Never label anything.

People, companies, products, nothing.

People think labeling makes life easier. It’s precisely the opposite.

First, let’s clarify something. We had two paradigms of thinking:

The old one: Get all the information you can at the same time. Stockpile, ignore information, discard it even if it’s important, but stuff yourself full of it.

The new one: Don’t get all the information you can. Get some information, use it well, add a little bit now and again. You might even add information frequently. But process what you have before you take in more.

Labeling belongs to the old paradigm of thinking.

If you had to know about all punks of the world, it was easier to call them “punks”. You could meet a young guy that painted and rode a bicycle, and another one that skated and worked in a marketing firm.

Now, when trying to recall who they were, it was easier to recall “I knew two punks” instead of “I knew a young man that (…) and another one that (…)”.

But the thing is, we don’t need to maintain information about all the punks in the world. We just remember each punk as we meet him.

This works for punks, businessmen, or any other label you can put on someone.

When you label someone or something, the possibilities for that person are immediately limited.

If you meet a young man, that even though he might have punk clothing and such, you talk with him and he suddenly tells you “I want to work in stock market consulting”, you think “okay, considering him as a human being, just like we all are, the possibilities are endless. Of course he can”.

If you meet that same person but you think he’s “a punk”, if he tells you he wants to work in the stock market, you immediately think “hold it. He can’t. He’s a punk”.

When we label people, we make a model. And whatever doesn’t fit that model is ignored.

So break all the models. Break all your presuppositions.

This doesn’t just apply to people. This applies for anything in life.

Imagine you have a product your company is selling. It has three steps:

First you develop it, using your current team.

Then you finish it and materialize it.

Then you market it using determined agencies and methods.

If you consider this as a fixed model, you cut out all possibilities.

If you suddenly remove the label from it, you take a whole new perspective.

If these three steps are not fixed, can we change one of them?

Can we switch their orders?

Can we add or remove steps?

When you remove labels, you free your way of thinking.

Most people that aren’t successful think they need to follow certain models or have certain labels so they’re not free.

They think they need to get a job in an existing company so they never found a company.

They think they’ll only enjoy life when they’re retired so they never travel or fulfill their dreams while young.

They think they need to date a woman 8 times before they enter a relationship with her so they discard being with a fantastic woman the first time they meet her.

They think they need to respect certain people that don’t contribute to their life so they don’t free themselves of them.

They think they need to work on a certain schedule, do things in a certain way, so they never try different.

If you want to succeed in life…

Remove all labels.

I have a more in-depth article about this which I’ll post later.

If you want to make decisions effectively, do them quick.

Is it that easy? Yes, it is.

Let’s look at things this way:

You can either make a decision immediately, or wait in indecision.

If you wait a long time before you decide, during all that time you did nothing.

If you make a decision, even a wrong one, you’re already knowing what works and what doesn’t.

It’s better to take a bad step than a no-step.

Most people think the need ALL the information in order to make a decision.

Decisions aren’t about who has more information. They’re about who uses their information better.

If you make a decision, you can always calibrate later. But the thing is:

If you haven’t made a decision yet, you’ll get more information and you’ll calibrate a plan that’s not field-tested.

If you have made your decision, you can calibrate what you’re currently doing.

Imagine you have to develop a strategy for your team to win a war.

You can either A) Attack quickly B) Plan an attack.

In a first scenario, you decided immediately. You attack quickly. In the meanwhile, you receive weather reports. You’re on the field, you know where your soldiers are, the spots that will be affected by the weather change, and calibrate your plan.

In a second scenario, you haven’t decided. In the meanwhile, you receive the weather reports. You will think “if we choose to attack quickly, we might have to change soldiers from this zone to this one, or from that one to that one”.

When you’ve decided already, you’re only following your direction. When you haven’t decided, you’re trying to follow all and not following any.

Note, this has nothing to do with having an open mind. You consider all directions in both scenarios. But you only follow one.

If you decide, you know all options and choose one.

If you don’t decide, you know all options and try to choose all, and end up choosing none.

Forget well-thought plans. Forget strategies.

Don’t make a strategy. Develop one once you’re in the field.

