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Full notes at www.LearningLeader.com

IG/Twitter: @RyanHawk12

Notes:

• Community — In Rome, Panaetius met a fellow student of Diogenes named Gaius Laelius, and later in a naval contingent, met and served with Scipio Aemilianus, one of Rome’s great Generals. These three men formed a kind of philosophical club — known to historians today as the Scipionic Club (like Ben Franklin’s Junto’s) — they would meet you discuss and debate the stoic philosophy they all pursued.
  • Plutarch wrote in Moralia: Precepts of Stagecraft “it is a fine thing also, when we gain advantage from the friendship of great men, to turn welfare of our community, as Polybius and Panaetius, thru Scipio’s goodwill towards them, conferred great benefits upon their native states”
  • Ryan participates in off site adventures with other top authors in the world like James Clear and Mark Manson. They go there to share ideas and help one another.
    • He experienced another example of this as he was asked to speak to a group of the top athletic directors in collegiate sports. All of them are very competitive with each other, yet they still meet regularly to share ideas and help one another.
• Zeno had little patience for idlers or big egos on his porch -- "Stoa is the Greek word for porch."
  • Zeno said “better to trip with the feet than with the tongue”
• He was the first to express the four virtues of stoicism
  • Courage
  • Temperance/Moderation
  • Justice
  • Wisdom
• Consistency -- “His work was not defined by some single epiphany or discovery but instead by hard work. He inched his way there, through years of study and training as we all must.”
• Zeno said “well being is realized by small steps, but is truly no small thing.”
• Cleanthes — he not only continued his labors but actively turned down large financial gifts to help him retire to his studies — to him labor and philosophy were not rivals. They were pursuits that furthered and enabled each other.
  • The ancients used to describe his industriousness: philoponia - a love of work.
• Chrysippus, the third Leader is the stoic school. He was introduced to running and it changed his life. The same is true for Ryan...
  • "A marathon doesn't care that you're tired at mile 20. You have to get to 26.2 to be done. Your mind wants to quit much earlier than your body has to."
  • "When you think you're done, you're at 40%." - David Goggins
• The stoic idea of Oikeiosis - that we share something and our interests are naturally connected to those of our fellow humans — is as pressing in the ancient world as it is today.
• “Being poor is not having too little, it is wanting more.” Seneca
• Stay a Student -- The Maxim For Every Successful Person; ‘Always Stay A Student’ -- “Every man I meet is my master in some point, and in that I learn of him.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson. Genghis Khan one of the greatest military minds who ever lived, he was a perpetual student.
• How to find stillness?
  • Stop watching the news
  • Journal - Anne Frank wrote when she struggled: “Paper,” she said, “has more patience than people.”
  • Go for a walk or run
  • Seek solitude -- Bill Gates “think weeks”
• How to balance temperance and justice?
  • Start by being better ourselves
  • As a citizen, where do you draw the line? Particularly when it's not in your interest to do so...
  • What are you willing to sacrifice to insist on your standard?
•  
• Epictetus’ instructions:
  • Separate things into what you control and what you don’t
  • Choose not to be complicit in getting offended
  • Prep for adversity in advance
  • Realize every situation has 2 handles—grab the right one
  • Memento Mori—let death put everything in perspective
• “Writer’s block is a phony, made up BS excuse for not doing your work.” Jerry Seinfeld
• Life advice -- "Don't send me an email asking if you can ask me a question. Just ask the question." -- Ryan Holiday
• Be worthy of a great mentor... Do work that impresses them. Gets their attention.
• "Writing forces you to clarify your thinking..."

Text LEARNERS to 44222

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

#384: Les Brown - You've Got To Be Hungry

Notes:

• "If you want to be successful in life, do these three things..."
  • Change your mindset - “You don’t get in life what you want, you get in life what you are.”
  • Practice OQP - “Only Quality People”
  • Develop your communication skills - “Once you open your mouth, you tell the world who you are.
• Sidney Poitier wrote a book called The Measure of a Man and she said, “When you go for a walk with someone, something happens without being spoken. He said, “either you adjust to their pace or they adjust to your pace.” Think “Whose pace have you adjusted to?
• Les needed to disrupt the vision he had of himself in order to change...
  • Distract
  • Dispute
  • Inspire
    • Expand the vision of what's possible for life
• Mike Williams -- "The Road To Your Best Stuff"
  • Keys to growth: Hire a coach
• Use your story to create an experience for your audience
  • "Be transformed by the renewing of their minds."
  • "You can't fit a big dream into a small mind."
• "We are here to live a life that will out live us."
• "The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why." - Mark Twain
• Les has battled cancer for 27 years...
• The beginning: When Les's mom worked for a white family, they would make her clap her hands regularly when she was alone in a different room to ensure she wasn't stealing anything. When Les learned why his mom always had to clap her hands together, he made it his mission to ensure that he would buy her a house one day... And eventually that's exactly what he did.
• Negative thoughts are like weeds. They'll keep coming back. You have to keep at it and have a positive mind.
• Every morning, Les takes the following action:
  • Has a verbal (positive) affirmation
  • Writes seven things he wants to do that day
  • Reads 20-30 pages
• "There is power in pursuit... Set goals beyond your comfort zone."
• Have a perpetual plan of action
  • "You're never too old to learn"
  • "You're never too young to teach"
• "Don't ever stop raising the bar on yourself."
• There are three kinds of people: Millionaires, Billionaires, and Witnesses
  • "You gotta be hungry."
• Thoreau - "Go where there's no path and leave a trail."
• What does Les think immediately before going on stage with 80,000 people in the crowd?
  • "More of THE, less of ME."
• "When you wax a floor, you need to strip it first. The same is true with coaching."
• "Cancer Conquerors" -- "I don't have time to die, I've got too much work to do."
• Excellence: Durable, sustainable advantage. "I will not fail." All accomplishments happen in the mind first... And then in practice.

