Invictus Capital

We believe the traditional model of investing for retirement in the stock-market through a 401(k) or IRA is...simply put...not good enough.

Your finances shouldn't be a source of stress and confusion and uncertainty.

That's why we started Invictus Capital:

To help busy professionals build meaningful wealth through passive investment opportunities in the world’s most powerful investment vehicle: Multifamily Real Estate.

With $70,000,000 in Assets Under Management, we specialize in value-add apartment syndications that generate strong, risk-adjusted returns by leveraging years of operational expertise combined with in-house property management to extract maximum value from every asset acquired, all within an environment of trust and absolute transparency.

Want to learn more about how we've personally helped dozens of passive investors create generational wealth? Check out all the amazing educational resources available at www.invictuscapitalventures.com/education.

We're currently looking for 50-150 unit deals in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Let us know if you've got something!

Founding Partner

Anthony Vicino

Amplified Impact, hosted by Anthony Vicino, gives insight and tips on hacking your schedule, workflow, and lifestyle to maximize your impact on life.

Want to build a business, invest in real estate, and become a master of hyperfocus so you can maximize your return on life?

Well then this is the show for you!

Tune in:

On iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/amplified-impact/id1662381409
On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3GRA1yxckJjr6yjNRyg56l?si=c181f91518324d43

Podcast Host

I've always been fascinated with unlocking our full human potential. That obsession led me to a couple degrees in Psychology, a whole lot of reading, even more trial and error, and the opportunity to work alongside some truly extraordinary people (Olympians, New York Times Best Selling Authors, Real Estate Moguls, Fortune 500 CEOs).

Eventually, after applying my learnings (and figurng out what worked and what didn't) I started sharing my thoughts around personal development, success, productivity, and habit formation on Medium back in 2017.

Within a month, I'd earned Top Writer badges in 7 different categories (Psychology, Personal Development, Habits, Business, Success, Life).

Through these writings, I determined that there are Four Spheres of Influence that separate extraordinary individuals from the...just ordinary.

Mindset, Health, Wealth, and Communication.

I write about these Spheres of Influence (and how you can develop them) over at The Hyperfocused Mind.

If you're interested in becoming the best version of yourself, come join us. Let's learn and grow together.

Best-Selling Author | Human Behavior Connoisseur | Productivity Nut |

"Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better." - Jim Rohn

Author

Invictus Management

We own and operate ~500 units spread across 30 buildings located throughout the Twin Cities (Minneapolis, Saint Paul, first-ring suburbs).

Co-Founding Partner

Multifamily Investing Made Simple

Join us each week as Anthony Vicino and Dan Krueger of Invictus Capital take the complexity out of multifamily investing so you can start taking action today.

Every episode of Multifamily Investing Made Simple is designed to provide passive and active investors alike with the knowledge, confidence, and competence to get out there, make deals, and achieve financial freedom through the powerful investment vehicle of multifamily real estate.

Whether we're breaking down seemingly complex real estate concepts, interviewing titans of the industry to learn from their successes and failures, or just offering plain old bad investing advice, you're sure to learn something (and have some fun in the process)!.

Host

One Lazy Robot

I tell stories.

Being able to dream outlandish dreams, put those dreams to paper, and then share those dreams with millions of people around the world is a gift that's hard to put into words.

Over the years my dreams have appeared in the hallowed halls of The Future Chronicles, the Hugo Award-winning pages of SF Signal, and the locally-famous OneLazyRobot.com.

Best Selling Science Fiction and Fantasy Author of the acclaimed Firstborn Saga (Time Heist and Mind Breach).

Story teller. Word Wrangler. Pretty Good Dancer.

Hampton

Hampton is a dedicated group of digital-first founders, entrepreneurs, and CEOs of fast-growing startups who just get it - and make the crazy world of startup life a little easier to navigate.

Founding Member

Escape Climbing

Over the past 12 years, I've seen first-hand the incredible physical, mental, and social benefits of rock climbing on countless individuals.

My own life has been positively impacted in ways I can't even put into words.

Whether it's connecting with that primitive-sense of adventure beckoning our inner-monkey-selves to climb, slipping into a flow-state as you cling to the side of a sheer cliff with thousands of feet of open air swirling beneath your feet, or just hanging out with a group of friends after an intense workout, rock climbing is the perfect crucible through which meaningful life experiences are forged.

We live to bring that experience to as many people as possible. At Escape Climbing, we're working to get Every Hand On A Hold.

I took over Escape's marketing, customer service, and shipping in 2017 and implemented a couple small ideas that enabled massive growth.

First, social media is not a place to sell. It's a place to connect. Focus first and foremost on creating meaningful relationships with your customers.

Second, we receive through the hole in which we give. You can only receive massive value if you first GIVE massive value.

