Explore every episode of the podcast The James Altucher Show
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| RFK Jr. Suspends Campaign and Endorses Trump – Impact on the Election, Important Issues and What happens next? | 26 Aug 2024 | 01:07:32 | |
In this episode, I analyze the surprising decision of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to suspend his presidential campaign and endorse Donald Trump, examining the potential ripple effects on the upcoming election. I address several key questions, such as how this decision could influence voter behavior, affect fundraising dynamics, and reshape election strategies for both Trump and Kamala Harris. I delved into my personal experience with RFK Jr., including his appearance on my podcast where he discussed his contentious views on vaccines, which I initially chose not to release due to their controversial nature and my inability to fact-check them at the time. Additionally, I provide a historical perspective by examining past elections where third-party candidates acted as spoilers, such as Ralph Nader in the 2000 election and Theodore Roosevelt in the 1912 election. These examples highlight the significant impact a third-party candidate can have on election outcomes. The script further explores RFK Jr.'s speech and newly expressed concerns about chronic diseases, obesity, and ultra-processed foods in the U.S., comparing his claims with available data and trends. I also address the concept of corporate capture of federal agencies like the FDA, providing examples of former FDA officials who moved to high-level positions in pharmaceutical companies. This discussion includes RFK Jr.'s claim that 50 percent of the FDA's funding comes from pharmaceutical companies through user fees, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Moreover, I discuss RFK Jr.'s potential future role in a Trump administration, focusing on health policy issues, and his influence on current polling dynamics. I fact-check several of his statements and analyze their implications for American health and longevity, contrasting U.S. life expectancy with that of other countries. Finally, I explore economic policies proposed by Kamala Harris and their potential impact on the U.S. economy, emphasizing RFK Jr.'s emphasis on children's health and the possible consequences of his alignment with Trump for the upcoming election. This detailed analysis aims to provide viewers with a nuanced understanding of RFK Jr.'s endorsement and its broader political and social implications. 00:00 Introduction and Setting the Scene ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| The Pillars of Life with Marshall Goldsmith | 20 Aug 2024 | 01:04:18 | |
A Note from James: "Marshall, you have the best name in the world for someone who’s going to write about leadership. I would hire you as a coach just for your name alone—Marshall Goldsmith, it just sounds perfect. For those who aren’t familiar, and I’ll do an intro, you’ve written an enormous number of successful leadership books, selling over 3 million copies. You’ve coached Fortune 500 CEOs, and you’re launching MarshallGoldsmith.AI, your new AI venture. Let’s get into what it means to be a good coach." Episode Description:In this episode of The James Altucher Show, James welcomes Marshall Goldsmith, one of the world’s leading executive coaches and a best-selling author. Marshall shares his insights on leadership, coaching, and the often-overlooked distinction between happiness and achievement. With a career that spans decades, Marshall’s wisdom is not just theoretical; it’s backed by his experience coaching some of the most successful leaders in the world. Listeners will discover why coaching isn’t just about offering advice but about working with those who are ready to make real changes. Marshall’s no-nonsense approach to identifying and working with key stakeholders, understanding the value of process over results, and the importance of daily habits for personal growth are just a few of the many lessons shared in this episode. What You’ll Learn:
------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Drugs, Chess, and Rock & Roll | Brian Lawlor | 27 Jun 2024 | 01:07:18 | |
A Note from James: Drugs, chess, and rock and roll—Brian Lawlor has seen it all. I didn’t include the sex part because I don’t know, but he's been to jail. We talk all about that: how, why, when. But I was concerned—how did he survive? Interestingly, part of the way he survived was through chess. Brian's story is riveting and valuable, touching on survival in general. We played a bunch of games. I’m not including the games in the podcast, but he surprised me with his skill. We’ll do a video on that later. But for now, here’s Brian Lawlor. ###Episode Description: In this episode of "The James Altucher Show", James sits down with Brian Lawlor, a man who transformed his life from being a drug addict in and out of jail to becoming a successful composer and teacher. Brian shares his remarkable journey of overcoming addiction, finding solace in chess, and building a career in music against all odds. This episode is a powerful testament to the human spirit's resilience and the transformative power of passion and discipline. What You’ll Learn:
------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Hooked on the First Line: The Sensual Syntax of Nabokov's 'Lolita,' 'Ada,' and 'Laughter in the Dark' | 05 Sep 2023 | 00:23:41 | |
Welcome back to "Hooked on the First Line," where James and master storyteller Cal Fussman dig deep into what makes the opening lines of novels so captivating. Today's focal point is the notoriously controversial but beautifully penned 'Lolita' by Vladimir Nabokov. "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta." These opening lines are as alluring as they are unsettling, a fitting introduction to Nabokov's tale. The episode doesn't stop at 'Lolita'; it branches out into the first lines of Nabokov's 'Ada' and 'Laughter in the Dark,' showing that the author's skill in gripping the reader is not a one-off but a recurring theme in his work. James and Cal talk about the stylistic elements, the melody in the words, and the ethical conundrums posed right from the first sentence. How do these lines affect our perception of the characters and the unfolding story? And how does Nabokov manage to lure us into complex emotional landscapes with just a few words? Discover the craftsmanship behind some of literature's most iconic opening lines. ------------ What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience! Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air! ------------ Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own! My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold! Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President. I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast. ------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on Social Media: ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 265 - Mr. X: I Interview An Anonymous Guest on Hacking, Government, Bitcoin and Terrorism | 16 Oct 2017 | 01:35:37 | |
The FBI went to his high school when the 15-year-old Mr. X hacked into the largest Internet company in the world and stole 90 million credit card numbers. "You are going to jail for a long time," they told him. The day after he stole them he sent them back to the company and explained what their cybersecurity flaws were. He thought they would thank him. The FBI came to arrest him. "I was scared to death," he told me when we first met. The head of the school, a three-star general, told them, "You guys better get out of here if you aren't writing this boy a check and saying thank you." They left. Then. Two years later when Mr. X graduated he got "the call". The call that meant he wouldn't go to college. The call that meant he would parachute into enemy fire, hack foreign governments, hack our own computers. "I've done so many things," he once told me. "You can't imagine." The call from a three initial agency. More than one. We met at a dinner. We were both obsessed with hacking and the latest flaws in computer security. We ignored every else and spoke for three hours. And we haven't stopped talking since. I don't mean this to be a conspiracy theory. There's already been rumors about "fake news", election hacking, etc. There are bot armies. There are hackers taking down electric grids every day. Every company in the Fortune 500 is completely hacked. Your computer is hacked. I've spent many years talking to people in the security space. The reality is: the war is on. And it's being fought with data. And it's being fought all over the world. And it's being fought every day. Not just on election systems. Or at big companies. But on your computer. And the war is not always being fought by the people you expect. The enemies we were always trained to believe. Mr. X spent time in special forces. Was in every overseas battle. Has been involved in more news stories than he likes to admit. He's also built and sold two companies using his hacking abilities. He lives a good life now and doesn't want his voice e or identity to be revealed. So we distorted it for the podcast. I asked him, "Do you still work for 'them' ". He turned away and said, "You never stop working for them." The goal of this isn't to scare people. Information is power. And this is some of what I've learned from Mr. X. 1. IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A VOICE, YOU HAVE TO SPEAK “In the past, to go up against an institution, you need to be an institution.” Mr. X said. “Now more than ever, we need to stand up for what we believe in. We have these powerful, engaging tools to influence others, but we still leave it up to the powers that control us to influence us. If you believe something, share it. In other words, don't let the media "program" what you believe in. Don't let the online word "hack" into your brain. They already know more about you than you know about yourself. And they use that knowledge against you 24 hours a day. If you want to have a voice, YOU HAVE TO SPEAK. 2. POLICE YOURSELF We were talking about computer security. He told me all the ways you could be hacked… that you would never think of. “Let me ask yo, when’s the last time you updated your firmware on your router?” I had no idea. “If I'm going in, I'm going through the router,” he said. “The majority of the fortune 500 use the same router… So you either trust the government to police data OR you need to be that person.” And that was just one weakness. Next time you are on your phone check out how many apps on your phone have permission to turn on your video camera and start recording and transmitting what they record without you being aware. Don't think they aren't doing it. 3. HOW DID OSAMA BIN LADEN REALLY DIE? Was Osama Bin Laden really casually sleeping on the third floor of a building with no access out? Or was he a prisoner and we had lost our use for him? Mr. X: "he was our prisoner for years. Then we had no use for him." Always question everything the media and the government tells us. Always be a skeptic in a world where it's not in anyone's benefit to tell you the truth. This is not conspiracy theory. The only truth is to trust the people you love. The people who love you. This doesn't mean be irrational or paranoid or come up with crazy theories. This means practice being a skeptic every day on every issue. Practice skepticism. Not paranoia. 4. BE VULNERABLE TO GETTING SHUT DOWN I knew there were millions of questions I wanted to ask… but couldn’t. I asked anyway. “Are you still involved in the government?” “I can’t say that,” he said. “Well, which agency were you in?” “I can’t say.” “Do people know it?” “Yes, let’s just say it’s a well-known 3 letter agency.” Ask. Get shut down. Ask again. When I do an interview, I don't want to harass people for an answer. But sometimes if you poke and prod from various directions while you build rapport, you can get the answer. Not this time. 5. KNOW WHAT DRIVES YOU Mr. X started hacking when he was in military school. Everything was regimented: wake up first mess solute the flag go to class second mess second class change 15 minutes go to sports third mess after third mess, 2 hours of study hall, one hour of free time go to sleep do it all over again The school is isolated. And the students can’t leave campus. The only way Mr. X could talk to girls was if he found them online. “We were heavily confined,” he said. But he kept hitting firewalls. So he started hacking. He learned everything he could. Not because he wanted to "attack" websites. But because he didn't want to be alone. Always let the prison walls around you create your opportunities. Censorship created his curiosity. What frustrates you that can kickstart your curiosity. 6. LEARN YOUR PATTERNS Mr. X helped find one of the most well known serial killers in recent years and put him behind bars for life. Mr. X was paid to find patterns. He watched terrorists. The example: “a burn phone.” This is what criminals use to cover their call history. They buy a cheap phone. Call a few people, throw it away and buy a new one. So Mr. X wrote software. Someone calls you, then you call 3-4 people. Those 3-4 people call 3-4 more people. It’s a tree of calling. And if they follow the branches then can find the roots. He analyzed the trees of one billion phone calls a day. He had access to all of our calls. “Eventually, you realize that if a bunch of random numbers keep calling the same person that all those random numbers are the same guy,” Mr. X said. People are patterns. Those patterns become your fingerprint. He used that fingerprint to identify a notorious serial killer. Used GPS to track him down. Now the guy is in jail. He used those fingerprints to track terrorists. "There were a lot of attacks stopped." 7. INTERESTS PRECEDE EDUCATION He wasn't educated about hacking or even computers. But he was passionate about it and learned everything he could. “I found something I was interested in… and that was the best education I ever received.” Find an interest. List every day the things you were interested in as a kid. It's never too late to learn now. The one who loves what he does will always learn faster and better than the person who doesn't love it. The one in love will compete better against the one who doesn't. The one in love will be...happier. 8. TRUST THE INVISIBLE “You were saving lives,” I said. “No, I wouldn’t say that.” But I insisted. Because I feel we all have invisible threads of impact. We help and hurt people in ways we don’t know. We all have our special abilities. And abilities to help and hurt without realizing. Always be healthy enough to know the difference. Mr. X got married. Loves his family. Loves his work. "Some of my ex partners never escaped the mindset wer were programmed with." Reach for the positive when trapped in a negative. Love someone. 9. CHOOSE YOUR OWN NETWORTH Mr. X measures his net worth not by dollars, not by accomplishments or promotions. “My net worth is now in data," he said. He comes from hacker culture where the core belief is that information should be free. Too often, we accept what's been given to us. "The rules" we were told to live by. The standards were set for us... But Mr. X proved you can set your own standards. You can choose the measurement of your net worth. Rich in relationships, rich in people, rich in joy, rich in knowledge... 10. LEARN EVERYTHING YOU CAN Mr. X found a pattern in his own life. He realized he loved hacking. And he loved detecting patterns. He got the same joy from both. So he started reading books… and learned everything he could about computers, code, internet, backdoors and so on. He used those abilities to fight wars. Then to help law enforcement track down criminals. And then to build massive companies that he sold. I met Mr. X with his wife and daughters recently. I had never seen him so happy. Sometimes the best pattern is the smile of your daughter. At least I think so. You can read my show notes here: https://jamesaltucher.com/2017/10/mr-x/ And don't forget to subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" on Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts! ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 264 - Erika Ender: "Despacito" Songwriter on Connecting With The World to Find Your Talent | 12 Oct 2017 | 00:35:51 | |
"Everyone has their own talent," Erika said. "And my talent is expressing through writing songs and from singing them." She wrote “Despacito" - the fastest song to hit 3 billion downloads in the history of music. Now it’s past 4 billion. That’s half the planet. I asked how she did it. “Let’s say I want to write a song that gets 4 billion views," I said. "What should my first few steps be?” "You know what…" she said. “I don’t think about the numbers. I think the main thing is for you to connect with the world." She has a beautiful way of thinking. And it bleeds into her art. Often, my mind is full of fears and it clouds my creativity. So I asked if she’s afraid of losing. Or not topping herself. What if “Despacito” was it? Her peak? "Everyone asks me that," she said. "People are always asking, ‘Do you feel pressure? What are you going to do next?’ And I say, "You know what... this is such a gift. I’m not putting any pressure on myself because I think doing that is seeing life from the ego eyes. I'm not thinking I'm going to top this. I’m just going to keep doing quality work. I'm trying to evolve." That's the key to having an "abundance mentality." And the key to pursuing your talent. Make sure to read the full show notes here: https://jamesaltucher.com/2017/10/erika-ender/ And don't forget to subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" on Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts! ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 262 - Bonnie McFarlane: Getting The Persistence to Do What You Love | 09 Oct 2017 | 01:23:19 | |
Comedy is brutal. If the audience doesn't know you, they WILL judge you. That's true for most things (you can't walk down the sidewalk in New York City without being judged at least a hundred times). Bonnie said you have to know your audience. I wondered "how though?" I gave an example, "Okay so do you try to figure out how old the audience is, what gender they are, sexual orientation, race, how much they drank or didn't drink, etc.?" "No, I usually just think, 'Okay, blue collar, I'll do my marriage stuff." It was that easy. That's professionalism. That's professional judgement. That's comedy. And the path to likability. Bonnie has a joke about using the GPS. "In Brooklyn I'm not going to do driving material. I have a really funny GPS joke that I can't do in the city because nobody drives. "I'm so immature about it," she said. She makes fun of the audience... They didn't ALWAYS live in the city. "Sometimes it irritates me. I'm like I know you understand what GPS is, if you saw this in a movie you'd get it, so don't just sit there like 'oh not my experience'." I learned you can lose likability as quickly as you gain it, though. And that scared me. But Bonnie doesn't care. "I like when the audience is scared for you. If they don't laugh at something I think is funny, I lash out. Sometimes we start in a love fest, then I insult them and them maybe we still end in a love fest." Her process is her art. She has hundred of jokes. "The premises just come," she said. She takes from life. The premises are there all the time," she said. "I just write whatever happens to be in front of me." Right now she's working on a joke: "what if your therapist was a Syrian refugee?" I think I did more laughing than questioning in this interview. I hope you do too. You can read my show notes here: https://jamesaltucher.com/2017/10/bonnie-mcfarlane/ And don't forget to subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" on Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts! ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 261 - A.J. Jacobs: The Intersection Between Discomfort and Curiosity | 05 Oct 2017 | 01:34:33 | |
AJ’s about to launch a TV show. A few months ago he started a podcast. He’s 49 years old. And it all started because he decided to write a book on a weird idea he had. “I wonder what it would be like to live the Bible.” It’s especially weird if you consider the fact that he’s Jewish. AJ is a living example that anyone at age 49 could've decided to do this idea. Anyone at ANY age could’ve done this idea. He told me to be curious about everything. "Even things you're not curious about." That didn't make sense to me. How do you do that? "Read books you don’t think are interesting," he said. Explore new podcasts, watch old movies. Then observe yourself. One of the original Saturday Night Live writers, Alan Zweibel, said you need to have two heads. "The head that's having an experience and the head that's observing.” That's how you find your next big idea or small step forward in your life. You peel back the layers crusted on top of yourself. You dig into fresh layers and discover something new. AJ calls is "Fun-comfortable" (it's the intersection between discomfort and curiosity). This episode teaches you how to find that intersection. Thanks for reading! Make sure to check out the show notes here: https://jamesaltucher.com/2017/10/aj-jacobs-3/ And don't forget to subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" on Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts! ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 260 - Gary Vaynerchuk: Set a Flag on YOUR Thing | 03 Oct 2017 | 01:10:28 | |
"If you do not do what you love, that’s on you," Gary said. Years ago, no one believed you could choose yourself. You needed gatekeepers. Now we have YouTube, Instagram. “Now it’s the standard,” Gary said. If you cut out all the reason why you can't do something, then you cut out all the infrastructural and financial problems stopping you. "The only thing left is your f-cking head." Gary set up this example (and this podcast is full of them):
Pokemon. Imagine this is your passion. First, you blog. Then it becomes a video blog. Then a podcast. “Let's say you become the foremost Pokemon gal, 'Sally the Pokemon Gal.' You’re owning it. You go to Comic-Con, you get random sponsorships on your blog. You’re getting by. And then, Pokemon-GO comes out. Now you're on CNN and FOX. You’re getting paid $5,000 to give a talk. The world has just walked in to you." That's key. "Everybody who’s listening right now is looking for trends. They’re trying to walk to where the world is now and by the time they get there, the world moved on. If you go to your thing and set a f-cking flag on your thing, the world comes to you." Read the full article (and top 10 lessons I Learned from Gary Vaynerchuk: https://jamesaltucher.com/2017/10/gary-vaynerchuck/ And don't forget to subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" on Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts! ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 259 - Amy Morin: 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do | 02 Oct 2017 | 01:37:16 | |
“Life is inherently risky. We make up all of these rules in life about what’s gonna keep us safe," Amy Morin told me. She's the author "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do." It was originally just a list she wrote for herself. Her husband died suddenly. Just after the three-year anniversary of her mom's death. “I thought my mission in life was to teach people how to be mentally strong, and I didn’t realize how much I was going to need mental strength," she said. This podcast teaches you the skills to become mentally strong. To practice every day. Make sure to read the full show notes here: https://jamesaltucher.com/2017/10/amy-morin/ And don't forget to subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" on Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts! ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 258 - Nancy Cartwright: Becoming Bart Simpson... How to Find The Artist Inside of Yourself | 28 Sep 2017 | 01:24:15 | |
To me, Nancy Cartwright is the most unknown famous person. She's the voice of Bart Simpson. "When I went in for "The Simpsons", the audition pieces of Bart and Lisa were sitting right next to each other. Hers said 8-year-old middle child. His a ten-year-old, school-hating underachiever, and proud of it." Nancy's instict kicked in. "I’m like ‘Oh bam bam that’s it.’” She tried out for Bart. And got it. Her whole career is based off of instinct. "I read this book about writing and producing," she said. "It was an awesome book written a number of years ago. It said, 'Ride the horse in the direction that it’s going.'" Her career as a voice actor became real acting and she landed roles in "Cheers," "Richie Rich," "Twilight Zone." Now she has her own production company, "Spotted Cow." ANd just released "In Search of Fellini," a beautiful film about her search for the most influential artist in her heart. "This film was probably 75-85 percent true," she said. "It's mostly true." In this podcast, Nancy tells us how she traveled alone to Italy in her mid 20's. And followed her heart and instincts ever since. We speak about how this film really comes full circle for her and gives meaning to her life. This is the journey to find your authentic self.
