The Best Pieces Of Advice I Was Ever Given [0:00:00]
When people show you who they are, believe them and don’t expect them to change.
So, a buddy of mine has a friend I’ve nicknamed, The Scorpion.
Over a period of about five years, this guy took advantage of my friend three times.
Where did the nickname come from?
Well, it’s based off the Aesop Fable, The Frog and The Scorpion.
The story in case you haven’t heard it is about a scorpion that wants to get across
a river.
He sees a frog about to cross and he asked the frog, “Can I jump on your back and ride
across the river?”
The frog says, “No, you’re a scorpion.
You’re going to sting me.”
The scorpion says, “Why would I do that?
We both will die.”
Now, the frog being a good fellow says, “Yeah.
That makes perfect sense.”
So, the scorpion jumps on his back and as they are crossing halfway, all of a sudden,
the scorpion stings him.
And sure enough the frog starts to experience paralysis, they are both sinking and drowning
and the frog asked, “Why did you do this?”
And the response of the scorpion is, “I couldn’t help it.
It’s in my nature.”
Now, the point of that story is to reinforce that first piece of advice.
When somebody shows you who they are through their actions, believe them.
[Music] Now, most of these pieces of advice I grabbed
over at Reddit.
That being said, I am sprinkling a few that I’ve received and in fact, if you stick
around until the end of this video, I’m going to share with you guys the best piece
of advice that I personally ever received from anyone.
And to bring a little bit of closure to that first point, my buddy did cut off his relationship
with the scorpion.
He just realized, “You know what?
I got to cut this guy out of my life.
He’s taking advantage of me.
He has a history of just being this type of person.”
And speaking of history, one of the best pieces of advice I received as a young man was history
doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes.
Now, I know that quote has been attributed to a lot of people, but I heard it in high
school from one of my history teachers, [Coach Faulks] and he just talked about how man repeats
the same mistakes again and again.
And I think it was those stories about human nature especially in war that just drew me
into reading and studying all different types of conflicts, all different types of history
throughout the world and trying to really understand human nature and why do we do the
same things again and again and again.
In fact, looking at the current conflict in Ukraine, what we can see is the history in
many ways did repeat itself.
So many people, me, included were surprised when Russia actually did invade Ukraine.
All of a sudden, seeing what’s going on, countries are slow to react.
Are we going to repeat mistakes in the past?
Is this something that we’re going to be able to end the conflict?
And, you know, there’s a lot of human nature that’s playing out here.
There’s a lot of mistrust, there’s a lot of politics and propaganda on both sides.
At the end of the day, though, what we have to do is say, hey, what has happened in the
past and how can we prevent ourselves from making the same mistakes again?
And, by the way, gents, let me be perfectly clear.
Slava Ukraini, I stand with Ukraine, I’m married to a Ukrainian.
That being said, I am against killing on both sides.
I’ve got many friends that are Russian.
I have a whole Russian channel.
I have friends that are Belarusian.
I just hate the fact that right now you’ve got brothers killing brothers over that part
of the world and I really hope that we’re able to learn from history and to solve this
and just stop the fighting and killing quickly.
The next great piece of advice, I love this one.
It’s really simple, don’t do stupid [bleeping sound].
So, this reminds me of one of my favorite business books, The Road Less Stupid.
In that book again and again Keith Cunningham talks about how it’s not all your smart
decisions that are going to make you super successful.
It’s actually preventing yourself from making stupid decisions where you lose everything.
I mean, think about it.
If you can go back in time and change something, oftentimes it’s preventing yourself from
making a stupid mistake like being way over leveraged with debt and all of a sudden, finding
that your pants were pulled down whenever, yeah, interest rates shot up and all of a
sudden, you realized, yeah, I can’t afford this and you lose everything.
Stop assuming, your assumptions are correct.
Now, the way my mom used to tell me this is when you assume, you make an ass out of you
and me.
And I’m just curious, did anyone else’s parents have any actually pretty good sayings
they would say to you again and again as a kid and they still stick with you today?
If so, guys, I want to hear them in the comments down below.
Now, personally, I really like this piece of advice because it’s a warning to people
that think that they’re really smart.
You’ve got a little bit of information, so you think that you’re armed and that
you actually know what is correct.
But, it’s so hard in this world with so much information to truly know what is correct,
what is right, what is the truth, because the truth can actually depending on what your
point of view is.
I mean, again, if you were to see an explosion, you see it from one angle, you see maybe a
certain color of flame.
You see it from another angle at a different point, you see a different color a different
view.
And so, both of you have seen something, but your idea and description of what just happened
what exploded can be very different, but both of you are going to relay what you perceived
to be the truth.
My point here is be careful when you’ve just got a little bit of the information.
When you see things only from your point of view, you make an assumption which could be
dead wrong.
Whatever you do today, the sun will still rise tomorrow.
Life will go on.
Now, this is a great piece of advice, but I think it can be made even simpler.
And that is this too shall pass.
[0:05:03] Now, apparently this one of Abraham Lincoln’s
favorite quotes, but it goes back even further.
Apparently, there was an Eastern sage that actually had this on a ring and it was a reminder
to a sultan that everything is in a sense, temporary.
What I love about this quote is it applies both to times of trial, but also to times
of triumph.
So, you know, if you’re going through some tough times, this too shall pass, it’s going
to reassure you that, okay, we’ll be able to get through this.
But, if you’re on top of the world, it’s also a reminder that this is temporary.
Talk less and listen more.
I’ve also heard it as you’ve got two ears and one mouth, so listen twice as much as
you talk.
