Vishen Lakhiani argues the American Dream is a myth. Upward mobility in the U.S. ranks lower than other developed countries, and success depends more on knowing the right people than hard work. He shares how his own book deal came through a personal connection, not merit alone.
Chapters
Is the American Dream even real anymore? So first, let's talk about the American Dream. What exactly is it? According to Wikipedia, the American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone. The American Dream is achieved through sacrifice, risk taking, hard work, rather than by chance. Is that really so? Well, I googled upward mobility rankings by country. This is what I found. As it turns out, America ranks number 27. If you were just starting out and you wanted to grow in terms of your career, you're probably better off statistically in Singapore or Japan or Iceland or Estonia or Sweden or Denmark or Finland. But we don't really talk about the Singaporean Dream, do we? Or the Japanese Dream, or the Estonian Dream, or the Icelandic Dream. We talk about the American Dream. Why is this? So I was thinking about this and here's my theory. See, I moved to America at the age of 19. I grew up in Malaysia. And growing up, my dream was to move to America. The vision of the American Dream pulled me and I did move to America. I lived in the United states for almost 10 years. Mindvalley is an American company. I pay my American taxes and now I live between Europe and Asia. But America is still where my heart lies. And I think of myself identity wise, more American than any other nationality. I completely bought into the American Dream. But it's not just me. Other amazing talent from Malaysia went to America and created their amazing version of the American Dream. Maybe you've heard of Michelle Yeoh, the born girl and the martial arts legend. She grew up in Malaysia like me. Or maybe Henry Golding from Crazy Rich Asians. We used to hang out in the same neighborhood, in the same bars and we know each other from ages back. Or Ronnie Chung, who just got his own Netflix special. All of these Malaysians, including me, plunged into the American dream and saw our careers take off. But if the American Dream is a myth, how is it that it's working for some people? Now this is what Ronny Cheung said in his Netflix special. Pay close attention to his words.
Why do first generation immigrants come here? Because this is the best, right? America is the NBA. It's where you go to be the best at whatever you're doing. You come here to do it with other people for the best of what they're doing.
And this is what got me thinking. What if the American Dream is partially a lie? You see that second line from Wikipedia that defines the American Dream? That's bullshit. You cannot guarantee that you're going to be successful through risk taking, hard work and sacrifice. Not true at all. At least I don't buy that. Rather, as Ronny Chung said, the advantage of the American dream is that so many people believe it that they move to America and America becomes a concentration of the world's best. And so when you're in that concentration, if you build the right network, the right links, the right connections, that's when the American dream takes off for you. I became a best selling author in America because I got the right connections. I was at a meditation retreat with a lady by the name of J.J. virgin, who was a phenomenal American author. J.J. put me on her stage. I gave a talk on JJ stage. There was an editor from a company called Rodale in the audience and I got offered a massive check to write my first book, the Code of the Extraordinary Mind. But none of this would have happened if I didn't connect with the right person at the right time. So my theory is this. Firstly, data wise, the American dream is not a big thing. It doesn't exist. But the mythology of the American dream attracts so many people to America. And if you can figure out how to connect with the right people at the right time, you're going to increase your odds of success. This is why connection is so important in my life right now. I make great effort to bring together networks. I create connections between other people. When I travel to America, I have dinners and lunches back to back with the most interesting people. I toss big parties and gatherings to bring people together because I don't just want to connect with them. I want to be a facilitator of all human connection. Now, I learned these ideas from Pete Ferrazi. He wrote a remarkable book called Never Eat Alone. And Pete Ferrazi is the master of authentic human connection. About a year ago, I put Keith on stage at a mindvalley event called a fest. And I was blown away by how he got everyone in that room to connect so deeply with each other that I asked him to come on mindvalley and create a masterclass with me on the power of human connection. Because I believe it's not about hard work, it's not about sacrifice. Rather, if I can be really real with you, even though some of you may not like to hear this, it's about who you know and how deep your connections are. That to me, is the number one way to accelerate your success. Now, I know we're facing a massive quarantine, but here's the interesting thing, according to Keith, and I was talking to him a couple of days ago, connection now is actually more important than ever because people are so isolated. So you can use tools like Zoom, like Skype, like Google Meet, and you can create unique models of connection. And when you learn this art, what happens is that you accelerate your odds of getting from where you are to. To your dreams and taking other people with you. Join us in this masterclass with Keith Farazi to learn and master the art of authentic human connection.