Also thank you to Audible for supporting today’s show. Audible content includes an unmatched selection of audiobooks, original audio shows, news, comedy, and more from the leading publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, and business information providers. You can read my show notes here: https://jamesaltucher.com/2017/09/nancy-cartwright/ And don't forget to subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" on Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts! ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 257 - Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins: TLC - The Biggest Girl Band in American History | 26 Sep 2017 | 01:09:10 | |
“Life is tough…and it’s also miraculous.” T-Boz and TLC sold 70 million albums, becoming the bestselling girl band ever in America. Along the way they declared bankruptcy, she battled sickle-cell anemia, the death of one of their bandmates and best friends, a brain tumor, everything. She’s 47 today and beat two life sentences the doctors declared on her. People say, “Well, she sold 70 million albums! That’s success!” When you do your absolute best today, even though you know tomorrow everything can change – that’s success. I had T-Boz on the podcast to celebrate the release of her new memoir, “A Sick Life” which I highly recommend. REINVENTION IS EVERY DAY TLC sold 70 million albums and is the #1 selling girl band in America. But to stay creative, T-Boz and her bandmates, Left-eye, and Chili had to constantly develop music that stayed fresh and relevant. 15 years after they started, they released their 5th album REMEMBERING THE ABOVE I always say “Reinvention is every day” ever since my book, “Reinvent Yourself” came out. But I’ll be honest, just as hard is remembering every day that “reinvention every day”. The straight and narrow and supposedly easy path is constantly whispering to me to follow it. But don’t. IDEA SEX Other groups were R&B, other groups were rap, other groups were funk. How do you be the best? T-Boz (funk) + Left-Eye (Rap) + Chili (R&B) = TLC = 70 million albums PERSISTENCE Sickle-cell anemia is debilitating. You’re not supposed to live. The blood cells don’t want to deliver oxygen to the rest of your body. The pain is incredible. T-Boz’s brain tumor took three years to recover from. The death of her best friend and band-mate took 2 years to recover from. Going bankrupt after selling tens of millions of albums forced her to start from scratch. Reinventing in a constantly changing music business is the downfall of many artists. For their last album, TLC even used Kickstarted to fund it as opposed to a record label. Success is about reinvention and persistent every day. IF YOU’RE AN ARTIST, KNOW THE BUSINESS A lot of creatives don’t want to read the contracts or fine print. TLC didn’t read it as well and ended up making almost no money on their first 30 million albums. At one point they even held up music legend, Clive Davis, at gun point, asking, “Where’s our money”. They went bankrupt and had to start from scratch. Don’t outsource your financial well-being and the security of your family to others. SICKNESS AND PAIN No matter who you are, life is going to happen. “Life is tough”. T-Boz had painful sickle-cell anemia since birth and often had to be hospitalized mid-album, mid-tour, mid-whatever. “When I was seven they told me I wouldn’t live past 30. I’m 47 now.” “They told me I couldn’t have kids. I have two now.” “When they did brain surgery, they told me I might never sing again. I’m on tour now with our latest album.” Then she lost her best friend and band-mate, Left-eye, to a car crash. She was depressed for two years. Then she had a brain tumor that required surgery and three years of physical therapy to recover from. “I still can’t whistle,” she told me. “Try,” I said. So she did. She couldn’t whistle. “I can’t move the muscles on the left side of my mouth.” But throughout the podcast she laughed. “And I’m going back on tour tomorrow.” CREATIVITY HAS MANY OUTLETS T-Boz has written songs, performed them, did the choreography for TLC’s videos, conceived of the videos, written a book of poems, written movies, and now this memoir. People sometimes say, “I can’t be creative”. Or, “I don’t have the talent”. Or “I can do X, but not Y”. Not true. Creativity is a muscle. Find some small way to be creative every day and the muscle gets developed. For me, today is the first day I’m going to try to do standup in the same day at two different clubs. I’m scared. Find one thing scary and challenging and creative every day. What happens then? Everything. SAY WHAT YOU MEAN A lot of pop music today is created by people who have reverse engineered “the hit”. There’s even a book about it, “The Hit Factory”, about a group of kids in Sweden who have basically written most hits you’ve heard in the past year. But the key to TLC’s success was that they were always writing the songs that were important to them: “Unpretty” – about staying true to your looks and not trying to change them to fit another person’s desires. “Waterfalls” – about staying true to your dreams but not caving in to the shortcuts that destroy many lives. Hit after hit. “That’s the point of being an artist, right? You feel something and you have to get it out.” List today what your real values are. What do you believe in? What’s important to you? What’s scary to you? It’s a hard process to figure out who you are and what you stand for. But this unlocks the creative well and supercharges all of your relationships. Honesty with others begins with honesty to yourself. LIVE YOUR FULL LIFE TODAY The best way to live a full life tomorrow is to live the fullest life you can today. T-BOZ: “Life is tough. And for many years I’ve felt like I’ve worked to get sick and worked to get better, just to get sick again. I’m learning to find a balance and just live. You lose people and you fall ill and bad things can happen. “But it’s also really miraculous. You can have babies you were told you’d never have. You can bring joy to millions of people with your music. You can feel love and happiness and faith. “You can decide that you’re stronger than any obstacle and you can empower your- self to survive. I know things can get really dark, but you’ll always feel better if you hold on. The light always returns.” Make sure to read the full show notes here: https://jamesaltucher.com/2017/09/t-boz/ And don't forget to subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" on Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts! ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 256 - Ken Follett: I Want to Write a Bestseller | 21 Sep 2017 | 01:05:57 | |
Ken Follett is a well-known Welsh novelist who specializes in writing spy thrillers novels and has sold over 160 million copies worldwide. Before he became a novelist he was a reporter for the London Evening News and was a Deputy Managing Director for a small publishing house, Everest Books. In his spare time he wrote novels, but he wrote a dozen before finding success. Eye of the Needle, his eleventh book, was his first successful novel published in 1978. His novel The Pillars of the Earth was on The New York Times bestsellers list for 18 weeks in 1989. This novel has been so incredibly popular all over the world for many years. In 2007 it became the #1 most popular choice on the Oprah Winfrey Book Club and returned to The New York Times bestsellers list at #1. Follett’s newest novel, Edge of Eternity, is the final novel of his Century Trilogy and available today! ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 255 - Marcus Lemonis: The (Real) Key to A Profitable Business: People | 19 Sep 2017 | 01:21:10 | |
Marcus Lemonis is a self-made millionaire, serial entrepreneur and the front man of CNBC’s popular series, “The Profit”. Since an early age Marcus has always had an entrepreneurial spirit and passion. When he was twelve he started his own lawn mowing business to generate enough money to open a candy store. After he graduated college, he started in automotive sales and managerial positions which ultimately led him to get involved in the camping and RV business. Today he is the CEO of Camping World, a company specializing in products and services for RV owners. On “The Profit” Marcus lends his expertise and experience to help struggling businesses get back on their feet. Since the show premiered in 2013, he’s invested $50 million of his own money into the businesses featured on the show. On each and every episode Marcus uses his 3P formula, People/Process/Product, to analyze the pitfalls and how to improve the product and process. Marcus’ charm, results driven attitude and passion for people has left an impression on the entrepreneurial industry that can’t be matched. Start watching “The Profit”, today! ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| The Making of a Legend: How a Criminal Became a Champion | Frank Shamrock | 01 Sep 2023 | 01:11:25 | |
Frank Shamrock calls himself "The First Super Athlete" in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Some might say that Frank lacks humility, but he was the first UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and retired undefeated from the organization. He revolutionized MMA and went deeper than anyone else, studying the body and optimizing his performance. While others focused on technical fighting, Frank dug into the biomechanics and became a force to be reckoned with. But get this, Frank didn't start off as a fighter. Actually, he found MMA while he was in jail at the tender age of 11. Frank had left his abusive home and turned to crime as a way to protect himself and get out of his situation. Sad, but true. Fast forward a bit, and Frank is in prison at 17 for 3 and a half years. That's when he had his big "aha" moment. He realized that he had ruined his life with 20 felonies, no education, and a baby to support. Frank understood that he had hit rock bottom, but he wasn't going to let that hold him back. He learned that changing his mindset and taking action was the first step to rebuilding his life. Now, Frank is an inspiration to all of us. A former criminal who became a champion, Frank Shamrock's journey and lessons can inspire anyone, whether they're fighters or not. It's all about having the right mindset and taking action to overcome any obstacle. Links and Resources: Also Mentioned:
------------ What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience! Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air! ------------ Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own! My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold! Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President. I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast. ------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on Social Media: ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 254 - Jim Kwik: Train Your Brain to Maximize Memory and Motivation | 14 Sep 2017 | 02:09:05 | |
Jim Kwik is a leading expert in memory improvement, brain performance, speed reading and learning. But before he became the expert, he suffered a brain injury. And that made it really hard for him to learn. "If knowledge is power than learning is a superpower," he said in this conversation. He's figured out how to increase his brain power and memory. And now, you can learn the tricks that he's taught to high profile clients like Elon Musk, Nike, Virgin, Will Smith, and more. His online courses have helped students in over 100 countries. He’s the founder of Kwik Learning and host of "Kwik Brain" podcast. Unlock your brain's power NOW. And enjoy this episode. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 253 - Paul Shaffer: David Letterman's Legendary Band Leader on Making Music & Taking Your Shot | 12 Sep 2017 | 01:15:33 | |
Paul Shaffer has lived through five decades of music. He got his first big break was he was hired on the spot by Stephen Schwartz to be the musical director in Toronto’s production of “Godspell”. The cast included Martin Short, Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin and Victor Garber. The show was a huge hit and launched Paul’s career. Paul was a featured performer and a musical composer for the first five years of Saturday Night Live. But he’s best known for being David Letterman’s sidekick and musical director on _The David Letterman Show_ for over thirty years. He got to play with some of the most popular musicians of our generation including Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Tina Turner and Ringo Starr. You can read his memoir _We’ll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives_ or listen to his newest album “Paul Shaffer & The World’s Most Dangerous Band”. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 252 - Brandon Webb: Getting Focussed (Lessons from a Sniper turned CEO) | 08 Sep 2017 | 01:51:51 | |
Brandon Webb served as a Navy Seal for almost ten years. He decided to leave. He was burnt out and he wanted to watch his kids grow up. And he’s had a philosophy since he was thirteen, if he’s not enjoying what he’s doing he’s going to find something different. When he left the military he got into real estate, then he got four years into a business that failed and then after all that he got divorced. He had hit the bottom. But he learned how to pull himself back up. He started a blog as a passion project and turned it into a very profitable media company. Today, he is the CEO of the media and E-commerce business, Hurricane Group, Inc. which focuses on military news and entertainment and outdoor products and clubs. He is a New York Times bestselling author of The Killing School and The Red Circle. Look for his newest book, Total Focus that is now available. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 251 - Geno Bisconte: Comedy as the Cure... Let Yourself Laugh | 05 Sep 2017 | 01:53:21 | |
Geno Bisconte is the most hilarious, high energy person I’ve ever met. He finds humor in almost every single sentence and he’s always in a good mood. He’s been a stand up comedian for more than fifteen years, headlining and hosting some of the most popular comedy clubs in New York City. He’s written for the Comedy Central Roasts, featured on multiple radio shows and was a cameo in HBO’s series Crashing. Every week he hosts his own podcast, In Hot Water with Aaron Berg on compoundmedia.com and his newest album, Uncle Geno Is Amazing is available to buy now on iTunes. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 250 - Alex Blumberg: The Shape of a Story: Building a Podcasting Empire | 29 Aug 2017 | 01:39:10 | |
Alex Blumberg is the founder and CEO of Gimlet Media. Before this, he was an incredibly successful radio journalist. He won multiple awards in the industry. Alex hosted and produced popular NPR shows, "Planet Money" and "This American Life". When he saw the new industry of podcasting booming, he risked it all and reinvented himself. He started his own company. Today Gimlet Media oversees and produces multiple podcasts at one time. Visit gimletmedia.com to discover a variety of new podcasts you can start listening to today! ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 249 - Chris Anderson: TED - Tricks to Mastering Public Speaking and Storytelling | 24 Aug 2017 | 01:28:36 | |
After a long journalism career, Chris Anderson became the curator of the TED Conference in 2002. Since then he has expanded the conference to cover all topics including science, business and global issues. He introduced the TEDx initiative, giving licenses free of charge to local organizers who want to put together their own live event. In 2016, Chris published his book, “TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking”. It’s an insider’s guide to creating an unforgettable talk. Listen to thousands of free TED Talks on ted.com and follow Chris on twitter @TEDchris. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 248 - Noah Kagan: Stop Fighting What You Are Good At | 22 Aug 2017 | 01:20:13 | |
