourhoursadayandyoudon'thavethedesiretotellthem

becauseyou'recompletelyconfidentthatyou'redoinggreatwork.

Andthethingis,

intoday'sworld,

youhavethetechnologyandaccesstoknowledgetodothis.

You'vesimplybeentrainedtothinkthatyouneedaclear

planfromsomeoneelse.

Inthisvideo,

Iwanttoshowyouwhyshortworkdayswilltakeyou

muchfurtherinlifethanoptingforthemechanical

workothersmadeyoubelievewasnecessaryforsuccess.

Then,

I'llgiveyouthethreestepsyoucantaketo

finallyquitthe40-hourworkweekforgood.

Thereissomethingspecialaboutworkingonaprojectofyourown.

Iwouldn'tsayexactlythatyou'rehappier.

Abetterwordwouldbeexcitedorengaged.

You'rehappywhenthingsaregoingwell,

butoftentheyaren't.

Whydoitatall?

Becausetothekindofpeoplewholikeworkingthisway,

nothingelsefeelsasright.

Youfeelasifyou'reananimalinitsnatural

habitatdoingwhatyouweremeanttodo.

Notalwayshappy,maybe,butawakeandalive.

ThatisabeautifulquotefromPaulGraham.

Thethingthatmostpeopledon'tunderstandis

thatthemoderneight-hourworkdayandfive-hour

workweekdidnotexistuntilthe20thcentury.

Priortothat,

andafterwewerehunter-gatherers,

workwasmostlydominatedbyself-employment.

Itwasmostlyfarmersandartisans.

Theworkwasself-directed,

andthat'sthekeypointforthissectionofthisvideo.

Theirlaborwasnotassignedbyaboss.

Theychose

whattoproduce.

Chosewhattoproduce.

Theysettheirownschedulesandbore

thefullresponsibilityoftheoutcomes.

AndthisembodiestheJeffersonianideal

ofwhatanindependentindividualwas.

Itwassomeonewhodirectedtheirownlabor.

The40-hourworkweekisallweknowtoday.

Butinmyopinion,

technologyissoongoingtoallowus

toreturntowhatismostnatural.

Thatis,

towhatisengaging,

exciting,

andmeaningfuliftheindividualdecidestopursue

thatpathbecausethey'vealwaysbeenableto.

Itjusthasn'tbeenthedefaultpath.

Theindustrialrevolutionmovedmillionsofpeopleintofactories

andlargeorganizationswhichhadworkthatresembledassemblylines.

AndsoifAIandtechnologyare

actuallycreatingtheassemblylinesfor

typesofwork,thenwhatdowedo?

Whatdowedoifmostofourworkisrepetitive,

mundane,

assemblyline-stylework?

Andyes,

thatappliestoworkingatacomputertoo.

Whatthisdidisitturnedsocietyintoasocietyofemployees.

Andthisiswhatledtothebirthofthe9-to-5workday.

Andthiswascharacterizedbyrigidschedules

controlledbyfactorybellsandtimeclocks.

Complex,

artisan-levelworkwasbrokenintosimple,

repetitivetasksthatstrippedthesoulfromthework.

Workersonlyperformedonesmallstepin

production.

Theywerekeptdumbtotheentireprocess

sotheycouldn'treplicateitontheirown.

Thisiswhygeneralistsalwaysbeatspecialists.

Andwe'lltalkaboutthisinthenextvideo,

butaspecialist,

theyfocusontheskill.

Theyidentifywiththeskill.

Theyattachtoit.

Sowhenthatskillisthreatenedorisgoingtobereplaced,

theyarethreatenedandtheyaregoingtobereplaced.

Ageneralist,

ontheotherhand,

itisn'taboutjustlearningeverything,

becomingajack-of-all-trades.

It's

specializinginonemission,

forthefuture,andlearningeverysingleskill

thatisnecessarytoachievethat.

Andiftheskillsnecessarytoachieve

thatareautomatedorgooutofstyle,

thenyoupivot.

Youadapt.

Youadoptthetechnologysothatyou

canstillreachyourmissionorvision.

Now,ontomorecharacteristics.

Workersownedneitherthetoolsnortheproducts.

Workerssoldtheirtimeratherthantheproducts.

Thisiswagelabor.

Andmanagersmonitoredtheworkersconstantly.

Now,thismayhelpyouunderstandwhyIamso

adamantonviewingthe9-to-5asasteppingstone,

right?

