Danny Miranda

for those in pursuit of their highest version

Tuesday Treasure #16: podcast update, listening, Elon Musk’s cold call

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Hey family!

Quick update on The Danny Miranda Podcast… eight episodes have been recorded. Aiming for a launch date of September 16 or 23.

Recording the episodes have been fun and it has made me respect what professional interviewers even more (more on that a littlelater).

It’s certainly not easy. But like anything, the more you do it… the better you’ll get.

And since a friend asked what my goals were with the podcast, I’ll share them with you as well:

Publish 100 episodes.

After 100 episodes, I have the option to stop if I want… but not before shipping 100.

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, let’s get to the treasure!

On Listening

I’ve been thumbing through The Book of Life by Jiddu Krishnamurti. I just started it but it’s clear this man has thought deeply about how we think and what we do.

This has been my favorite quote thus far…

“We do not listen simply; there is always the intervening screen of our own thoughts, conclusions, and prejudices… To listen there must be an inward quietness, a freedom from the strain of acquiring, a relaxed attention… It is only in listening that one hears the song of the words.”

To listen is a form of meditation itself.

You can’t be focused on what you’re supposed to do later today. You can’t be projecting your own thoughts onto the conversation.

You must be fully in the moment.

Larry King: Lessons From Talking To More Than 60,000 People

Here are five tips you can apply today from How To Talk To Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime by Larry King:

  1. Be honest.
  2. The greatest question is “Why?”
  3. Stay open.
  4. Avoid yes/no questions.
  5. To be interesting, be interested.

The Best Video I Watched This Week

Came across this on Twitter.

This dad asked his son, “Why don’t you smile in pictures?”

His son gave a response that made me think.

The son explained that if he’s happy, he’ll smile. But if he’s not in a great mood, he’s not going to pretend to be something he’s not for the sake of a photo.

It made me think about social norms… and how sometimes children have a different outlook because as adults, we get desensitized to the norms of our own culture.

(You can watch the whole video here.)

Specialization vs. Generalization

In seventh grade (age 13), I had a music teacher.

He was talking to the class about his regrets…

“I wish I spent more time devoted to one instrument. If I had any piece of advice, it would be to stick to one instrument and practice it more.”

He was talking about specialization vs. generalization.

Specialization is the idea that in order to become a master at something, you need to do something for 10,000 hours. This has been popularized by Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

It makes sense. It’s easy to remember. But maybe it’s not the whole truth?

You see, I’ve been reading Range: Why Generalists Triumph In A Specialized World by David Epstein.

Epstein makes the case that that we are better off pulling from seemingly unrelated fields before specializing in one.

He uses the example of Roger Federer – whose childhood sports included skiing, basketball, badminton, wrestling, and skateboarding. Federer credits his exceptional hand-eye coordination to playing all these sports.

Interested to get your perspective… where do you weigh in on the generalization vs. specialization argument?

Elon Musk’s Spectacular Cold Call

Elon Musk called rocket expert Jim Cantrell with a proposition: help me acquire Russian rockets.

Here was the actual transcript…

Let’s take a quick moment to analyze this…

First, here are my credentials (“I’m Elon Musk, I’m an internet billionaire”).

Second, here’s what I want (“humanity needs to become a multi-planetary species to survive”).

Third, here’s how you could help me (“I want to save humanity and need your rockets”).

It’s short. Simple. Succinct. Either you’re going to help him or you’re not. But neither party is going to waste time.

Maybe something to keep in mind as you’re reaching out to people?

As always, respond back with your favorite piece of treasure from this week!

To your success,

Danny

Total Focus by Brandon Webb and John David Mann

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Amazon.com: Total Focus: Make Better Decisions Under Pressure eBook: Webb, Brandon, Mann, John David: Kindle Store

Link (Amazon)

A former Navy SEAL sniper’s experiences in business, war, and training. Practical, real world examples. Loved how the writing acknowledged Webb’s own flaws and failures as well as his massive successes.