Third, fundamentals win championships. Execute on the basics (consistent actions in alignment with values, consistent pursuit of mastery, and consistently overdeliver on customer expectations).

When combined, extraordinary results follow.

In our case, we saw over 500% growth in just 2 years.

That's More Hands On Holds, which is a beautiful thing!

Chief Strategy Officer

Twelve years ago I was $80k in debt, living in a van, and struggling to get out of my own way.

I felt trapped by my quirky ADHD mind and life's infinite distractions.

Unfocused, undisciplined, and unreliable... I lacked the tools needed to survive, much less thrive.

So I went on a search...

And found something incredible:

A system that enabled me to take control of my most valuable asset:

My Focus.

I used this system to build my first 7-figure business in under 12 months (window washing)

Then I used it to write a book... and it went to the top of the charts.

Then I used it to grow another business to 7-figures... and another one to 8...

And then another.

I might have ADHD, but there's nothing unique about my story.

We all struggle with distractions, procrastination, and self-sabotage.

I simply found a system for goal setting, prioritization, and execution which allowed me to unleash my hyperfocused mind on demand.

Now I'm on a mission to help other entrepreneurs, creatives, and high performers build better businesses, invest in real estate, and maximize their Return on Life.

Here's a bit of what I've done:

→ Best Selling Author of Passive Investing Made Simple (Still Top 10 on Amazon)
→ YouTube Channel viewed over 7,800,000 times with 190,000 subscribers
→ Built and exited two 7-figure companies
→ Built two 8-figure company
→ Manage an $85M real estate portfolio

Want to learn more about how I did this (and you can too)?

THE HYPERFOCUSED ENTREPRENEUR NEWSLETTER

Helping 20k+ entrepreneurs each week get more of the right things done in less time so they can maximize their Return on Life by sharing the systems that have worked for me. 

→ GO HERE: www.anthonyvicino.com/newsletter

X: @anthonyvicino
YouTube: youtube.com/anthonyvicino
Instagram: instagram.com/theanthonyvicino

I'm always searching for ways to get more focused and productive, but…

I wasted years because I didn’t understand what it actually meant to be productive.

And then I stumbled onto a book that made me realize I'd been chasing the wrong thing entirely.

See, I'd always equated productivity with "getting more done".

But that's not productivity... that's just throughput.

Productivity isn't about getting more done.

It's about getting more done per unit of input.

Interestingly, the book that lifted the wool from my eyes was written over 2,000 years ago and had nothing to do with productivity.

It was simply one man's attempt to figure out what it meant to live a good life.

And there's one line from this book that I think about every single day:

"If you seek tranquility, do less. Or, more accurately, do what's essential.

Which brings a double satisfaction:

To do less, better. Because most of what we say and do is NOT essential."

- Marcus Aurelius (Meditations)

My life transformed the day I stopped chasing productivity...

And instead, pursued Essentialism.

*

Here's 6 lessons from Essentialism that have served me well:

1. Success isn’t about HOW MUCH you get done…

It’s about WHAT you get done.

“There is no greater waste than to do with excellence that which shouldn’t be done at all.”

*

2. Saying “Yes” to this is just another way of saying “No” to that.

Every yes comes at the expense of something else.

Be incredibly careful what you say yes to.

*

3. If you don’t set your priorities, someone else will.

Listen, either you own your calendar…

Or your calendar owns you.

There is no third option here.

***

There's 3 more concepts from essentialism that've had a profound effect on my life.

I can't do them justice here with only a few words.

If you want to go even deeper, check out this video:

https://lnkd.in/gZdv9_uW

***

👉 P.S. Join 20k+ subscribers of the Hyperfocused Entrepreneur Newsletter for more content like this:

https://lnkd.in/gjkxs_Cc

7 simple habits with insane ROI:

(plug these in to play the game of life on easy mode)

1. Walk 5,650 steps/day

Studies show increased feelings of anxiety, depression, and decreased satisfaction for individuals consistently getting fewer than 5,649 steps a day.

The avg American only takes 4,774.

Moral of the story: Step more.

2. Drink salty water

It's basic neurobiology:

You sweat in your sleep.

Your sweat consists of salt.

Your neurons need sodium to fire.

Want to wake up firing on all cylinders?

Drink a glass of water with electrolytes first thing in the morning.

3. Dumb down your smart phone

Your phone is too smart for its own good (and yours).

Dumb down your phone & it'll be less interesting.

If it's less interesting, you'll be less inclined to pick it up when you're bored.

As a result, you might just focus on something important.

4. Tell 3 people you love them every single day

Want more love in your life?

Give more love.

5. Gamify everything

Energy fundamentally changes once we start keeping score.

Find a way to score everything.

Emails.
Laundry.
Walking the dog.
Everything.