Point being is listen, don’t be someone that just opens up and starts talking for
no reason.
And, I’ve taken this to heart.
A lot of people get to know me, I come off initially as a relatively quiet person.
It’s because I’m kind of assessing the situation.
I want to get an understanding.
I like listening to people.
People somehow seem to really like it when somebody is listening to them.
It gives you a big advantage when you learn more about a person and you can let them talk.
It’s, yeah, something I’ve always enjoyed.
I don’t know.
Agree?
Disagree?
Let me know in the comments below.
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Comparison is the thief of joy.
I absolutely love this quote especially in a time when you go online and you see all
these perfect couples, all these perfect families, all these guys with perfect bodies and it’s
intimidating.
You’re like, I don’t have that, I don’t have the job, I don’t have the body I want,
I am not making the money I want, I don’t have the, you know, the cars the luxury goods,
I don’t have the girlfriend.
Guys, don’t let that rob you of the joy that you can experience just living your life.
And I know this is – it sounds from a guy that you may look at and say, “Oh, Antonio,
you always look great in your videos.
You always seem like you have yourself together.”
Guys, I’m just like you and I’ve had many trials and tribulations and I haven’t always
ended up on top and I’m behind in many things that I want to achieve.
And, you know, I try to actually be a little bit more open in my videos talking to you
guys about some of the stuff going on my life.
But, it is something that know that everybody at the end of the day, they are dealing with
issues and you’re not alone and don’t, you know, make your happiness dependent on
what you perceive other people to have because that just is not the path.
And this takes us to the next one, make your own happiness.
I love this one because happiness is not something you find, it’s not something that you explore
the world.
It’s not going to be found in another person.
Yes, you can get some temporary highs and joys, but it’s something that you are going
to have to come to yourself.
If you ever read Viktor Frankl, he talks about this man’s search for meaning.
And I’m a big believer that you shouldn’t be actually seeking happiness.
You should be searching for meaning for purpose, for things that give you deep satisfaction
and then, happiness is going to be a byproduct.
Now, that last one is pretty deep philosophical.
Let’s get really tactical here.
Don’t stick your dick in crazy.
And right with that, don’t think with your dick.
All right, gents, a quick story here.
I was 17 and I was working for the city of Midland Park’s department and I remember,
you know, a couple of young guys were at lunch and this guy, Charles, late 30s, pulled us
aside and he gave us his bit of life advice.
His whole thing was do not fall for the trap of the [meowing sound].
And I was an impressionable virgin at the time, I was all ears.
But, basically he was like, hey, guys.
He had three kids with three different women and he talked about how he gets to keep none
of his paycheck because it’s taken all for his child support.
Now, I’ll admit, it was a pretty crude lesson, but you know what?
It stuck with me and, yeah, if you’re going to be out there having fun, be smart, guys,
wrap it, you know, because you don’t want to bring anything home and you don’t want
to leave anything out there.
Holding a grudge is like letting someone live inside your head rent free.
I don’t know about you guys, but I absolutely love that one.
I’m happy to say, I don’t really think I have any grudges.
That being said, I forgive, but I don’t forget.
Now, this next piece of advice is really undervalued and that is to ask questions until it makes
sense.
[0:10:01] So, I remember in business school, there was
this guy, Collin.
He would sit up at the front and he would ask questions again and again.
And I have to admit, I thought it was kind of annoying until I realized that a couple
of weeks in, Collin was the smartest guy in the class because he was doing his work.
The questions he was asking actually were really good and he made sure that he got what
he needed from those professors.
I mean, so think about it, it worked.
Oftentimes, when nod our heads, we go along with what’s being told to us, but we don’t
truly understand what’s being said and all of a sudden, we got there and we do the work
and we do it wrong.
As a manager as someone that has people work for me, I press hard, ask questions.
I want you to have clarification.
I want you to know exactly what needs to be done.
So, guys, don’t be afraid to ask questions, so that you get the information you need.
If she says no, let her go.
If she breaks up with you, let her go.
I think this is solid advice and it’s a lot easier said than done.
Now, this piece of advice I picked up from a movie, but I still absolutely love it and
that is the only true freedom anyone has is figuring things out for themselves.
Now, can you guess what movie that one is from?
Come on, let me know on the comments below.
I’ll give you five seconds - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
The answer?
Starship Troopers.
Seriously, not a movie I expected to get deep life quotes from, but I keep going back to
that and I love it because it’s one of the hardest things to do, to make a decision based
on the information you have and to go against what everyone is telling you what society
is telling you and realize, you know, it’s my life, I’ve got to make a decision, I’ve
got to make my own choices.
And as promised, the best piece of advice I ever received, I cried because I had no
shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.
So, this apparently is an ancient Persian saying, but my mother told me this all the
time.
We didn’t grow up with much.
And I think that she was always just saying, “You know what?
Be grateful for what you do have because there’s always somebody out there that is in a worse
situation.”
And to this day, I still use that quote.
I love it and it just helps me keep things in perspective when, yeah, I think life maybe
is treating me wrong when it’s not going how I would like.
I just remember, you know what?
There are tons of people out there that would trade with, you know, their situation for
mine.
All right, gents.
So, what video to watch next?
Well, how about we talk about the difference between a leader and a politician?
What’s going on right now in Ukraine, what I love seeing is that we have a real leader
stepping up and I break out Zelensky and basically how this guy is leading his country.
Check it out right here.
It is a solid video.
I’m proud I made it and I think you’re going to enjoy it.
Go check it out, guys, right here.
[0:12:31] End of audio