  • Front sight focus is that state of intense concentration in which all your resources and abilities are brought on a single intention… everything else blurs and disappears
  • Single core principle for success in business: choose one thing, focus on that one thing, and execute it to the absolute limit of your abilities.
  • Cold bore lesson – each day is a single bullet
  • Two common traits of top performers: complete and total confidence (“I will win no matter what”) combined with rigorous, consistent, meticulous mental rehearsal (“and this is exactly what it will look like and feel like”).
  • On self talk
    • You create complete and total confidence via self-talk
    • People give themselves excuses before they start and while they are performing so they can decide to quit
    • They quit because they decided to
    • We are all talking to ourselves all the time. Why not do it intentionally?
  • Failing sniper school because you wipe the sweat from your brow… A little sweat and discomfort is no reason to lose your focus
  • Stay on purpose
  • Figure out your number – the amount of money you’re aiming for. Would you pull a trigger without knowing where you’re shooting?
  • People sometimes you train like to hell to become a Navy SEAL. The truth is you you train like hell to become a SEAL, and then you start training. The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.
  • Develop the habit of knowing more than you think you need to know.
  • Illusory superiority – everyone thinks they’re above average
  • First year in business, Brandon lived like a monk – monk mode.
  • When you hear, “this is the way things are always done”… don’t believe it. It’s always suspect
  • “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” –General George Patton
  • Velocity is speed plus direction. Not just fast action, but directed fast action
  • In business, the enemy is not the other company. It’s your own mediocrity and complacency
  • Given the choice between doing something or sitting there, SEALs always favor taking action
  • If you want to change the world, make your bed. Captain William H. McRaven
  • Action This Day. Develop The habit of doing it now. Refuse to let yourself procrastinate.
  • Confidence + open-mindedness
  • Often you gain from failures and crisis.
  • When running large scale Facebook ads… have a backup.
  • Everything is a test run (Amit)
  • Excellence means excelling. Everything everyone else does, you strive to do it better, faster, sooner, more efficiently, more effectively, more reliably, more consistently, with greater results. You take on the job at hand and do it to the limit of human possibility… and then do it better than that.
  • Want world changing success? Be excellence.
  • “Improve constantly” is a mantra that needs to be at the core of you.
  • Under pressure, you don’t rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training.
  • The supreme art of war is subdue the enemy without fighting
  • You need to surround yourself with the right environment, whether that means building that environment around you or moving to where it already exists. If you want to perform at a certain level, you have to put yourself in that environment that exemplifies that level.
  • “Excellence matters in everything you do, not only in fitness, but in everything. The food you eat, the clothes you wear, the music you listen to. The shows and films you watch. The words and sentences you speak. The quality of your relationships. You should be a connoisseur of greatness.”
  • If you’re living a mediocre life and you get rich, all that extra money will buy is more mediocrity. Excellence isn’t a means to an end. It’s simply a way of life.
  • Simple business lesson from a restaurant owner worth taking seriously: Take care of the guests, take care of your people; growth and profits will follow.
  • “I will not quit.”
  • It’s not just about getting through hard times. It’s about welcoming them
  • A genuine commitment to excellence is impossible without a deep appreciation of pain and failure
  • When people say you can’t do that, what they’re saying is they couldn’t do it. Obstacles are there to show how bad you want it
  • “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” –Winston Churchill
  • Take it one piece at a time. If you look at everything at once, you can get overwhelmed. But breaking it down into small pieces, it becomes manageable.
  • One team, one fight. No man or woman is an island.
  • Four core values at Hurricane:
    • People First
    • Honesty and Integrity
    • No Limits
    • Give Back
  • Take the interview seriously.
  • Interview questions to ask
    • What you do if the decision maker on your biggest account asked you to lie for him?
    • Do you believe in aliens?
    • What keeps you up at night?
  • A team with average ability but great chemistry will win out ver a team with extreme talent but lousy chemistry
  • You can’t fake authentic caring
  • Learn to listen to your gut instinct, but don’t necessarily trust your first impression. People can surprise you.
  • Genuine gifts > bonus money
  • Business is about helping people.
  • You have to earn your title every day… and every day is a new opportunity to.
  • Talk to your people.
  • Figure out what your mission is.
  • “Success requires no explanation; failure permits no alibis.”
  • If you don’t define where you’re going, you’ll drift like a stick in a river and go wherever the current takes you.
  • Never confuse your own preferences for the markets.
  • A good leader isn’t one who always has (or thinks he has) the answers. A good leader is the one always asking questions and being smart about looking for the answers.
  • “I don’t understand, please explain” is not a sign of weakness, it’s a demonstration of open-mindedness, intelligence, humility, and fearless leadership
  • None of us is as smart as all of us.
  • Having an entrepreneurial spirit simply means you make something happen.
  • Personal Vision Statement
    • I live an adventurous and meaningful life. I value time as my most precious asset and use it wisely. I plan my life and live my plan.
    • I speak candidly and respect people’s views and choices. I don’t fall prey to certainty. I lead by example.
    • I stay physically fit and eat healthy. I set challenging goals and achieve them. I never give up, and I know the difference between failing and quitting.
    • I see fear and adversity as necessary opportunities to grow and learn. I am always striving to learn and improve myself as a father, friend, son, companion, and business leader to my team.
    • I am leaving the world a better place.
  • You’ll fail, probably more than once. That, too, is not only inevitable. but a positive force, guiding and propelling you forward. Failure seems to be a necessary ingredient in the humility and wisdom it takes to succeed greatly.
  • Man In The Arena
  • Further Reading
    • The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli
    • The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding by Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela

