15 Life-Changing Tips I Would Give My Younger Self

Unlock the blueprint to revolutionize your life with "15 Life-Changing Tips I Would Give My Younger Self". In a world brimming with distractions and diverging paths, finding your way can seem like an insurmountable task, especially for the younger generation stepping boldly into their futures. But imagine if you had a compass or a guide who’s navigated the paths of life before you. This week, I'm here to be that guide. Drawing from my personal experiences and lessons learned, I'm sharing 15 pieces of advice, designed not only to steer you clear of common pitfalls but to propel you toward a life of unparalleled success and fulfillment. Whether you're just starting out or looking to recalibrate your journey, these insights are your game plan for transformation. Here's a glimpse of what we'll explore: The truth about hard work vs talent The Power of Mentorship Communication Mastery and Gaining Influence How to network and open doors of opportunity Key financial principles that drive wealth How to Identify and maximize your innate talents How to focus your energy on what truly matters The art of choosing wisely who you allow into your personal space I’m also sharing my top 12 must-read books, selections that have profoundly shaped my perspective and approach to life. This episode is more than a list; it’s a journey into the heart of what it means to live intentionally, passionately, and with purpose. Whether you're just starting out or looking to refresh your life, these 15 life-changing tips are your roadmap to a future beyond your wildest dreams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Ed Mylett?

  So hey guys, are you frustrated with where you're at right now? Maybe stunted in your progress? Well, if you are, I want to recommend a place for you to go called Growth Day. GrowthDay.com/Ed. It is the number one personal development app on the planet. It's got all kinds of high-performance techniques in there. Courses, accountability, journaling, live speeches from some of the top influencers in the world, including me. It's an overall environment to change your life. GrowthDay.com/Ed. I hear so many small business owners say the exact same thing. They just never have enough time in the day. Well, I measure time differently. I've compressed, condensed, heck, I've bent time. My first day is 6:00 AM to noon. My second day starts at noon and goes till 6:00 PM. And my third day, 6:00 PM to midnight.

• 0:45Ed Mylett?

  I now get 21 days a week. Stack that up over a month, over a year, over five years, and my life's completely different than it would have been otherwise. And if you want to win as an entrepreneur, you have to compress your time too. And you definitely can't afford to waste it waiting weeks on a big bank for capital. Your best bet's to work with my friends at Cardiff. They know how to compress time for entrepreneurs. They get your business approved in minutes and funded the very same day. They're America's favorite small business lender, and for good reason. Over 20 years in business, over 12 billion deployed to small business across America. Stop letting bank delays slow down your momentum. Head to cardiff.co/Ed. That's cardiff.co/Ed. Cardiff.co. Real growth, fast funding. Cardiff, borrow better.

• 1:35Ed Mylett?

  This is the Ed Miliband Show.

• 1:40Ed Mylett?

  Welcome back to the show, everybody. So today's topic is what advice would I give my younger self? Or to young people in general about winning in their life and being successful and prosperous? And so that might even be a 10-year-old. It could be 15, 18, 25. You could be 30. It may even be that it's not even young in age, but it's young in the sense that you feel behind in your life and you want to turn it around. And you need kind of a game plan to make things happen and just completely change your life. So, but I wrote this today and thought about it in terms of talking to a 10, 12, 15-year-old person, but it'd apply to anybody. So here's, we're going to start out with 15 keys that I think are required. That would be my advice that I've given to my own children. Who are now both in college.

• 2:22Ed Mylett?

  But I started giving them this advice when they were very, very young, eight, nine, 10 years old. So number one is this, if you're going to win in life, very simple rule, outwork everyone. And I know that there's all these substitutes about shortcuts, work smart, not hard. Let me tell you the truth. At the top of everything in life, everybody's smart. And what separates them is hard work. Remember that again, at the top of every craft, there are brilliant people, there are very smart people. There's no secrets or shortcuts to success in life. And if you're listening to this and you're in your 30s, you want to go to the next level, whatever it might be, I want to remind you, or maybe for the first time, tell you, maybe it's a wake up call. You got to outwork everyone.

• 3:04Ed Mylett?