6.  Get out of breath everyday for 30 minutes

It takes energy to make energy.

While maybe not technically true, when it comes to your body it's close enough to true.

Act accordingly.

7. Performance review before bed

That which gets measured gets managed.

So how did you do?

Did you win the day?

If not, what went wrong? What can you do differently next time?

This is called learning, and it's how we improve at this thing called life.

***

Hey! If you've been enjoying the content recently, can I ask a favor?

Would you do me a favor and share this with someone you think would find it valuable?

Thank you! Your support means the world to me.

👉 P.S. Join 20k+ subscribers of the Hyperfocused Entrepreneur Newsletter for more content like this:

https://lnkd.in/gjkxs_Cc

Brutally honest advice I’d give my younger (poorer) self.

(this would’ve saved me so much time and heartache)

1. Get a Roommate (or three)

I was in such a hurry to “be an adult” that I jumped into an apartment I thought I deserved (though couldn’t afford).

Living above your means is a trap.

Remember:

The goal is not to look successful.

It is to be successful.

Stop trying to impress people who aren’t even paying attention to you.

Stop dreaming of penthouses and get your ass in the basement to live in the dirt.

Now is the time you're building the foundation of your life.

Cram as many hungry, ambitious young bucks into one apartment as you can get away with…

Live for dirt cheap…

And get to work building your dreams.

2. Forget Dating

You will only attract that which you are… And right now, you’re not all that much.

That’s okay. You’re in building mode.

But in the meantime:

Stop searching for your soulmate and focus instead on becoming the type of person your soulmate would be attracted to.

Finding an amazing partner begins by first becoming the type of person who a great partner would want to be with.

At this point in your journey, that time, energy, and money would be better spent leveling up your experiences, skills, and resources.

3. Ditch the Car, Get a Bike

Move into the heart of a major city so that you’re within 5 miles from everything you could possibly need.

Use a bike or public transportation to get everywhere.

A car is a luxury you can’t afford and don’t actually need.

4. Cancel All Subscriptions (that aren’t helping you make money)

The true savings here isn’t monetary…

The true value in canceling subscriptions like Netflix is that it guards your most valuable asset:

Your Focus.

Listen, you ain’t got much goin’ for ya at the moment… so don’t make things harder on yourself than they need to be.

Ruthlessly eliminate distractions.

Stop turning to entertainment as an escape from your current reality.

You cannot change your circumstances by running away from them.

Turn around, face them, and run towards the storm.

The quickest way out is through.

5. Stop Drinking Alcohol

Alcohol is an expense you can’t afford.

(and I’m not just talking about money here)

The true price of alcohol is the toll it takes on your body and your mind.

Now, I get it… it doesn’t seem like all that big of a deal when you’re young and can recover quickly…

But as a good rule for life:

Avoid things that make you a lesser version of yourself.

There is no upside to alcohol beyond how it makes you feel for a few hours.

It is an anchor around your neck simply making the game of life harder than it needs to be.

Remember:

You’re trying to crawl your way out of the basement… and it’s a long ways up to the penthouse.

Those stairs get a whole lot easier when you drop the deadweight.

***

👉 P.S. Join 20k+ subscribers of the Hyperfocused Entrepreneur Newsletter for more content like this:

https://lnkd.in/gjkxs_Cc

Helping entrepreneurs Maximize their Return on Life. ADHD is my superpower. Turned $7,500 into $80M of real estate, wrote 13 bestsellers, and built a few businesses.

What are the benefits of having a roommate as a young professional?

How can biking benefit young professionals?

3 transformational quotes that can change your life:

1. Choose Your Hard - Jerzy Gregorek

"Easy Choices, Hard Life.

Hard Choices, Easy Life."

Doesn't matter which path you choose...

The struggle is real.

2. Today The Best Day - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Finish every day and be done with it.

You have done what you could.

This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations to waste a moment on the yesterdays.

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."

Time spent worrying about what could HAVE been is stealing time from what COULD YET be.

Don't let yesterday rob you of today.

Stop looking back. Keep moving forward.

3. Control - Kahlil Gibran

"Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it."

To all my entrepreneurs:

You'll never be free until you give up control.

Good luck.

***

Bonus: Unrealized Potential - Abraham Maslow

"If he is to be at peace with himself... then that which man can be, he must be."

This quote changed my life nearly a decadee ago.

Still think about it almost daily.

Hope it serves you as well as it's served me.

You have greatness in you

***

Amazing picture by Pejman Milani

7 bad habits keeping you from the life of your dreams:

(eliminating these will transform your life)

1. Procrastination

More dreams die of inaction than wrong action.

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now." - Goethe

Momentum is the cure to procrastination.

Doesn't even have to be a lot of momentum.

Start small. Get traction. Keep going.