Noah Kagan was fired from Facebook. He was employee #30. “I think they made the right decision to fire me," he said. "One of the big realizations I’ve had in the past few years is that people need to stop fighting their natural skill. My sweet spot is getting things going. My sweet spot is promoting products I love. That was the lesson learned. What I was strong at was not what Facebook needed anymore.” He wrote about it in his free ebook “How I Lost 170 Million Dollars: My Time as #30 at Facebook”. I asked him "how does the average person know what their strong at?" That's what we talk about in this interview. Today, Noah is the CEO of sumo.com, appsumo.com and kingsumo.com. I use these sites to grow and market my business. He also hosts a great podcast, “Noah Kagan Presents” and writes for his blog, okdork.com. 3 min - Noah first came on my podcast 2 years ago. He gave me a challenge: go to a coffee shop and ask for 10% off. The cashier was confused. “You want what?” “10% off,” I said. And I didn't give a reason either. My face was emotionless. She asked her Dad. “We don't do that,” he said. I could feel myself about to throw up. I was going against the normal social protocol. And endangering my life. Any time you step out of your comfort zone and risk being thrown out of the tribe, it signals a reaction in your brain: fear. But now it's much easier. I do challengers almost everyday. Noah does too. And he shared them on his podcast “Noah Kagan Presents.” We talk about more challenges you can do in this interview. 6 min - “I've been experimenting with habits and figuring out how to focus on the essentials,” Noah said. “That's where I'm really starting to explore.” He gave me an example. “Look at your phone right now. What apps have you not used in the last 6 months? Delete them.” He does this with relationships, business, everything. “It helps me realize what really matters,” he said. And appreciate more of the people and places and things he interacts with. I did a similar thing about a year ago, but in a much more macro level. I got rid of everything I owned. Except 15 items. Noah asked me what I miss. “Nothing,” I said. I lied (by accident). A few special things came to mind. But, more importantly, it’s been a year and I haven't replaced it rebought anything I threw away. 9 min - After I got rid of 40 years worth of stuff, I had nowhere to live, so I started another experiment. I threw myself at the mercy of my friends… 10 min - Noah says he doesn't want to hate his week so he did a week of nothing. “I had no meetings, I had no one to be around and I was alone for a week.” He started at point zero. And added back the essentials. “What things really matter in my life? What places? What people?” 11 min - I told Noah what I learned from getting rid of all my belongings… 13 min - “People think of dieting only in health, but can you have a diet in friendships? Look at all the things that are weighing on you,” Noah said, “and start having a diet.” 16 min - Noah was the 30th employee at Facebook. “Why were you fired?” I asked. He told me about the guy who fired him. “He's rich,” he said. “But I think they made the right decision to fire me. One of the big realizations I’ve had in the past few years is people need to stop fighting their natural skill. I call it their sweet spot and my sweet spot is starting out.” Facebook didn't need that skill anymore. So they got rid of him. I wanted to know how the average person finds out what their sweet spot is... 19 min - Noah recommends trying these two strategies to find what you’re really good at. 24 min - I tell Noah one of my signature jokes from my stand up comedy… 27 min - Noah told me about his mentor, Jonathan Coon. He founded 1-800-Contacts and funded the movie Napoleon Dynamite. He has a strategy to “reduce friction in his life.” He goes to the same restaurants and overtips the waiters. They know to seat him at the same table and give him the same meal every time. 29 min - We talk about tipping. Noah said that if he’s ever feeling down, he just tips someone well. It makes him feel good. I take it one step further… 30 min - Noah’s mentor got an Uber. “I want your house,” the Uber driver said. “I’ll tell you exactly how you can get a house like this,” Jonathan said. He was even willing to give the driver the money to start a business that day. Here’s what happened… 35 min - We talked about podcasting. When Noah first started his show, “Noah Kagan Presents” he was recording on his iPhone. Then he asked for feedback and found out his audio quality sucked. “I think anyone can do a podcast,” he said. “But number one: can they do it for 4 years? Probably not. Number two: can they get feedback? Candid, honest feedback from the right people. You can get the wrong feedback from the wrong people, which is not helpful. And then three: can you actually improve it?” He said the key is to always ask for feedback. 37 min - Why EVERYONE should start a podcast. 42 min - Noah put himself out there. “Everyone should get their prostate checked,” he said. “Are you okay?” I asked. He’s fine. We kept talking about health. And how you can A/B test to see what’s really working for you. 47 min - Noah said he tried the 5am challenge. Now he gets up at 6 or 7am. But the challenge is what got him to move the day up earlier. Don’t set goals. Set challenges. 50 min - Noah told me about his no apologies, “choose yourself” challenge. He said, “Don't apologize for who you are.” 52 min - How to say, “no.” 53 min - I started wondering how people can get back on track, because again, a lot of people veer away from what they really want in life. And they recognize this. They veered away early. But want to be happy again. It’s hard because they feel this obligation as part of their day. I know it. I used to feel it too. Sometimes, I still do. But it’s rare. And I think the key to choosing yourself is closing the gap between what you want to do and have to do. Little by little. Day by day. So I asked Noah, “How do you get back on track?” 58 min - We discuss “the elements of a good day.” 1 hour - Noah talks about how he built his business. "If someone told me how long it took to get successful, I may not have ever started,” he said. But that’s why it’s good to be ignorant sometimes. And to just focus on what’s in front of you. "I like to work on problems I have in my life and create things I want to see exist in the world,” Noah said. We unpack this and how it relates to other areas of our lives. 1 hour 2 min - Noah’s tried to learn a bunch of new skills: chess, Hebrew, podcasting. He hired a coach or found a mentor for each one. So I asked him what he’s learned about learning... 1 hour 5 min - We talked about “beginner’s mind.” The feeling you get when something’s new. Or when you’re starting over. Noah moved to Israel after we did this podcast. “Changing relationships or jobs or locations, generally improves life,” Noah said. “For me, what I’ve noticed is that when I live in foreign countries or different cities and do work there, my curiosity is elevated.” 1 hour 7 min - We talk about uncertainty. Noah said that if you’re uncertain about what you should be working on, look to your past. And remember what made you happy. 1 hour 8 min - Noah and I discuss the benefits to hiring a coach or teacher when you’re learning something new. 1 hour 11 min - I explain how I personally use Noah’s business, KingSumo, and how it’s helped my businesses grow exponentially. 1 hour 15 min - Before I ended the podcast I needed new challenges from Noah. He gave me three he’s working on right now and he explains how I can incorporate each into my life. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 247 - Ramit Sethi: Challenge: Start Living Your Ideas NOW | 17 Aug 2017 | 02:11:45 | |
Ramit Sethi is a bestselling author, personal finance advisor, entrepreneur and author of "New York Times" bestselling book, "I Will Teach You to be Rich". He’s taught thousands to manage their personal finances and how to become rich on his website, iwillteachyoutoberich.com. He’s been featured in ABC News, CNN and the WSJ. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 246 - Ramit Sethi: You Have Something People Would Pay For Right Now... | 15 Aug 2017 | 01:45:44 | |
Ramit Sethi is a bestselling author, personal finance advisor, entrepreneur and author of "New York Times" bestselling book, "I Will Teach You to be Rich". He’s taught thousands to manage their personal finances and how to become rich on his website, iwillteachyoutoberich.com. He’s been featured in ABC News, CNN and the WSJ. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 245 - Mark Manson: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F--- | 10 Aug 2017 | 01:21:05 | |
Mark Manson is a writer, blogger and author of the "New York Times" bestseller, "The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F-ck". Visit his blog, markmanson.net, to read some of his best articles on self improvement, dating and relationships, culture and life choices.
2 mins - I tell Mark why I didn't initially want him in the show... and why I changed my mind 4 mins - Mark and I first met at a friend’s poker game. then I ran into him a few weeks later. But I didn't remember meeting. “Hi I'm James,” I said. Then I remembered. And I realized he was the guy from the poker game… the guy who's name I kept trying to figure out all night. “I just thought you were a chill guy,” Mark said. We laughed. That's how I'd like to start all new moments in life. With a laugh. 8 min - Mark says where he got the inspiration to write his bestselling book, "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck" 10 min - We talk about what “giving a fuck” actually means. And how to decide what's worthwhile. “I joke around with a lot of people,” Mark said. “I say I wanted to write a book about values...but I knew if I wrote a book about values no one would read it. So I put the F word everywhere. Because essentially what giving a fuck is is you are deciding what you care about. You are deciding what you value in your life.” 12 min - So then I ask Mark how you get started? 14 min - We talk about people pleasing. And self absorption. “It’s very common in the self help world to say, ‘Be true to yourself and follow your feelings.’ That’s nice and everything, but if I went out to 6th Avenue and started peeing on the corner just because I feel like it…” I interrupted. “Is that your true passion? Peeing in 6th Ave. That’s your truth?” “Yes this is my truth at the moment…” Then he got serious. “We live in a society. We’re inner-dependent on each other in many ways. So there’s tension between what you yourself want and what’s also good for the community around you. And that’s hard. I think a lot of people suffer because that balance has gotten out of whack too far one way or the other. Either their constantly people-pleasing or they’re constantly selfish and self-absorbed.” 15 min - I feel everyone starts out people pleasing. And adulthood is when you cross into being more independent. Not necessary self absorbed, but the part of your brain that works to increase your livelihood and sense of survival kicks in. And the struggle is to let go of the “people pleasing” aspect. The part of you that needs approval. I still struggle with this. “Choosing yourself” is choosing to give yourself the stamp of approval. I try this everyday. 17 min - Mark sold drugs when he was 13. Someone told the principal and he got kicked out of school. Six months later his parents got a divorce. 22 min - So I asked, “What do you think your parents could have or should have done differently in this situation?” 28 min - There's a trick to having a good relationship, he told me… it's sort of an equation. Or a scale. 31 min - He fell into a “bottomless pit” of approval. He chased every woman on campus. And learned the rules of attraction. He told me about the really sleazy pick up lines he'd use. “Does that stuff work?”I asked. “It attracts really insecure women,” he said. And that led to his dating theory: you end up attracting what you put out. 33 min - He took what he learned about dating to build a coaching business. 35 min - We talk about Tucker Max’s books and how they’re often taken the wrong way. 41 min - Mark started traveling and living off his online business. He got serious about his writing. 43 min - Mark explains the attachment theory 45 min - He read “The Four Hour Workweek,” by Tim Ferriss. And based his nomadic life around it. But traveling forced Mark into avoiding intimacy. He kept leaving friends behind. And later learned what he really wanted... 47 min - I asked Mark, “When did you start giving a fuck?” 48 min - He told me how he got back to his roots to see what made him happiest 50 min - Mark explains how new and exciting experiences start to fade as you get older... 53 min - And he told me why putting down roots and building a community was his newly discovered biggest value. 55 min - Then I wanted to learn the art of. It giving a fuck. There are a lot of subtleties. So I asked, “What steps do I need to take today to stop insecurities and not care as much?” 58 min - People always ask me how to find customers or readers or a marker. The first rule is this: if you make something that’s valuable, people will show up. 1 hour 2 minutes - We talk about constantly finding different metrics to measure your success by. 1 hour 3 minutes - We talk about a chapter in Chuck Klosterman’s book, But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past, on what survives and how it correlates with a chapter in Mark’s book. 1 hour 6 minutes - What is the subtle art, how do you do it? 1 hour 9 minutes - There are a few fundamental principles to stop giving time and energy into things that really don't matter to you. We break them down. 1 hour 12 minutes - Mark talks about starting to write his next book about relationships and how he’s already been comparing it to his first book… that's the death to all creativity. You need a free, unstressed mind to be creative everyday. Comparison is creativity’s heart attack. 1 hour 15 minutes - Every time you switch tribes, you switch the metrics of comparison. Pay attention to your tribes values. And disown any that don't matter to your heart. 1 hour 18 minutes - Your brain is always going to find a problem or a comparison, the trick it to figure out the game and trust it a little less. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Deciphering the Global Economic Puzzle | David Rubenstein | 30 Aug 2023 | 00:39:36 | |
What's really going on in the world economy? James Altucher turns to David Rubenstein—manager of the Carlyle Group, one of the world's most significant private equity funds—for answers. With half a trillion dollars in investments and a deep involvement in the global economy since the '70s, David offers unparalleled insights into pressing questions like the future of the U.S. dollar, oil markets, and potential recessions. The conversation doesn't just skim the surface; it dives deep into the mechanics of financial systems, interest rates, and unemployment figures. Whether you're an investor, an entrepreneur, or someone simply trying to understand the economic maze, this episode promises a comprehensive look at where things stand and where they might be headed. ------------ What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience! Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air! ------------ Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own! My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold! Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President. I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast. ------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on Social Media: ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 244 - Wally Green: He Was in a Gang at 13. Now He's Uniting The World Through Ping Pong | 08 Aug 2017 | 01:13:28 | |
DO SOMETHING YOU LOVE, TO BUILD A LIFE WORTH LOVING "I was shot twice by the time I was 13," Wally told me. "I owned six guns. Everyone I grew up with then is dead," he said. He then walked back to his side of the ping pong table. He took out his iPhone. Using his iPhone as the racket, he served the ball. He beat me 11-0. "Ok," he said, "everything you are doing is wrong." ------ The way I held the racket was wrong. The way I stood with my legs was wrong. The way I hit the ball and then the way I followed through after the hit was all wrong. The angle of my wrist was wrong as I waited for the ball to come to my side was wrong. The way I held the racket at a slight angle to the table was wrong. My backhand was all wrong. The way I had grown up and lived my life was mostly wrong. He kept streaming shots at me non-stop. "No, no, no," he said. "No! Go up!...No!...Close the racket...No!...Use the other foot to shift weight...No! No!" So we stopped. He came over to my side of the table. He was looking down. I was afraid he was thinking, "why am I doing this?" He stood behind me and grabbed my arm and moved it up as if I were hitting the ball. "See!," he said. "Like this. Like this." I wanted to be friends. ---- I've been playing ping pong for 40 years. I had a table as a kid. My dad and I would play every night. We would play for hours. And during the day, my friend Jonathan and I would play matches up to 100 every day. I thought I was good. Now, after taking lessons for several months, I realized that 100% of what I had been doing for 40 years was wrong. Everything. I was good enough to beat people who grew up with a ping pong table. But I was really bad. "When I went to North Korea," Wally told me and then he started laughing, "those players were scary good." ---- Wally started playing ping pong. Someone saw his skill, and, as these things go, sent him away. In order to come back you have to go away. He went to Germany to study ping pong with pros. Pretty soon he was the best. "I've played every sport," he told me. "Wrestling, basketball, boxing, tennis, paddle tennis. Ping pong is the hardest. "You have to think of everything. For instance, there's 1000s of ways to serve. And there's so many things to think about when you return the ball. You have to think several moves ahead." Wally has seen me play chess. "It's EXACTLY like chess. But also physical." We were having a three hour lesson that day. It ended with me doing a backhand-backhand-forehand-forehand, then forehand at the other end of the table - then random. Then start over. He shot 100 balls at me one after the other. "Again! Again! Good! No! No! No! Close the racket! You're crossing over when you follow through. Just go up!" Ugh. I had too many bad habits. I kept doing them. How do I stop the bad habits? 40 years of bad habits are hard to get rid of. It's like being afraid to say "no" after 40 years of telling everyone "yes". We took a break. "Why did you go to North Korea?" "I like to do things that are BIG. Every year I want to make sure I do something really big. Really special. "I saw the North Koreans were listing a tournament so I applied and I got in! I was the only non-Asian there. "Once I got there they took my phone. I had no way of getting in touch with the outside world for ten days. Couldn't call my wife. If something happened there was no proof I was even there. "So I just played ping pong. And they were GOOD!" ---- "Not only were the better than me," he said, "but the entire crowd was cheering for them and booing constantly at me. "So I decided, forget this. Let's have fun with this. Let's make crazy shots. Let's jump up and down after every point. Let's get the crowd laughing and jumping with me. I focused on the crowd. "At first they were surprised. And then they started laughing with me. They were cheering me. I was losing but it didn't matter. We were all having fun. "Even the other North Korean players, they didn't know what to do. They were afraid to talk to me but by the end they were hugging me. "That was my big thing that year." "What about this year?" I asked ---- Wally made a movie. "The Tables" about the ping pong tables at Bryant Park. "No matter what is going on in your life," Wally told me, "You could be homeless, an office worker, a ping pong champ, it doesn't matter...everyone has a home at the tables in Bryant Park. It's home there." I watched the documentary. It's good. "It's winning awards everywhere," Wally said, "I have to go to LA this weekend because it's winning at a festival there." One year Wally and some friends threw a weekly party, "Naked Ping Pong". They invited everyone they knew to a friend's apartment in Tribeca that was big enough to fit a ping pong table and the few people they thought would show up. It got mobbed. So they pitched the idea of a ping pong club to Susan Sarandon and other investors. And the club, "Spin" was born. That's where Wally has been giving me the lessons. Now Spin has locations all over the country. After one three hour lesson I was exhausted. I didn't think ping pong could be so tiring. We went upstairs. "I'm going to Israel next week because one of my students is in a big tournament there." --- It's a cliche to say, "Life is short". It's a cliche to say, "You only have one life." But if you take one chance a year, something unexpected, something you love, you build a life worth loving. So many times I've spent years just struggling for money, thinking it will buy happiness. What a waste! We scheduled our next lesson. Then Wally showed me his unicycle Segway. I think it's called a Ninebot. "I have to head off to the tables," he told me. "I always like to play there every day." He stood on the Ninebot and he started weaving in and out of the crowd as he cruised down the sidewalk on his robotic unicycle. Then he was gone. I was exhausted, I went down into the subway to practice doing standup comedy again with an unfriendly crowd. I want to do my special thing each year. I want my life to compound into wonder. I went into the subway. I opened my mouth and started... ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 243 - Shawn Stevenson: The ONLY Health Podcast You'll Ever Need to Hear | 03 Aug 2017 | 01:43:24 | |
