There’s many facets, but some core tenets are to be highly focused, highly committed, and increasingly efficient in efforts to make a goal (in the right direction) happen.
The idea I’m thinking of explicitly here though is scaling this definition to hold increasing amounts of leverage over time. To put it simply, your continued highly focused, efficient, and effective work leads to a system where more work gets accomplished overall, and the time that you put in accomplishes much, much more.
John Paul DeJoria: Born to immigrant parents in Los Angeles, DeJoria faced early adversity when his parents divorced, leading him to live in a foster home at age two. By nine, he was selling newspapers and Christmas cards to help support his family. After periods of homelessness and working odd jobs like janitor and door-to-door shampoo salesman, he co-founded John Paul Mitchell Systems in 1980 with just $700. Later, he launched Patrón Tequila, revolutionizing the premium tequila market. His net worth stands at around $4 billion, per Forbes, a testament to his self-made journey.
Someone want to break the bad news to this guy that it’s not 1980 anymore and hasn’t been 45 years? You cannot become a “self made” billionaire in 2025 because the current billionaires want that money for themselves. Keep drinking the kool-aid like the billionaire class wants though, it’s how they make more money off of your back.
How would you define accomplishing stuff and what do you mean by accomplishing more? Does selling something to someone count? Does creating something for your own use count? Does creating entertainment for other people count? Does doing something to better your mental health count? What about doing something to better another persons mental health? Does selling an addictive product count?
How do you define work?
There’s many facets, but some core tenets are to be highly focused, highly committed, and increasingly efficient in efforts to make a goal (in the right direction) happen.
The idea I’m thinking of explicitly here though is scaling this definition to hold increasing amounts of leverage over time. To put it simply, your continued highly focused, efficient, and effective work leads to a system where more work gets accomplished overall, and the time that you put in accomplishes much, much more.
Can you give a practical example of how someone can start with no money, and “work” their way up to $1B?
John Paul DeJoria: Born to immigrant parents in Los Angeles, DeJoria faced early adversity when his parents divorced, leading him to live in a foster home at age two. By nine, he was selling newspapers and Christmas cards to help support his family. After periods of homelessness and working odd jobs like janitor and door-to-door shampoo salesman, he co-founded John Paul Mitchell Systems in 1980 with just $700. Later, he launched Patrón Tequila, revolutionizing the premium tequila market. His net worth stands at around $4 billion, per Forbes, a testament to his self-made journey.
Someone want to break the bad news to this guy that it’s not 1980 anymore and hasn’t been 45 years? You cannot become a “self made” billionaire in 2025 because the current billionaires want that money for themselves. Keep drinking the kool-aid like the billionaire class wants though, it’s how they make more money off of your back.
Selling newspapers is an example of work.
“Co-founding” is spending money and “launching” is a concept. What work did he do?
How would you define accomplishing stuff and what do you mean by accomplishing more? Does selling something to someone count? Does creating something for your own use count? Does creating entertainment for other people count? Does doing something to better your mental health count? What about doing something to better another persons mental health? Does selling an addictive product count?