2. Waiting for The Right Moment

People wanting a guarantee of success before taking action fail to understand a simple truth:

Do the work and you MIGHT get the result.

Don't do the work and you DEFINITELY won't get the result.

Inaction is the only thing that produces guaranteed results.

Nothing.

3. Abusing Parkinson's Law

Work expands to fill the time allotted.

To increase output, shorten deadlines.

Problem is for most of us, death is an abstract deadline.

So we give ourselves too much time to chase our dreams.

If only we knew just how little time we actually had, we'd move with so much more urgency.

4. Prioritizing the Wrong Actions

We often confuse being "busy" with being "productive".

But the REAL goal is to be effective.

And being effective isn't about how MUCH you get done.

It's about WHAT you get done.

Stop watering fake plants.

Do the things which will ACTUALLY move you towards your goals, and you'll be amazed how quickly you make progress.

5. Scattershot Focus

The quality of your results is dictated by the quality of your focus.

Multitasking is, by definition, a dilution of focus...

And therefore, a dilution of result.

6. Miscalculating Risk

Risk cannot be avoided.

It can only be managed.

The ones who do not understand this are living the riskiest lives of all.

As a general rule:

The risk of mediocrity is greater than the risk of failure.

7. Impatience

You can't control how long it'll take...

All you can control is what you do in the meantime.

The longer you're willing to wait for a result, the more likely you are to get it.

***

What would you add?

Here's 5 mental models from Chess I used to build my an 8-figure company:

1. Control the Center
2. True Value of a Piece
3. Owning the Initiative
4. Position over Submission
5. The Hardest Move to See

Here's how to apply them to your business...

1. Control the Center

This is a fundamental rule of high level chess.

The player controlling the middle four squares of the board has a massive advantage.

Think of it like the high ground.

From this position your pieces have maximum influence across the battlefield.

As the founder (or general) of your business, ask yourself:

Where is the center of my board?

Identify and control it at all costs.

2. True Value of a Piece

One of the first things you learn about chess is that all the pieces have different values.

Typically, each piece is worth:

Pawn = 1
Knight = 3
Bishop = 3 - 3.5
Rook = 5
Queen = 9
King = Priceless

This is a quick and easy way to calculate who has the stronger army.

Trading a Knight and Bishop (3.0+3.0) is roughly equal to one Rook (5) plus Pawn (1)

Great starting point, but it's just the beginning.

Truth is, the value of a piece is relative to the board dynamics.

Here's what this means for your business:

The value of your people is dependent on where you put them on the board.

Jim Collins famously expressed this as getting the right people on the bus in the right seats.

It's amazing how everything changes when you get this right.

3. Owning the Initiative

It's not always who has the biggest army...

Sometimes, it's about something else entirely.

Something called The Initiative.

The Initiative is determined by which player is dictating the action.

Answer that question, and you can predict with a high degree of certainty who will ultimately arise victorious.

In business, a lack of skill or experience can almost always be overcome with the appropriate amount of gusto.

So move towards your goals with momentum, inertia, and ENERGY.

4. Position over Submission

New players fixate on the checkmate.

Advanced players understand that if you control the position, the checkmates will naturally appear.

I think about this a lot as it pertains to sales and marketing.

Often we go for the knock out punch (or sale) before laying the groundwork.

As a result, sales are WAY more difficult than they need to be.

5. The Hardest Move to Find

Vasyl Ivanchuk famously said:

"The hardest move to find is a knight retreat."

The moves taking us one step back before taking two steps forward are incredibly hard to see not only in Chess, but in Business and in Life.

Intentionally moving away from our goal (firing high maintenance customers, rethinking our entire business plan, or taking our best selling product offline) is so unintuitive that we often never even consider it.

And yet...

Sometimes a step back is, in fact, the fastest way to move forward.

P.S. If you enjoyed this, then check the comments below for a video I think you're gonna LOVE.

I used to believe ADHD was my problem.

The reason I was unfocused, unreliable, and unmotivated... Then one day...

It took nearly 30 years to discover that the cards I'd been dealt weren't the problem...

It was the games I was playing.

See, school and the modern workforce reward mindless compliance...

They teach us to:

• Sit Still
• Face Forward
• Regurgitate the Work

I grew up playing this game (and losing) because I didn't realize there were other games I could play.

Hell, I didn't realize I could even make up MY OWN game.

But when I did...

Everything changed.

I started only playing games where my ADHD was an asset and not a liability.

The result?

I actually started making meaningful progress towards my goals.

If you're ready to play a different sort of game in life, keep these two ideas pinned to the front of your mind:

"Only play games you know you can win."

and

"Only play games worth winning."

***

Yo, give me a follow if you're an entrepreneur obsessed with maximizing your return on life.