Shawn Stevenson, host of The Model Health podcast said, "In the lab, they found anti-depressants in the New York City water system." Anti-depressants! Ok, no problem. I'll drink tap water. Save on therapy costs. In NYC everyone has to go to therapy. It's a requirement. "This week my therapist said..." "There's also these other chemicals in water.." and he was about to list them for me. "No no no," I said. "Shhhh!" I put my hands on my ears. "I'm good. Don't need to know more." Shawn is obsessed with health. Every week he interviews the best people in the world on health. He's interviewed hundreds. And now I get to ask him for this BEST advice. Don't abuse what he tells you, James! Shawn was 200lbs overweight. He could barely get from room to room before collapsing with exhaustion and pain. He was diagnosed with an incurable spinal condition called degenerative disc disease. His spine was deteriorating to nothing. The way an old person leans over and over until they collapse dead. "You have the spine of an 80 year old," the doctor told him. "The doctors told me to wear a back brace. I kept getting worse. The doctors kept telling me nothing could be done. I was losing hope. Losing the will to live." So he chose himself. He CHOSE his health. He studied every aspect of health. He created the #1 podcast on health, The Model Health Show. He read everything he could. He changed his diet. His doctors told him don't bother. He exercised. His doctors said it won't help. "You're going to die of this." --- When he came on my podcast, he looked like a man in perfect health. He was muscular, glowed with health, had energy. He was something maybe I will never say. "I'm feeling great every day," he told me. And then he started dropping the most amazing health tips on me. I felt overwhelmed. Do I have the discipline to do all of this? I've had many health experts on my podcast. If you don't have physical health, it's 1000 times harder to be a success. The body feeds the mind and the heart. The body reduces stress. The body contains the basics for everything you want to do in life. You are alive in your whole body. Not just your brain. Not just in your bank account. The entire body has to be nourished and loved. For some strange reason he asked me to be on his show as well. I was really grateful he wanted to talk to me about how my own lifestyle improved my health. But more importantly, he came on my show and I was able to drill HIM with questions. Not that all doctors are bad. But I couldn't believe some of the things Shawn had to tell me. I list some of them on this infographic. I already thought I knew things about sleep, water, movement, exercise. I thought I already knew things about how health worked. About how health led to success. But he broke it down one step further. I needed that. I now live by it (we actually recorded this podcast about two months ago) and the results have given me enough energy to create new opportunities in my life that I would not have been able to do before. I have a formula now: 1% more health equals 100 more possible opportunities. Shawn! I'm grateful you broke your stupid hip when you were 20 and got Spinal Degenerative Whatever and gained 5000 pounds. I'm grateful the doctors told you you were going to rot and die. I'm so happy you collapsed, half dead, under the weight of your own bloated body. I'm really happy you almost died. Just don't do it again. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 242 - Shane Snow: The Smart Way to Succeed | 01 Aug 2017 | 01:25:27 | |
Shane Snow is a well known journalist, entrepreneur, co-founder of the content technology company, Contently, and bestselling author of "Smartcuts: The Breakthrough of Lateral Thinking". You can find his writing in "Wired", "The New Yorker", and "Fast Company" and a dozen more top publications. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 241 - Jason Calacanis: How to Invest: The Guidebook from an Angel Investor Who Turned $100K into $100 Million | 27 Jul 2017 | 01:23:48 | |
Jason Calacanis is an angel investor, serial entrepreneur, writer and blogger. He is the founder and CEO of inside.com. Listen to Jason’s podcast, "This Week In Startups", interesting stories from the world of entrepreneurship. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 240 - Gary Gulman: This is Comedy: Gary Gulman Breaks Down the Best Joke in The World | 25 Jul 2017 | 01:23:29 | |
When Patton Oswalt, one of the top comedians over the past several decades, was going through the worst experiences of his life this past year, he wrote an entire post about one joke Gary Gulman made. ONE JOKE. Oswalt starts off: “This is…so perfect.” I like the pause in there. LIke there are no words so he had to notch himself down even though it doesn’t express exactly what he wants to say: … “so perfect”. He analyzes Gary’s joke and why it’s so difficult to do a joke like this (nobody sees how the sausage is made, they only see the final joke after years of perfecting). Patton closes with: “Thank you Gary Gulman. I know a lot of my shit’s gonna get angry these next four years, but it’s stuff like what Gary’s doing that reminds me I gotta make sure it’s funny first. Angry doesn’t change shit. Funny disarms the horde.” Gary is one of the best in the world. And no matter what area of life you want to improve in, studying in detail someone who is among the best, will up your game. It ups my game. I am infinitely frail. I fall apart at the slightest resistance. I sometimes can’t handle it. I sometimes can’t handle failing. I don’t always believe you learn from failure. But studying the best, makes my brain feel good. Like it’s being nourished. And that often gives me the strength to persist. For the past five months I’ve been going up on a stage 2-3 times a week and performing standup comedy in front of an audience. Often the other performers are people who were on the Colbert Show the night before. Or just released an hour-long Netflix special. So I have to up my game all the time. I want to be “one of them”. And I don’t want people in the audience to be able to tell that I’m different. Plus, I get scared to death. I am honestly so scared I am about to cry every time I am about to go on stage. Even if I’m going on stage to perform just five minutes of jokes. Five minutes is an eternity. What I realized, and will save for a future post, is that there are at least 20 or 30 (and probably much more) “micro-skills” that I could not have possibly imagined when trying to get better at standup comedy. I’ve been public speaking for 20 years. Is it that different? Yes. Which is why I had to have Gary Gulman on the podcast. One of the best in the world. I said above “five minutes is an eternity”. Gary told one joke on Conan in 2016 that lasted six minutes. One joke where (and I measured it) he gets laughs every ten to fifteen seconds throughout. He uses every skill in the comic’s toolbox. And probably many more that I haven’t been able to understand yet. I printed up the joke. I gave it to Gary. I said, “I want to analyze this joke word by word.” The first thing he said is, “This almost depresses me”. “How come?” “It took years to write this joke. And the others that I came out with around then. It’s so hard. Sometimes I can’t’ even get up because it’s so hard to do this.” What follows is one of my favorite podcasts. We cover his career, the techniques he learned and how he learned them. We cover the depression and anxiety and fear that goes into building any career out of excellence. We cover the micro-skills. No matter what you do in life, the one who masters all the master skills of your field of endeavor will be the one who rises to the top. How do you identify those skills? How do you master them? And we analyze this joke. To see the joke, Google: “Youtube Gary Gulman Conan States”. It’s his 7/13/16 performance. Watch it first.
Here are some things I learned: Part A) DELIVERY 1. COMMITMENT The whole joke is about the states and how they were abbreviated. Gary walks out on stage, “I just wanted to recommend a documentary to everyone and then I’m going to go.” Everyone laughs. No one believes him. But he’s totally COMMITTED to the joke. In the podcast he says, “I’m bragging, really. Because I know I have something in my pocket that I’ve polished so frequently over the years. Years and years have gone into this one joke. And I know they haven’t seen it. It’s almost like I’m say, ‘Wait till you get a load of me.’” A lot of comedians just pander for a laugh, especially in the beginning. Yes, fart jokes work. But GREAT comedy is art. Gary’s worked hard and he’s know it. This transcends more than just jokes. People won’t always know that what you have to offer is valuable to them. Until you show it. That’s how Gary builds rapport with the audience. They sense the commitment. They are in for the ride. 2. BUILD UP CAPITAL Audiences are terrifying. And often they don’t know you. Might be a business audience in a meeting. Might be a reader. Might be a listener or a crowd. Or a comedy club audience. They have to like you. Johnny Carson has said that this is the most important skill for a comedian. Likeability. Watch Gary’s clip and see how he becomes naturally likeable to the audience. These are techniques that can be used in every situation. But it’s also how you build up capital so now you can take chances, propose ideas they have never heard of, build rapport with each person listening to you, and perform the magic trick of transmitting what you see in your head, into the heads of all the listeners. I didn’t realize this was such an important skill at first. Again, I have another post about this. But, for me, the results were disastrous when I didn’t realize how important this was. 3. MOVE Gary uses movement. It’s almost like he’s acting out the joke. He points to the sky, everyone’s eyes move up. They’re with him. They’re in the story. “I need to keep their attention during that time because it’s a lull,” he said. You can’t just tell your joke. Or tell your story. Or tell your idea. Ideas, jokes, stories are three dimensional. Gary takes his joke and turns it from a premise into a three dimensional world we are suddenly all living in.
Part B) WRITING 4. OBSERVE THE ABSURD Throughout my entire life, I’ve been abbreviating states. I’ve never thought, “Oh so many states start with the same two letters.” Who thinks of that? “What were you doing when you first thought of that?” I asked him. “I think the first time was when I was in 2nd grade and I got the arrow book of the states. I got it in 2nd grade but it must’ve been printed several years prior because the abbreviations was a new concept in this particular version of the Arrow Book of States. For whatever reason, I wanted to memorize the abbreviations. That’s when I noticed how difficult it was.” Thirty years later, he turned that difficulty into a joke. I notice this with comedians. They observe everything out of the ordinary. Seinfeld once said that a regular person goes into Bar Mitzvah and says, “nice buffett”. A comedian will go in and say, “why is there pork?” I’ve been working on a joke lately. The premise is that OJ Simpson made $2.7 million while he was in prison. The premise doesn’t have to be funny. Just quirky. The punchline can come after years of work. Not in my case but in the case of the best comedians, jokes, speakers, inventors. 5. PERSISTENCE AND DEPRESSION This is unique to Gary. He’s able to draw out jokes for 6 minutes. I asked how he’s going to get down to writing the next 6 minute bit. “It’s daunting,” he said. “How do you deal with the anxiety?” “I’ll say this, but it’s something that’s very personal to me. Hopefully it will help people. But I was in the hospital for a few nights because of my depression and anxiety. I was overwhelmed. It was a couple of months ago. I wasn’t suicidal. I just went to the emergency room and they admitted me and changed some medicines up, but it’s literally crippling.” “Did that help? The combination of medicine and them talking?” “Yeah…I’m in a better position now then I was then. I can function a little bit better and I’ve been able to get back on stage.” He said he had a fear of performing. Which was amazing to me because he’s so good at it. But I get it. I can’t go on stage without having a panic attack. And I know he’s been on stage 1000s of times. It’s hard. But once you say, “This is too hard”, that’s when you have to do it to get better. And improvement never ends. That’s why I wanted to learn from him. It’s easy for a comedian to tell crude jokes. Gary brings you into new territory. He told me that once he got a hold of the abbreviations joke, he held on. “I tried to strengthen it and lengthen it.” We kept dissecting. I wanted to get deeper into the toolkit. How did he make the joke stronger? 6. GO OFF ON TANGENTS He’s a few minutes into the joke. They’re talking about abbreviating the first state (Alabama). Alaska is next. But he had to take the audience away from the story. Or they’d lose interest. He sets the scene. The whole team of abbreviators is eating breakfast. And Gary says, “The omelette station had just been invented and was sweeping the nation.” “I’ve always felt uncomfortable with the omelette station,” he told me. I never thought about it before. Hidden truths surround us. Ghosts in a conversation. But saying them brings the discomfort into comfort. Makes the scary…funny. Or possible. Or gives us a new way of looking at things. “The omelette chef must hate us,” he said. And in the joke Gary says they wanted to be a “chef chef.” Not an omelette chef. The tangent diverts your attention away from the main plot. He adds another about the people who call Hollandaise sauce “holiday sauce.” This has nothing to do with the joke. But it’s funny and adds depth to the story. And does it have to do with the joke..? Maybe! And then brings it back to abbreviations. Alaska is right after Alabama. Both are AL. That’s when the “crack team of abbreviators” realize they’re in trouble. “Did we already use AL?” 7. BE SPECIFIC In one of his first lines, Gary tells you the documentary is 98 minutes. Not 90, not an hour. It’s 98 minutes. “Why 98?” I said. It had to do with the number of syllables. And the exactness. Words don’t tell a story. Details tell a story. And it ends on a “t”. Gary knows from 20 years experience what consonants will elicit a bigger laugh. Micro-skills. 8. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MEMORY LOSS The crack squad of abbreviations is made up of “nayer do wells.” I didn’t even know what that meant. “I like to use language that you forgot you knew,” he said. 9. PUT LAUGH LINES TOGETHER Gary quoted the late Richard Jeni, who said, “What you’re trying to do is put together as many laugh lines as close together as possible.” You don’t have to wait long to laugh again when you watch his act. Gary does this too. He makes a small reference. “I want to say it was 1973… So I will.” And the whole crowd laughs. At first, I couldn’t figure out why I was laughing. “It’s a cliche,” Gary said. He uses a cliche to make fun of cliches. He makes you take a second look at some statement everyone says, but no one realizes they’re saying. 10. SUBTRACT SELF-KNOWLEDGE The joke gets more and more ridiculous with each line. But Gary looks almost clueless. He’s going on and on about this documentary, their struggles and challenges. It’s almost like he crosses this invisible line where he’s no longer aware. He becomes part of the story. And his comedy turns from joke to performance. Everyone in the audience begins to see there’s no real documentary. Except Gary. He subtracts self-knowledge which adds to the laughter. Because now people not only can’t believe how ridiculous this documentary’s premise is, but they can’t believe how ridiculous Gary is. Adding knowledge makes a hero. Subtracting knowledge makes comedy. James Bond can get shot in the heart, perform surgery on himself, and then get the bad guy. He’s a hero. If Woody Allen is shot in the heart then….even picturing it makes me laugh. 11. TAKE RISKS Gary makes jokes out of difficulties, adds specificity, tangents, cliches and so on. He has his tool kit. Each element has a purpose. And they all take him to the edge. “That’s one of the reasons I’m moving to Boston,” he said. “I can take more risks.” “What does it mean to take more risks?” I said. “Just to go on stage with material that is not as worked out as the one we went over today.” He wants to test his joke in front of audiences, then record it and tweak it. If you can’t take risks, you won’t hit the edge. You won’t go beyond it. Beyond the edge is peak performance. The area few, if any, hit. Beyond the edge is success. Because people reward the ones who have mastered the risks beyond the edge. I always say I don’t like to hit “publish” on an article until I’m afraid of what people will think. That’s not quite true for this article. I’m proud to say Gary is one of the best there is. I’m happy I got a chance to take my absolute favorite joke and get the guy who told it to answer all my questions for an hour. I felt bad when Gary expressed his depression. His desire to continually improve and his fear of where that next improvement might come from. We’re all afraid. I wanted to tell him…sometimes when I feel that way, and I feel that way almost every day, I often know that something new is going to happen. Something that will push me forward. Afterwards, I felt bad I didn’t say that. I wanted to tell him how skilled he is. That he will push forward. But I didn’t say that either. I’m hitting publish here not because I’m afraid. But because I want everyone else to experience the pure joy I felt when I listened to this joke, listened to how he crafted it, and learned a bit more about how in any area of life I can strive to improve and be the best I can be. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 239 - Alex Berenson: How to Write a Page-Turner | 20 Jul 2017 | 01:34:20 | |
Alex Berenson had the dream job. But he was unhappy. And perhaps it even scarred him in some ways.
