Dr James, 8s:

I just wanted to share a little bit of wisdom that I picked up recently, and it's the philosophy of who, not how. Now, people who have been around me and have been close proximity to me over the last few months have heard me say this countless times, but I've never actually made any content around it. So here is my official broadcast of the world about this philosophy, with this really cool concept, and then, because those that are close to me, I've probably officially got tired of me raving about this a long time ago, I am going to officially minimise the amount of time that I spend talking about it, even though it's really really, really powerful, but I did want to share this with the podcast community before that time arose. So, what is the who, not how, philosophy? The who, not how philosophy? Is the philosophy that, instead of you're asking yourself how can I get this done, how can I achieve this task, how can I complete this objective, why not think to yourself instead who can help me complete this objective? Really cool, different way of thinking. And every time you catch yourself saying, how do I do this? If you replace it with the phrase who can help me do this, then you actually get to where you want to go and you get there much faster and smoother as well, which is the coolest thing. Now, where did this philosophy come from? Well, I can't say that I made it up myself. I actually got it from a book. The book is called who, not how. The book is officially written by a guy called Dan Sullivan, but here's the kicker because he's such a believer in that philosophy, it turns out that he actually asked a professional writer to be able to construe his thoughts in the medium of a book because obviously he's better. His main skill set is talking, so obviously for him, the best way to convey his message is via or rating. However, because writing is not necessarily his main skill set, it would have been better for him to be able to get somebody else who's skilled in that arena to be able to manifest his thoughts via that medium for him. So the kicker is that when you get to the end of the book, he reveals that actually he asked someone else to be able to articulate his thoughts in the medium of word, the medium of written word for him, which is a little bit of a little bit of an interest. In fact, I'm not so annoyed whenever you arrive at the end of the book. Spoiler alert hashtag spoiler alert publish. It said that at start, but anyway, it's not a big deal. But the thing about it is Dan is such a believer in the who, not how philosophy that when he realized that he needed a book to convey his thoughts, he went about getting a who for himself. He went about getting a who and he got this other author into write his book because he realized that he'd be much better at it than him. Because Dan would have to spend a lifetime learning that skill set as well if you wanted to make a really, really, really good book, and it would have been easier for him just to get the right person. So Dan very much embodies this who, not how philosophy, even in so far as even write down to the level that he's prepared to get other people to write his own book, write the books that are conveying his thoughts. They're not even from his own fair hand. They are from his fair mouth, but not from his fair hand, because he knows that it's going to get a better result. So what is the who, not how philosophy? Let's flesh it out in even more details. So, like I say, it's the principle that, instead of thinking to yourself, how am I going to do this, you think to yourself who can help me do this? Because you can get there much faster. Because the principle lies in the fact that life is about outputs and not necessarily inputs. Now let's think about this for two seconds. Let's talk about some of the concepts are in the book. So Dan makes the point. In order for you to get really skilled and competent at something, it's about man hours. It's about putting the effort in. It's about putting the labour in to get yourself to a point where you're incredibly proficient or skilled at something. It's a little bit like this if you want to be muscly, you got to go to the gym. You got to keep doing it over and over and over again. To get good at dentistry, you got to put the wraps in. You got to treat the patients. You got to do the exams, you got to do all of the things that you need to in order to be the best dentists that you can possibly be, you got to go in the courses, etc. So here's the thing you got to put the wraps in. Now, if you want to get really, really, really good at dentistry, think about the level of wraps that you need to put in. Think about the level of effort that you need to put in, and the same is true for virtually every single other professional in the face of this earth. So the thing about it is for you to be able to undertake other tasks in your life that lie within other professions. You can either learn how to do it yourself or you can just get other people into your life and hire them and use some of the proceeds that you generate from your dental work to be able to do that. Now, what you're doing, whether or not you realize it, is you're actually embodying and utilizing the who, not how, philosophy, because you're hiring other people who have more skills in a certain area to be able to do a job for you. So you know that you can get the outcome much faster. Here's the thing. Why do we do that in certain areas of our life and not in other areas of our life? So, for example, let's say that somebody wants to create a learning platform. Let's say that somebody wants to design a website. Let's say that somebody wants to have a mechanic for the car user all examples of certain areas that we may wish to try to do it ourselves. And here's the thing. We can probably do it and maybe there's a little bit of a fun factor