  And I've pushed this with my children over and over and over again. And quite frankly, I saw my own dad do that. My dad was a hard worker. My dad was up. Every single day before anybody else in the house was gone before the sun was up. And he came home when the sun was down and I watched hard work happen. Now, one of the things I would love to see happen for more of you is that you prove that hard work pays off. I watched my father work and work and work and really never get all the rewards that I thought he deserved, but if you find the right outcome, the right business, the right thing you're passionate about, outwork everyone. Number one rule to being successful in life. Number two. Be willing to work for nothing or very little to be right next to a mentor.

• 3:46Ed Mylett?

  Too many people aren't willing to sacrifice short term. I've told my children, if you can get close to a mentor, even if you've got to work for free for a while and have a second job and get close to them and up close. See, listen, there's this great Chinese proverb that says, if you want to know the road ahead, ask those coming back. If there is a hack to success, it's finding somebody who's got there. They have the directions, they have the instruction manual. And get close to them and you can compress timeframes, things that maybe you would have won anyway, but it might taken you 10 or 20 or 30 years. Maybe you can compress that timeframe into five or eight or nine or 10. And so do everything you can to get a qualified mentor. If you can go to work for them and get up close to them.

• 4:27Ed Mylett?

  And you know, work for not a lot of money for a short term period of time, I would recommend you do that. If you can't do that, I would find a way to pay for mentorship. You got to pick the right one. And you got to study them. What's their background, you know, or have they done something you want to do? Somebody can be very, very successful in an area of life. But it's not the area you're going into. There's probably somebody more qualified. So number one is outwork everyone. Number two, compress timeframes by getting close to a mentor. Go to work for them. Even if it's not for a lot and maybe hire them if you have to. Third thing. Do something entrepreneurial while you're young. You know, when I was 13 years old, I started selling sodas and candy bars at the golf course.

• 5:12Ed Mylett?

  There was this little part at Diamond Bar Golf Course. There was a street that backed up to one of the tee boxes and I would sit behind the chain link fence. And I'd go to the store and buy, you know, 12 packs of different sodas and candy bars and chips and snacks. Because they did not have a lady or a guy in one of those golf carts going around that would provide, you know, beverages and, and food. I didn't sell beer, obviously. But I started a little business there when I was a very young man and I'd, you know, I'd walk out of there on a weekend and put some money in my pocket and I learned about profit and loss. I learned about supply and demand. I learned about marketing and selling and closing and how to get somebody to buy maybe more than one item. If I gave them a deal. I made little packages. I created the signs. And it just got me thinking like an entrepreneur.

• 5:56Ed Mylett?

  And it really changed my life. I loved the excitement of it. I loved the, the thinking you had to do strategically to make it work. How could I improve it? What could I do more next week? Was I sitting in the right spot? Did I say the right thing when they walked up? You know, all these little things I, I learned as really a very, very young man. And then that morphed into an auto detailing business that I had. It's called E and J Detailing. And that morphed into a baseball card business that I had, that I made money at. I was a guy who bought and sold and traded baseball cards. And so I had these businesses when I was young. In fact, I'm very proud. I have two nephews that have auto detailing businesses now. And I have to think that that has something to do with the fact that I had one when I was a young man. My gosh. 40 years ago.

• 6:42Ed Mylett?

  I had an auto detailing business and that taught me about all kinds of things. It taught me how to interact with people, how to persuade. It taught me about doing really good work. It taught me that not everybody's nice all the time and grateful for your work. And I developed a little bit of a thick skin. So I went from sodas at the golf course to auto detailing to baseball cards. And then I went off into the world and, you know, had different jobs and I was a busboy. And I was a busboy at the whole enchilada restaurant. And then I was a, I was a grocer at bagged groceries at Safeway. And I did these things that I worked to do. And I watched how businesses run. You know, I watched how this man's name was Gil that owned the restaurant, how he ran it, how he thought, the standards that he set, the things he did well, the things he didn't do well.

• 7:24Ed Mylett?

