If you asked 10 people how they got from point A to B, chances are you'll get different answers. I'm using this example to illustrate that there are many ways to get to success. 0.1%: Join The Club of The Richest, Healthiest, Happiest by Simeon Ivanov is just one way.
People will tell you their way is the best, but you have to decide for yourself.
Introduction: 0.1% by Simeon Ivanov
When I saw the title of the book, 0.1% by Simeon Ivanov, I wondered what the heck it was about. I was intrigued and wanted to be surprised.
What is the 0.1% Club?
“The members of the 0.1% Club don’t compete with the rest. They compete with the best they could ever be. And that’s by far the toughest, most meaningful competition you could ever face. The 0.1% Club plays a whole different game. It’s not about being financially free. Or about being healthy. It’s not about living a happy, exciting life. And it’s about all those things together. That’s a whole new approach to life, my friend.”
But the above doesn't get to the heart of the matter of what 0.1% is about, does it? I found what I was looking for in the middle of the book when Ivanov was writing about SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, Time-Bound). That's what the experts talk about when they recommend goal-setting. About 99.9 percent of people go for SMART Goals. Ivanov thinks SMART goals are boring. He recommends you go for SMURT goals and become a part of the 0.1% club.
SMURT — Specific, Measurable, Unrealistic, Resourceful, Time-Bound. He may be on to something there. Years ago, in one of his programs, I cannot remember which one, Earl Nightingale cites a study. It was something to do with tracking one hundred people, and when they turned 65 years old, less than 10 of them were financially free. I think it was actually closer to five people.
What this tells me is that most people will never be super successful. So why would you follow the masses? I love the idea of the 0.1% Club because it goes against the grain.
2 Promises of 0.1% by Simeon Ivanov
- Achieve your highest potential for success in your professional field of choice.
- Live the vibrant, fulfilled life you deserve every day with a great sense of purpose.
Content: 0.1% by Simeon Ivanov
The 0.1% Club is about living life with no regrets. Stop listening to the little voice in your head. It prevents you from being your best self. To get into the 0.1% Club, there's a five-step process to follow.
5-Step Process to Get into the 0.1% Club
- The Wall
- Character
- Skills
- Method
- Restart
Step 1: The Wall
0.1%: 6 Elements of the Wall
- Fakeness
- Limited Liability
- Drama
- Fear
- Failure
- Chronic Misery
Have you read?
Go Suck a Lemon: How Emotionally Intelligent Are You?
You’re Unstoppable: Learn How to Be a No-Limit Person
Fakeness: Don't lie to yourself. Honestly looks at who you are. The real you without the mask. Transform fakeness into honesty. Be authentic and elevate yourself. Take control of your actions.
Limited Liability: Take responsibility for your life. All of it. Take ownership of the events in your life.
Drama: What personal dramas do you create? What stories are you telling yourself? What damage is your drama causing in your life? Take steps to get rid of the drama.
Fear: What's holding you back? What's preventing you from stepping into your growth zone? What are you afraid of? Don't worry about things that haven't happened yet. I read somewhere that 92 percent of the things we worry about never happen. Shift your mindset.
Failure: Think of failure as lessons learned. If you haven't failed, it means that you haven't taken enough actions.
Chronic Misery: What are your rules for happiness? Do you need to change them?
Step 2: Character
Craft your life, design your character. What are your values? If you know what your values are, it's easier to make difficult decisions. The 3 Gaps by Hyrum Smith is an excellent book to discover how to craft your personal constitution.
I read the book, followed the instructions, then came up with 12 values that are important to me. Some of these values are more important than others. After reading The 3 Gaps, it took me seven hours to craft my personal constitution. However, it was a valuable exercise, and worth doing.
Have you read?
The 3 Gaps by Hyrum Smith – Book Review
0.1%: 3 Huge Benefits of Living Your Values
The ability to:
- Create happiness and moments of fulfillment on demand.
