9 Rules for a Monumental Life | Robin Sharma

Hi, this is Robin Sharma, author of the Leader who Had no Title, founder of the Titan Academy, and welcome to this mastery session. This mastery session is called Nine Rules for a Monumental Life. And I'm going to get right into the first rule, which is leader, lead thyself. So? So leadership is not just for CEOs. Leadership is not just for prime ministers and presidents and people with large bank accounts and massive offices. Leadership is not only an opportunity, but the responsibility of every man, woman, and child on the planet today, no matter what it is you do, whether you're a filmmaker, a startup entrepreneur, manager of a corporation, a bread creator, or whatever it's called. Baker, I guess that'll be a baker. Whether you're a teacher, whether you're a firefighter, whether you're a politician, whether you are a gardener, whether you are a wall maker, I don't know whatever it is you do. But every day you walk out in the world gives you not only that opportunity, but brings with it the awesome responsibility to show up as a leader. Because leadership really isn't a title. You know my book, the Leader who Had no Title, You've probably read it. Leadership is less about a title, and it's more about an approach, a way of being. And some of the traits of leaders without titles, they're radiant optimists in a world gone cynical. One of the things about leaders without titles, they don't see their job as a job. They see their job as a craft. No matter what their work is, they understand there's dignity in all labor. One of the traits of leaders without titles, they are relentlessly improving everything they touch. So they leave it better than they found it. One of the things of leaders without titles is they understand that the business of commerce is human connection and value delivery. One of the things of leaders without titles is when they get knocked down, they get back up. So they are relentless in their pursuit around their dominant obsession. And so the first rule for a monumental life is simply, leader, lead thyself. Which just means see yourself as a leader and don't wait for the people around you to start leading. Lead where you're planted. Lead by example. You stand up first. Be an army of one when it comes to leadership and spreading that leadership possibility around you. Okay? And really what I'm talking about is also understanding that you have a responsibility to manage yourself. You know, sometimes people say, well, my boss is grumpy and cranky and doesn't really appreciate me. One of the key ideas is people don't leave companies. They leave the People they worked with. You've heard that before. That's not my idea. That's out there. But the point on leader, lead thyself is you're responsible for managing your mindset, your heart set, your health set, your soul set. Every time you blame your boss or your husband or your wife, your past or your children, the economy or your nationality, you're giving away your power to be the change you want to see. To use the words of Mahatma Gandhi. Okay, so apr absolute responsibility. Make the leap. I've done it in a previous pod mastery session. The victim to lead or leap Victims give away their power to conditions. Leaders roll up their sleeves and say, if it's going to be, it is up to me what's going on in my life, how can I manage my internal psychology and and physiology and dial in those four interior empires? So I literally fireproof my mindset, bulletproof my heart set, calibrate my health set and develop my soul set. So I literally become this force of nature and have such a strong character that no matter what happens in the world, I don't get activated. I don't feel insecure if someone else is winning. I don't get knocked off my A game if I get some bad news. I'm not a victim. I am a leader. Rule number two, be the humblest person in every room you're in, and I challenge you with great love and respect. Make that commitment to yourself and practice it daily for the remainder of your life. You see, the humblest wins. We live in a fascinating world right now. You know, the model sometimes of the great leaders, people who are the loudest in the room. You know, Susan Cain has written a beautiful book, Quiet in a World of Loud People who Thump Their Chests. She's written about the power of being an introvert. You know, I'm part extrovert. I speak to stages sometimes there's 10,000 people in the room. And I travel the world doing, you know, these videos. And I have a lot of people who follow me on the social media. But I'm also an introvert. You know, I love nature, I love solitude. And Susan Cain in this great book I really encourage you to read called Quiet says you can tell an introvert versus an extrovert because extroverts get energy from being around people. Introverts refill their wells and get energy by, by being alone. And I only mention this because humility has got a bad rap. And we live in a world where I think the majority, the 95%, are chasing the wrong things and celebrating the wrong values. And wrong isn't the right word, but humility is gold. And if you look at the true heroes, those people all suffered so much and endured such adversity, and their heart was broken so many times, their hearts opened, to sort of paraphrase the words of the great philosopher Rumi, who said, break your heart over and over again until it opens. And if you look at the great heroes, they were the humblest in every room. Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. The people we see as the true titans and the true legends. They weren't full of ego, they weren't insecure. So they were always talking about themselves. These were people who graced the planet and walked the earth gently. These were masters of compassion. And because of that, they had the empathy and to understand what people needed. These were not people who talked about themselves. These were people who shifted from me to we or to you. Here's a little exercise to play out for the rest of the week. Think about how many times you have to say I, and be very, very careful about what you need to advertise. Do you need to advertise? Oh, I'm a marathon runner. Do you need to advertise? Oh, we just passed 5 million on Facebook. Do you need to advertise? You just wrote the greatest best seller. Do you need to advertise your ambitions and your ideals? Do you need to advertise when you hit a win? And if so, check out that insecurity. In my book the Greatness Guide, which I wrote many years ago, I quoted Carl Jung, and I just wrote a chapter, you know, Love youe Irritations. And in that chapter of the Greatness Guide, I say, Carl Jung taught us, beneath your irritations is the opportunity for growth. And so every time you feel insecure and you need to use I and advertise how great you are or successful are you, and you turn the conversation onto you. If you're really wise, you'll go deeper and you'll say, what is the hole within me that I haven't filled, that I'm trying to fill from external validation? Third rule for a monumental life is simply remember this. It's very important. Originality is the DNA of legendary. Another thing I'm noticing in the world right now, the 95%, the majority, and, you know, my brain tattoo. If you want the results only 5% of the population has, you've got to be willing to do what 95 of the population are not willing to do. So most people are caught up in the cult of superficiality and immediate gratification. What they want to do is build a business that is legendary in six weeks. What they want to do is be super fit at federal level within a quarter. What they want to do is find build a love relationship that is remarkable in the next six months. Well, here's billionaires and titans and Nike, FedEx, Starbucks, IBM, Oracle, NASA, Young Presidents Organization for going into my third decade. So this isn't from a book I've read. This is from this from boots on the ground.