  And I learned an awful lot about being an entrepreneur by working in someone else's business. And then very early in college, I, I started reading books, which we're going to talk about secondly today, and listening to entrepreneurship because those discussions didn't happen in my family and mindset and dreaming and vision and these were all things that were not discussed in my family. We were just a great family, but we just, just worked and just sort of, you know, existed day to day to pay bills. And so third is do something entrepreneurial when you're young. If you have children, encourage them. My own son has, you know, saved a lot of money. Started a little golf club, trading business where he would buy clubs online and then sell them in person or vice versa. And he's made a significant little game. When he was a little boy, he'd go to school and he would buy and sell video games.

• 8:09Ed Mylett?

  And I loved the little entrepreneurship, the making the deal, the shaking a hand, the keeping your word, learning how to persuade and communicate correctly. These are all really important traits in life. So that would be the next one. Um, fourth thing I would tell you is constantly work on and study the art of communication. One of the great separators in life is somebody who's a powerful communicator. Uh, it's, it's a lost art form with the digital age. So many people have their, their noses and faces in a phone. They don't really interact. They don't know how to make eye contact. They don't know how to persuade. They don't know how to transfer energy, articulate their words. Quite frankly, vocabulary is limited in a lot of people. And so I would study the art form of communication. I would study great communicators. I would read books on it. I'd watch them when they speak.

• 8:53Ed Mylett?

  I'd, as someone in your life, that's a friend of your family's and they're just an outstanding communicator. What is it that they do well? You know, as a speaker, I studied stand-up comedians. I studied pastors and preachers. I, I watched people give speeches, political figures that I thought were really good at it, but also just one-on-one. My dad had. A couple of friends that were just great communicators and I'd watch how they positioned their hands, how they walked, uh, how they used a, a rich vocabulary. Yet at the same time, it was simple and it was easy to understand. How good a listeners they were. You've noticed I've created a great deal of content on communication. Cause I'm such a believer that it's a separator in life. I think that if you can become a great communicator. In life, whether that be the written word, uh, or the spoken word or both.

• 9:37Ed Mylett?

  Uh, you've separated yourself to a very small percentage of people, maybe one percent. Most people that I meet are not great communicators. Most people I meet aren't even very good at introducing themselves, making eye contact, shaking a hand. These things seem basic, but you should evaluate it. If you're a young person, listen to this certainly, but even if you're in your thirties or forties. How good of a communicator are you? And is that something limiting you? And if you're a young person, you want to separate yourself, you become a great communicator. When I meet young people, the thing that impresses me. Is when I meet somebody who's an incredible communicator. Hello, Mr. Mylett. How are you? They shake my hand. They look me in the eye. They understand that a conversation is asking and answering questions. It's not. Oftentimes you meet a young person. How are you? Good.

• 10:21Ed Mylett?

  What grade are you in? Fourth. Right? And I, when I meet a, a child who's like, I'm in fourth grade, Mr. Mylett. And by the way, my favorite subject is math. Always wanted to ask you, were you good in school? Were grades important? And then now I'm in a conversation, wow, this is amazing. And I feel connected to that person. Because clearly somebody's emphasized to them that they need to learn how to communicate in life. It's very difficult to become wealthy in this world. If you can't communicate well. Now there are exceptions to it and some of the tech businesses and a few, there are some exceptions. But not very many. And even in that world, if you had the ability to communicate, to get hired, to get in a position, to get advancement. I think it's a huge advantage.

• 11:05Ed Mylett?

  So hey guys, as you know, I've partnered up with my good friend Brennan Burchard, who's created the greatest personal development system that has ever been designed called Growth Day. There's everything from journaling to accountability programs, live messages every Monday from myself and other influencers. There's an opportunity for you to get courses that would cost thousands of dollars completely for free. It's incredible. Go to growthday.com/ed and check it out. This episode is sponsored by Ro. A lot of people assume GLP-1s cost a fortune, and that assumption keeps them from even looking into treatment. Ro helps people find a more affordable path to FDA-approved GLP-1 treatment. Ro wants to help people lose weight. That's why they have more affordable GLP-1 options, whether you're paying with

• 11:47Ed Mylett?

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• 12:29Ed Mylett?

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• 13:11Ed Mylett?

  reviews, 20 million. So transform your space with the pieces that hold up to real life. Join Wayfair Rewards today and get 5% back on every purchase. Head to wayfair.com or shop the Wayfair app for all things home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R dot com.