This has to be one of the most misunderstood concepts in the world:

(and I say this because I just realized I’ve been thinking about it all wrong)

“Laser-Like Focus”

See, when most of us think about unleashing laser-like focus, we think about the small concentration of light that’s focused on a particular spot.

This powerful amplification of light (or focus) is capable of incredible things, such as cutting through metal or a pesky to-do list.

But the problem with thinking about this aspect of a laser is that it’s the RESULT of what’s come before it…

And unfortunately, most of us don’t actually understand how a laser (or laser-like focus) is even created.

For the longest time I thought a laser was just a highly concentrated beam of light.

Ya know, like when you were a kid lighting paper on fire with a magnifying glass… I imagined that to get a laser you just needed a bigger magnifying glass.

And this is the approach most of us take to the act of “focusing” on an activity.

We believe we just need to “try harder” to condense the focus-beam even tighter.

But that’s not how a laser or your mind works.

So let’s break it down...

First, a definition:

Laser: light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation

But what does that even mean?

Well, imagine a big collection of atoms inside of a box of mirrors.

We’re going to apply enough energy to those atoms so that one of’em eventually squirts out a photon.

Once it does, this stimulates the other atoms to do the same…

(we’re not gonna get into the details of why all the atoms are copycats here… just stick with me)

Alright, so now we’ve got a bunch of atoms emitting light, but instead of letting that light out of the box… we’re going to trap that light between two mirrors and let it bounce back and forth through the atoms.

This energy continually stimulates the atoms and gets them to emit MORE light.

Now, all we have to do is open a little hole in the box and let out our stream of coherent light…

Also known as a Laser Beam.

Pretty cool, huh?

Okay, so what does this have to do with the concept of unleashing Laser-Like Focus?

Well, instead of thinking of focus as the result of concentrating harder…

The better way is to think about how we design our lives in a way that maximizes and directs the flow of our energy towards our desired results.

So there’s two parts to this equation:

1. Maximize Energy

Which we do by pulling the 3 levers of energy which are Sleep, Nutrition, and Exercise.

2. Direct Energy

Which we do by intentionally designing our environments and schedules in a way that coherently organizes our energy in a useful direction.

***

I’ll drop a couple resources below if you want to learn more about the 3 Levers of Energy and designing your environment in a way that’s conducive to unleashing laser-like focus.

P.S. I’m curious, did you find this as cool of a way to think about focus as me or am I just a nerd?

Shared this picture yesterday and the comments blew my mind.

Everybody said:

"He's juicing."

This is Ryan Hall (American Record holder in the marathon).

He took up weightlifting after retiring from running.

Here's why this blows my mind:

First, Ryan Hall is a genetic freak.

To reach the pinnacle of any sport, you kind of have to be.

Second, Ryan Hall has a work-ethic the average human simply CANNOT comprehend.

Again, to reach the pinnacle of any sport, you kind of have to be.

Combine those two traits and you get mind-boggling results (like the transformation seen below).

Now, I don't actually know if Ryan's juicing or not. He had chronically low testosterone throughout his running career, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was on TRT.

But here's why I share this today:

It's very easy to see people at the top of the mountain (whether its business, finance, health, relationships) and assume they cheated their way up.

And hell, in a lot of cases, you're probably right.

But that sort of mindset... that easy dismissiveness of greatness is the product of a small mind.

The result of that mindset is the quiet permission you give yourself to accept mediocrity.

Be better than that.

Fight that most human of urges which reflexively discounts the accomplishments of others to protect our ego.

Be challenged and inspired when you look at greatness...

And when you find yourself atop that mountain someday, and small minds are trying to tear you down from below...

Just remember these words from Emerson: 

"To be great is to misunderstood."


Poor Strategy + Poor Execution = Newbie Fail

Great Strategy + Poor Execution = Ability Fail

Poor Strategy + Great Execution = Judgment Fail

Great Strategy + Great Execution = Practically Unstoppable

***

Shoutout to Thomas Lelievre💡for the incredible image.

I'm a collector of mental models...

But this one is by far my most precious.

It's called The +1 Framework for Decision Making.

Here's how it works:

(bookmark + save this for later)

This framework revolves around something Socrates pointed out many years ago:

"The truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery.

Those who cannot, or will not, govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them."

I had to learn this lesson the hard way when at 28 years old I found myself crushed beneath a mountain of debt and bad decisions.

Now, at the time, I was highly MOTIVATED to change...

But I lacked the Discipline necessary to make myself do the things I KNEW I must do to change my circumstances...

And as a result, I kept losing the battle being fought daily against my own worst enemy:

Myself.

Now, before we can even win the war, we have to understand this person we're fighting.

See, each of us have two-selves:

1. The Biological You
2. The Modern You

The Biological You evolved over millennia with one goal:

Keep you alive long enough to pass along your genes.

