How To Learn From The Smartest People In The World
The year is 2017. I just signed up for my third stint of washing dishes at a coffee shop because I’m not making enough money freelancing. I’m stumped as to why clients keep dropping me, and why I can’t maintain a steady monthly income. I feel like I’ve tried everything. But I’m determined to figure it out.
Half of my job at the coffee shop is running the cash register, but when the lead barista starts getting low on mugs, he asks someone to wash dishes in the back. It’s the job everyone avoids, but when he asks this time, I volunteer. That’s because I have a plan.
The right side of the sink faces the front of the coffee shop, but the left side of the sink faces the back wall. I thread the left ear bud from my headphones up my shirt and I queue up the Building a Storybrand podcast. I wash dishes and zone in to every word from an interview with Molly Fletcher, a professional athlete agent who negotiates contracts for some of MLB’s biggest names.
Over the course of the next two months, I jump at every opportunity to wash dishes. I thread an ear bud up my shirt, put it in my left ear, and start listening. Learning. Things start making sense.
Two months after this, I lock a retainer with Jeremiah Davis that would lead me to a majority of the opportunities I’ll have over the next four years with brands like Red Bull, The Chainsmokers, and ESPN.
Before this dishwashing stint, I yearned for an opportunity to sit down for coffee with my heroes, like Donald Miller and Tim Ferriss. I used to dream about it (that’s not a joke, I had dreams about sitting down at a restaurant with nerdy business guys in their forties). I felt that if I was able to pick their brains, they would shed some insight on me that would immediately change my business. But during my dishwashing days I realized I could learn from the smartest people in the world–by listening to their podcasts and reading their books. They were already sharing their most valuable insights for free. It became clear to me that even if I did have the opportunity to sit down with one of my heroes, I wouldn’t gain more insights than I would from reading their book.
So, how do you learn from the smartest people in the world? Read and listen. All the information you need is available for free. The only thing in your way is yourself.
P.S. Here are some rare photos of me washing dishes, rocking out to Bon Jovi as Eduardo and I close up shop.