• 13:35Ed Mylett?

  Number five, build a brand or a network or both. Work on building your personal brand or your network. Your network will ultimately become your net worth. In life, oftentimes, it is all, it's two things. It's who you know, your network, who can you call? Who you can get on the phone? Who can refer? Who can make a connection for you? Work on your network. Go to networking events, build relationships, join groups where you can meet people like that. Go to places where they are. And the other one is brand, which is who knows you? Both are important in life. Not only who do you know, but who knows you? And so build a brand and build a network and make that a priority in your life.

• 14:16Ed Mylett?

  Number six, live below your means for a long time. Don't be somebody who wants to impress people by buying fancy dinners or going to the club and buy or spending a bunch of money. Live below your means. Be somebody who builds the habit, young, very young, of whatever you make, you keep some of it. That you save money, you pay yourself first. This is a habit. It's a personality trait of successful people. They save money. They live below their means. They resist the temptation to spend frivolously. And by the way, some people can do that for the short term. You know, they make $5,000 a month and they spend three. That's great. But then as they accumulate that pile of money,

• 15:00Ed Mylett?

  then eventually the temptation to blow that on a fancy car, right? Or take a crazy expensive vacation blows all the work they did. And so build the habit of living below your means. It's something that, man, have I emphasized that to my kids? I don't know whether they both have it yet or not, but it's something that I talk about all the time. Number seven, have an emergency fund. And I mean, starting young, you should have three months income. If you're young and you don't even have an income, you should have a pile of money set aside in case of emergency in your life. Why? Number one, there will be one. Number two, it gives you confidence when you have some savings in life, even if I say this to people all the time. When I was making minimum wage, I found a way to save $20 a month.

• 15:43Ed Mylett?

  And that may seem insignificant, but it wasn't because that 20 turned into 200. That 200 eventually over time turned into 600 and I had some money saved after three or four or five years. And it gave me confidence when I made decisions. It made me, it gave me some security and comfort in knowing I had in case of emergency. I was going to be okay in case my car broke down, in case somebody needed something, in case something came up where I had an expense I had to make. That I had an emergency fund, these, these are, these are, these seem small, but these are significant things that breed success. So if you're 10, 12, 15, 18, 20 years old. These are important things. If you're 30, 40 or 50 and you're struggling in life, go back through my list. Do you have the emergency fund, right? Are you doing the different things I'm referencing here?

• 16:28Ed Mylett?

  Are you entrepreneurial? Are you working on your communication ability? All of these things matter. So even if you're, if you're struggling and you're 30 or 40 or 50, are you outworking everyone? Are you willing to work for nothing or getting close to a mentor and joining a group where you get a mentor or hiring a personal mentor? Are you doing something entrepreneurial? Are you constantly working on the art of communication? Are you building your brand and your network? Are you living below your means? And do you have an emergency fund? These are all really important things. Number eight. Learn and study money and the stock market. Understand how money works. Learn how the markets trade, understand how interest rates affect things. This is not that complicated. Learn a little bit about inflation. Understand how the markets work. This is an important leg up in life. You don't have to know everything.

• 17:13Ed Mylett?

  You don't have to be a guru. I'm not saying day trade or anything like that. What I'm saying is it's a huge deficiency in life to walk around life and not know anything about money. And I meet people all the time that make money, but don't know anything about it. And it's very difficult to hold on and grow a pile of money if you don't have some basic understanding of how the stock market works. Of how, you know, money is traded, how things go up, why they go down. In fact, I'm going to tell you that I, I think less than 5% of people that I meet have any understanding whatsoever of money. Pick up a book on money, right? Go to a seminar on it, do some research. There's information all over the internet, watch some videos. Pick up a financial periodical that you read on a regular basis that you subscribe to.

• 17:57Ed Mylett?