He switched it up. To his true dreams. To the dreams he had for himself since he was a child.
I want to do this.
First off, Alex has written 11 bestselling thriller novels. Alex knows how to get the reader to turn the page and ask, “What happens next?!”
This is an unbelievably hard skill.
But it’s not the most important skill when you are moving into your dream job.
I will tell you the most important skill. And Alex explains more clearly how he did it when we are in the podcast.
The most important skill is to have this weird sort of “active arrogance”.
Here’s the gap: The best in your profession have skills, experience, and they know how to sit down and DO something every day.
The beginners: they WANT to do something. They PLAN to do something. They SAY they will eventually do it. They THINK they have the skills they need.
But they never do it.
The ones who succeeed. They have the arrogance to think they can just simply sit down and do it. .Despite not having the skills. Despite being total amataurs. They simply sit down and DO IT.
By doing it, you LEARN the skills, you DO the job [a first novel in Alex’s case], and you get better.
DOING is the only way to succeed. Most poeple stop before this point. Alex didn’t.
And thank god. Because his 11 bestsellers have been lifesavers for me. A way for me to dream. A way for me to escape.
Here’s how Alex did it:
[6:25] - Create your own universe
“In 2003 and 2004, I went to Iraq for the paper,” he said (he worked at The New York Times). “The war had ended, supposedly… we deposed Saddam. Most reporters go during the ‘active phase,’ so The Times said any cub reporter could put their hand up and go. So I put my hand up.” Then he came back and realized he had stories. And John Wells was born. Alex has written 11 bestsellers. All page-turners. I wanted to know what made him start writing thrillers. I’ve always thought of writing fiction. I still wonder if that’s what’s next.
Here’s what he told me, “In my universe, nobody lies to me. They can lie to each other, they can even lie to themselves, they cannot lie to me.”
[11:00] - Some luck goes unnoticed
“Coming back to the states was a shock,” he said. “The wastefulness of this country really smacks you when you’ve been away for a while, certainly in a place like that.”
“What do you mean? What’s an example?”
“I think the example that struck me is the electrical grid.”
We take it for granted that the lights go on. And then use them like crazy. I live in NY. The lights are always on. It doesn’t matter what time. And I never think about it. “American is a place of abundance,” Alex said. “I guess that’s a good thing. It’s better to be rich than poor but realize that 80% of the world is never going to live in conditions anything like this. It really does just smack you in the face to realize how lucky we are and how little we realize that.”
[12:00] - Choose yourself I asked Alex if he thinks we’re becoming complacent as a society. “Thats a real fear,” Alex said. There are two sides. One side is if you give people everything will they stop wanting to work? Will they say they have enough. And give up.
But then the other side is you work so hard and go nowhere. “The flip side of that is if you make the system so unfair that nobody believes hard work can get you ahead, they’re not going to work either.”
And I think that’s why work should be more than a paycheck. There has to be a vision. And following that vision is how you choose yourself.
[15:00] - Have a little arrogance
Alex said a lot of reporters want to write novels. He was one of them. But there’s something that separates those who write from those who don’t...
“I did something arrogant,” he said. “I wrote a novel.”
So I wondered if that’s part of the formula? Do all novelists have some arrogance to write something totally made up and think other people will want to read it?
“Of course,” Alex said. “Are you kidding? It’s the craziest endeavor. ‘I’m going to create this world with these fake people and I want you to believe they’re real. And I want to make them come alive for you.’”
[17:17] - Finding aspects of you I’m curious about the characters. Like dreams, where do they come from? Is it a manifestation of yourself? Of people you know? And who leads the story? Is it the writer? Some writers say the characters are so strong psychologically that they lead the story.
Alex got his answer from his wife. She’s a psychiatrist. She says John Wells is a projection of Alex’s most idealized version of himself. “He’s strong, he’s very capable, he’s so tough. Women love him, men fear him, sheep want to be with him, ya know he’s tortured because he’s committed all this violence over the years, but he’s essentially a good guy.”
I wonder what it would be like to create my own universe and then ask a doctor to read into me. But I only know what I create if I start creating.
[19:22] - How do you survive? His books are 400 pages each. And that’s before everything gets cut down and reformatted. He used to write before work. Now it’s his full time job.
“So how do you survive? How do you sit through it?”
“Writing the books is mentally painful,” he said. “I make the characters suffer. Because I’m suffering.”
[26:13] Who’s your hero?
I wanted to know more about Alex’s hero. He could’ve made the everyman. But instead he chose a spy, someone who in danger. Maybe it’s a reflection of who we want to be. Someone with real freedom.
Alex said. “When you have nothing to lose, when you don’t care if you live or die, you have incredible freedom.”
Alex doesn't have that freedom. He told me how he was almost kidnapped in Iraq. “People thought I was spy,” he said. ““I had a very close call. I mean everyone has a close call, but I had a very close call”
“What was your close call?”
“Ya know, I don’t like to talk about it.”
I couldn’t let this go. When someone comes on my podcast, I have one chance to ask them everything I want to know.
“Could we please talk about it?”
“I found a notebook that a Shia fighter kept… It was just a tiny green notebook. It was in the rubble of a building. And I took it.”
“They saw you pick it up?”
“No… I was dressed like a local. I had a goatee. I had my haircut shorter, but no one was going to be fooled into thinking I was Iraqi. No one who REALLY looked at me. And I didn’t speak arabic”
People got suspicious of him.
“The question was, ‘What are you doing? Why do you look like this? Why are you trying to pass… you’re not one of us. And once that happened, it just spiraled.”
“So you reached a point where you got scared,” I said.
“Oh, no no no no. It was much worse than that…”
[34:16] - Get stories I wanted to know how Alex got back home. He was detained. And almost martyred.
These experiences lead to his novels. Now, he had stories to begin fueling the John Wells series.
[43:34] - Write everyday People ask Alex how he gets his inspiration.
“I have a mortgage to pay and I have a contract. I can’t wait for inspiration.” He says he makes progress everyday.
[44:30] - How do you get people to turn the page? Alex turned the tables. He asked if I wrote a page-turned.
The answer’s no. I tried. I’ve tried for 20 years. He said one key is to let people read your work. I’ve never let anyone read my fiction. I want to know the beats.
We broke them down.
“I’m kind of the wrong person to ask about structure,” he said. “My books violate the normal structure of genre fiction.”
But I find this is true with all peak performers. They can’t explain how they do so well. It comes natural to them. So getting into the finer nuances takes effort.
I dug. And here’s what I found…
[54:54] - Finding structure
[58:20] - They key to a great ending... Eventually it ends… But here’s the key. You need a cool solve.
So I asked, “What’s a cool solve?” This is another great example of an expert knowing his craft better than the inner workings of that craft…
We went through a ton of examples. And finally landed on this:
You have to build. “For Wells, there’s always tensions. Your always asking, ‘How far will this go?’ You just got me to explain it better,” Alex said.
------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 238 - Ryan Holiday: The Art of Making and Marketing | 18 Jul 2017 | 01:27:33 | |
Ryan Holiday, stop writing books that are just for me! With “Perennial Seller” you just answered an obsessive question I’ve had for years: What makes something, someone, some product, some art, withstand the test of time? What is the magic sauce? The secret formula? What makes something sell a million copies a year (music, art, books, products, etc)… forever? I want to know. I’ll try my best to summarize our conversation and your book but people should buy the book for your 1000s of examples:
BE COUNTERINTUITIVE If you write what everyone else is already thinking, then nobody needs to read your work, or use your product. They already have it. It doesn’t matter if you are 50% better than anyone else. Nobody understands how to judge that except the experts in your field. And those experts don’t care about you. They might even hate you. Create your own field. And be 1000% the best in that field.
DON’T TRY TO COMPETE The 100th person who writes a “50 Shades of Grey” style book, or a disco pop EMD album can…MAYBE…get 1% of the audience. If you find an underserved audience, you can get 100% of it. There’s an important side effect of this: IF YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING FOR THE MONEY…YOU LOSE. Because the rest of the world is competing for that dollar. Money is a side effect of creativity, quality art, creating something unique, and building your marketing into that art.
VALIDATE THE IDEA Test out sample chapters. Release songs on YouTube. Keep iterating. Keep digging for your authentic voice. In comedy, it took Louis CK 20 years of telling jokes before he found his voice when talking about dating and parenting. Don’t look for LOTs of fans at first. Look for the hard-core fans. The ones who will stick with you while you go on this crazy ride. The ones who will share. What my prior podcast guest, Kevin Kelly, calls “The One Thousand True Fans”.
DON’T GIVE UP IF YOU DON’T WIN ON DAY ONE Ryan told me that “Smokey and the Bandit” beat “Star Wars” at the box office the same weekend they both opened. I did not know that! It almost seems like blasphemy to me. John Grisham only sold a few thousand copies when he first published “A Time To Kill”. Only much later did it sell millions. Catcher in the Rye had a slow start. Now sells a million copies a year. The best works of art and the best products have to fight the masses to find their right audience. But when they do, the audience will reward them. Write or create what is unique to you, find the 1000 true fans. The ones who are hard-core and love the value you bring. And serve that market over and over. That divides the winners from the non-winners.
TELL A STORY THAT IS PERSONAL TO YOU “Choose Yourself” could have been another ranty personal development business book (“Blah!”). Instead I wove in a personal story of struggle and loss and pain. Pain that changed me and still does every single day to (hopefully) lesser extent. This is what makes a story both unique (it’s my story) and universal (everyone experiences pain, everyone wants to solve it). Too many people play a persona (“my life is perfect so let me teach it to you”) and that’s inauthentic.
TELL A STORY THAT RESONATES WITH EVERYONE Star Wars is a perfect example. It’s the ‘arc of the hero’. A boy who struggles, encounters problems, faces them, lives forever. I.e. Jesus. Krishna. Buddha. Star Wars is a sci-fi western (great example of “idea sex”) where he innovated on the graphics but used a story that was basically “Focus grouped” for thousands of years. Thousands! So he stuck within the rules of a genre (actually several that he combined) but also made it uniquely his own. This is the key to successful art. Telling a story that is personal to you AND resonates with everyone is very difficult. It takes practice. It takes marketing. It takes listening. That’s why these are the items that become perennial sellers. It’s worth it to build that skill. How do you do it: - Understand the history of what you loveLearn from the best - Learn from the best - Practice over and over - Build marketing into your art. - Experiment, learn, repeat - Follow the rest of the advice in this article.
ASK THE ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Ask yourself, “Who is this actually for?” Who is your fan?” “A lot of creators struggle with this,” Ryan said. “You make this great work and then you think the world is eagerly anticipating it, but they’re not.” You have to have a sense of honesty internally to know who your stuff is for. So you need to ask the right questions from the beginning. You have to connect strongly with those initial hard core fans. Combine your creative idea with the heart of another human being. The people who struggle with your struggle. The people who will be better off when they read your writing or use your invention.
BE OK WITH PEOPLE HATING YOU If you do something new, people will not like you. SOMEONE will hate you. “When the moon landing happened,” Ryan told me, “It had 93% market share. That’s incredible. “But think about it. That means 7% of the audience turned on the TV, saw Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon and said, ‘oh, this is boring. I’m going to change the channel.” Be ok with that. Iron Maiden had a lot of people hating them. And yet they focused on their core audience and became one of the most popular rock bands ever despite playing music that would NEVER make it on the radio. The TV show, “Seinfeld” was on the verge of cancellation it’s first few years. But Jerry Seinfeld already had a hard-core following not only among fans but even among network executives. Having network executives as hard-core fans guaranteed him the runway he needed to succeed with the wider audience. The Beatles had a hard core following from 1957 on that, even when their label rejected them in 1962 (“Guitar bands are going out of style”), their hard core fans kept them afloat and a year later they were catapulted to success. Your hard core fans buys you “marketing capital” that you “spend” on expanding to a wider base. If you go for just the wider base, you face the competition too early and end up as an also-ran. And remember, the moment you first start – NOBODY at all cares about you.
THE BEST ART DIVIDES THE AUDIENCE. I don’t hit publish unless I’m actually feeling physical fear about doing it. If you don’t want to divide the audience, don’t hit publish.
MARKET YOUR IDEA Nobody really cares about you. Every industry is turning upside down. Everyone is worried about their own jobs and agendas. You can’t just be better than everyone else. There’s “infinite shelf space” as Ryan puts it. You’re competing against “Breaking Bad”, Google, Trump’s tweets, old episodes of Seinfeld, Harry Potter, etc. If you want to be out there and noticed. If you want your vision to succeed. If you want your product used…you need to talk about it. You need to represent it. You need to write about it. You need to be about it. The marketing has to be part of your art. Even the Beatles made entire movies (art and marketing at the same time) to support their true creativity (the music). Marketing is no longer about ad space. It’s another important outlet of your creativity. And if it doesn’t work. Move on. You don’t have one idea in you. You have 1000s.
VALIDATE, REPEAT Most things fail. The ones who succeed, pick up from their failure, figure out what went wrong, figure out how to validate an idea better with an audience, and then go back and try again. They try over and over until they find that hardcore audience that will listen. Validation is a cure for stupidity. They go back again and again until their skills are refined. John Lennon and Paul McCartney met in 1958. They played and played and played and refined. In 1962 their label rejected them (“Guitar bands are on their way out”). The rest is history. Now you can create history. And Ryan, one final note. Please keep writing all-star books so you can keep coming back on the podcast. And keeping writing books that will make my life better. And then letting me ask you any question I want about them. Because the’s the way I roll. You’re a good guy and, of course, welcome any time but I’m really mostly interested in reading things that make my life better. So keep at it.
------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 237 - Scot Cohen: The Best Networker in the World. PERIOD. | 13 Jul 2017 | 01:24:29 | |
Scot Cohen is the best networker on the planet. I have never seen anything like it. And he used that skill to make tens of millions of dollars, not only for himself but for many others.
I wanted him to explain, in detail, how.
But first:
I’m sorry, Scot. I am really, truly sorry. I am horrified at my behavior. A year of bad behavior.
Imagine: you owe someone a phone call and you say to yourself, “Ok, I’ll call tomorrow”.
And then tomorrow you say, “Well, maybe tomorrow”.
And then you delayed so much you feel awkward about calling. Because you know you have to apologize and you hate confrontation.
Stupid, right?
Let’s make this even worse: the person you have to call back has been incredibly generous to you. In fact, he let you stay in his apartment for three months for free. You’ve worked together for 14 years and he’s one of the most successful investors in NYC. And then you did this for no reason.
I’m an idiot.
---
The day I threw out all of my belongings and gave up my apartment I was sitting in a restaurant with my one bag and I called Scot Cohen. I said, “I’m just sitting in this restaurant.”
“Where are you going to live?”
“I have no idea yet.” I coudl’ve just stayed in a hotel. But for various reasons I was feeling a bit down. I just wanted to sit in the restaurant. I had no idea where I would live.
“Come on over,” Scot said. “Stay here.” And so I did. For the next three months I stayed in one of Scot’s several apartments.
I invested in Scot’s hedge fund in 2003. We’ve worked together on and off for 14 years. He’s one of the most successful hedge fund managers I know.
He’s made tens of millions, invested in dozens of companies that went up 1000s of percent, and I am glad that, in my own small way, I was able to help him in several situations. .
When you build your network over years, over decades, and your network is made up of good people, they help you out. They let you move in their apartment. You work on deals together to make money. You meet each others girlfriends who become wives.
And then sometimes you let them down and you have to apologize.
So I did. On the podcast.
This is how stupid and awkward I am: I hadn’t seen Scot in a year. I had stupidly avoided his calls. And so I said, “come on to the podcast and that’s where I will apologize”.
And then, I said, step by step we will break down and figure out
1. HOW YOU BECAME THE BEST NETWORKER I HAVE EVER SEEN 2. HOW YOU USED THAT SKILL TO MAKE TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
Scot came to NYC with nothing. But he had a skill that is worth tens of millions at the highest level. It's networking at a level I've never seen before or since.
-----
One time, a year earlier, I was sitting in his apartment. Scot rushed in, changed into a suit and rushed out.
It was Sunday night, 8 o’clock at night. He was rushing from tennis with one hedge fund manager to the wedding of one of his investors.
That’s how he made himself so successful. He networks seven days a week.
I just sit around and fall asleep early.
I asked him on the podcast how he did it. How can I do it? How can anyone do it?
