Stop criticizing (do this instead)

When was the last time you watched a commercial and crinkled your nose and said, To view this email as a web page, [click here]() Today in The Rich Life newsletter: - [What to do when you find yourself criticizing something or someone](#module1) - [The #1 investment you can make](#module2) []When you find yourself criticizing something, do this instead When was the last time you watched a commercial and crinkled your nose and said, “Ugh! That commercial is so stupid!” Or you were looking at a website and said, “This pop-up is so IRRITATING. Why would they ever do that??” Or (this is my favorite) you say, “Why is HBO not making Euphoria easier to get?" Let’s get real. HBO is a lot smarter than you. And if you go through life criticizing companies and people (as 99% of us do, myself included), you miss out on something magical. TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHY THESE PEOPLE/COMPANIES DO WHAT THEY DO! In other words, you can disparage these people … or you can say, “Hey, maybe they know more than I do. What do they know that I don’t?” This is a powerful [Success Trigger](), and one that I’m introducing to you today. Introducing the D-to-C PrincipleWhen I lived in San Francisco, I was surrounded by a lot of engineers. They are brilliant at what they do. But they also often have very curious beliefs about how the world works (aka they’re SURE their worldview is right, even though they’re often wrong). For example, they would crinkle their nose at companies that advertise in Times Square. “So stupid!” they would rant. “They’re just wasting $50k/day in untracked advertising!” And all the other engineers would laugh haughtily. This is crazy! These companies have been around for 100 years. They’re WAY smarter than you or me. Instead of criticizing them … maybe we should try to understand them. What do they know that we don’t? From DISPARAGEMENT to CURIOSITY. It’s easy to laugh at their mistake, yet we ALL do this. Here are a few things I hear a lot... - “Why do they try to get me to sign up for an email newsletter? Email is dead.” - “Ugh, he uses those long-copy pages. Only scammers use long copy.” - “Why don’t they just reveal their price on their web page? If I don’t see a price, I just leave.” [Meme] EACH OF THESE COMMENTS IS UNBELIEVABLY CLUELESS. I know, since I’ve tested each one. Doing just these 3 things has been worth millions for me. Yet these critics are incredibly sure of themselves. Instead of saying, “Ugh! They’re so stupid!” they could have said, “Hmmm … what does he know that I don’t?” From DISPARAGEMENT to CURIOSITY. I went through this experience when I started learning about sophisticated direct-response marketing. I thought all long-copy pages and infomercials were scams. But I decided to set aside my skepticism, study them carefully, see what worked and what didn’t, and decide what was ethical and what wasn’t. And I learned several insights that I never would have encountered … if I’d remained SKEPTICAL. This one mental model — from D-to-C — is an example of a Success Trigger, a “shortcut” you can use to emulate Top Performers. Once I learned this Success Trigger (among others), it changed everything for me. Instead of criticizing car companies, or the local mom-and-pop shop, or even a friend, I forced myself to try to understand WHY they were doing what they were doing (even fucking [Target shoppers]() and [truck owners]()). From DISPARAGEMENT to CURIOSITY. And it’s opened my eyes to all kinds of deep insights I never would have realized if I’d stuck with my old mental model. Listen, I get it — it feels GOOD to say, “How dumb!” (I do it myself, and I have to constantly force myself to go from D-to-C.) But when you have this Success Trigger, it’s truly a mental shortcut you can keep in your back pocket and apply EVERYWHERE. Yes, this principle alone has been worth millions of dollars. But it’s also helped me hone my social skills and become far more empathetic. And this is just ONE Success Trigger! I have 29 others I want to share with you. To get the “vault” of Success Triggers, [click here](). []The #1 investment you can make In my [Success Triggers program](), I talk about the #1 investment you’ll ever make. Can you guess what it is? No, it’s not retirement or savings, though those are certainly important. The #1 investment you can make is in yourself. I recently shared Julia Menez’s story, and I got a lot of feedback on one thing she said. Here it is: “A lot of people are hesitant to invest in anything that has a fee associated with it. We see this in the credit card world all the time, where people will say, ‘Oh, there's a $95 annual fee.’ We say, ‘You’re going to get $2,000 worth of value. Wouldn't you pay $95 to get this $2,000 vacation for free?’ And people are like, ‘Oh, but is it guaranteed that I'm going to find the award space?’” Here’s what she says to those people: “Don’t you believe in yourself enough to get that kind of ROI? … You say to yourself, ‘OK, I've invested in this. I have to actually do the work so that I can recoup that money and build out my business.’” This is the mindset I’ve seen in my most successful students. They invest in themselves and use that as motivation to improve their life, their job, their business, their relationships — everything. I hope you invest in [Success Triggers](). You’ll see immediate results, but those results will compound throughout your entire life. [Signature] WHAT TO DO NEXT JOIN: To get my “vault” of 30 Success Triggers, [click here](). [SIGN UP]() How did you feel about today’s email? [insta]() [Twitter]() [twitter]() [youtube]() [Linkedin]() [podcast]() This email was sent to {EMAIL}. 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