  Start to just, by the way, there's just a part of life when you're thinking about money. When you're thinking about learning about something, it leads into different roads. And when you never think about it and you don't know anything about it, it's going to be a hard time to get any of it. Right? Just that's just logically speaking. So if I wanted to become, you know, accumulate, you know, become a great athlete, I'd have to know a little bit about the sport. And so learn and study money. Doesn't take a lot of time. Doesn't have to be full time. If you're young, you're 10, 12, 15 years old, you have, you will have such a massive leg up in life. If you just start to study markets and money and the dollar and how it works and currency. And these things aren't that complicated. They're really fascinating things for most people. And you're going to be in a percentage somewhere between

• 18:39Ed Mylett?

  one and 5% of all human beings who have any real understanding of it. So you've, think about these things I've listed. You now eliminated like 95% of the competition in your life if you do these things. So you shrunk the billions of people. Right? And then really in that case, it's not, because not everybody has the opportunities you have. Some people just weren't blessed like you were to be born into a, a place in the world where you have an opportunity to change your stage in life. So many precious souls don't even have running water. Right? And you've been blessed to have an opportunity. If you're listening to this, more than likely to be somewhere in the world where you can change your stage in life. You've already, you've won the genetic lottery in that case. Right? And so that's shrunk down life. Lucky you, lucky me.

• 19:24Ed Mylett?

  Right? And then these other things, man, you've now, it's a very small percentage of people. I tell my kids this all the time. The more you understand success and winning, you're going to find out you're competing with a very small group of people. Very small. Now, here's the thing. That group, it's competitive. That group, you better have your act together. And that's why these things matter here that I'm describing. But I don't believe winning and success, whatever that means to you, whether it's, it's an abundance of money, or you climb to the top of your profession, or you contribute ultimately to the way that you want. For a lot of people, this is, it's not money oriented. I still think if money's not a priority to you, you should still understand how money works. Because you're going to retire someday. You have to have basic understanding of retirement

• 20:09Ed Mylett?

  and taxes and how money moves. At any age, even if having a lot of it's not your priority. Okay? But you've got a real chance to move forward in life if you do these things. Okay? Number nine. In life, try and pick something that takes advantage of some gifts you have. It'll make your life much easier. I'm not saying that you have to be great at what you do. I wasn't great at anything that I've done at first. I've never really naturally been good at anything I've tried. But I have finally landed on things that took advantage of some natural giftedness of mine. Meaning my competitive nature, my resiliency, uh, my willing to outwork somebody. Um, I wanted things that would separate that.

• 20:51Ed Mylett?

  I, I was lucky in life that, you know, if you're listening to this, I was given a deep voice. Right? So using my voice in life is an advantage. Now, by the way, there are some of the best speakers in the world who don't have a great voice, but they have great presence, right? Or unbelievable vocabulary, or just such an amazing heart to serve that people feel and sense it. Whatever that thing is, I'd like to think that I have that. But it's, you know, I have a deep voice. Why would I not want to use that, right? And so it's taken advantage of something that I have. I'm not good at, uh, engineering. I, I would have been, I was an electrician's apprentice one summer. And I have such admiration for people that can do that work. I'm just not inclined.

• 21:34Ed Mylett?

  It was just so difficult for me to get to baseline competency. Because none of my natural talents or gifts seem to fit in that world. I wish it did, but it doesn't. I'm not really good at fixing things physically. You know, whether that's working on a car or, you know, stuff around that. I'm just not good at it. I, and it, I probably could get okay at it, but I'd never be great. Cause I have no natural proclivity for it. I would have never been an NBA basketball player. I probably could have been a pretty good, I could have got to eventually where if you, you went to a, a rec league, I could shoot, but I was never going to get to the NBA. I'm not tall enough. I'm not fast enough. I'm not coordinated enough. And so that wouldn't be the career choice for me.

• 22:15Ed Mylett?