This version of you is a powerful foe who wants to keep you zoned out eating Cheetos on the couch while binging Netflix.

It's only goal is to Survive.

But this is a problem for the other you...

Now, the Modern You isn't just interested in survival...

It's wrestling with questions of meaning, purpose, and legacy.

The Modern You's goal is to Thrive, not just Survive.

The problem is that the things which lead to a Thriving Life are not easily accomplished. They require hard-work, energy, sacrifice, and...

Discipline.

And what is Discipline, really, if not the ability to make decisions that'll positively benefit our future-selves?

So with that in mind, developing Discipline is simply a matter of making better decisions.

Enter: The +1 Framework for Decision Making.

At it's core, this framework is all about:

Treating every decision as though it's important.

Imagine standing in a road stretching to the horizon in both directions.

In front of you there are signs spaced equally that say +1, +1, +1.

Behind you, the signs say -1, -1, -1.

Each sign represents a single decision.

And with that decision, you can either make the +1 decision that moves you forward, or the -1 decision that moves you back.

This is The +1 Framework of Decision Making.

Note: It does not matter how important the decision is.

Each decision you make is an opportunity to either move forward or backwards ONE sign. That's it.

The beauty of this framework is that it gives you a lens through which you can treat every decision, no matter how small, as though it were moving you towrds (or away) from your greatest-self.

Because at the end of the day...

It is. 

***

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you got any value from this. I'd love to hear from ya.

I just learned this insane productivity hack from a guy who sold his business for $75M.

It’s called The Hawthorne Effect.

Here’s how it works:

Back in 1932, General Electric's management team was looking for ways to improve worker productivity.

And somebody on the team had a somewhat strange idea:

Maybe workers will be more productive if we make the lights brighter.

Uh... okay...

So they hire a team of researchers to come in and see if bright lights or dim lights had any effect on productivity.

They started by cranking up the lights...

And wouldn't ya know it... worker productivity went up!

Next, they turned DOWN the lights…

(and here's where things get weird)

Once again, worker productivity went up.

Researchers are scratching their heads...

How can productivity improve in all scenarios?

It's a mystery that takes another 20 years to sort out when a guy by the name of John French comes along with a theory...

He thinks the increased productivity has nothing to do with the lights...

And everything to do with the fact that the workers KNEW they were being observed.

And thus was born The Hawthorne Effect, which simply states that people modify their behaviors in response to being observed.

This is kind of a no-brainer, right?

This is why stores nowadays post signs like "Smile, you're on a camera!."

Now, here's how we can use this to become more productive:

Work alongside an accountability buddy.

But if you’re an entrepreneur, a creator, or just work from home…

Where on earth are you supposed to find somebody to work with everyday?

Well, this is crazy, but there's actually an industry forming around the idea of virtual co-working.

FocusMate is one just one example of a company that pairs you with a working buddy.

But there are now YouTube channels forming around "group studying" and "deep work sessions", too.

It's wild, but the research is pretty clear that this can be a powerful (and easy) way to boost productivity.

I'm curious, have you tried virtual coworking?

Let me know your thoughts...


I've pre-sold over $1,000,000 worth of product...

Here's the crazy part:

In most cases, I hadn't even created the product yet.

Here's 3 lessons I've learned about guaranteeing a massively successful product launch:

1. Proving the Concept

I used to spend a lot of time creating products I thought people wanted.

At Escape Climbing, this often meant our team invested months worth of time, energy, and capital creating something we had NO CLUE would actually sell.

More often than not, we were pleasantly surprised and the product sold.

Huzzah! We're geniuses.

But sometimes the product would absolutely flop.

Booh! Our customers are idiots.

Here's the frustrating part:

It wasn't like we weren't doing our market research.

We always went to the customers before launch to get their feedback...

We'd ask:

Is this something you actually want?

Their answer:

Absolutely!

But we learned a harsh lesson:

There's a big difference between wanting a thing...

And wanting a thing bad enough that you'll PAY for the thing.

When push comes to shove, most people won't put their money where their mouth is...

So, somewhere along the way we tried something a bit different:

We just mocked up the product, slapped together some tasty copy, and created a listing on the website to PRESELL the damn thing.

And wouldn't ya know it, we figured out really quick which products were worth pursuing and which were worth abandoning in a dumpster out behind the liquor store... before ever wasting our precious time.

2. Don't Undervalue Your Time

I almost committed a cardinal sin in this launch.

A sin that I always warn my students against.

I offered three pricing tiers of this product.

The top tier involved 1-on-1 time with me...

So I priced it so high I thought nobody would be interested.

I hate coaching 1-on-1.

Thankfully I shared the product with a friend right before launch...

And he saved my bacon.

