# Workplace Surgery: success - logic or manifestation?

- **Episode:** [107](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/107.md) (2024-06-18)
- **Type:** workplace-surgery
- **Tags:** success, logic, manifestation
- **Time:** 36:06–41:32 (start 2166s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/107?t=2166](https://truthliesandwork.com/107?t=2166)

---

[36:06] Leanne Elliott: So, this listener says, I've been learning about successful people like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Larry Ellison. They all seem to think and make decisions using logic and first principles. But on YouTube, business gurus talk a lot about things like manifestation, fake it until you make it, and personal development. What do you think about these different ways of becoming successful? What has been your experience?
[36:32] Al Elliott: This is a bit of an interesting one because, um, my first business I started and I didn't have a clue what I was doing. Then I went bankrupt, and then I still didn't have a clue what I was doing, and I also had no money. So it was very much my second business. I kind of had to fake it a little bit till I made it. But you've got to be careful with that because you don't want to be faking it to the point where you're, you're hiring, you know, you're renting a car, a Rolls-Royce or a BMW to turn up at a client's appointment, because that's just going to come across as inauthentic. I think the disparity you're seeing potentially is that The there's some people who use the fake it till you make it manifestation, etc., etc. They're trying to change your mindset around success, whereas and that's a strategy. Whereas you talk about the Bezos and all the people who have made it, they talk very logically. They're talking about tactics and tactics of success. And so I think that you will start off with the strategy, and then as you as you get better, more and more successful, then you will end up concentrating on the tactics. So if you're starting from zero, then you need to make sure, first of all, you've got a good attitude towards money, because a lot of people will inadvertently use, uh, use phrases like money's the root of all evil or filthy rich, and they don't realize that they're actually telling themselves that those people who have money are filthy. Money's filthy. You be careful around that because you're gonna make sure that you, that you feel like you are worth someone giving you some money. And that's the first sort of mindset to get over. Then the next mindset to get over is that, or to adopt, is that you can do it. And that's where your manifestations might come in. Now, I did use manifestations and Tony Robbins and stuff when I was flat broke on my backside with no money. And yes, it did help, but I don't use them now. So I think just try it. I think really when we talk about manifestations, it's not you sitting in a chair cross-legged Um, you know, just saying, or like my joke at the beginning going, you're a tiger. It's nothing like that. It's just trying to slightly change your mindset and give you the confidence. If you were to start running, you wouldn't go and watch a YouTube video on how Usain Bolt runs and do the same thing as him. You would start at— you would, you would go and watch a YouTube video on how to start, how to run your first 1K, how to run your first 5K. You're not there. Don't compare yourself to this up here who's a billionaire. Compare yourself to someone who's doing 100 grand a year
[38:51] Leanne Elliott: Yeah
[38:51] Al Elliott: who's doing half a million a year, and then just continually move up the scale so that whoever you're looking at comparing yourself to, whoever you're thinking you're emulating, is probably 10 times what you're doing at the moment, not 100,000 times. Leanne, did I ramble a bit there?
[39:05] Leanne Elliott: No, I think that was a really good point. I love that if you're learning to run, you wouldn't look to Usain Bolt for tips. Um, I think that's a really smart point. I think the thing is, you know, we can probably name these tech leaders on one hand, The ones that we can remember and we've heard of because they're sensationalized and talked about all the time, because it is rare to see these founders go from zero to multi-billion pound businesses. Um, so I think that's the point, isn't it? It's atypical. So looking at that as your blueprint for success is problematic. I would be more inclined to figure out who inspires you. Personally, I don't find Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg particularly inspiring. Um, but I find Adam Grant quite inspiring. I find John Amici pretty inspiring. Um, I find the people that we have on our podcast inspiring, different leaders, um, that, that come on. Um, because I think it's cool. Jeff just last week talking about, you know, paying all of his staff $210,000 a year. I find leaders like that inspiring. I think it's just that, that idea that, oh, if I want to be successful in business I need to aspire to be this person on a pedestal. And it's like, no, just, just— I think the best role models or the best people that inspire us are that we just take little bits from, little lessons on, and then we create— we use that to create our own approach and our own style and our own definition of success. And that's sustainable, um, in my eyes. But, um, good advice there, I think, Al
[40:29] Al Elliott: And I think, well, lastly, just to throw that in there, if we are talking about Usain Bolt, then if, you know, Usain Bolt's diet I bet Usain Bolt doesn't eat much ice cream. And so what I'm trying to say is that if you want to be a Bezos, then you'll have all the good, but you're also going to have all the bad, potentially very costly divorce. Doesn't seem like a particularly happy or confident human being, has given up his entire life and his hairline to his business. So what we're talking about there is that you can't say, oh well, I want all of his money, but I also only want to work 2 or 3 days a week. You've gotta choose. It's a, you can't just pick and choose from the famous people of all the stuff you want. There's gonna be sacrifices and you've gotta ask yourself, are you willing to make that sacrifice to get that reward? And it's okay to say no. Leanne and I have both said, said all along, we're not willing to make the sacrifice. So therefore, there's no point thinking about the reward that if, that if we did that particular thing, we'd get. No, not interested. So that's a really grown-up way of looking at it. I'm sorry. Hopefully that was the answer you were looking for. For. If it wasn't, then let us know