For over 10 years, I was working REALLY hard and getting frustrated that people who weren't working as hard as me were succeeding faster than me. Once I learned the things I’m sharing below, everything got easier, started to build on itself and accelerated. I hope that it will help you avoid recreating the wheel as much as possible.

Having a good job, a home, kids, and a dog is a byproduct of controlling your economic destiny. Many work hard but lack this control, leading to insecurity—a terrible feeling. 'A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because its trust is not on the branch but on its own wings.' Like a bird trusting its wings, gain control over your economic destiny; jobs come and go, but your economic engine remains. Achieve the American Dream in three phases:

• Phase 1 → Secure a decent job for basic needs.
• Phase 2 → Influence your economic destiny.
• Phase 3 → Take full control of your economic destiny.

• You will not be able to control your economic destiny simply by being an individual who works hard. You need the skill/vehicle to pull/push you through the world. The skill/vehicle is, in economic terms, more powerful than the individual.
• You can create a formal vehicle like a company, project, non-profit, etc., or you can make an informal vehicle out of a skill that you apply in different ways to propel yourself through the world.

America does not give out rewards in a linear, symmetrical manner. It disproportionately rewards those who are consistently excellent or outstanding. Rewards are given out as follows:

• Poor performance → no rewards
• Good performance → poor rewards
• Excellent performance → good rewards
• Outstanding performance → great rewards

Being inconsistently excellent means that you will taste the great rewards and then go through periods where you get little to nothing, but don’t understand why this is happening.

To achieve excellence in America, one must consistently demonstrate superior performance. An excellent athlete outperforms competitors regularly, proving that the difference is not merely by chance but a result of consistent, superior achievements when measured against others' performances.

Excellence is a qualitative phenomenon, achieved through differentiation rather than quantitative increases in activity. Qualitative improvement involves altering the character or nature of the task itself, doing things differently rather than necessarily doing more.

Excellence is achieved through deliberate actions, seemingly ordinary yet performed consistently and meticulously. These actions become habitualized, compounded over time. While qualitatively different from those at lower levels, these distinctions are not unmanageable. Each step, though requiring care, contributes to a path that, taken one step at a time, is not overwhelmingly difficult.

Outliers achieve distinct results by doing things differently than the pack. The challenge is figuring out these unique approaches, unlocking the secrets to their success.

Stagnation often stems from repeating unrecognized mistakes. Accelerate progress by identifying and learning from these patterns. Recognize that being stuck results from outdated behaviors; change the formula for a different, transformative result in navigating new life levels.

If your habits and calendar (how you spend your time) and how you spend your resources don’t match what you are trying to achieve, you are not grinding, you are dreaming.