We broke down his story: 1. Self awareness “Do self-work,” he said. “Really try to dial in on who you are and where you want to go, because if you don’t have that right, you’re never going to be able to get off first base.
“This is fundamental. It takes a while. You’ve got to have patience to play this out, so give yourself the time. You’re not going to get a quick fix. Nothing’s going to happen in three months, or a year. It’s going to take years. So get that fundamental work done on yourself first, and then you can start growing.”
2. Keep a diary Scot told me to write down where you want to go.
“If you don’t write stuff down, how are you going to go anywhere? You’re not going to remember where you came from.”
“I think it’s really important to be able to quantify what you’re doing during the day,” he said. “You’ve got to keep account of how you’re spending your time. That’s the most important thing.” 3. Meet people I asked Scot, “What else can they do? Should they start holding dinners? Should they start figuring out who’s good, and doubling down on those relationships? Should they start coming up with ideas to connect people? What should they do?”
His advice was simpler than that… just plant seeds.
“Surround yourself with great people. I don’t care if it’s a plumber. I don’t care if he’s a construction worker. I don’t care if it’s a teacher, a police officer, a guy in the gym, somebody that you met at the grocery store. It doesn’t matter, but just make sure they’re kind. Make sure they’re aligned with where you want to go...”
------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 236 - Farnoosh Torabi: Flipping the Mic - Farnoosh Interviews Me | 11 Jul 2017 | 01:35:06 | |
She was my partner in crime. Farnoosh recently hosted her own show on CNBC. She also has a super popular podcast. And she’s a successful book author and all around writer. But to me she’s more than that. From 2006 to 2008 we did videos together every day. We would meet on Wall Street, a video guy would tape us talking about whatever we wanted to talk about, and then we’d send that video out onto the interwebs. The day the first iphone came out we went to the Apple flagship store near Central Park. We interviewed the people who were waiting on line all night. A homeless guy started to pick on Farnoosh. Not that I am so brave but I didn’t want to seem unmanly so I stood in between the man and Farnoosh and asked him to please go away. He lifted me up and threw me to the ground. And then he went away. That was a fun story that I wanted to share. But more...Farnoosh is a textbook example of how a career can be made and be a success. She had a fulltime job learning skills she loved and then mastered: financial markets, writing, video, multimedia, communication, and the business of business. While at the full time job, she wrote a book on the markets: YOU’RE SO MONEY. From that, she no longer needed thestreet.com and diversified her sources of income by writing for many outlets, going on various TV shows, starting her own show, writing more, starting a successful and profitable podcast, and many other activities. And ten years later, we still find each other doing videos together or podcasts, or articles, or whatever. Building a career is like knitting a tapestry. It’s small thread by small thread. It takes years. It becomes beautiful. And it’s something you can fall into when it’s done for comfort and security. That tapestry becomes your network. A career is not what you created today, but the networks you built up today that will create unexpected opportunities for you ten, fifteen, twenty years later. As an example: I just did a deal with a friend of mine I began working with twenty years ago. Every day I see these opportunities. And I’m horrible at networking. Farnoosh isn’t. But there’s another reason I wanted Farnoosh on my podcast. Farnoosh is great at interviewing. And I wanted her to interview me. I find when I am a guest on other people’s podcasts I always find new ways to say the things I want to express, new ways to say what I’ve learned from my guests and my experiences. Who better to interview me than the person who has been interviewing me for almost a dozen years. “I came prepared,” she told me. Because she wanted to find out what you don’t see on Google... Here’s what we talked about: The rise of entrepreneurship and the rise of “gurus.” Farnoosh asked me, “Who should people trust?” But really, it doesn’t matter. Anytime you “study” entrepreneurship, it means you’re not DOING entrepreneurship. It’s great to have ideas. And it’s fine to read one business books (TOPS), but then that’s it. Get in the mud and starting doing. - listen at 7 minutes Farnoosh asked me, “Do you remember the first time you used the internet?” It was before the web. I logged into a news group and could talk to people from Norway about Star Wars. Besides the phone, it was the first time I spoke to someone without being in the same room… It was 1986. And then the web started. Hypertext came in. And I thought it would be used for storytelling. But then it became huge for commerce. Then she asked me, “What’s next?” - listen at 19 minutes Mentorship and finding your inner circle - listen at 25 minutes Evolution, willpower and the access economy - listen at 36 minutes My daily schedule (the morning is my “maker” hours, in the evening I manage several businesses and at night I have fun. I do comedy.) - listen at 38 minutes Is it better to focus on one thing and enjoy the subtleties of what it takes to be the best in the world at something? Or diversify? I struggle with this. Farnoosh said she bought the book, “The One Thing.” Because she wanted to get focussed. “I bought it and never finished it,” she said. The irony… she got busy doing “other” things. But maybe the other things takes us off our path, out of our delusions and shift us into doing more fulfilling learning curves. - listen at 43 minutes The story of “lucky Lisa.” That’s Farnoosh’s nickname for the friend who helped me get rid of all of my belongings - listen at 53 minutes “What about dating?” Farnoosh wondered if dating is weird for me. Because I have no home. And then we talked about renting vs owning. I used to believe in renting. But now I just borrow. It’s part of the new access economy. We live in a world of access (and Airbnb). But I eventually answer her question about dating, too. - listen at 59 minutes Then we talked about money. “If you couldn’t pass on any money to your kids and all you could pass on was investment strategies, rules, a portfolio, what would it be?” - listen at 1 hour and 5 minutes “Do you like talking about politics?” she asked… - listen at 1 hour and 10 minutes “Did you vote?” No. And I don’t think it matters. Here’s why. Saying it’s your “civil responsibility” to vote is not true. I agree we all have a civil duty. I do mine by writing 300 articles a year, giving talks, doing 100 podcasts a year and giving it all away. You get to decide how you fulfil your this civil duty. If you choose voting, that’s fine. But I don’t. I don’t want to outsource my contribution. We started debating - listen at 1 hour and 11 minutes Hear the story of the time I went to Bernie Madoff and was turned away. He said, “The last thing I need is to see the name Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC on the front page of the Wall Street Journal” - listen at 1 hour and 19 minutes How to get into TV - listen at 1 hour and 22 minutes AND the “choose yourself” method for getting into TV (how to get past the gatekeepers) - listen at 1 hour and 27 minutes ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 235 - Tim Kennedy: A US Special Op's Reason for Serving - "Win Hearts and Minds" | 04 Jul 2017 | 01:24:39 | |
“Have a spirit of adventure, the desire to learn something new, be an explorer and never get too comfortable.”
-------
“Imagine this room is filling up with poisonous gas,” Tim said. He’s looking straight at me. “There’s two doors behind me, one window and one to either side.” He points exactly where everything is, even though he’s still looking straight at me.
“We have several choices,” he said, “I can pick the locks of one of the doors. I can break down the doors. I can smash one of the windows and we can climb out. We have three minutes until we die. What do we do?”
Tim is aware of everything around him. Which is probably why I started off the podcast with:
“We have nothing in common.”
“We’re 30 seconds into the interview and we’re already disagreeing,” he said.
It’s a creative challenge to figure out how to relate with each person I meet… He’s a US Army Special Forces sniper. He’s been to Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s an MMA fighter. And has multiple black belts.
I have zero black belts. I have negative black belts. I haven’t been to war. And I’m not trained to kill people. I can’t shove someone without looking funny.
So we have different instincts.
“I remember every moment of every gunfight I’ve ever been in,” he said. “And there are things that wake me up at night.”
“Like what?”
“In the movies, saving your friends and killing a bad guy is a high-five moment, right? No. You just took a human life. That is something that echoes with you through eternity.”
He told me about the decisions he had to make every day. And how his dad’s words rang in the back of his head, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”
There were four people in Tim’s unit. Each had a different job: communications, medicine, explosives, tactics. Tim was tactics. “Weapons tactic expert,” that was his job title. He constantly had to assess whether or not to fire. Because the situation was never clear. Innocent people could be in the same room as the man with the machine gun. “He was shooting at my teammates. He had a machine gun in the window.” And Tim didn’t know what (or who else) was on the other side... Then he asked me, “Do you throw the grenade?” I didn’t know. My instinct is to run. “Run? The bullets are 175 grain and travel at 2,800 feet per second. Do you run 2,800 feet per second?” He threw the grenade. “Did you ever find out what was behind that window?” “Yeah... the moment the grenade goes off and all you hear are women and children screaming and crying. I stayed up for a week with the women and kids that were in that room. We fight until the fight is over. But then we revisit and give them the best medical care that we can in the field and transport them to the best hospitals that we have access to. That’s the most beautiful thing about US Army Special Forces, ‘The Green Berets.’ We want to do everything by, with and through the indigenous people.” I can’t imagine. And not being able to imagine, is what we have in common. It’s when you try to find the bridge where two people can meet that I learn the most about the people around me. Here's what we talked about...
Shortcuts: - [12:20] - We talked about his childhood. I wanted to know if fighting is inherent. He says it wasn’t. Although, he did learn how to fight when he was young. His brother and friends always threw him in the pool. “Were you traumatized?” I asked. Tim had the mindset that he could get stronger. And he planned to throw them in the pool someday. All 9 of them. But in between sports and horsing around, Tim’s Mom brought in balance. She enrolled him in piano lessons. I didn’t ask if he still plays piano. I don’t know if he still has this balance. But it’s worthwhile to try to create it in your own life. To lose your stresses in the concentration of a new art, a new practice. [27:12] - “War is horrible. Period. It’s where we see the most unimaginable horrors,” Tim said. So I asked him why he initially signed up to go to war. And He told me this, “Evil will prevail if good men stand back and do nothing.” He had to take action. I asked him another question. This is happening all over the world. We didn’t take action in Rwanda until it was too late. At what point do you start to take action against evil? [39:20] - Tim’s made mistakes. Mistakes that wake him up at night or prevent him from going to sleep. War takes a toll. He set up a scenario for me. A machine gun being stuck out a window, pointed at him and his team. Shooting. He throws a grenade through the window the machine gun is in. The grenade goes off. The moment it goes off he can hear the women and children screaming and crying. He had no idea who was in the building, but does he risk his own life to save the lives of the women and children inside? Listen for what happens after the smoke clears. [49:00] - “You don’t get to see who a person really is, until you strip them down,” Tim said. He’s talking about the Army Special Forces selection process. It’s one month of breaking the candidates down before the real training even begins. You don’t have a name. Just a number. You have no identity, no resume. They deprive you of sleep and your calorie intake is substantially inadequate. Then they find out who you really are at your core... [53:00] - Tim said, “Once you understand humanity, you understand right and wrong, you understand just and unjust. These are things that transcend language”. Tim was an expert at transcending language. It was part of his job. Because he had to adapt and assimilate into cultures around the world. So I asked him, “What are the tools? How do you became a “warrior ambassador?” [58:00] - I didn’t realize how much our army gets involved in all the world’s issues. They stop poachers, save animals from going endangered, they try to stop human trafficking and anything that touches the black market. I wanted to learn more about human trafficking .I know it’s a very real problem in the world, but I didn’t know enough. What does it mean? Are little girls being kidnapped and sold into slavery? And does that happen all over the place? “Yes,” Tim said, “It happens here in the United States, here in Austin, TX.” Then he told me how this black market industry is supporting terrorism all over the world. Listen here for Tim’s explanation of how we are trying to put it to an end. [1:08:50] - I asked Tim about mastery. He’s a peak performer in all areas of combat and martial arts. He also owns several businesses. So I asked, “How did you master all of these areas?” But he said, “There’s no such thing as mastery.” So I asked him what he thinks of learning. He told me this, “Have a spirit of adventure, the desire to learn something new, be an explorer and never get too comfortable.” Listen to our conversation to learn Tim’s perspective on how to regain your sense of exploration.
------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Hooked on the First Line | 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' with Cal Fussman | 26 Aug 2023 | 00:19:40 | |
James Altucher is back, this time with an exciting new sub-series called "Hooked on the First Line," where he and his guests dive deep into the world of storytelling through the lens of a novel's opening sentence. Today's episode kicks off with Cal Fussman, an expert storyteller and interviewer, as they explore the first lines of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez and "The Satanic Verses" by Salman Rushdie. Imagine if you could predict a book's richness, complexity, and emotional highs and lows just by its first line. James and Cal explain why a well-crafted first line is like a seductive whisper inviting you into a world that you’ll never want to leave. They go on to discuss how these opening lines are a microcosm of the themes, characters, and questions that the book poses. In this episode, you'll gain insights not only into the craft of writing but also into the art of storytelling itself—how it captures our attention, holds us hostage, and ultimately transforms us. ------------ What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience! Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air! ------------ Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own! My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold! Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President. I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast. ------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on Social Media: ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 234 - Charlie Hoehn: Getting Past Anxiety and Learning How to Play Again | 27 Jun 2017 | 01:31:29 | |
In my podcast Charlie and I talked half the time about getting past anxiety. And half the time about this: [14:00] - Charlie’s time working for Tim Ferriss, doing a virtual internship with Seth Godin, and marketing Ramit Sethi’s New York Times bestseller. He told me how he pitched his heroes (and how he suggests you can too) [23:00] - We talked about getting paid to do what you love (and how the first step usually means doing what you love for free). If you want a job you love, it (usually) has to start free. That’s how you build the skill. People in low-level jobs are essentially paid to move away from their dreams. It’s up to you to move toward your dreams. Charlie said, “You’re brought into school where your spontaneity and impulses are muted. You’re forced to work on stuff that is not that interesting to you… I think that’s why it is so important to work for free because you have to tap back into what matters to you.” [52:00] - Then we began talking about anxiety. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 233 - Fred Stoller: Five Minutes to Kill: A Story About "Making It" | 20 Jun 2017 | 01:10:41 | |
You have five minutes to kill. That’s it. Those five minutes can make or break a career. I don’t think I would be able to handle the pressure. I’ve done a lot of public speaking. And now I’ve tried standup. For the past three months I’ve been going up once or twice a week. It’s difficult. I thought 20 years of public speaking would help me. It doesn’t. It’s the Hunger Games on that stage. So Fred Stoller is my hero. He was a standup comic 30 years ago, then he was a writer on Seinfeld, then he’s been a guest start on 60+ TV shows including Seinfeld, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, Scrubs, and every other show I can think of. He’s sitcom history. And he wrote all about it in three excellent books, including his latest, “Five Minutes to Kill”, about his five minutes on the 1989 HBO Young Comedians Special and what happened to the specific performers of that show. So I asked, “If everybody thinks you’re so funny, then why didn’t you have your own show?” But I wasn’t the first person to ask Fred this… He asked himself the same question throughout his career. So did his mom. And it hurt his self-esteem. He said, “When I used to headline as a comedian, I’d feel sorry for the people lining up waiting to see me… like I was their weekend.” Now he’s entering a new world. He’s writing. And learning how to embrace “this weird guy that I am… who got lost finding this place.” He’s learning how to express himself with his own voice. He reinvented from standup to writing on the best sitcom ever. Then he reinvented again to appear on all the TV shows he’s been on. Now he’s 59, and he’s reinventing again. He’s a writer. His books are excellent. Reinvention is not something special people do. It’s not something for only a few. Fred has been frustrated and also exhilarated down every path he’s chosen. Reinvention IS the goal. Not a pathway to it. Reinvention is a habit. It’s what we do every day to bring out the fire inside that constantly wants to express itself. That’s why I wanted to speak to Fred. Not because he wrote “The Soup” episode of Seinfeld. But because he’s still doing what he loves to do. And what he loves to do is constantly changing. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 232 - Jocko Willink: The Way of the Warrior | 12 Jun 2017 | 01:41:10 | |
I was afraid before interviewing Jocko. I think it was instinctual. His body is seven times the size of mine. I pointed at the cover of his new book, “The Way of The Warrior Kid. “See this kid,” I said. “That’s me right now.” I like to overlap somewhere with my guest. Like a story we both can share and laugh about. With Jim Norton, for instance, we grew up together. With Garry Kasparov we were both chess players. And I also worked on Deep Blue for a while, the computer that would ultimately defeat him. But with Jocko…what? I felt intimidated. He was like this superhero that had conquered the world and everyone respected him and I felt like the nerdy little boy I was in junior high school. So I started talking. “I can’t do a pull up. And I’ve never been in the battlefield… obviously. Or I would look completely different. You were the commander of your SEAL unit and you had to make life and death decisions. But out of that, you cultivated all of these leadership lessons.” He listened. That was nice. Then I asked why he joined the military. (And stayed for 20 years.) But he flipped the question back to me. (He has a podcast, too. So he knows how to drive an interview.) “Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be in combat,” he said. “Why?” “Well… what did you want to do when you were growing up?” he asked. “I guess I wanted to write and interview people.” “Well, there you go.” I don’t think my brain fully realizes that I’m doing what I dreamt of doing as a kid. Jocko made it sound so simple. “Well, there you go.” We’re not all lucky with everything we do. Jocko is lucky. I am lucky. But some of his friends didn’t make it back from war. Doing is the step forward. But sometimes it worthwhile to just pause… long enough to hear the words. “Well, there you go.” We began the interview… ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 231 - Jim Norton: Dropout and Laugh (A Comedian's Journey) | 06 Jun 2017 | 01:11:21 | |
Jim Norton is the reason why I do podcasts. First, he’s a world-famous comedian, recently released a one hour special on Netflix, has been on shows like “Louie” and “Inside Amy Schumer” has written two New York Times bestselling books and has appeared on countless radio shows and podcasts. But just as interesting to me...we grew up together. The first day Jim moved into town we were in fourth grade. Rather than keeping his mouth shut like anyone else just moving into town he immediately started making everyone laugh. Day one we were laughing so hard I thought my stomach was going to break. We all said out loud that day (Jim doesn’t remember but I do), “you should be a comedian”. And he did. He did! I like when my podcast combines the personal and the professional. Combines my own story with the story of someone achieving peak performance in an area of life that I love. Comedy is not just about making people laugh. And being a standup comedian is not just about “standing up” in front of a crowd of people and telling jokes. Comedy is about observing the hidden truths in life that everyone knows but nobody has ever quite articulated. And standup is about how to articulate that truth in such a way that people feel momentarily unsafe and confused (the setup), and relieved (the punchline). But that’s only one theory of comedy. There are many. And so I wanted to try it for myself. I’ve been doing it now a few times a week for two months. It’s hard! It’s the most difficult thing I’ve ever tried to get good at. So I asked Jim, who has been doing it all of his life, to come on the podcast. Here are some things I learned: Make Mistakes - listen at [8:08] I told Jim I was afraid to bomb. To tell a joke and have nobody laugh. “Bombing is what we learn from the most,” Jim said. “It’s not about how to avoid bombing. You will fall flat all the time. It’s about getting up after that.” “I left myself no safety net,” he said. “I started when I was 21. I didn’t have a diploma. I got a GED three years after I got sober. I have no high school diploma... So I knew it was going to be this or nothing.” Sometimes to survive the biggest pains on the way up, you have to fly without a safety net. You have to fall. The way to hit the top tier in any area of life is to figure out where the line is, and go beyond that line. If you aren’t failing, then you aren’t trying to be unique. You aren’t going to be the top tier. Find Time to Laugh at Yourself - listen at [14:45] Comedy is about connection. You tell something about your life, something honest and true and usually uncomfortable. The comedians job is to transform your pain. Like an alchemist. “I make fun of myself,” Jim said. “I give my own personal examples, but I think if I’m doing that at least I’m being truthful and I’m not coming from a place of thinking I’m better than that guy… like who am I?” They laugh because it’s a safe way for people to experience their own demons. You can get close enough to the shadows of your life without the fear of being overrun by guilt or shame. It’s a chance for us all to be a little more human, a little more honest and a little more free. The Umbrella Theory - listen at [28:50] Jim just started writing another book. He’s on TV. He’s touring. He’s got a radio show (Jim Norton and Sam Roberts on Sirius), he has a podcast. He works with incredible talent. And is always looking for new material from his own life. “You can’t just be lazy,” he said. “I talked to Chris Rock recently and I know it sounds like I’m name dropping, but I’m not. “That’s a total name drop,” I said. “But I didn’t mean it like that…” We talked about Chris Rock’s career. He stopped touring. He hadn’t been on the road for seven years. But yet you still hear his name all the time. He’s hosting the Oscars, testing out material at clubs, etc. To succeed in any area, right now list all the things that are skills in that area. Make sure you spend some time trying to master all the granular parts of the field you want to be unique in. The ones who master the “umbrella” of their field are the winners. Is Your Heart In It? - listen at [1:06:40] I’m going on stage once or twice a week now. I’d love if you come. Most of the time, the audience doesn’t know me. It’s hard to set that foundation. I want us to all be in it together. I asked Jim what three things should I do?
