7 Semi-Controversial Rules For Success - Shaan Puri

We already did this once. It went well, it went amazingly well, and I was very sad that we couldn't put it out because we had technical difficulties. This time, we're both in our home setup, no technical difficulties, and we're going to run it back from what we got through last time, plus more.

Well, last time I was also very sick that night, uh, after we rec- I had recorded a podcast, I did the podcast with you, so two podcasts in a row. And I went home and basically just was in bed with a fever for the rest of the night. So, uh, ha- if you thought that was good, great, uh, because (laughs) I thought it was terrible, and I was feeling terrible at the time. I gotta, I gotta do better than that.

Okay. Maybe that's just what all guests feel like once they've finished up recording with me.

(laughs) That's what I thought.

That might be like the, the post-coital-

(laughs)

... like, depression that occurs after you've podcasted with me. I'm not, I'm not too sure. I'll have to ask some previous guests. All right, so I wanna go through some of your most controversial, semi-controversial opinions, which you've kind of become famous for, I think. First one, one of my favorites, hard work is massively overrated. Why?

Well, I'll take a step back. The reason I like these controversial opinions is, uh, A, you always look cool if you have some controversial opinions, uh, but B, I l- I'm- I've learned how much of what we believe is just simply stories that were told. Um, this goes from everything, religion to, uh, school, to being taught what you should be doing for your career, and all this stuff. And so I've actively tried to just deprogram myself and ask, and question the assumptions. So I actually started with looking at, what are the things that almost nobody disagrees with, and are those really true? And one of those that I found that I, in practice, disagree with was, growing up I was told hard work is what's most important, hard work is the key to success. Hard work is... And you just hear hard work preached, and it's almost like you'd have to be insane to be, um, anti-hard work, right? (laughs) Like, uh, some people do it just for the, just for the effect, but I don't, I don't really mean it like that. I just mean it's overrated. It's not that it's a bad thing, but that it is overrated. Um, because what I've found in my life is that what you do is far more important than how f- how hard you work on that thing. So, for example, you know, I thought about the hard work thing, and I used to work in restaurants. And nobody works harder than people (laughs) in restaurants. Restaurants are open, you know, from breakfast till, till late night, every single day, seven days a week. It is, uh, you know, a thankless job. You are working in a hot kitchen, um, and you are, you know... Cooks work hard. Cooks in the back line of a kitchen work hard. Janitors work hard. You know, the cleaning lady works hard. Um, but, you know, you sort of think about it, you're like, "Why isn't the janitor driving a Bentley?" Right? Like, if hard work was the key to success, then why aren't the people who I think works, work the hardest in, in most these situations doing better? Um, and it's because, you know, hard work will let you win the game that you're playing, but it doesn't help you if you chose the wrong game. And so the most critical decision is actually project selection, what you decide to work on. Uh, what you decide to do with your talent and your time and your, your work ethic is far more important. And I don't really hear that. In fact, I actually, growing up, heard the opposite. Um, you know, you get to college and they're like, "What's your major?" "Uh, I don't know, I'm 17, 18." Like, w- how am I supposed to... Uh, you know, I just came from high school, right? Like, I don't, I don't know what the thing is yet. Um, is there a list I can look at of, like, the jobs and what they're like? Can I, do, do I get to go see one? Um, y- you know, and instead it's just like, "Just pick." Oh, if you don't pick, if you don't declare, if you don't declare your major... This is in the US at least, I don't know how it is for you. I- i- if you don't declare your major, you're behind. (laughs) Like, already it's like, you... If you've chosen to wait and see or think or go test, you've fallen behind, right? So it, it just became this thing where picking what you do was like this quick one-second thing you were supposed to just get right right away with no preparation, and then spend the rest of your t- life working hard. And I just found that, uh, the opposite actually turned out to be true for me, which was picking the right projects made the, made a huge difference, and working hard enough was good enough. I consider myself to be, frankly, somewhat lazy, but very happy and successful. So, you know, I, you know, I don't know if I'm the outlier or what, but like, at least disproved it is not, um, it is not the main thing, uh, in terms of success. I believe it's overrated.