What no book, blog or any human being will ever teach you

by Yann Girard — Get free updates of new posts here

Until the age of 25 I never really failed at anything in life. I had a great CV, a great career ahead of me and never had any problems with anyone. I was the typical middle class guy that was about to start living quite a decent life with no worries or whatsoever.

It all went "downhill" from there. I’ll turn thirty next month. During those last five years I can’t even recall the number of times I failed, got rejected or was treated in a way I thought I didn’t deserve.

It was a hell of a rollercoaster ride (with a lot of fun times as well).

Today, a lot of people ask me whether or not I regret any of those things I did in the past five years. What things? Well, the things I failed at. Be it a startup, a relationship or money I lost.

Honestly speaking? Not a single second! I would do all of these things again and again. Maybe slightly different but I would still do them…

I learned so many things and lessons. I had to learn most of them the hard way and I'm actually very thankful for it. I strongly believe that reading, hearing or people telling me about their mistakes and actually committing these mistakes myself is a totally different story.

You can tell a kid over and over again and try to stop it from touching the hotplate. But she will try to do it over and over again, nevertheless. A child will only stop wanting to touch the hotplate after she burned herself.

And the same holds true for adults. Even though we might consciously be aware of the things we shouldn’t do, we do them nevertheless. We might have read or heard about this or that but we still do it.

Which is totally fine, because trying things out, experimenting and failing is the only way that we'll remember these lessons. We need to experience it firsthand. If we didn’t experience it, it never really happened. We simply forget about it.

You need to burn your fingers first, before you stop wanting to touch the hotplate. You need to experience life firsthand instead of just reading, talking or dreaming about it.

And that’s what no book, blog or any person on this planet earth will ever be able to teach you.

You need to experience life with all of your senses, your mind and your entire body.

Or else you might be thinking and dreaming your entire life away…

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"97% of the people out there won't care about what you do. Act accordingly."
"Money is not for buying things. Things don’t make us happy. Money is for buying ourselves some freedom to do the things that make us happy."
"Being unrealistic is the most realistic thing you could do."
"You just need one person who cares about what you do. And that person is you. And no one else. It all starts with you."
"We always think we have enough time. Until we realize there's no more time left."
"The only way to stay ahead of the curve is to create your own curve."
"Be the dealer. Don't be the junkie. The dealer always wins. And the junkie always dies."
"The only person you should try to please is your 80 year old self."
"It's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you keep your eyes closed.."
"Most advice doesn’t work. Because most advice comes from people who’ve never even done the things they're taking about. And that's dangerous."
"Being able to build something out of nothing is the most important skill. For what? For everything!"
"Why are people who write about millionaire habits not millionaires?"
"No one will magically find out about you."
"The things you don't want to do are usually the things you should be doing. They're almost always the things that will get you where you want to be."
"Don't let other people's reality be your reality.."
"Today it's easier to get started than ever before. That's why most people give up so easily. Because it was so easy to begin with."
"When you hate your job you'll never be able to do more than just mediocre work."
"Don't listen too all the life advice out there. It's all B.S. Just like this right here."
"No one starts as an expert. We all start from the bottom. And have to work our way to the top."
"The only thing that will ever lead to quality is quantity. To do it over and over again. That’s the only way."
"Be a Warrior, not a Worrier!"
"New ways of doing things never work. Until they do. Just like old ways of doing things always work. Until they dont."
"Constantly thinking about things won’t get you anywhere. You'll never find a solution just by thinking about it. You've gotta start doing."
"Not getting it right is part of the process of getting it right."
"How long does it take to change the world? As long as it takes to change yourself. So probably your whole life."
"Focusing on results won't get you results. Focusing on the actions that produce results will get you results."
"It's easy to forget all the things you have when all you do is to focus on the things you don't have."
"Perfection will only hold you back"
"Never listen to anyone who has never done what you're doing or want to do. Ignore your parents, your friends and pretty much everybody else."
"Trading time for money is not freedom. It’s a prison. The only way you’ll ever be able to make more money is to trade more of your time."
"The only way to beat the system is to know the system. Inside out."
"It's not what you do on your good days that will make you. It's almost always what you do on your bad days that will either make you or break you."

yann girard - rethinking the now