there. But really, if we're thinking about it in the greatest and most ultimate level of efficiency, then wouldn't it just be easier to hire somebody else? Wouldn't it just be easier to get somebody else in to do that for us? Those are some obvious examples. Let's apply to other areas of her life. Let's say that there is someone out there, for example, who has started the dental practice. Let's say some. There is somebody else out there who's created the exact type of business that we want to create. Now there's two ways we can figure out how to run that business to the highest level. We can either go do your time in the trenches, do your ten years figuring out how we can get our dental practice to run at the most optimal level, testing things out, or we can just get a mentor and accelerate that journey. Now, in my opinion, a lot of people have a huge hang up on putting their money, their hands in their pockets, as in forking out and paying a mentor, paying somebody who has that skill or knowledge or ability. But if you think about it, here's an interesting philosophy. There's only really two ways that you can pay for something or pay for knowledge. You can either pay with time or you can pay with money. Now, if that journey is going to mean that it takes me ten years to get the same level of knowledge, or I can effectively pull that knowledge forward from the future by giving some money even if it's a premium to somebody who has done it all for me, then that is something that I'm willing to do all day long. The number of times that me personally, I've invested in mentors and it is handsomely, handsomely, handsomely made returns for me and brought so much more amazing things into my life and brought so much more wealth into my life In certain areas of my existence well, it's just been worth it virtually every single time. And the thing about it is you can, if you get the right mentor, actually indirectly make them order or directly, indirectly or directly make themselves accountable your results, and those are the people that you want to leap out all day long. Because I figured myself right okay, I can spend ten years to try to get this knowledge, or I can just invest in this person and pay a premium and have the knowledge right here, right now, today. Now, the cool thing about this is, as we know, the concept of compounding is a function of two things the sooner we get the not the sooner we get something the sooner that we apply it and the greater the rate that increases. That Both factor in to the overall equation of how quickly something is going to compound. Now, what is one of the main things that compounds? Knowledge is one of the main things that compounds. Were also familiar with it in the financial sense, in that our wealth grows exponentially with time, but knowledge does as well. So the sooner we can get the knowledge and the greater a rate that we can Understand that knowledge and implement that knowledge and also be able to obtain that knowledge. Then, guess what, the sooner the compounding happens. But here's the thing or human brains are so wired to be able to think what if something doesn't work out? What if this isn't exactly how I planned it? What if this money that I'm going to invest in this mentor is not necessarily going to be a good investment? Well, here's the thing it may or may not be a good investment. You still learn the lesson at the same time, and chances are 90% of the time in my experience, it does pan out pretty well. So for me, that's one of the best things that you can invest in. You can invest in who's in your life because they can get you the result and they can get you much sooner. They get you there much sooner. So what that will mean for you is that you're able to get compound results and compound returns in your life much, much, much faster. Think about it If you're trying to figure out how to do something and somebody's literally done it before you, then there's only really two ways to find that out. We either just test a lot of things to be able to get to that result, or, for me, if you invest in that particular person or welcome them into your life otherwise because, remember, you don't have to invest in who's. It's just one of the easiest ways to obtain some of their time, if there is some money that changes hands. But if you invest in who's, then what it will mean is that you can get that knowledge as well. Of course, it doesn't just apply in the mentorship side of things. Another example of a who is this saying your business, for example, you need somebody who can do social media. You can either figure out how to do social media, okay, or you can just get somebody, but if you're going from a stand and start, there's a lot to take on board. Or you can just get somebody in who's done it a million billion, 20 times before. So what you're doing is you're basically leveraging their experience, you're leveraging their lifetime, you're leveraging their knowledge and you're leveraging their abilities. You've just found yourself a who. Who can do this for me? Who can I hire to come into my business? Who will be able to teach me and also teach the people, the other employees in my business? So, in a way, they are being a who for multiple other people as well. Such a cool concept. The key premise that it operates under is that life is about outputs rather than inputs. What I mean is life is about results rather than necessarily effort. Now, effort and results correlate to a certain point, but past that, it's all about thinking a little bit more strategically. Thinking strategically is understanding the concept that I've just said who, not how. Key takeaway, key premise If you ever find yourself in a position in life where you're thinking yourself how am I going to do this? Replace that sentence with who can help me do this. I promise that you get there much, much faster.