How To Get Others To Do What You Want Them To Do

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Have you ever noticed it’s hard to force someone to do something?

If someone orders you to drink water, you resist. But if someone leads you to the stream, you think to yourself, “Might as well have some water.”

People often want to get their loved ones to workout or to read or to meditate.

So here are a few ways you can convince others to do what you want them to:

Be the example. It’s hard to convince someone to do something. It’s easier to show them with your actions.

Be kind, compassionate, and open-minded. People who are kind, compassionate, and open-minded have a higher likelihood of getting people to do what they want. Because they’re coming at the problem on the same team as you as opposed to an enemy.

Be a good listener. If someone listens to us, we feel understood. We want to help those who listen to us. And if you can listen to others well, people will more likely follow your suggestions.

Ask, not tell. Telling someone what they should do is the quickest way to get them to not do what you want them to do. So instead ask or suggest. There are many ways to frame the question. Start your question with “Would it trouble you…” or “Is there any chance you could…” This lets the person know you’re thinking of their feelings. In the end, we all really care about our own feelings first.

Avoid the word “should.” There’s nothing we recoil at faster than someone telling us how we should live our lives. We stop listening when people think they have a better idea than us. (Example: “Have you considered…” instead of “You should…”)

Make it easy. Our environments play a critical role in what we do. So, in order to get someone to do what you want, get them in the environment you want them in. Then ask. (Example: If you want someone to do the dishes, don’t ask them while they’re laying in bed. It seems like too much effort. Instead, ask them to do the dishes while they’re in the kitchen.)

A State of Absolute Love

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I am running on two hours of sleep as I type this. I hardly ate all day. But I am in a state of absolute love.

It all started when my plane landed.

My brother said he’d pick me up from the airport. He said he’d bring food too! Damn, I was excited. I hadn’t eaten all day. I was starving. But he was nowhere to be found.

Time passed.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

It started to rain. I waited, looking at the beautiful cloudy sky.

Fifteen minutes.

Twenty minutes.

I call my brother, “Is everything okay?” Yes, he says. He made the wrong turn. He’ll be there in ten minutes but no food. 

“Sounds great,” I tell him.

Thirty minutes pass.

He shows up.

I get in the car. And I smile.

Three years ago, I would have been angry at my brother. “Fuck you for being late!”

Two years ago, I would have been upset with my brother. “How could you let me down?”

Last year, I would have been passive aggressive. “Great job, pal!”

Today, just love. Love that I was going to see my brother. Love that I was loving myself. Love that I made incredible progress. Love that I had control over my mind. Love that Tej believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. Love that I even existed at all when the universe could be made of absolutely nothing. Love for the experience of floating in the clouds on an airplane. Love to be home with my family. Love for life. 