With organizations and a players across the planet. Legendary takes time and you can why? Because they were not true to what made them great by the time they reach this is big stuff. I suggest to you with great love and respect. The Romans used to have a type of slave and the slave had one job, to stand behind the Roman emperor and in Latin say memento homo. Memento homo, memento homo. Which translated to English simply means remember you are just a man and so to thine self be true means as you make your rise to legendary, don't forget what makes you great. Hard work. Humility. Serving your customers. Working on your craft. Playing the long game. Understanding the genius takes decades versus good genetics. Rule number five, institutionalize mundanity. So Angela Duckworth over at University of Pennsylvania has written a great book. I encourage you to read it. It's called Grit. And one of the terms she uses is from a lot of the researchers who understand exceptional performance and the word they use is mundanity. And mundanity simply speaks to the phenomenon that genius is less about these genetics and natural talent. Genius is much more about what you do every single day. Those mundane things that seem like they're not important. The little improvements in your work, the little running of your daily habits. I've taught this for 20 years. And the brain tattoo I've taught for 20 years. I wrote about it in the leaderhood note title. I wrote about it in the Greatness Guide. Is this small daily improvements when done consistently over time lead to stunning results. I'll repeat it again because it's so important. Small daily, seemingly insignificant improvements when done consistently over time lead lead to stunning results. It's not what you do once a year that's important. It's what you do every day that will take you to world class leadership and iconic production. So I guess what I'm saying is Apple, Amazon, General Electric, Nike, Under Armour, Whole Foods, Starbucks, Soul Cycle. What makes the great enterprises great is not what they do. Once sunny Friday afternoon that blew open the doors of World Class, what makes great companies great, great athletes great, great artists great, great writers great, great humanitarians great, great leaders great is mundanity. It's the little rituals and routines that you do every single day that over time create a tsunami of world class. And this isn't the episode for me to share those routines. But you know about my 5am club that I've been teaching and for going into my third decade, I wrote about it first in the Monk who Sold His Ferrari. You know about the 1991 rule. I've shared it fully available in one of these mastery sessions. You know about the two massage protocol. I've shared it in a previous mastery session. You know about the 62nd student. I've given you that in a previous mastery session. All these proprietary methods that I teach from the stage at a much deeper level at personal and Mastery Academy and at my flagship event I it's one of the hottest live events in the world. Richard Branson has been in the room. The co founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak was in the room. As I mentioned, the NBA legend Shaquille o' Neal was at a previous Titan Summit. I've been running the Titan Summit for many years. I teach these events at a much these rituals at a much deeper level. The key is simply this, remember to institutionalize the right habits, the right routines and the right rituals. Because what makes super producers is less about their DNA and what they were born into and their so called gifts and much more about their daily habits. Rule number six, you know you're working in a grocery store or you're a farmer. I love farmers. Your food gives people nutrition. Your food creates magic around the dinner table. And when you connect. I wrote a book many years ago, 20 years ago, called Leadership Wisdom from the Monk who Sold His Ferrari. And one of the first titles was Link Paycheck to purpose. In other words, knowing your compelling cause. When you find a cause that's larger than your life, then you develop the emotional fieriness to take a bullet for your mission. Which is how the great entrepreneurs and the great media super producers do it. It's not cash.

It'S connection, it's not income, it's impact.

