00:00In five hundred years, we may look back and say,
"Elon Musk was the single most influential person of our entire century."
00:07He has been able to do more in his 46 years than most of us could hope to do
00:10in ten lifetimes and yes, part of that is because
Elon is incredibly smart and he works incredibly hard.
00:17...and we're so hot up; we had just one computer so
the website was up during the day and I was coding at night.
00:26...work hard, like, every waking hour." That's the thing
I would say if your particular if you're starting a company.
00:35But working 100 hours a week still only puts you at
two-and-a-half times as much as the average employee.
00:41And most geniuses do not make the international impact that Elon has.
00:44In fact, the man with the highest IQ in the world, Chris Langan, is a bouncer.
00:48So while smarts and work ethic are critical to Elon's success,
00:52in order to impact the world, you simply have to be able
to influence other people; there's no way around it.
00:57That includes employees investors and the public at large and Elon Musk is unique here
01:03because on this channel, we can normally point to a leader's ability to nail a public speech.
01:07For instance, take the way that Steve Jobs controls silence in this next clip.
01:11...and we believe that in this world; people can change it for the best.
01:15And that those people who are crazy enough to think
they could change the world are the ones that actually do.
01:23But Elon doesn't have the same presentation ability as Jobs.
01:27While he definitely has moments of wit and humor, he often stumbles over his words
01:31or speaks without modulating his voice and he tends to use a lot of fillers like um and uh.
01:35...it's not because I wanted to, it's because I couldn't hire anyone.
01:38Nobody good would join. Um, so... um, I ended up being that by default.
01:49None of this is meant as a criticism; it's meant to point out how special it is that Elon is
01:55actually more famous and more sought out than most extroverted rock stars on the planet
02:00which is why, in this video, we're going to break down what you can do to make
02:03that kind of impact on people so that you can achieve ten times more than your peers.
02:07And I will say though, brushing up on presentation skills is still going to be important for
02:11most people so I'm going to link to helpful videos now in the corner and in the description.
02:15First off, one thing that we just hav to acknowledge is how gifted and hardworking Elon is.
02:20He was writing computer programs as a child
and his work ethic has only improved since then.
02:25This next sentence is coming from a man with five children running three companies.
02:29I'm available 24/7 so as to help solve issues. Call me 3 a.m. or Sunday morning; I don't care.
02:35But even all that brainpower and hard work isn't enough to avoid failure. In fact,
02:39the higher that you set your sights, the more likely you are to fail repeatedly along the way
02:43which means an absolutely critical component of high
achievement is dogged perseverance in the face of failure.
02:50and without a doubt Elon Musk has failed more spectacularly
and at higher cost than anyone who will watch this video.
02:56Take SpaceX, the first three rockets at SpaceX didn't work as they had planned.
03:01He burned through 100 million dollars of his own money and was still going bankrupt.
03:06Or Tesla, when they IPO in 2010, Jim Cramer said this —
03:10You don't want to own this stock; heck, you shouldn't even rent the darn thing.
03:15I think Tesla will have the same trajectory as A123
03:19which we told you would have a great first day pop when it came public
03:22but then it would be a dud afterwards.
03:24In 2012, nearly 10 years after Tesla was founded,
03:27Mitt Romney who was running for president told the nation that Tesla was a loser.
03:31...but don't forget, you put 90 billion dollars — like 50 years worth of breaks —
03:37into into solar and wind, to Solyndra and Fisker and Tesla.
03:42I've a friend who said you don't just pick the winners and losers, you pick the losers.
03:47Have you ever spent five years of 100 hour weeks
03:49and all of your money on something and then still had it not work?
03:53Have you spent ten years on a project and then still been publicly ridiculed as a dud?
03:58And have you persevered in spite of all of that? Most of us have not and would not.
04:03So where does Elon's perseverance come from?
04:06Well, it's because business failure would not bother him
04:09nearly as much as a failure to do something challenging, worthwhile, and exciting.
04:14...and there need to be reasons to get up in the morning.
04:18You know, life can't just be about solving problems; otherwise, what's the point?
04:22There's got to be things that people find inspiringto and make life worth living.