Love for my brother. To be able to give him all the tools he needs to be happy.

Love for my family. To be able to spend time with them.

When you are full of love, you want others to be love too. You want to see everyone win.

You see, most of the time we’re operating with clouds over our thoughts. What clouds our thoughts? Fear of death. Fear of what our boss will say. Fear of rejection. Scrolling too long on social media. Anyone with negative energy. 

Anything can cloud our thoughts, really. It can be as simple as our monkey mind running wild because someone sent us a passive aggressive text or someone looked at us the wrong way. But why?! Life is too short to be unhappy.

You can choose happiness at this moment. You can choose to love yourself.

Simply repeat, “I love myself” ten times in a row. Do this for a month straight. You might think you sound so damn stupid at first. You’ll be like, “Why am I saying this?” Like it can’t actually change your life. It can’t actually make you happy.

But it worked for me.

I have been doing this for approximately three months. Once a day, at least ten times.

And is it part of the reason why I feel absolute love and joy? It has to play at least a small role in my happiness.

I believe I brainwashed myself.

I know this sounds like nonsense. I know you might not believe me. I know it doesn’t even make sense. 

That you can say “I love myself” and you actually feel love? You can actually “be” love? Sounds like a bunch of hokey-pokey nonsense.

But the weird thing is “I love myself” came first. I started doing this practice after reading Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It. 

On April 7, I started writing daily. On April 14, I started reading daily. On May 17, I started meditating daily. All the while, I’ve been posting, engaging, and trying to be helpful to anyone I can. Trying to be a light in the world. Spreading love to friends and family. Being the person who others can turn to. Being the person that I can turn to myself.

Messing up from time to time and loving myself for the mess ups, too. But staying consistent. Staying disciplined. Staying on the path.

And loving myself.

Written on May 28, 2020.

Tuesday Treasure #15: archer, challenge, imaginary kids

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Hey family!

Welcome to September.

Let’s make it an excellent month.

No time to waste… let’s get to the treasure!

The Armless Archer

Matt Stutzman was born without arms.

2009 was a rough year for him.

Father of two. No job. Unable to provide for his family.

He felt ashamed of himself.

He wanted to put food on the table. So he went out and hunted a deer (he’s from Kansas, after all).

This gave him some hope. It made him feel good. It was a small win.

From there, he realized how good archery made him feel. He started practicing with his bow-and-arrow.

Today, he is a world-class archer. He recently set a world record for longest accurate archery shot. He won a silver medal in the Paralympic Games in 2012.

What changed?

He made the choice to become better every day.

A Challenge For You

New Tuesday Treasure family member Jack introduced me to a video called The Perceptual Capacity of the Heart by Adyashanti.

The premise of the video:

“What if you spent an entire day encountering everyone and everything from your heart?”

Yes, it sounds cliche.

But if you actually do it?

It’s transformative.

Could you answer the phone with love? Could you smile at the next stranger you see? Could you do what your heart felt was right… for one whole day?

It’s an interesting experiment that could likely change our lives if applied daily.

Why Kindness Matters

As it turns out, Adyashanti’s experiment has recently been studied in the real world.

The question is: “Does it even matter if you say hello to a stranger?”

Well, it turns out it does.

A new study came out that concluded you can improve a stranger’s subjective well-being by small, kind gestures:

“the present research showed that something as simple as saying ‘have a nice day’ or ‘take care’ to a stranger is linked with greater subjective well-being…minimal social interactions with strangers contribute to subjective well-being in everyday life.”

Filed For My Imaginary Kids

Parents usually get mad when people who don’t have children tell them how to do their job.

Tuesday Treasure subscriber Shelby Smith is not a parent.

Yet, her friends who are expecting asked for her advice on how to raise their little human.

After reading her article, I can understand why.

It’s really good advice.