Youwatchanyofmyvideos,

youseethetitle,

andit'slike,

oh,

you'regoingtobereplaced.

Oh,startthebusinessnow.

I'mnotagainstthe9-to-5.

Iworkedonemyself.

Youprobablyaregoingtohavetoworkoneatonceinyourlife.

Butifitstopsthere,

thenyou'regoingtoencounter

thepsychologicalproblemsthatwe'regoingtodiscuss.

Butthat'sjustit.

A9-to-5isaquestinyourstoryline.

Onequest,

nottheentirestoryline.

Theycanbeusefultoallowyoutosurviveand

needtosurvive.

Youneedtomakemoney.

Nothingwrongwiththat.

Butifyousimplyobservesociety,

whenisthelasttimeyou'vedonethat?

Whenisthelasttimeyouhavegoneaboutyourday

andyou'vejustobservedhowotherpeopleact

andlookandkindofyoucanassumehowtheyfeel?

Youcanseethatthey'vehadtheircreativesparkrippedfromthem.

Industrialworkledtothepeakofmeaninglesswork,

whichisbestcharacterizedbyMarx'stheoryofalienation.

Workerswerealienatedfromtheproduct,

theprocess,

theirpotential,

andcollaborators.

Workwas

repetitiveandmind-numbing.

Effectiveworkersstillworkedthesame

amountandwerepaidthesameamount.

Workwasaboutmeresurvival,notfulfillment.

Ifyou'velookedatMaslow'shierarchyofneeds,

right?

Itgoesfromself-actualizationneedstoself-transcendence,

oritgoesfromsurvivalneedstofulfillmentneeds.

AndthismaybeanexpansionontheactualMaslow'shierarchy.

Butwhentechnologysolvesourbasicneeds,

whatdowedo?

Manypeoplethinkthatwe'lljustlosepurposebecausewe're

notabletoworkanymore.

Butnowwegettochoosewherewederiveourpurposefrom.

Andmanypeoplearenotequipped

intheirmindtodothisbecausetheyaresousedtojustbeing

thisrobot.

IntheearlyAmericaneconomy,

around80%offreeworkerswereself-employed.

Buttoday,onlyabout10%areself-employed.

WithAI,

socialmedia,

andaninternetfilledwithpeopleandknowledge,

Idonotseewhyartisan-levelwork

cannotbewhatmorepeopleshiftinto,

especiallywithallthe

talkaboutjobsbeingreplaced.

Now,

ofcourse,

thiswillrequireacriticalshift.

Self-directedworkrequiresthatpeople

managetheirownschedulesandmethods.

Itisskill-intensiveandspecific,

meaningyouwillneedmultipleyears

ofpublicpracticeandapprenticeship.

Andtoday,

apprenticeshipcomesintheformofcoursesorYouTube.

It'scrazy,right?

YouthinkofMarcusAureliusortheemperorsof

thepastortheverysmartpeopleofthepast,

therulers.

Theyeachhadtheirownpersonalteachers,

right?

Theyhadthesmartestpeoplethatwerementoringthem.

Andnowyouhaveaccess

tomultitudesofthesmartestpeopleonthe

internetjustgivingouttheirknowledge,

bothforfreeandpaid.

Youhavenoreasontonotachievethelifeyouwanttolive.

Self-directedworkemphasizescraftsmanship,

andtheworkmovesataleisurelypace.

Thereistimeforrestandthinking.

Now,

asanaside,

somethingyoumayfindinteresting,

butItalkaboutalotofthis,right?

IfeellikeIunderstandthepsychology

ofemploymentandentrepreneurship.

Andthenthequestionthereisnotthatanyonehasasked,

butsometimesIaskthisaboutothercompanies.

It'slike,well,okay,ifyouknowthis,

howisyourcompanystructured,right?

BecauseI'mbuildingasoftware,

Eden,

thenextversionofCortex,

rollingoutsoontoCortexusersonly,

publiclaunchnextyear.

ButthisiskindofthechallengethatI'mdealing

withisIwanttoimplementandmaintainthislevelof

artisanlevelwork.

Iwantmyteamtoeachhavethetraitsofanentrepreneur.

Iwantthemtobeabletodirecttheirownworkinside

ofacompanyandhaveasharedvisionforthefuture,

right?

Youcandothisindependently,

obviously,

gowatchmyonepersonbusinessvideos.

