9 Aphorisms For Success From Alex Hormozi

I firmly believe that people who are able to communicate through their own aphorisms are some of the smartest people on the planet.

The ability to condense a complex truth into a concise and memorable statement shows a level of cognitive ability that few people possess.

Most of us can’t even remember smart things said by other people. Let alone come up with these ideas on our own.

For the uninitiated, Alex Hormozi is an entrepreneur and online personality that loves business more than life itself. Here are 9 of his best aphorisms:

1. “You don’t build confidence by shouting affirmations in the mirror, but by having an undeniable stack of proof that you are who you say you are.”

Practical application: If you’re planning to feel confident before embarking on a new project, think again. Action first, confidence follows.

2. “Opportunities only look like opportunities in the rearview mirror, today they look like risk.”

3. “A reminder for the gladiators in the arena who feel beat up and scarred with no hope in sight. Building a business is hard, hard feels shitty, this is what hard feels like and this is why most people can’t do it, but you can.”

Practical application: Reframe the idea that hard things don’t suck. Part of the expectation of hard things is that while you do them, they aren’t fun. The reward is fun.

4. “So many lives would transform overnight if they realized, ‘my life sucks’ really means ‘I have nothing to lose’ and that makes you a very dangerous person.”

Practical application: To a mouse, a cat is a stronger motivator than cheese. You’re not always going to change your life by finding cheese. Sometimes you need to change by running from the cat.

5. “If your life sucks the easiest thing you can do is change your environment”

6. “Success is a strange thing. Presumably we want success because we think a more successful life will bring us more happiness, meaning and fulfillment. Here’s the problem: we sacrifice the thing we want, happiness. For the thing that is supposed to get it, success.”

Practical application: Consistently ask yourself if you’re overcomplicating things. “Can I do this an easier way?” Also, stop climbing the stairs just for the sake of climbing the stairs. When you find a floor that feels right, stay there.

7. “You cannot wish for both strong character and an easy life. The price of each is the other.”

8. “You stay in poverty until you learn the first lesson of poverty which is two words: my fault.”

Practical application: Develop an internal locus of control. You are responsible for the outcomes of your life and every decision you choose that leaves you in an undesirable place is your fault. Regardless of the starting location.

9. “One of life’s hardest decisions is giving up the sure thing for the best thing.”