The Real Formula To Success

There is a formula for success that no one has told you about.

Frankly, they don't want you to know this formula. Especially the gurus online.

This formula is how you take control of your life, create your own path, and become successful.

Guaranteed.

And you achieve it your way. According to your own definition of success.

When you apply this formula, you will no longer do what society wants you to do. Or what millionaire influencers tell you to do to 'make it'.

You let go of the unrealistic expectations that only set you up for failure.

• Getting that engineering degree isn't going to make you rich

• Buying that influencer course isn't going to make you successful

• Doing that diet or workout routine isn't going to make you in shape.

That is me speaking from experience.

If you are sceptical of me — good. Question everything. But please keep an open mind.

What I am about to tell you is a formula for sucess that I did not derive from a mathematical proof, but instead noticing patterns in the books I have read such as, flow by mihay csentmihay, the art of impossible by steven kotler, essential and effortless by Greg Mckeown, and a multiple finance books.

I have observed this formula in all the successful people who inspire me: Dan Koe, Chris Williamsom, Naval, CBUM and Derek from Veritasium. This formula applies to any of your favourite athletes, too.

Hard work is only one variable in the formula, not the most important.

So let's start there, shall we?

The formula

Effort

Effort is the hard work variable of the equation.

As an engineer, I must tell you the mathematical definition of work. Work is the amount of force you apply to move an object a distance.

If 1 kg is moved by 1m in one second, you put in 1 Joule of effort.

In our equation, you can think about force as the intensity at which you work. You can think about displacement as your progress in your tasks.

The more intensely you work and the more you get done, the harder you have worked.

Most people only consider the effort factor in success. It's understandable. Anyone who has achieved anything themselves has done so by putting a lot of effort into their goal. This leads people to believe that hard work and effort are the only things needed to be successful.

That is called survivor bias. What you don't see is the vast number of people who work as hard but didn't make it.

Talent

Think about talent as your initial conditions. Talent is the gifts given to you at birth. CBUM was gifted with elite genetics for bodybuilding. Without them, he would not have become Mr Olympia once, let alone six times.

This does not mean Chris didn't put much effort into his physique. He clearly did. He made the most of the gift he was given at birth.

Another classic example is basketball. If you are 5"7 like me, then making it as a pro basket baller would be very difficult.

If Usain Bolt were born with a higher percentage of slow-twitch muscle fibres, he would not have been the fastest man on the planet, regardless of how hard he worked.

Leverage

Leverage is working out what will push the mission forward the most with the least amount of work.

Doing the few things that matter will produce vastly better results than doing as much as possible with few selection criteria.

I recommend reading Essentialism by Greg McKeown for a deep understanding of this.

You would be familiar with the 80/20 rule or the Pareto principle.

A great example is bodybuilding.

The only things that matter to change your body composition are total calories, total macronutrients, specifically protein, and micronutrients for health and progressive overload with good technique in the gym.

Don't get distracted by things that make little difference. Particular foods, particular exercise selection, and pre-, intra-, and post-workout meals do not matter as much as people make them out to.

Another example is my goals with this newsletter and my YouTube channel. The highest leverage thing I can do right now is write ideas. So that is where 80% of my attention is going.

Randomness

Randomness is the luck factor of our equation.

Being born in Australia right off the bat is a huge advantage over someone born in most other places in the world.

The time of year you are born also makes a considerable difference. In Veritasoum's " Success Hardwork or Luck video, Derek uses the example of hockey players born in January having a statistical advantage over players born later in the year. The cut-off date for hockey leagues is January 1st, meaning kids born in January have several more months of physical development than kids born later in the year.

Then there's, of course, serendipity. Being in the right place at the right time can cause exponential events in your life.

That said, if you are not doing anything with your life and rarely leave home, then you are not on the playing field to receive serendipitous opportunities.

Even when it is random, you can still make your luck.

The opposite is also true. You can do everything right and still lose. When the random variable tends to 0, the equation tends to 0. You were unlucky

But you can mitigate bad luck with the last variable.

Time

Finally, the last and most important variable is time.

Time is the exponent of the equation. The longer you stay in the game, the more likely you will achieve your goals and win.

After reading Rest by Alex Soojun Kimpang and The Art of Impossible by Steven Kotler, I think there are two variables that enable you to stay in the game.

The first is motivation.

Motivation is far more important than discipline. When motivation is stacked, discipline takes care of itself. Motivation is your wanting to play the game.

There are five variables for intrinsic motivation: curiosity, enjoyment, purpose, autonomy and mastery.

Where these are stacked, you achieve flow. Effort is maximised. Time ceases to exist.

Do you get it?

You put your maximum effort into something you care about and are talented at, and you sustain it for as long as it takes because you want to. That's how effort becomes effortless. That's how to crush your goals and blow past everything else.

But you need to stay in the game, and to do that, you need the second variable of time—recovery.

Proper recovery is how you keep turning up. Don't underestimate recovery. Sometimes recovery is the highest leverage thing you can do.

Sleep is one of the best levers for bodybuilding. Make deloads a part of your routine.

Take some time to relax and clear systemic fatigue.

Do no more than you can recover from is a great rule from Effortless.

The power of compounding

That is our equation for success. Notice anything familiar about the equation. It is practically the same formula as for compound interest.

• The principal amount is your talent

• The interest rate is your leverage

• The continual instalments are your effort.

If you only invest what you can afford, you will avoid bankruptcy and burnout. Since you are playing the long-term game, black swan events will not take you out.

Time in the market. Time in the game — that's what matters. If you never give up, the 8th wonder of the world will do its thing.

It takes trial and error to know what game you want to play. What are you talented at, and what do you enjoy? Try new things, experiment, make mistakes and iterate.

Eventually, you will reach your definition of success.

That's my theory. Thanks for reading.

Josh