Obsession and Skill Stacking Accelerate Mastery Faster Than Talent

Key Quotes

"as a person as an employer as an entrepreneur and as an investor in startups i can tell you the most important thing for your business is the quality of the people you hire the best part is that great candidates are already on linkedin employees hired through linkedin are 30 more likely to stick around for at least a year compared to those hired through the leading competitor and i will tell you that the great thing about linkedin is that you're not just looking at random people you're able to see the people who your friends and trusted peers and colleagues who they trust and who they've hired in the past and who they recommend and hiring doesn't have to be complicated realistically when you have a business to run you don't want to spend hours on hiring you want to hire the right person as quickly as possible that's why linkedin jobs' ai assistant suggests immediately 25 great big candidates daily so you can invite them to apply and keep things moving hire right the first time post your job for free at linkedin com altucher then promote it to use linkedin jobs' new ai assistant making it easier and faster to find the top candidates that's linkedin com altucher post your job for free terms and conditions apply"

James Altucher argues that the quality of people hired is paramount for business success. He highlights LinkedIn as a platform where trusted connections can lead to better hires, noting that employees found through LinkedIn are 30% more likely to stay for at least a year. Altucher also points out that LinkedIn's AI assistant streamlines the hiring process by suggesting candidates, saving businesses time.

"what's worth the best for you because i know super intelligent people struggle a lot with mental health i don't think anything's worth for me really i mean i again on tactical stuff like let's say someone leaves me or i you know then it's sort of like very tactical like you have to you're you're you're incapacitated for a second so you have to block and tackle on just living life so you have to basically get out of bed and eat and and move forward and sometimes that's hard at the lowest points but really the main thing that's worked for me at my deepest depressions is when i am doing something for myself and like thinking will never get you out of thinking bad thoughts you can't think your way into good from bad thoughts to good thoughts you have to do something and then doing things will make you feel good"

James Altucher explains that for him, the most effective way to combat deep depression is through action rather than contemplation. He states that thinking alone cannot resolve negative thought patterns, but engaging in activities, even simple ones like getting out of bed and eating, can lead to feeling better. Altucher emphasizes that doing something, anything, is the key to shifting from a negative mental state.

"so i started writing 10 ideas a day down and then suddenly i notice after like a week or two i wasn't coming up with good ideas but i was feeling good i was feeling better because now my brain was doing something i was exercising my brain so so then it got me to start sharing those ideas with people and then i was doing something and then even though i was just as broke i was no longer depressed and i was able to actually do stuff almost as if i was successful like my brain it did a complete reversal just by putting it to work"

James Altucher describes how the practice of writing down ten ideas daily helped him overcome severe depression. He notes that while the ideas themselves were not initially good, the act of exercising his brain made him feel better. Altucher explains that this consistent activity led to sharing ideas and taking action, which ultimately reversed his mental state, making him feel functional again despite his financial struggles.

"if you're really like trying to succeed at something that no one if you're going for a frontier of some sort like you want to be the best at something you're going to fail like so much and it's going to be depressing and it's going to be like did i just waste four years three years one year at something i really loved and now it's not working or did i just make all this money and then that whole entire time i was making that money and working so hard now it's got zero did i just waste that whole time like those peaks and valleys are really depressing and then of course there's the usual relationship stuff because that's going to happen alongside that as well so if you combine those things that's going to be the worst"

James Altucher discusses the extreme emotional highs and lows that come with pursuing ambitious goals. He explains that striving for mastery or venturing into uncharted territory inevitably leads to significant failures and periods of depression. Altucher points out that these "peaks and valleys" are intensified by the potential loss of time invested and the impact on personal relationships, creating a challenging overall experience.

"look at the people who got wealthy on bitcoin that's because it went from you know 10 to 100 000 like that's not just compounding so so yeah staking's a good idea if you're for some types of businesses if you're like a hedge fund or a mutual fund and you need to generate consistent returns you know the wall street prizes consistency so and dividend yields or staking are good for consistency but even like take ethereum ethereum has if you stake ethereum it's 3 yield so people use more aggressive strategies like they'll they'll they'll stake their ethereum then they'll borrow cash against it to buy more ethereum they'll stake that and that's a loop called a looping leverage strategy where you can start to get like 15 to 20 yeah but you can get wrecked if the price tanks right yeah yeah you're you're you're screwed you get liquidated"

James Altucher distinguishes between wealth creation through significant price appreciation, as seen with Bitcoin, and consistent returns from methods like staking. He suggests that while staking offers a steady yield, it is not the primary driver of massive wealth accumulation. Altucher warns that more aggressive strategies, such as looping leverage with staked assets, carry substantial risk and can lead to liquidation if the asset's price declines.

"i i sacrificed a lot to get early success relationships my physical health was shit my mental health was awful i wouldn't recommend it honestly for most people i barely made it through i was in the er like it was yeah it wasn't fun yeah it's not fun i had panic attacks all the time but what is worth it that is also fun because let's just take even like you know something trivial like stand up comedy or or playing a game or i'm not going to say writing a book but uh they're not none of these things are fun like getting great at something is not fun valid"

James Altucher reflects on the significant personal sacrifices made for early success, including damage to relationships, physical health, and mental well-being, stating he would not recommend such an intense path for most. He questions what is truly "worth it," suggesting that achieving greatness in any field, whether comedy, games, or writing, is not inherently fun. Altucher implies