Number three is true for any dream… Catch the Cycles of Comparison - listen at [46:15] I don’t have a solution to every problem in my life. I think that’s why I’m still writing… seven years after starting this blog, I’m still confessing. Jim and I talked about comparing ourselves. I make this mistake daily. I look around and see who’s on the front-page of my dreams today. "I always want to achieve what I'm not achieving,” Jim said. "I never feel like I'm doing well." I think everyone has a tendency to wonder, “what’s next”. This is sort of the problem with goals. You achieve a goal and it always seems anticlimactic because now you have to work towards the next goal. I ask myself this because since 2003 I’ve written 18 books. I’ve done at least one, sometimes two books, every year since 2003. Until now. This is the first year I’m not working on a new book. I haven’t felt the urge so I won’t force it. But I have felt the desire to get better at other things and achieve other things so rather that keep to the routine of writing another book, I’m trying to achieve success in these other areas. --- Although Jim and I went to school from ages 10 to 18, I hadn’t seen him in 31 years until he walked into the podcast studio. What a pleasure to combine the deeply personal with my professional passions. The result is always so much better as well. Because we have the story and the rapport, and we can get right down to learning the topic I love best: how to achieve peak performance in any area of life. But seeing a friend for the first time in 31 years. That’s why I love to do this podcast. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 230 - R.P. Eddy: Why Warnings Matter (A Podcast About the Future) | 30 May 2017 | 01:16:47 | |
HOW TO DISCOVER THE SECRETS IN LIFE The best things in life are born from coincidence. I am a firm believer in this. A year ago I was flying back from California. I started talking to the guy sitting next to me. Turns out he had worked in almost every branch of government related to intelligence and diplomacy. Now he runs his own private intelligence company. He has information about every government in the world. He is paid a lot of money to reveal and analyze that information. But when we were on the plane, for basically four or five hours I asked him everything I could and got the most incredible detail about the state of affairs in the world. I’m almost afraid to reveal what we spoke about on the plane. Everything from “how to catch a liar” to “What is the Nigerian government specifically doing about oil prices” to “Will Trump win?” (and his answer turned out to be stunningly accurate). Then...a lost touch with him. He was just a guy I sat next to on the plane for a few hours. We got off and went to live our separate lives. Until now. His new book is out: “Warnings” written with uber-diplomat Richard Clarke. What is he warning about? Everything. Where are the hidden potential catastrophes around the world. And how can we live with them. And how can we avoid them. And how can we figure out the warnings after these? He answers, he analyzes, he proves, and he does it from his 30 years of experience uncovering these things for the US government and now, through his company, for other governments and large institutions that can afford him. The key is: “that can afford him”. Because now he comes on the podcast and just like the coincidence of meeting him a year ago, he answers all of my questions again about his book. About the “Warnings”. I love when coincidence intersects real life. I saw his book, remembered him from our interaction, and we had the best time on the podcast. Read the book, listen to the podcast, and don’t ignore the coincidences in your life. (But he is.) R.P. Eddy is the CEO or Ergo, one of the greatest super intelligent firms in the world. Governments hire him and his firm to spy on other governments. “Hopefully, I wasn’t too indiscreet,” he said, referring to the time on his plane. I told him not to worry. “If you’re not arrested by the end of this podcast, then you’re okay.” In his book, “Warnings: Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes,” R.P. covers all the major world catastrophes that could’ve been predicted and prevented: 9/11, Madoff, Fukushima, the financial crisis, AIDS, climate change. If we can learn to predict these, or at least learn how to figure out how the correct experts are, then a lot of pain can be avoided. Experts warned us. But no one listened to them. R.P. calls these people “Cassandras.” The name comes from greek mythology. Apollo (a god) wanted to sleep with Cassandra. She refused. So Apollo cursed her. “She could foretell any future disaster. She could see it in vivid color,” R.P said. But the curse was that no one believed her. So she burned to death in a terrible attack. (An attack she knew was coming…) These people exist in real life. And R.P. wants us to notice them. So R.P, and his coauthor, Richard Clarke, started “The Annual Cassandra Award.” They’re giving away cash prizes (up to $10,000) to motivate people to find and nominate a true “Cassandras.” This is the formula for spotting a “Cassandra…” How to detect a truth-teller (listen at [55:25]) The “Cassandras” featured in R.P’s book are experts in their field. They have been for years. He told me about Laurie Garrett, the head of global health for the Council of Foreign Relations. She’s the first person to ever win the Polk, the Pulitzer and the Peabody. “She foresaw the rise of HIV/AIDS when she was a radio reporter in San Francisco,” R.P. said. “She saw these men dying of a disease called ‘gay related immune deficiency,’ ‘GRID,’ or ‘gay cancer.’ They didn’t know what it was. Gay men didn’t think they had a transmissible disease. They thought they were sharing a cancer somehow, but just by looking at them and seeing the Kaposi sarcoma on their face, Laurie Garrett knew this was a contagious illness and started getting the media to pay attention.” This was during the time of Ryan White. He was a young, poor high school student dying of HIV caused by a blood transfusion. He was banned from school. People shot at his house. “Noted politicians called for gay people to be put in camps,” R.P. said. But Laurie could see how the pandemic was unfolding. And she came up with a plan for health care and surveillance networks to prevent the disease’s spread. The issue is that a lot of “Cassandras” are ignored. Because sometimes warnings are wrong… so how do you tell the difference between a “chicken little" and a “Cassandra.” “Cassandras” are data driven. “Everybody in our book who was right was a proven, technical expert on the topic they were speaking about,” R.P. said. “They are questioners by personality.” They ask hard questions and doubt what most believe. They have an off-putting personality (not always, but it’s common). They have a sense of personal responsibility. “When they walk into a restaurant and the fire alarm goes off, they’re the one who says to everybody, ‘Let’s get out of here,” R.P. Said. “These guys think of themselves as sheepdogs. Some people think of themselves as sheep (they probably don’t realize they’re sheep) and then we all know there are wolves out there. Sheepdogs, to some extent, think it’s their job to protect us.” They have high anxiety. “Let’s go back to our fire alarm example. These are the guys who look for the fire exits when they walk in. They’re the people who pull the fire alarm when they smell smoke. And when you think about personalities, a lot of people don’t do that.” Why we continue to let real threats slip by us: I asked R.P. why these people, “the Cassandras,” are ignored. Why aren't we trying harder to prevent terrible things from happening? “It comes down to our human biases,” he said. We pick sides. If we think someone is off-putting, we doubt them. If they confuse us (meaning they’re data goes over our head), we move on. And miss the warning. The same is true for our ideologies and belief systems. We’re quick to deny people who think differently. Madoff’s ponzi scheme is a perfect example. R.P. interviewed Harry Markopolos, a financial fraud investigator. “He knew within 45 seconds of understanding Madoff’s “hedge-fund” that it was a ponzi scheme,” R.P said. But the SEC didn’t listen to Harry’s warning because of his personality. They thought he was obnoxious. Even though he had hard evidence: Madoff claimed to trade 60 billion dollars worth of options. But that many options didn’t even exist in market. The math proves Harry right. Humans fail by emotions. I don’t know if there’s a solution. Maybe we have to unlearn. Maybe we have to judge our judgements. And ask more questions. Curiosity is a new world. And isn’t that what we want after all?