Text LEARNERS to 44222

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

#383: Guy Raz - How I Built This

• Excellence =
  • Ambition
  • Desire to produce for the sake of personal fulfillment -- "It's oxygen"
  • Bill Gates is constantly challenging himself... Having a growth mindset. "To survive means to grow."
• How has Guy become one of the greatest interviewers in the world?
  • "I've been shooting free throws for 25 years. I've gotten a lot of reps." To be great, you have to be bad at the beginning... And keep going.
• How to connect with others? "I interpret the non-verbal feedback."
• Purposeful Practice:
  • It's a team effort -- "I've worked with my team for twenty years. There is a strong bond and connection. They are very honest with their feedback. Constructive criticism is essential. We need outsiders to assess us."
• Guy thanks his mom and dad in the acknowledgement section of his book:
  • They came to America in the 1970's. "Being courageous requires resilience."
  • Guy has covered four wars, but he still doesn't feel he's as courageous as his parents.
  • "Without taking a risk there is no reward."
  • When Guy is afraid to take a risk, he thinks of his parents.
• How his fellowship year at Harvard impacted him: They teach through case studies and stories. It helped him understand business and storytelling.
• Guy is inspired by Joseph Campbell's hero's journey...
• His 'Must-Have' qualities to get hired to work on his team:
  • Kindness - "We filter for kindness"
  • They have to "want to improve"
• How Guy prepares to interview someone for one of his shows:
  • Contact them well ahead of the interview date
  • Do a deep dive on them and people around them (read, watch videos, listen to podcasts)
  • Do a background check
  • "All of us are imperfect... That's what make someone relatable. We all have flaws. You need to hear the failures."
    • "The interviewee must be generous with their emotions.
  • "The idea that I can learn from someone excites me."
  • "I love transmitting the story."
• The idea for How I Built This came to him in 2008 when he took a class at Harvard Business School during a sabbatical year as a Nieman journalism fellow after nearly eight years as a foreign correspondent.
• Guy demands that those who sit for an interview with him are completely open. “I ask them, ‘Are you willing to come to this interview and surrender?’”
• Guy stared as an NPR intern and didn't get the initial jobs he wanted...
• I asked... "How much of your success can be attributed to luck and how much skill/hard work?"
• Life advice:
  • Get a job in sales -- All jobs have a selling component. Learn this crucial skill.
  • Be methodical about your experiences.
  • Keep your eyes open for problems all around you... Look for problems to solve. All businesses are built on solving a problem.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more details

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

#382: Morgan Housel - Timeless Lessons On Wealth, Greed, & Happiness

Notes:

• "Writing helps crystallize vague thoughts in your mind."
  • It helps clarify your thoughts.
  • Writing is an art.
  • When you publish your own work, you own the success or failure.
• Public speaking is a great tool to learn how to communicate succinctly. It's a skill worth building.
• The Psychology of Money is a study in understanding why people do what they do...
  • "Use money to control your time. That's the highest dividend money can do for you."
• Why work with Collaboration Fund:
  • You need more than just a check: values, philosophies, get your thoughts out into the world.
• Stories are more powerful than statistics. And most statistics are incomplete props to justify a story. Stories are easier to remember, easier to relate to, and emotionally persuasive.
• "Stop telling kids they can be whatever they want to be. You can be whatever you're good at, as long as they're hiring. And even then it helps to know someone." -- Chris Rock
• Excellence =
  • Patience - Stick with it. Continue to go during down periods. That's how compounding works.
• Success Laws -- "Strong beliefs, weakly held."
• Storytelling: "The prize goes to the person who can explain something well... Stories move the needle. You convince someone something is true through stories."
  • How to become a better storyteller? READ a lot. And practice.
• "If you’re going to try to predict the future — whether it’s where the market is heading, or what the economy is going to do, or whether you’ll be promoted — think in terms of probabilities, not certainties. Death and taxes, as they say, are the only exceptions to this rule."
• Some quotes (thanks to RightAttitudes.com) "Two things make an economy grow: population growth and productivity growth. Everything else is a function of one of those two drivers."
• "Changing your mind is one of the most difficult things we do. It is far easier to fool yourself into believing a falsehood than admit a mistake."
• "Study successful investors, and you’ll notice a common denominator: they are masters of psychology. They can’t control the market, but they have complete control over the gray matter between their ears."
• "There’s a strong correlation between knowledge and humility. People who spend 10 minutes on Google studying monetary policy think they have it all figured out, while people with PhD's and decades of experience throw up their hands in frustration. The more you study economics, the more you realize how little we know about it."
• "When you think you have a great idea, go out of your way to talk with someone who disagrees with it. At worst, you continue to disagree with them. More often, you’ll gain valuable perspective. Fight confirmation bias like the plague."
• "Short-term thinking is at the root of most of our problems, whether it’s in business, politics, investing, or work."