He told me to double the price of that top tier.

I was skeptical, but took the advice...

And boy am I glad I did...

That top tier still sold out.

Key Lesson:

Don't undervalue your time.

3. Inspiration is Perishable

That's a Navalism (and it's so damn true).

Got an idea?

Take IMMEDIATE massive action.

All of us are guilty of overthinking.

Practically noone is guilty of overexecuting.

It took exactly 1 day from the moment I had the idea for this product to pressing "publish" on the landing page.

Two weeks later we launched the full product (40+ video modules and a LOT of internal tools and resources).

You can overcome so many of your businesses technical weakness with SPEED.

Speed of Decision.
Speed of Execution.

Think less. Do more.

Here's 3 tiny actions you can take TODAY to get ahead of 87% of people:

(there's no excuse to sleep on these)

 Remember:

Tiny actions executed consistently deliver MASSIVE results.

Start with these 3 tiny actions:

1. Track Your Net Worth Daily

If money is a game, then how much you’ve got in the bank account is the score.

And I can’t think of any games where you don’t always know the score at any given moment.

It’s one of the most important pieces of information because it’s immediate feedback as to how you’re doing.

If you don’t know the score, then you can’t really know whether or not your gameplan (or budget) is actually working.

Listen, I used to dread looking at my bank account because I didn’t know what it would show.

Was it positive? Was it negative? Who knows?

But if I never looked, then it wasn’t really a problem, right?

Well, no. Obviously that’s wrong.

You can’t slay the dragons you refuse to look at.

So, regardless of what the account shows, you need to do a daily financial audit.

You can use a notebook or excel spreadsheet, but I’m a big fan of aggregating softwares like Monarch.

Whatever you use, don't overcomplicate this...

Just find a way that works for you to get it done.

2. Create a Daily To-Don't List

Productivity is often less about what you do, and more about what you DON'T do.

All of us have our little time sucks.

Those tiny little distractions that slowly accumulate to become something quite significant.

Maybe that's scrolling X mindlessly or hopping on Reddit.

For me, it's online chess.

Now, I don't know your particular brand of distraction, but you most likely do.

You KNOW what that one activity is that if you were to resist, your focus for the day would be vastly improved.

So do yourself a favor:

Every morning when you're planning out your day, take a moment to create a To-Don't List.

These are the 3 activities you will commit to avoiding during your prime workinghours.

By constantly looking at the enemy, you'll be that much more alert to its presence when it inevitably sneaks into your day.

And it probably will, cause you're only human.

On that note, let's move to our third tiny action:

3. Three to Free

Stop overestimating what you can get done in a day.

This only sets you up for failure.

Instead, create a Micro-To-Do List of 3 items.

I call these my Three to Free.

They are the Three tasks that, if completed means I WIN the day.

Remember:

You get to define what winning the day looks like.

So stop self-sabotaging and give yourself easy wins that create positive momentum you can carry forward each day.

This is MUCH better than looking at your endless to-do list and always feeling like a failure.

***

I laid out two more ideas for getting ahead in life in a video that we released awhile back...

I think you'll get a lot of value from it, so let me know if you want to check it out and I'll send you the link.

3 hours of hyperfocused work a day for 3 months will change your life.

Here's how in 3 steps. 👇

1. Environment Design
2. Gamification
3. Define Winning the Day

Which is the most effective for you?

***

P.S. Give me a follow Anthony Vicino for more content like this.

3 Hours of Hyperfocused Work

If you want to win the money game...

There is simply no skill more lucrative than:

Copywriting

"But, but, but... hasn't AI made copywriting an obsolete skill?"

Not even remotely.

Copywriting is not just a skill to make money.

It's a form of critical thinking that INFLUENCES the behavior of other human beings.

It is one of the highest leverage forms of communications because the end goal is to move another human to take action in alignment with your desires.

Sure, you can outsource the actual writing to an AI...

But if you don't understand the fundamentals of copywriting, then you're only as good as your tool.

Which is to say:

You're no better than anybody else using that same exact tool.

The people who will stand out (and above) are the ones using AI to "multiply" their effectiveness...

Not just "add" to it.

For example, most people will simply add the value of the tool (10) with their own current ability (1) to get a score of 11.

BUT, if you master copywriting AND use an AI tool, then your value (10) is MULTIPLIED by the AIs value (10) to equal 100.

Value will congregate in the hands of the individuals with the most leverage.

Copywriting = Insane Leverage.

Is it becoming obsolete? No.

By not understanding it, YOUR becoming obsolete.

***

Awesome visual from Pejman Milani.

***

P.S. I've used the skill of copywriting to make well north of $10M over the years...

I'm putting everything I've learned about persuasive writing into a 2-hour long video training.

Should be ready in a few days.