Butwhatifyouwanttoworkwithateam?

Whatifyouwanttobuildacompany?

Howisthatorganizationstructured?

ThisiskindofmaybesomethingI'lldiveintoin

thefutureonceIactuallypracticeitenoughmyself.

Ithinkthatwouldbeaveryvaluablevideoislike,

howarecompaniesgoingto

transitionfromthisemploymentwagelabortothismore

tribeofentrepreneursworkingtowardasharedvision?

AndIthinkthat'sgoingtobeaveryvaluablevideo.

Wecryataweddingasthebrideandgroomreadhandwrittenvows.

Machinesareforspeed,

repetition,

andnecessity.

Humansareforstory,

novelty,

myth,

andmeaning.

Mostpeopleidentifywiththetraitsofamachine,

theschooling,

thejob,

themundanetasks,

andthat'sexactlywhygeneralfulfillmentisabysmal.

Sowhatcanyoudoaboutit?

First,

youmustunderstandthatgreatworkisnotboundtotime.

Greatworkisnotboundtotime.

Thinkaboutthat.

Thebiggestmindsetshiftthatiscompletelyobvious,

right?

Youthinkaboutit.

It'slike,

oh,

yeah,

nocrap,

Dan.Thenwhydoyouhavenoleverage?

Whyisyourworkboundtotimeifthatissoobvioustoyou?

Ifit'ssoobvioustoyou,

thenIbelieveitshouldbeavalue.

Andifyouarenotlivinginaccordancewiththatvalue,

thenyou'resleepwalking.

You'relivinginaccordancewithsomeone

else'svaluesthatwereassignedtoyou.

Greatworkisthecombinationofausefulidea,

therightamountofskill,

andtheabilitytoinspireotherstocareabouttheendproduct.

Itleadstoafewkeypoints.

Youdonotneedtowork16hoursadaytohaveagreatidea.

Infact,

yourbrainwillnotallownovelideasto

emergewhenyouareinthenarrow-minded,

productivestate.

It'sironic,

butconstantworkdestroyshowimpactfulyourworkcanbe.

Yourlevelofskilldeterminesthelevelofideasyoucanhave.

Ifyoudonotacquireauniqueandoverlappingskillstack,

youarelimitedtoideasthathavealreadybeenexhausted.

Youmustcreateavisionandtrekthroughtheunknown

ifyouwanttoachieveanyformofuniqueness.

Mostpeoplefallintotwocamps.

One,

theyworkajobthatdisconnectsthemfromhow

theproductissoldandthusgeneratesrevenue,

sotheydonotunderstandthatprocess.

Andtwo,

theycannotpossiblyseehowselling

canbeamutuallybeneficialact,

sotheyvirtuesignalthemselvestodeath

becausetheywanttofocusontheirart.

Soifyouunderstandthesepoints,

youunderstandthatasinglepersoncanworktwo

tofourhoursadayandgetsubstantiallymore

resultsthananyonewhoworkseightplushoursaday.

SotakeCharlesDarwin,

likeImentionedintheintro.

Yes,

theguywhocreatedthetheoryofevolution,

thethingthatwestilltalkabouttoday.

He'salegend.

Hewroteupwardsof19booksinhislifetime.

19books.

Veryfewpeopledothat.

That'sacrazybodyofwork.

Didhework16hoursaday?

No.Afterashortwalkandbreakfast,

hebegana90-minutesessionofdeepstudy.

Afteranhourbreak,

hewouldreturntohisstudyaroundnoon,

andatthatpoint,

hewouldremark,

I'vedoneagoodday'swork.

Threehoursofwork.

Afterthat,

herepliedtolettersfor1.5tothreehours,

andnowthisiskindofwork,

right?

Butit's

notdeep,intensive,focusedcreativework.

It'smorelikemaintenancework.

It'scollaborativework.

Andyoucouldsaythatitisn'tnecessaryfor

theactualcreativeworkthatheproduced,

butIthinkhemaysaydifferent,right?

Becausecommunicatingwithpeople,

thathelpscreatenewideas,

thathelpsrefineideas,

soonandsoforth.

Butafterthat,hetooktimeto

restandread.

Thenheplayedgameswithhisfamily,

readmore,

andlistenedtomusic.

Now,

whenIcameacrossDarwin'sDailyRoutine,

Irealizedthatthereweremanyoverlapswithmyown.