Here were some of my takeaways, but you should definitely check out the article for yourself…

  • Parents should be a unit. They must be on the same page and act as a team.
  • Hold strategy meetings. Meet with child twice a month to discuss the child’s concerns, performance, and strategy about how you’re parenting.
  • When your child asks a question, respond with a question to help them figure out the answer on their own. This will help the child develop the habit of seeking truth rather than “being right.”

(This article inspired me to keep a file of articles and resources “for my kids” – who are currently imaginary.)

Conor McGregor’s Iron Mindset

Conor McGregor has achieved incredible success in the past decade.

But what did he say before he was one the most recognized names in sports?

I found an interview from 2012 that spills his secrets (age 24):

Q: What do you want to be?

A: I don’t want to be anything. I am everything I want to be. And I’m already there. I don’t want anything. People say, “I want to do this or I want to do that.“ But the vibe you’re putting out is “want.” You’re always going to want. I always have the attitude that I have. I always felt like I was the black belt. I always felt like I was the world champ… I don’t want everything. I have everything.

What if you acted and operated as if you already had what you desired? Not from a place of lack but a place of knowing it was already yours?

If you want to learn more about Conor’s toolkit for success, check out this article I published yesterday.

Introducing: The 75 HARD Group

If you’ve followed me for anytime, you know 75 HARD changed my life.

And so this past week, I thought…

“I would love to do 75 HARD with a community. I wonder if anyone would join me?”

So I put that out on Twitter.

As it turns out, there were a lot of people who were game.

There is now a Slack group with more than 50 people. Many of us are starting the program on September 18, but a few have started before.

If you want to be involved or want more information, just reply to this email!

As always, it’d mean the world to me if you hit reply and told me about your favorite piece of Treasure this week.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

To your success,

Danny

Conor McGregor’s Toolkit for Success

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Conor McGregor has accomplished some pretty incredible feats in the past decade:

  • Become the UFC’s first champion in two weight classes (“double champ”).
  • Switched sports at the peak of his career (mixed marital arts to boxing and back).
  • Created an international whiskey brand (Proper 12).

So what got Conor McGregor from where he was – an apprentice plumber – to today?

If only there was a way to see Conor’s thoughts before he became one of the world’s most recognizable athletes…

As it turns out?

We do.

McGregor was 25 years old when he tweeted the following:

He outlined the process by which he was improving. And you can follow it too.

Let’s break it one-by-one…

Isolation

Isolation is to be by yourself.

Why does it help to be by yourself? No distractions. This is an important point. Conor makes sure to reiterate by saying “NO OUTSIDERS” at the end of his tweet.

Why is isolation a positive?

“I feel being alone with your thoughts is a good thing. It allows you to figure things out for yourself.”

Visualization

To visualize is to imagine where you want to be.

McGregor is an avid visualizer, who has predicted numerous knockouts.

He even got the moniker “Mystic Mac” for his eerily accurate predictions. For example, before UFC 194, McGregor noted he would knockout Jose Aldo in less than 60 seconds in the first round. It took him just 13 seconds.

How does Conor do it?

“If you have a clear picture in your head that something is going to happen and a clear belief that it will happen no matter what then nothing can stop it. It is destined to happen. It’s perfect.”

McGregor has spoken in depth about his visualization techniques:

“I keep having vivid dreams of success. Then it’s time to sleep.”

“Everything I’ve been thinking, every vision, even down to every shot I throw, it just ends up here in reality. Whether it was in a fight and how to react or whether it was in a stadium with screaming fans or whether I was in a fancy car or the best clothes ever, I always put myself somewhere.”

Motivation

If you’re by yourself (isolated) and you’re thinking about where you’re going (visualizing), you’ve got to be motivated to take action.

“It’s just about commitment. You put in the work, you’ll reap the rewards. There’s no secret sauce to this. Recognize what you need to do and do it and you will succeed.”

You’ve got to be doing, in this moment, what will take you to where you want to go.

Dedication

You’ve got to be fully committed to the process. All in. No slacking off. No question about if you’re committed or not.

There’s no talent here, this is hard work. This is an obsession. Talent does not exist, we are all human beings. You could be anyone if you put in the time. You will reach the top, and that’s that. I am not talented, I am obsessed.