Theo Paphitis argues that competing on a level playing field puts you at a disadvantage. Instead, do your homework and prepare to create an edge legally and ethically. Evan Carmichael adds that your real advantage comes from combining your unique passions and talents to be the first version of yourself, not a copy of someone else.
Chapters
Good morning, Believe Nation.
Today's message is stack the odds in your favor. Now over to you, Theo Paphitis.
I wake up every morning, espresso keep me going.
The main thing I try and tell all my friends, family, kids is do do your homework? Why do you want to compete with somebody on a level playing field and be exactly the same, have the same chances of winning as the next guy? Well, you already know you're at a disadvantage, so you need to change the odds. You need to tilt the odds in your favor, which means you need an advantage. Because otherwise the next guy is going to beat you. Now of course, if you go to a casino and stack the cards in your favour, what happens? They throw you out, beat you up, even worse.
Even worse.
Even worse. In business, or in life, it's called doing your homework and being prepared. And it's what you're expected to do. Stack the cards in your favour. There's no shame in that. It's not illegal. It's exactly what you need to do in your life. You do not want to compete the same odds as everyone else.
So what do you think?
I think there's a good message there, but it's very self-serving. You definitely want to stack the odds in your favor, but you can also collaborate. For example, I'm a novice to YouTube. You're well established. You've got a huge following, and yet here I am standing beside you. I think Theo's message definitely has all of the right direction, but he doesn't ever talk about anyone else in the picture. I think sometimes, if you're in business or you're in anywhere other department in life, your big picture can include someone else, and the odds that you stack in your favor doesn't necessarily need to be a manipulation. It can be a collaboration.
Interesting. I like that. It's true. Here we are, and Matt came up from Cleveland to do this session with me today. When I think about stacking odds in your favor, the direction I take it is, I think you have to discover what you're uniquely great at, and I think too many people try to do one thing, but they also have these other aspirations, and the real genius comes in combining them. If you wanna be a lawyer, that's your big aspiration, great, there's tons of different lawyers out there. Or you wanna be a photographer, you wanna be a writer, like there's tons of different writers and photographers out there. Why is someone gonna pick you? It's because you're not just a photographer, you're the photographer who also loves dance, or who also loves sports, or who also loves something else, and if you can combine those things to be uniquely you, then that's when you start to see a lot of traction. Matt is uniquely Matt, I'm uniquely me, there's a lot of people who copycat my channel and try to do what I'm doing, and it's a huge, you know, honor and flattery, I guess, for me, but nobody can do me like I do me. You can't out Evan Evan. You know, you don't want to aspire to be the next Evan Carmichael. You want to aspire to be the next Michael Jordan or the next Matt or the next whoever. You want to be the first of you, and you have to then bring your own unique kind of art to it by combining your multiple passions together. In my view, that's how you stack the odds in your favor. And I like Matt's take too about bringing a team together so it's not just you trying to do everything yourself.
I like your point way better, and I agree that when you're trying to emulate someone, you're trying to redefine what it is you bring to the table, that's great. And I think that touches on the do your homework point. That could be research, but that could also be more self-awareness. So yeah, I'm fully on board for everything you just said. So the question of the day today is, what is the oddest thing you had to stack in your favor? What was something that caught you completely off guard where you had to work that into your big picture and you had never heard of such a thing before?
Interesting question. Leave it in the comments below. We'll join the discussion. Thank you guys so much for watching. I hope you enjoyed. Have an amazing day.
Continue to believe, and we'll see you again tomorrow morning for another shot of espresso.