They'rebothcomposedofintensiveworkintervals,

systematiccorrespondence,

sorespondingtoothers,

regularbreaks,

andsocialinteraction,

rest,

leisure,

etc.

Igoonawalkfirstthinginthemorning,

thenIknockoutmydeep,

creative,

prioritizedworkforthefirst1.5totwohours,

whichusuallyinvolveswritingandideagenerationandresearch.

Solearningandwriting.

ThenIgoonanotherwalk,

andbythenI'vekindofcompleted

theneedle-movingtaskfortheday.

I'vedoneagoodday'swork,

andifIdothat,

evenwhenonvacation,

everysingleday,

Ifeelclear.

Ifeelgood.

ThenIgotothegym,

thenIrespondtomessagesfrombusiness

partnersandtheteamandjustotherpeople.

SometimesI'lltakeanap,

thenI'llread,

thenI'llspendtimewithfriendsandfamilyandgodostuff.

Now,

thissoundslikeasimpleroutine,

butthereasoningbehinditisactuallyverypotent.

Inthemorning,

I'malwaysfocusedonaproject,

abook,

product,

newsletter,

etc.,

andprojectsaremagnetsfornovelideas.

Igoonawalkandhavemynotes

readytojotdownwhatcomestomind.

Now,

Ialwaystalkaboutgoingonwalkstohavegoodideasand

alloftheotherbenefitsthatcomealongwithwalking,

butapracticeforyou.

Ifyoustruggletocomeupwithideasfirst,

youneedaprojectthatyou'reworkingon.

Second,

assoonasyougettothepointwhereyou'rereadytogoonawalk,

youneedtohaveaprojectthatyou'reworkingon.

Youcan,

whenyougoonthewalk,

whetheryou'relisteningtoaYouTubevideooran

audiobookoryou'rereadingsomethingonyourphone,

itdoesn'tmatterwhatitis.

Trytojotdownanideaearly.

Trytoforceanideaout.

It'slikeclearingthefaucetsowatercanflow.

Onceyouhaveoneideadown,

therestofthatwalk,

you'llhavemuchmoreideas.

Now,

thegymmarkstheendofmyintensivetasks.

It'slikeahardbreakthroughoutmyday,

andIdonotworkonthoselaterinthedaybecause

Iknowthequalityofthatworkwillsuffer.

IfIhaveanidea,

Iwriteitdownandrefertoitinthemorning.

Nowthatpeopleareupandcommunicating,

entropyisslowlyreleased,

andthisiswhenIbegincheckingmessagestoreplyto.

It'sadifferentstyleofworkthatprobablyshouldn'tbedonein

themorningifyoucareaboutthequalityofyourcreativework.

Now,

bysimplyadheringtothisroutine,

Iwouldsayforthepastfiveyearsorso,

IfeellikeI'vedonequiteabitinmylifeat

theageof29.I'vewrittentwobookssofarand

havemanymoreoutlinedthatIneedtogetto.

I'vewrittenalittleunder200newsletters,

Ithink,

andit'sverysimilarwithYouTubevideos.

I'vewrittenthousandsofpostsacrosssocials.

I'vecreatedlike10productsorservicesinmylifetime.

I'mworkingontwosoftwareorI'mworkingonone

softwarecompanyandafocussupplementcompanyrightnow.

Actually,

onthatnote,

golookatmyhighlightonInstagram.

Iwasn'tgoingtostartpostingaboutthis,

butifyouwanttoseewhatthefocussupplementisallabout,

it'sactuallyreallycool.

I'mgoingtobepostingallofthescience

andthehypeandtheteasingonmystory.

Soifyou're

interestedinthebrainandneurotransmitters

andhowcertainsupplementsinteractwiththat,

followmethere.

AndthethinghereisthatIreallyjustfocusonpeopleandproduct.

WhatImeanbypeopleisattractingpeopletomywork,

right?

Asmentioned,

that'saqualityofgreatworkisbeingable

togetpeopletocareaboutwhatyoudo.

Otherwise,youbecomeastarvingartist.

Youcansitanddoyourdeepworkandwritingallday.

Butifyoucan'tgetthatinfrontofotherpeoplewhocare

orifyoucan'tpersuadepeopletocareaboutyourwork,

thenyou'renotgoingtomakeanyformofanincomefrom

yourwork.

Itrytocreateproductsthatwouldhelpmy

pastselfandputeffortintotheirquality.

ThenIwritecontenttoattractpeoplewhomaybenefitfromthose.