04:26When Elon's talking about problems here, he means
the daily things that occupy most of us like
04:32getting by at work, earning more money,
making sure that other people approve our decisions...
04:37Ask yourself — what has guided your decisions? Feeling financially comfortable,
04:41being widely respected, or doing something that inspires and excites you?
04:46There's no wrong answers here but people who achieve at a high level almost always
04:50view not doing something impactful as a much bigger risk than financial or social failure.
04:56It's not that they don't care about those things;
04:59it's that not feeling like they are doing deeply meaningful work is far worse to them
05:04which brings us to the second point — vision.
05:07Because without a clear vision for the future, it's really hard to care more about inspiration
05:11than paying your rent for instance or the criticism of your entire peer group.
05:16So here was Ellen's vision for SpaceX.
05:19Um, if you consider two futures — one where we are forever confined to Earth until
05:30eventually something terrible happens or another future where we are out there
05:30on many planets or maybe even going beyond the solar system —
05:34I think that second version is incredibly exciting and inspiring...
05:38Interestingly, this wasn't always the vision for
SpaceX even though that was Elon's end goal.
05:43He just wanted to inspire other people to pursue space travel
05:46by doing one smaller project on Mars that would spark their imaginations.
05:50I came up with this small philanthropic mission which would be
05:54to send a small green house to the surface of Mars which was called Mars Oasis.
06:01Upon landing the seeds with dehydrated nutrient gel, you hydrate it upon landing
06:06and you have this little greenhouse and then the money shot
would be green plants against a red background.
06:12Regardless of the specifics, a leader must be able to paint a picture of a desirable future;
06:16that's what puts the "vision" in visionary and it's how they persist
06:19through the inevitable setbacks and it's how they encourage other people
06:23in their organization to do the same. That's really
what took us to the moon in the first place.
06:27We shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away from the control station in Houston,
06:35a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall on an untried mission to an unknown celestial body...
06:44We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things
06:48not because they are easy but because they are hard.
06:52So if you want to achieve, you need a vision;
but how do you get a vision if you don't have one?
06:56Well, you start by exploring. You travel. You say yes to activities outside
07:01of your comfort zone and, very importantly in my opinion, you read
07:05because many of the most influential people in the world
07:07point back to a specific book that shaped their vision.
07:11Just listen to Elon talk about a book that he read as a kid.
07:13...like the Foundation series from Asimov is... a really... like, one of the best ever.
07:18That book by the way is about a scientist who creates a foundation for reducing
07:22human suffering and expanding human consciousness across the galaxy.
07:26Does it sound familiar? Now, books hold a special place in my heart
07:30but your vision doesn't have to come from reading.
07:32It can come from watching movies or listening to podcasts, playing sports,
07:36hiking in the woods, spending times with people that you love...
07:38What's important is that you would expand your sphere of influence and frequently ask
07:43yourself, "If I had a magic Genie and anything were possible, what would I like to create?"
07:48That kind of question helps you break through the yeah-but-it-would-never-work filter
07:53that so many people have and of course not everything you dream up is going to wind up
07:57working out but almost every inspiring vision feels impossible in some way.
08:02Even mine for Charisma on Command felt like a total
pipe dream just a year before it became my reality.
08:07So start with wild visions that get you excited and only later ask yourself if they're feasible.
08:14Elon actually uses a first principle analysis to determine this but
08:17that is beyond the scope of this video so look it up on Google if you're curious for more
08:21because there is one more element that I want to touch on here that really takes
08:25Elon Musk to the next level in terms of what he's able to achieve
08:28and how he's able to influence others and it's that his visions aren't just about him.
08:34There is no Musk Industries. Tesla is named after an inventor from the 1800's.
08:39The rocket from SpaceX is named after the Millennium Falcon
08:42and the Boring Company, well, that's just too silly play on words.
08:45The point is that Elon doesn't seem as concerned with
his name as Tony Stark who he's often compared to.
08:51Even more unique, Elon Scholl isn't just for his businesses to win — of course,
08:56he would like that — but listen to how Elon Musk talks about GM competing with Tesla.
09:01I think if GM comes to market with a compelling electric car, that's great.