Drop the word "COPYWRITING" below and I'll get that to you when it goes live.

My high school economics teacher was 28 years old and fresh out of college.

Nobody had a problem with that, but...

If a successful business owner creates a course based on their hard earned expertise...

Everybody loses their mind and calls them a fraud.

People always say...

"If this thing you're teaching is so lucrative, why wouldn't you just keep doing that thing?"

There's a few reasons:

1. Money isn't the primary motivating factor.

The marginal utility of money decreases beyond a certain point.

2. Teaching is a form of learning.

Learn, Do, Teach is one of my favorite frameworks for mastering a skill.

It's in this sharing that we often discover things about the process we didn't even realize we knew.

3. Teaching is highly scalable.

Let's say your buddy has a skill that makes him $1M/year...

If he offered to teach you that skill and it was guaranteed to make YOU $1M/year... 

Would ya be willing to pay him $1M to teach you that skill?

Of course... and that's because you could use that skill to pay him back within a year and then you could earn $1M every year into perpetuity.

Now, imagine your buddy teaches that skill to 10 people every year...

He's making $10M/year teaching a skill that if he were to go and apply would only make him $1M.

Why?

Because in most cases:

TEACHING is easier than DOING.

Now, here's the really crazy part:

If instead of teaching YOU that $1M skill...

Your buddy decides to hire employees and teach THEM this skill, now they're making him $1M every year they work for him.

So the question is:

Why doesn't he just do that?

Well, here's one big reason:

What got you here, won't get you there.

Your buddy got to where he is because he mastered a particular skill set.

To scale a company with employees, he'll have to expand his toolbox.

And maybe he doesn't want to do that.

Maybe he'd rather just teach people what he knows and then not be accountable to making sure they show up and do the work.

Then again, maybe he HAS done exactly that...

And he's successfully built a machine that's running without him.

This is the ultimate goal for MOST entrepreneurs afterall...

But what exactly do you do when you get there?

Well, maybe you package up what you've learned over the years and start sharing it?

"Yeah, but if you're so financially well off, why charge for it?"

The answer?

I suppose you can tell yourself that nobody values free...

Or that there's no such thing as a free lunch...

But really, it just boils down to this:

Because you can.

Does that make you evil?

No.

It makes you a good business person...

And isn't that EXACTLY the person you want to be learning business from anyhow?

***

With all that said, we're getting closer to launching the Beyond the Apex Accelerator.

A group coaching program for 5 & 6 figure entrepreneurs looking to make the jump to 7 and beyond.

DM me "APEX" to get on the waitlist.

***

Incredible image from Julia Bochis!

Five classes they should've taught in high school:

(these would solve 93% of the problems most adults face)

1. Intro to Adulting

Demystifying Taxes, Personal Finance, and Health Insurance.

2. Fundamentals of Energy Management 

Optimizing your life through Sleep, Nutrition, and Exercise.

3. Principles of Decision Making

How to stop making stupid decisions.

4. Learning 101

Laying the foundation for lifelong love of self-education.

5. Unlocking Creativity

How to intentionally cultivate the most valuable skill in the world.

What'd I miss?

Expensive shit that's worth every single penny:

(part two)

Last time I made a post like this, the internet kind of lost its mind.

(most of it in a good way)

So I wanted to revisit this conversation because the truth is:

Spending money causes me a lot of anxiety.

And this is stupid, because I've objectively won the money game.

But you can't logic your way out of a feeling you didn't logic your way into.

And the truth is whenever I spend money...

A part of me is instantly transported back in time to those years where I was living in a van, pissing in a bottle next to my bed, and having to count out every single penny.

I'm terrified of going back to that place.

Now, despite all that...

There are 4 (expensive) things I've never felt guilty about spending money on.

Here they are:

1. Memories

The best thing money can buy is your Time.

The second best thing money can buy are Memories.

When you talk to old timers at the end of their road about what they regret most...

It's almost always the things they DIDN'T do that they regret most...

Don't make this mistake.

Go do.

2. Health

"The healthy man wants 1,000 things. The sick man wants but one."

You've got one body.

It's all you get (for now).

Take care of it.

Splurge on gyms, personal trainers, organic food, and expensive mattresses.

You're worth it.

3. Growth

Skills are the only investment that pay compounding interest regardless of market cycle.

I'm not sure you can ever spend too much money on skill-acquisition.

But if that threshold does exist...

I'm committed to finding it.

4. Community

If you are the average of the five people you hang out with most...

Then you should be really intentional about who you hang out with.

Problem is, most of aren't necessarily surrounded by the people we're trying to become.

So how do you get in the same room with these people?

Well, typically you've got to pay.

Groups like Hampton, YPO, and EO are almost always a good investment.

***

What are expensive things you'll invest in every single time?

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