IfIweretobuildtheproductforonehour

perdayandwritecontentforonehourperday,

that'smorethanenoughwork.

Consideringthefactthatproductscanbesoldwhile

Isleepandonepieceofcontentcanreachmillions.

Moretimeworkeddoesnotequalmoreresultsintoday'sworld.

Thereisapointofdiminishingreturn.

Andoutsourcingtoomuchofthosetwoleversmayhurtyou.

WhatImeanbythatisthatIcan.

I'vetried.

Icanjustneveroutsourcecontent

becausethat'swheremyuniqueedgelies.

Icannotoutsourcecreativedirectionoftheproduct.

Thereareveryspecificthingsthatyou

willlearnthatyoucannotoutsource.

Sowe'vediscussedallthat.

Let'stalkabouthowtoactuallyquitthe40hourworkweekforgood.

Youliveinthemostpermissionlesstimeinhistory.

Youfutureproofyourselfwhenyoujustdothingswithoutpermission.

Youpursuesomethingyoudeeplycareabout,

learnnewskills,

buildtheproject,

packageitup,

trytosellitandattractatightknit

tribeofpeoplewhoshareyourenergy.

Youdon'tfutureproofyourselfbystickingwitha

skillsetthatwasanassetthenbutisaliabilitynow.

Aliabilitythatallowssomeoneelsetodetermineyourvalue,

capyourincomeandcontrolyourattentionformostofyourday.

Youcanlearnanyskillfasterthananyoneinthepast.

Youcanfindtheknowledgeyouneedtodoalmostanything.

Youcandomoreasonepersonwithless

time,

workandmoneythananentirebusinesscouldinthepast.

Youdon'tneedadegree.

Youdon'tneedacertification.

Youneedtobeabletogetresults.

Thisiscalledpermissionlessleverageanditblowsmy

mindthatpeoplestilloptfortheconventionalpath.

They'llgothroughfouryearsofuniversity,

stackupmilesofdebtandlockthemselvesintooneareaofstudy,

notbecausetheyhavetheexperiencetomakethatchoice,

butbecauseitpromisestogivethemastableincome

ratherthanexperimentingwiththeirownpath,

errorcorrectingforonetotwoyearsandcultivating

amindsetandskillsetthatallows

themtoearnasmuchastheywant.

Butnow,nowthepowerliesintheindividual.

Nowfuturesuccessboilsdowntoskill,agency,

criticalthinkingandahealthyrelationshipwithfear,

failureandembarrassment.

Andifyoubelieveotherwise,

listentothatlastsentenceagain,

becausealackofbeliefinyourself

signalsthatyouhavenoneoftheabove.

Butthatcanchangewithpointnumberone,

whichisthatyoucandrasticallychangeyourlifein365hours.

NowI'veusedthisquoteinlikethelastthree

outofthefivevideos,

butthat'sbecauseit'sagreatquote.

It'sfromNavalRavikant.

Theideathatyou'regoingtohavelinearoutputjust

bycrankingeverydayatthesameamountoftime.

That's,

that'smachines,

youknow,

machinesshouldbeworkingninetofive.

Humansarenotmeanttoworkninetofive.

PersonAcanwork12hoursadayandmake$50,000ayear.

PersonBcanworkonehouradayandmake5millionayear.

Thedifferenceisskill,

leverageandunderstanding,

nothowhard,

longororganizedyouwork.

Peoplearedoingthisrightnow,

meaningit'spossible.

Andyoucomplainingabouthowunfairitisdoesn'tchangethatfact.

Thebeliefthathastakenmethefurthestinlife

isunderstandingthatresultsarereplicable.

Anythingthatsomeoneelsecanachieve,

Icanachieve.

Andmaybenotwiththesamesequenceofsteps,

butthereisasequenceofstepsthat

Icandiscoverthroughiteration.

Nowtosoundabitarrogantforabit,

I'vemadethemostmoneyinmylifeworkingtwotofourhoursaday

becauseIwasquicktorealizewhatmyhighleveragetaskswere.

Iliterallyjustignoredeverythingelse.

AndInoticedthatifItriedtoforce

myselftoworkmoreorlongeronthosetasks,

thequalityoftheworkjustsuffered

andIdidn'tgetasmuchresults.

AndsoIfeltbadfornotworkingverymuch,

butIgotmoreresults.

Sowhywouldn'tIdoit?