------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 229 - Brandon Webb: Becoming The Master of Your Own Fate | 23 May 2017 | 01:35:27 | |
His platoon was counting on him. He couldn’t come back a failure. Brandon had been deployed to the Middle East four times. He’d seen the ugliness and destruction war had caused. And now he was being sent straight to sniper school. This is one of the most stressful jobs as a Navy SEAL. He would have to learn how to make quick decisions. Hard decisions. “The only easy day was yesterday,” he said. “That's our motto.” Brandon is one of the most accomplished sniper teachers of his time. He changed the system. And implemented positive reinforcement, which allowed him to see firsthand how having a good “mental mindset” propels people into success. In his memoir, “The Red Circle” and his newest book, a New York Times bestseller “The Killing School: Inside the World’s Deadliest Sniper Program,” Brandon shows you exactly how to train for a “champions mindset.” He uses mental management strategies: visualization, positive self-talk, solution-based thinking and so on. He is the master of his own fate. And now you can be too... -- Here's what we talk about: [6:08] - I don't normally do this. But this time I gave away the “table of contents” of what I wanted to discuss with Brandon Webb: - I wanted to cover Brandon’s ideas on war- discuss the issue of teaching people to kill people (to me, this is the elephant in the room)- Brandon was one of the first deployed to Iraq. So I wanted to ask about his ups and downs going to war, coming back and going to war again -“Obviously, I don’t want to learn how to be a sniper” I said, “but what I really want to talk about is peak performance.” Both of Brandon's books to talk about this, especially his section on “mental management.” I wanted to learn what tools and habits I need to do today to make myself a master of my own fate. That’s essentially what this show is about… becoming the master of your own fate. “Choosing yourself.” [30:16] - I needed to know. Islam itself. What is the fight? Is this really a fight of religions? I asked Brandon why radicalism has spread so quickly in the Middle East. He pointed out the economics and the gap between rich and poor. “The social and political situation is not very good… Saudi Arabia, for example, has a very elite royal ruling class but the working population is very poor.” He said people join the fight because they need a cause. They need to belong to something. A military is a tribe. I get this question all the time. “How do I find my purpose?” Some people find their purpose in a fight. In a mission. In a cause… Brandon explained that the people who join these radical groups, or any group, were probably suffering in life. And they wanted to fill a hole in their life. They wanted what any human wants: a feeling of belonging. That’s the powerful force pulling them in. When Brandon was 16, his dad threw him off a boat in Tahiti. Brandon had to find his way back. And eventually he joined the military, became a Navy SEAL and then became a special ops sniper. There were 23 of them and 220 tried out. The question he gets most often is one of ignorance, “How many people did you kill?” But that's not what it's about for Brandon. And maybe that's what separates good from evil. He continued to tell me how radical governments incentives people to join “the cause.” He said they pay you to become a martyr. I couldn't believe it. “Is that true?” I asked. “Yeah,” he said, “As a state sponsor of terror, Iran is funding and fueling the conflict in the Middle East, especially with Israel.” And the Internet makes it worse, too. Brandon tells me how... [59:03] - Brandon was training people to be peak performers in incredibly high stake situations. It wasn’t just target practice. Someone would be shooting back. He expected each and every one of his students to perform at a perfect level. Eighty and ninety percent was no longer acceptable. I wondered how you could teach someone to perform under these high standards. The key: visualization. [1:02:30] - “I’ve seen it,” Brandon says, “I’ve seen it while on the firing line. They think about it and then it transfers to behavior.” If someone says don’t flinch, they’re going to flinch. Brandon made up the ranks. His job was to train snipers. And he wanted to start by programming his students with good habits. So instead of focusing on the negative (don't flinch), he focused on the positive (keep your eyes on the target.) [1:03:52] - “I’ve always been pretty good at math,” Brandon says, but once he started his own business he started to doubt himself. The financial statements were too hard, he was no good at it. He started thinking he “can't”, but he caught himself. And change his self talk. Listen to how he did this in our interview. You’ll also hear how to create the narrative necessary to support it. [1:07:26] - Brandon left the Navy. And started his own company. But he didn't know when to let go. It wasn't working out. He lost everything. A month later his wife was asking for a divorce. And the kids went with her. “I had to have the conversation with all his neighbors: “Where'd your family go?" It was embarrassing. He said it was the first time he felt like he really failed in life. I asked how he bounced back. He told me this: “Failure is necessary to being successful in life. There's a big difference between quitting and failure.” [1:17:14] -We we're talking about gold medalists. And how they have a different mindset. He told me some of the expectations he holds for himself. And how you can create “the mind of a champion” with visualization tactics, hard work and confidence. (He also tells me how someone even gets confidence to begin with.) -- Also, if you like today’s show, subscribe! Then you won’t have to check back and you’ll be first to hear new episodes. Thanks! -James ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 228 - Matt Barrie: Become a Skilled Freelancer in Today’s Marketplace | 16 May 2017 | 01:03:18 | |
I almost changed forever the entire way people define relationships. The word "commitment" would have a new meaning. More babies would be born. I'm thinking BIG. Sometimes you want to try an idea and you don't let yourself think about money. If an idea is good, money is a side effect. Ideas are the real currency. I met a brand new couple for breakfast. J and K. They told me they just had the "going steady" conversation. "How'd you guys meet?" "J-Swipe". Or something like that. I forget. It was an online dating app. "What does 'going steady' mean when you are both in your 40s?" I asked. J was in his 40s. K wasn't. I wondered if 'going steady' meant that he gave her a ring or something. There's only so many more 'going steady's you have left in you at that age. They both pulled out their phones. They were looking at each other's phone and then showing me. "We deleted all of the dating apps on our phone," she said. But they were both peering at each other's firm. They needed confirmation. Hmmmm! Idea: The "Going Steady" App Both sides of the couple sign in to the app. Then they select the other person. Then when both sides select each other, the app deletes all the dating apps on their phone. If they ever download a dating app again, the other side gets notified by email. Or if they "de-select" each other from "Going Steady" then both sides get notified by email. Simple! Extras: - Notify FB and Twitter that they are "Going Steady" - Keep track of anniversaries, gifts, places they go, significant memories, etc. - Notify friends of anniversaries, etc. BOOM! The next day I wrote up the "spec", which was actually just similar to what I wrote above. I logged into freelancer.com. I opened a new project and cut and pasted my Spec in there. It was weird to read prior chats I had had on the site. Since the last time I had uploaded a project in there was in 2006. A customer service representative popped up a window and asked if I need help. I said, "Sure, why not?" Meanwhile, within ten minutes I had about ten people bid to do my project. I included in the Spec that they had to not only complete the app in 30 days but upload to the Apple store, the Google Play store, and do basic marketing for me. People were bidding from China, India, and Kenya. The average bid was $1000. I chatted with each one of them to make sure they understood what I was asking. My basic test was this question: can an app on Android and Apple detect and delete other apps on Android and Apple? The customer service representative recommended a developer as well. This developer cost more than $1000. More like $3500. That's ok. I just wanted a good job done. A small price to pay to change the future of evolution. I asked this developer the same question. Some of the developers would not upload to the stores or do any marketing. I crossed them off. Others didn't seem to understand my question about detecting other apps on the phone. I crossed them out. I didn't want any communication problems with people from the opposite side of the world. Finally, the recommended developer said, "I know you can do this on Android but not sure on Apple. Let me research." Five minutes later he came back. "It's impossible to do this on Apple." We tried to figure out a work-around. Like if the device owner gave permissions, etc. But there was no work-around. "Ok," I said, "thanks for your help." End of idea. End of project. Total time it cost me: 45 minutes, from writing the spec, logging into the site, creating the project, talking to the developers. Total money: I paid $29 to have a customer service representative help me. Success? Failure? Neither. It was an idea. I did the execution basics to see if I should pursue further. It didn't. But I learned a lot. What it would cost to make an app, I learned a bit more about the Apple store, and I went through the process of trying to find a developer. Do one "execution step" each day and it compounds into success. I wrote J. "Remember that idea we spoke about? Here's what I did." And I described. He wrote back. "That's the difference between you and me. We had an idea I was a lazy sack of s**t and you went ahead and tried do it." Meanwhile, he's produced some of the best TV shows of all time. But I almost changed the worldwide definition of "Going steady". I almost increased the world population. Some people say, "Almost doesn't count". But I say, " 'Almost' is is better than nothing. And 'Almost' every day eventually turns into Everything." -- Shortcuts - [24:20] - The top freelancers on the site are making seven figures a year. And the average job makes $166. Find out what skills they’re using. [23:28] - Freelancing is changing the way we make money. Now, anyone from any country can earn a living. Matt said, “If you have access to a computer and the internet, the whole world has opened up to you.” [30:03] - Matt told me the story of how he developed his company. He said he needed to figure out a simpler way how to resolve an annoyance in his gut. I think that’s true for all good businesses. [31:00] - In 2006, Matt failed. It was his first business (before freelancer.com). For six years he put all his heart and energy into it. “I walked out of that business a broken man,” he said. “I was devastated.” Matt was physically and mentally tired. He thought to himself, “What am I going to do with my life?” In the entrepreneurial journey, this is one of those dark moments. Listen to the story of how his dark moment turned into his most successful business endeavor. [36:00] - Matt had a "wow" moment. He realized what his next life would be. He figured out how he would reinvent himself. But he had a hard time asking friends for help. He was embarrassed. Hear what he did... [45:48] - Get Matt’s proven strategies and secrets to increase revenue [57:19] - AH-HA! This tip was brilliant. Matt told me how to find inspiration for new projects. This is important because inspiration always precedes reinvention. -- Also, if you like today’s show, subscribe! Then you won’t have to check back and you’ll be first to hear new episodes. Thanks! -James ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 227 - Garry Kasparov: Growing Your Talent, Working with Machines and Becoming the World Chess Champion | 09 May 2017 | 01:08:19 | |
Shortcuts - [5:40] - I asked Garry, “What separated you from people just as talented?” He interrupted. Finally! I found my match! “Wait, wait wait, slow down,” he said. “‘As talented’ is a stretch.” He said he was lucky. His upbringing made him a champion. “I was born in a family where chess was part of the culture. My father and mother usually spent their winter nights looking at the newspaper chess sections, solving problems. Also, I was born in the Soviet Union so when my talent was discovered, I had an opportunity to be taught by semi-professionals. Then professionals. The framework for my talent to be discovered and to be polished was there.” He said, “You may call that luck, but the talent was quite unique.” That’s how you become a peak performer. You have to pursue your talent and get a little lucky. But it’s never just luck. “As soon as I discovered chess I started moving very quickly.” He beat the kids his own age and older. By age 12 he was the Soviet junior champion. Peak performance comes from talent, luck and an ability to move up in the ranks faster than your competition. How do you do that? [11:44] - I feel like I’m always trying to figure out my life. I’m always planning. Because I think if I subtract X from my life, add Y, and multiply by 100, I’ll be happy. Garry told me how he takes a step back. He said you need to see the big picture. That’s why he started drawing all his chess matches. After each game, Garry drew the board, he looked at what happened and he saw where he went wrong. “I could feel at at every game, I was getting better,” Garry said. “I was learning.” That’s why I write everyday. It takes my mind out of the equation. I get to see what I’m doing. And how my life is. I stop making moves. And I just breathe. Then I see clearly. The key is to create a ritual of reflection. Writing, drawing. Do something that let’s you see the board. See your life. [27:40] - Sometimes Garry had ten steps planned out. Other times, nothing. Garry said, “In the cases where you don’t have a clear preference, go with your natural instinct.” [34:55] - Garry was beat by Deep Blue, IMB’s “genius” computer. It was the first time a machine beat the human brain at chess. People said it was a revelation. And the end was near. The same thing happened when ATM’s were invented. Everyone thought bank tellers were going away. .And before that the elevator operator was eliminated. People went on strike. “This is a normal development of technology,” Garry said. “If you have something really disruptive, it means it kills jobs before it creates new jobs.” Sometimes jobs are replaced. Sometimes they’re not. As humans our biggest shortcoming is that we let our fear precede any real threat. Machines don’t have fear. But they also don’t have the ability to dream… “We all do have fears,” Garry said. “The question is how do we handle it… I want people to not be afraid of this progress because there are so many things we can bring back if we start dreaming again. By the way machines cannot dream. Even in sleeping mode.” -- Also, if you like today’s show, subscribe! Then you won’t have to check back and you’ll be first to hear new episodes. Thanks! -James ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 226 - Jon Morrow: He made half a million dollars in 9 months. This is what kept him motivated | 02 May 2017 | 01:24:29 | |
Jon is paralyzed from the neck down. He couldn’t crawl. “My mom noticed I was dragging my legs,” he said. The doctors said he’d die at age two. But he felt like he had something to contribute to the world. So he became unstoppable. He started writing for free. “I couldn’t be paid,” he said. If he earned a decent income, Jon would lose his Medicaid. His reputation as a writer grew. So he started consulting. And made 30,000 dollars in 24 hours. “At first, I charged $99. And 300 people signed up.” He raised his prices. Then built online courses that taught people how to guest-blog and started another “premium” consulting service. “I made half a million dollars in 9 months,” he said. The work lets him pay his own health benefits and live life for himself. Now, Jon Morrow is the CEO of SmartBlogger. He helps bloggers increase traffic, improve their writing, and make money. Jon believes any limitation can be overcome, although not easily. His story continues to inspire thousands around the world. Shortcuts - [23:00] - Jon told me how he developed a sense of self worth. Hear how he did it. - [26:25] - “When I got into kindergarten, another kid called me disabled, and I said, ‘What does that mean?’ And, he started laughing.” Jon’s teacher came over and said, “You don't know what that means?” He didn’t. So he asked his mom. She thought about it and said, “It means you can't do something as well as someone else. But it also goes the other way.” She said, “Everyone in the world can't do something as well as someone else…” So everyone in a sense is disabled. Jon focussed took inventory of his skills. Then he mastered them. Learn how you can hone your abilities, too. - [29:00] - Jon had twelve job offers after college. But he couldn’t accept any of them. He had to keep his medicaid. And if he exceeded $700 per month, the government would take it away. So he found a loophole. He worked for free. Then years, later Jon asked for favors and ended up making half a million dollars in just 9 months. Find out how he initially did it here. - [1:11:50] - Jon was paralyzed from the neck down. He needed to reconstruct his reality. “I can only move my facial muscles,” he said. He would’ve went crazy. But he made a new plan. “I started listening to audiobooks and podcasts 4-8 hours a day.” His goal was to spend more time listening to inspirational stories, than he actually spent in his own life. I needed to understand, “Why was that your goal?” He said, “If you spend the majority of your time in worlds where people are accomplishing incredible things, all of a sudden that started to seem normal to me.” Listen how Jon reconstructed his reality - [1:16:20] - Jon said, “A lot of people are under the assumption they can get whatever they want without trading something that they have. And that’s just not the case.” When he hears a success story, he looks for the price. What did they sacrifice? Money? Sleep? Time? Relationships? Everything has a price. But how do you know what price you’re willing to pay? Jon tells you how. -- Also, if you like today’s show, subscribe! Then you won’t have to check back and you’ll be first to hear new episodes. Thanks! -James ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| [Bonus] - Ryan Deiss: How to Believe in Your Idea Enough to Take the First Step (and Other Business Advice) | 27 Apr 2017 | 00:28:37 | |
I remember sitting at my cubicle job looking at people wondering, “Why? Why are you here? Why are you doing this?” I asked a friend once, “Don’t you think this job is meaningless?”
He said no.
And then I knew what I had to do. I had to quit. And I did (eventually). First I spent time building up my own business on the side.
I don’t know if I’ve ever really believed in myself. I just knew I didn’t want the life I had. Sometimes believing in yourself just means you don’t believe in what you’re doing right now. And you have to change.
Sara Blakey felt this way, too. She woke up one day, looked at her life and said, “I’m in the wrong movie.” Now she’s a self-made billionaire entrepreneur.
But my friend Ryan Deiss said believing in yourself is possible. And I wanted to know more.
He started his first business in college. And made $100K in revenue the first year. He sold eBooks online. “I had books on pretty much any topic,” he said. One was about baby food. Then he partnered with mommy bloggers and sold it to their readers.
(That’s the formula for a great strategic partnership. Create something useful. Find someone with an untapped audience. Someone who’s talking to the people you want to talk to but who isn’t not offering what you have to offer.)
Now, years later, he’s the founder and CEO of DigitalMarketer. He’s a transformer. He teaches people how to build profitable online businesses.
He walked me through it. He told me about digital marketing. And how people use these skills everyday to start and grow their own businesses..
Here’s what he said.. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Unmasking Shadows with Chuck Palahniuk | Fight Clubs, Killer Families, and Deep Reflections | 22 Aug 2023 | 01:08:16 | |
In this candid episode, James Altucher welcomes back Chuck Palahniuk, a guest who never ceases to inspire introspection long after the conversation has wrapped. As they unpack the twisted humor and darkness of Palahniuk's new book, "Not Forever, But for Now", listeners are invited into a world of professional killer families and the burdens shouldered by young successors. But it doesn't end there. In an episode filled with profound insights and electric dialogues, James and Chuck paint a vivid tapestry of how writing mirrors life, its joys, and its abysses. ------------ What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience! Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air! ------------ Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own! My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold! Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President. I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast. ------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on Social Media: ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 225 - Ryan Deiss: College is Irrelevant. THIS is How You Make a Better Future | 25 Apr 2017 | 00:39:50 | |
Over the past five years, I've seen Ryan Deiss rise from a quality entrepreneur to one of the biggest names in Internet marketing. He's the founder and CEO of DigitalMarketer and anybody in the internet marketing space knows Ryan Deiss. He emailed me at 4am. He said, "I realized the promise that was made to millenials-- the same one that was made to me, and probably the same one that was made to you-- “Go to college. You’ll get a good job," simply isn’t true anymore." The old promise is no longer true. But there’s a new promise…. We're going back to a society where mastery matters. And grades don't. But still....most parents want to send their kids to college. Have them waste the four years, and even the money. Get into debt. “It will pay off,” they think, even though the data shows incomes for people ages 18-35 have been going straight down for 25 years. So how do you grow? Invest in yourself. Shortcuts - [7:42] - People say you go to college to learn how to be an adults. “The best place to learn to be an adult is to go and get a job,” he said. “You can socialize around peers in the workforce. I met my wife in college. I’m thankful for that, but I think to call your first couple of years college the place where you learn to be an adult is mildly absurd.” - [17:45] - Ryan told me the top two things he looks for when hiring a candidate... and it's not a college degree. - [18:07] - Learn how to add value and move up in any job. - [25:18] - Ryan has four kids. Sending them to college would cost over a million dollars. But he said he would do it. But he has a few conditions: they have to get a job or internship. They need to test the market. And see if that’s really the right fit for their lifestyle. Hear Ryan’s advice on how to go through college the right way. - [28:44] - “I think if we acknowledge that a college degree is not a prerequisite to success or happiness in life than we will not as parents, or as kids, or as educators, or as employers, determine that it is a necessary requirement,” Ryan said. We talked about the financial burden on kids and parents. It’s not the best decision to go to a “four-year-long summer camp to find yourself.” There are other options. - [32:21] - One alternative is an internship. Or apprenticeship. “I believe business owners like myself, like you, (people who hire people), I believe we should carry more of the burden of education on our backs,” Ryan said. “If we’re willing to make that investment, we’ll recruit and retain some of the smartest people in the world.” I was confused. “What do you mean by burden of education?” I said. “Will you take actual time and money to be part of someone’s educational process?” He said “yes.” -- Hey James here. Thanks so much for listening. If you like the show, subscribe! I have a new episodes every week.
------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||
| Ep. 224 - Dave Asprey: Live Like a Biohacker (Activate Untapped Brain Energy, Work Smarter & Think Faster) | 18 Apr 2017 | 01:48:55 | |
Dave Asprey is the creator and bestselling author of “The Bulletproof Diet.” He biohacks health. And discovers innovative ways to live longer, lose weight, increase brain function and evolve better. My brain isn’t hacked (yet). So I needed to talk to Dave. We did a podcast and I asked him “how do you evolve better?” Shortcuts: - [14:00] - Energy is scarce. We get tired. So I asked Dave what he does specifically to enhance his energy levels? - [21:40] - Aging is scary… Dave told me what he takes every day to slow down the aging process. This is importance because the environment is affecting how we age. We live in WIFI dense areas. We’re constantly stressed. Our diets fluctuate and so on. “We call it aging. Over time, your ability to power your body goes down, and that doesn't have to happen. It is within your control to fix it,” he said. “You can tell the battery in your body to recondition itself and you can give it a better power source. Or you can let it slowly grind down…” - [39:50] - I never know what to eat. Once time I went on an all fruit diet. Another time I fasted for three days and passed out while playing ping pong with friends. Dave told me what to eat and what to avoid. He even told me which foods are worse than cigarettes. - [44:40] - “I like to go all in,” Dave said. He told me exactly what he does from the moment he wakes up. - [53:00] - I asked Dave, “What do we do to evolve better?” He told me how to take charge of your body and manage stress.
-- Hey James here. Thanks so much for listening. If you like the show, subscribe! I have new episodes every week. ------------
------------
------------ Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Follow me on social media: | |||