This applies to everything. Starting a project? Don’t try and plan all the details. Start working right now and details show up as they are needed.

Studying for an exam? Don’t try and schedule and plan your study in advance. Start studying immediately, and then make small changes and calibrate.

And yes, you might have to switch plans. If you make the wrong decision, what gives? You discard it, and decide on a different direction. The difference is:

Deciding the first time isn’t rigorous because you don’t know what’s good or bad in each side. You only know in theory.

Deciding after you’ve left your current decision is rigorous. You know exactly what didn’t work and why you’re changing directions.

In sum: Decide quickly, and if you need to switch, switch quickly. Never let yourself fall into the trap of paralysis by analysis.

Another specific example:

Two people have to race through a lap. They have two cars available: Car 1 and Car 2. We have person A and B.

Person A spends 3 hours thinking about why Car 1 might be better than Car 2, and this and that, theorizing. After 3 hours he chooses Car 1.

Person B took Car 1 immediately and went for a test-drive. After 10 minutes we knew due to the tight turns throughout the track, Car 1 has horrible. So he ditched it and chose Car 2. This took 20 minutes.

Due to real-world experience Person B took the right choice. He actually took the wrong choice but corrected it.

Because A never took a choice, he could never change it, so he’s stuck to choosing by ignorance (or theoretical previsions, which are not that different).

We can even add a little twist if you want.

Person B test-drove Car 2, for more 20 minutes, and realized due to its limited top speed, he did worse times in all of the straight segments of the track. And this was actually even worse than the limitations of Car 1. So he chose Car 1 again.

Person A was still theorizing by that time, but he chose Car 1 too.

Now, are these people equal? Never.

Person A made the right choice, but he doesn’t know why it’s the right choice. He might have planned or thought about it, but does he know why it works in the real world? Nope.

Person B made the same choice, but it’s because he knows exactly what is right and wrong with each choice.

So, in sum. Decide quickly, hang to your decision to infinity. If you can, you’re successful. If you can’t, switch to a new decision and hang to it to infinity.

Repeat until successful.

It’s so simple yet so effective.

The word momentum was invented for a reason. We might have found it today.

So, in sum, the lession is:

Don’t think about acting before you actually act.

Act first, think later.

One final note: Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying just “act first”. I’m saying “act first, think later”. You do have to think and develop a strategy.

But you do it AFTER you know what the field is, who your opponents are, what are your strengths and weaknesses. It’s useless to think in advance.

Don’t invent facts based on thoughts. Invent thoughts based on facts.

Hope you liked the message :)

This idea came to me when reading this Trizle article. I suggest you read it first. Besides just being plain cool, it’s very useful.

A subject related to Trizle’s article, but not exactly the same, is something I’ve been studying for a long time, searching for peak performance.

We have the tendency to grow when we face stimuli. However, what happens when we reach the top? There’s nothing challenging us. So we don’t train our capabilities. We let them die.

Now, the thing is, we can create imaginary stimuli to challenge ourselves.

Let’s say you’re the best at what you do.

However, there was a time when you were just “one of the others”.

When you were not superior to anyone, when you were just the plain same and had to fight for your piece of the game.

When you had to give your all.

Imagine that, starting today, it’s going to be like that all over again.

Imagine suddenly a new competitor hidden until now shows up, that’s as good as you.

Imagine that you’re not superior anymore. That someone, somehow, has managed to attain your level and is now threatening your position.

How will you react?

You’ll probably try your hardest again. You won’t let your growth die anymore, and you’ll force yourself to become better and better.

Or imagine that for some reason your business, your capabilities can disappear just like this.

You snap your fingers and they’re gone. Imagine all the securities you have are actually not secure at all, and can vanish.

How will you fight to maintain your security?

This is something I’ve noticed in people who succeed. When there are no external stimuli, they create them.

This is valid not just for competition, but for anything.

You were motivated to read a new book. Now you’re done with it and you’re not motivated anymore.

Can you, just like that, imagine you’re motivated again, feel exactly the same things, feel that heat inside, that happiness, that motivation?

You can. It’s a matter of effort.

You can do anything you want to. Stimuli present or not.

Try it!