09:06The goal of Tesla from the beginning has been to accelerate
09:10the advent of sustainable transport so I think if GM or any other company comes out
09:17with compelling electric cars that's good for the world then we'll applaud them.
09:20In other words, Musk's overarching vision for the future views humanity collectively.
09:25In the end, we're all on the same team.
09:27That's why in addition to just rooting for GM, he actually made Tesla's patents public.
09:32Now, obviously, Elon would like Tesla to succeed as a company but he really also
09:36wants humanity to have an economically viable electric car no matter who makes it happen.
09:41Contrast that with any number of other businesses, and I'm sure you can think of a few,
09:45that pursue profits at the expense of what would be best for society.
09:49So remember this — your vision can only be as inspiring
as the amount of people that it positively impacts.
09:57Elon's visions include all of humanity so he's become a worldwide celebrity
10:02despite not being the world's greatest public speaker.
10:05And if you want to make a bigger impact and inspire more people,
10:07you have to ask yourself,, "Who would it be fulfilling to help?"
10:11Your answer can be all of humanity or kids or your local community or whoever you want
10:16but if your aim is to inspire others and to achieve more,
10:20the vision just has to go beyond your own comfort; there's no way around it.
10:24So to recap back-to-front since that's actually the way that this stuff gets implemented
10:28in your life, first, you have to clarify your values — who do you want to help?
10:33There's nothing inherently wrong here with selfish motives but it does have to go
10:37beyond you in the same way because it needs to captivate the imaginations
10:41 of other people if you're going to achieve at this massive scale.
10:44Second, imagine an amazing future. Paint the picture because that's what a vision is and if
10:52you need more inspiration I personally recommend reading more than just about anything.
10:57The initial vision for Charisma on Command came from The 4-Hour Workweek but
11:00I was also influenced by sci-fi novels like Ender's Game that talk about strategy
11:05and leadership so you have to pursue your interests here.
11:09As Steve Jobs said in his famous commencement speech,
11:11"...and much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out
11:15to be priceless later on. You can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect
11:20them looking backwards. So you have to trust
that the dots will somehow connect in your future
11:25because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence
11:31to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path."
11:35So check out whatever piques your interest and pursue it deeply.
11:38And if you are interested in reading more, I commend you but perhaps you don't have
11:42that free-hands time because you're travelling or driving, there is a link below where you
11:45can get a free audio book with a trial of Audible.
11:48Now, this video is not sponsored by Audible but I've worked with them in the past
11:52and we have that free book with a trial perk. I also think it'd just be awesome to have
11:56more people reading or listening to books; that's just an amazing thing so if you want to
12:00check that out go ahead click the link below in the
description to get a trial of Audible and a free book.
12:04Third, persevere and you need to fail a whole bunch.
12:09Now, this is gonna be much easier to do when you have identified something
12:13that you care about more than social approval or money;
12:16it's actually nearly impossible when the reverse is true.
12:18And I've to tell you, amongst the group of smaller entrepreneur that make up my friends,
12:22the one trait that separates those who actually live their dream from the ones who don't
12:27is daily continuous perseverance over several years.
12:32If this is a topic you're more interested in, let me know; I'm happy to do
12:35another video on that but my advice is more nuanced than "never give up;"
12:38you don't really have time for it right here so I'm just gonna continue on.
12:42Anyways, if you want more videos like this, go ahead and click Subscribe right now.
12:46I'm gonna be covering a lot more mindsets in the coming weeks
12:49and I have some breakdowns that I'm super excited for like a comparison of the charisma
12:53of all the different Avengers... Or not all; there's like four or five to be fair
12:56and there's like 30 Avengers but a comparison of the Avengers charisma
12:59and I am a total nerd for doing this so I'm excited for that.
13:02And if you want to make sure that you don't miss that video when it is released,
13:05hit the subscribe button and of course, the notification bell.
13:09I'm actually also in the comments whenever I release a video for the first hour after upload
13:12which is 11:00 a.m. Pacific and I guess that's 2 p.m. Eastern time
13:20so if you have any questions for me, that the time to ask them
13:24and I can get back to you directly. Anyways, I hope that you
guys enjoyed this video and I will see you in the next one.