8Th rule for a monumental life is get great at your craft. Look, you have a gargantuan competitive advantage because most people are caught up or card carrying members. And I say this with respect, but it's reporting with reality. Most people in the world right now in business are card carrying members of the cult of mediocrity. In a previous episode and I share this in my leadership presentations. I believe the world today is suffering. And that word, I'm choosing it consciously and carefully from the collective deprofessionalization of business. A little while ago, I was in an airport, there was a elevator repair man and he had his boombox cranking out hard rock. Well, that's fine, but he's at work, he's not at home. I go into a store these days, there are people listening to music out loud when they should be taking care of customers. You walk into an airport and you see people behind the desk or whatever. Rather than being pros owning the game, you, you literally see them chit chatting or again, looking at videos of dancing cats and people riding bicycles off the roofs of their houses. You know what I'm talking about? I call it the collective deprofessionalization of business. Very few people, relatively speaking, right now, say, this is my craft. I've got to be a pro. I've got to study the audiobooks that relate to my game. I've got to find mentors, I've got to read the books. I've got to practice like Federer or Serena Williams or Muhammad Dali used to practice. You know what Muhammad Dali once said? He said, I hated every single one of those early morning runs, but I loved the idea of being champion of the world. You know, you get into a cab these days and a lot of time I love silence. But I hear.

I shared this story from the stage at Personal Mastery Academy a few months ago. And so I wanted to share it here with you. I'm just like, what is that noise? And you look over and you see people chatting, the cab driver chatting with their friends from other nations, their family members. Well, here's what the science says. The science says if you're chatting on a phone, it's like having one to two glasses of alcohol. So first of all, my safety or your safety is being influenced. Secondly, that person is being paid by you to deliver a professional service, not to chit chat with their family. They can take a break or do it on their lunch break or do it at home. When I am doing my work, I'm not chit chatting with my family because I'm being paid by a client to serve. Serve the client. When I'm here with you, I want to wow you, serve you, influence you, impact you, transform you. I'm not chatting with my friends. I hope I'm making a larger point. I think I am. This is the world right now. People have no longer have a clear boundary between their professional life and their personal life. And so for the 5% of performers who understand, when you go to work, it's showtime. Be a professional. You'll get paid more. You will win. People will fall in love with you. And that taxi driver, if he built a relationship, drove carefully, made sure his cab was clean, I'd be happy to give him a massive tip. Because I tip taxi drivers and hotel room cleaners really, really well. Final rule number nine of living a monumental life. Have fun. You know, if you take yourself too seriously, no one is going to take you seriously. No one knows how long we get to live. And even the longest life is a really short ride. So make sure you find some time to laugh during your day. Make sure you strip out the energy vampires from your life because that's a game changing move. You know.

The moment you start releasing the energy vampires who steal your joy and who are just negative and who don't support you. And here's the key, they don't understand you, so they think you're weird. When you say you're not bad, you're just not right for me, your life becomes positive and your life becomes stable. No more drama. Someone once said, drama mamas. And that applies to men too. Get rid of the drama mamas. Get rid of the energy vampires. Get rid of the toxic people. Watch your life multiply in creativity, energy, productivity, humanity. So you rise to legendary. Well, I've shared a lot of content in this episode. If it has been valuable to you, all I ask is this. Within the next 60 minutes, share it with three of your friends. So we spread this powerful message and share and make the world a vastly better place. Number two, as I look at my social media feed and all the DMs and talk to my teammates at the office, a lot of people are saying, robin, we've heard so much about your two day live event, Personal Mastery Academy that has created so many revolutions of transformation for so many people across the planet. We've heard of your flagship event, the Titan Summit where Richard Branson has been there and Shaq and Steve Wozniak and Sam of the best global leaders on growing a great company and exponential longevity and being a history maker. How do we get in? Because you never really tell us where the details are. Here are the details in case you're interested. Hopefully It'll be helpful. RobinSharma.com Simple. RobinSharma.com or you can go to the event sites personalmasteryacademy.com and get on the waiting list. Sells out every year personalmasteryacademy.com and if you're interested in the Titan Summit sells out every year. It's become one of the hottest high level events in the world for empire makers and history creators. If that's you and you're ready, get on the waiting list@thetitansummit.com that's thetitansummit.com or robinsharma.com Finally, a lot of people say, Robin, I love what you share in your podcast. How do we get more of it? There an opportunity for you to coach us? Well, there is now. It's called robinsharmanation.com it's my monthly online coaching program. People have been asking for this for 20 years, Robin. Well, we can't. You know, our budget doesn't allow for us to work with you one on one or even the Titan Summit is beyond us at this point. We want to get in in the future. It's an aspirational goal. Can you help us right now? Absolutely. The answer is now yes. RobinSharmination.com will coach you every single month on this kind of material. So you literally, you hardwire it so it becomes automatic. So you lead the field and so you literally begin the process of creating a life that is legendary. If this is you and if you're ready, I'd love to help you. Just go over to robinsharma.com or Robin Sharma Nation and my team and I would love to help you. Thanks a lot. I'll see you in the next Mastery session. Remember, there are no extra people on the planet today. The very fact that you are alive means you are built for your own original form of greatness. Go for world class. I love you a lot. Stay great. Hi, this is Robin Sharma. I hope you received great value from this Mastery session. If you'd like to receive potent training videos, blog posts, learning tools and information on my two live events, Personal Mastery Academy and my flagship four day experience, the Titan Summit. Go ahead and visit robinsharmer. Com.