- Save time in decision-making and spare yourself some bad (potentially catastrophic) life choices.
- Create mental and physical space for the things that matter in your life.
0.1%: Great Values Have 4 Characteristics
- Internally oriented — Focused on self, not on others or stuff.
- Actionable — You can take action now.
- Controllable — Depends on you.
- Socially friendly — Doesn’t cause harm to anything or anyone.
0.1%: Mission
What's your mission in life? How can I help you to achieve it? Here's mine? How can you help me to achieve it?
“Global problems can be solved by reading and implementing ideas from books. My mission is to mobilize 5000 professionals to read a book a week, bringing together masterminds of socially conscious people to read and implement the breakthrough ideas.”
Ivanov talks about mission goals. I mentioned above SMURT Goals. Now, I'll talk more about them. According to the author, SMART goals will kill your dreams and your mission. They don't leave room for you to do the unexpected. Most coaches tell you to create SMART goals. Try something different – SMURT goals.
He wants us to change from SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-Bound) goals to SMURT (Specific, Measurable, Unrealistic, Resourceful, Time-Bound) goals. I love it when people go against the grain. That's where innovation often happens.
Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the world go for SMART goals. Be among the 0.1 percent of the people who go after SMURT goals. Integration in your life happens where your Values, Mission, and Goals intersect.
0.1%: Integration
- Values: What do I want to be?
- Mission: How do I want to experience life?
- Goals: What do I want to achieve/have?
When you're integrated, you move into the 0.1% Club.
Step 3: The Skills
“You never know where the limit is until you go over it. You never know what you are capable of until you take a bold step out of your comfort zone. Until you push yourself. And yes, sometimes until you find yourself buried under the safety barriers.”
Act, fail, learn, repeat.
0.1%: 15 Skills to Master
- Sleep: Get enough and better quality sleep.
- Brave Visualization: Focus on inspiring goals.
- Power Moves: Get physical. Exercise.
- Present Moment: Meditate to be in-the-moment.
- Sacred Breakfast: East breakfast to stave off cravings. Stay away from processed foods.
- Success Blocks: Create chunks of one-hour focused, productive time.
- Limitless Action: Honor your word. Take action.
- Water: Drink enough water every day.
- Inner Circle: No one succeeds alone. If possible, be a part of a mastermind group.
- Tears of Joy: When was the last time you felt emotional? What makes you cry?
- Personal University: Read faster, more efficiently. I can help you with this.
- Weekly Surprise: Keep relationships fresh with little surprises.
- Game Plan: How do you plan your days and week. The Bullet Journal Method
will help.
- Financial Freedom: Save, don't spend it all. Invest 10 percent. This made me think of the book, The Automatic Millionaire
.
- Secret Mastermind: Who has your back? Find your tribe.
Have you read?
The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll, Book Review
Step 4: Method
What do you need to do to live a worthwhile life? Create systems to help you do that. The most successful companies and people have systems in place to help them succeed.
Think About the 4 Ws
- What I need to do.
- Why I need to do it.
- When I need to do it.
- Well do it.
The Big 15 Skills will give you an unfair advantage in life.
Step 5: Restart
Life is changing. Reinvention is a necessity. Keep growing. Set aside time for self-reflection. Improve the systems you use.
Final Thoughts: 0.1%: Join The Club of The Richest, Healthiest, Happiest by Simeon Ivanov
I loved several sections of this book and those are the sections I focused on in this post. There are many roads that lead to success. And you have to figure out which one will take you there. The strategies in this book may work for you. Or they may not.
A better approach is to read several books and choose what will work in your situation. I loved the idea of SMURT goals because you push yourself outside your comfort zone. We're smarter than we think. And we can accomplish more than we give ourselves credit for.
Books Mentioned in 0.1%: Join The Club of The Richest, Healthiest, Happiest by Simeon Ivanov
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
- The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
- The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone
- Letters from a Stoic by Lucius Seneca
Next Steps
Wondering what to do next, you can do all of:
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