  Yet so many people will choose a career and I'll think sometimes this just doesn't take advantage of any of your giftedness. So start to identify your gifts when you're young. What are you good at? Not just what do you enjoy? I don't think what you have, I don't think what you do for a living, you always have to enjoy. Okay. I've done a lot of things in work that I didn't enjoy. But those things allowed me to accumulate the resources that in my off work time, I did things that I enjoyed. So I don't think everyone says you gotta do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life. Well, that's true. And if you can do that, you've really won the lottery, right? But not everybody has that luxury. And so I can't, you know, I love golf, but I can't make a living doing that. So there are, there are blessed people in life that have chose a profession,

• 22:59Ed Mylett?

  not only they're good at, but that they love. In my case, some things I did that I loved and some things I did because I have to, because that's what work is. And I want to challenge you to do the same thing. But if you can find something you've got a proclivity for, at least one element of the career, there's something you could take advantage of a giftedness you have. In different businesses I've had, it, it took advantage, at least one element of that business took advantage of one of my gifts, maybe not all of them. So I had to get really good at things I wasn't good at. But there was this one thing I was good at that made it something that I could get to the top of. And so I would recommend that you pick something that takes advantage of some gift you have, if you know what that gift is. And if you don't know what

• 23:38Ed Mylett?

  it is, try a lot of different things until you find the thing that feels like home, that feels natural to you, that you have a passion for. 10. Become an expert as soon as you can be on real estate. This is the basic thing. Become an expert on it. And as soon as you can in life, find a way to buy a deal. Get your first deal done. Almost everybody I know that's become financially successful in some way, shape or form, has done part of it at least through owning real estate at some point in their life. And I'm talking about real estate that generates a cash

• 24:18Ed Mylett?

  flow, real estate that can be flipped. I'm not talking about a primary residence. And so read about it, learn about it. Very young, very young, while I was still in college, I started to do it. I bought a course, Carlton Sheets, How to Buy Real Estate, Nothing Down. And I'd listen to these cassette tapes over and over and read the books. And then I found some friends who had similar interests that had actually bought properties. And I learned a little bit from them. And then I spent money I didn't have on a credit card to go to Robert Allen's real estate

• 24:50Ed Mylett?

  And I sat for three or four days in a seminar. It really was money I didn't have to spend. And that was actually my entree into personal development. Because a lot of these people that are at these events were listening to Tony Robbins, or Jim Rohn, or Wayne Dyer, different people. And I thought, okay, so personal development's a part of it, growing my identity. But I was learning about how real estate worked. And I think it's just a great leg up in life, and the sooner you can buy a deal. You know, I love the idea of, you know, at some point, if you're a young person, if you can find a way. And by the way, it has to be the right deal, the right price. I'm not recommending any property. But you know, if you save enough money and you buy a duplex, you rent one unit out and you live in the other. You buy a fourplex, you know, there's, depending on where you live, there's great, you know, FHA financing. If you're a veteran VA financing. And you have to ride the right time.

• 25:35Ed Mylett?

  But it's, but at the right time, when you can, I think one of the principles of success is to learn and eventually invest in real estate. These are just, success leaves clues. These are some of the clues I've seen in my life. So you know those pieces in your closet that you find yourself wearing like on repeat all the time? That sweater that kind of just goes with everything, or these perfect pair of pants? Those are the pieces that make getting dressed easy, and that's what Quince does best. Quince focuses on high-quality wardrobe staples with premium materials like 100% Mongolian cashmere, organic cotton. The styles are timeless, versatile, and designed to become the dependable pieces you reach for every day. It's what I'm wearing right now. They give you the softness and quality you'd expect from a luxury brand without the price tag. Quince also makes premium pants, fitted tees and polos,

• 26:20Ed Mylett?

  and breathable activewear. Quality basics designed to work with your wardrobe and hold up to everyday wear. I love their cotton tees. I'm wearing one now. And I get a ton of compliments when I wear them on the podcast and when I speak. So find your next fall favorites at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers. Or go to quince.com/ed for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK too. That's Q U I N C E dot com slash ed.

• 26:50Ed Mylett?

  Number 11, acquire cash flow producing assets. And so that obviously includes real estate, but there are other things that pay cash flow. So become somebody, I guess what I'm saying here, who is owns assets and doesn't put their money into liabilities. Begin to understand the distinction between something that has a liability and an asset. And particularly if that asset can spit off cash flow. There's all kinds of different things that pay cash flow. Real estate being, you know, one of the more significant ones, but the higher barrier of entry capital wise. But there are things, I mean, I consider, um, I consider a CD, something that can spit off eventual cash flow. Right. And so, uh, anything that pays a rate or return, start to be someone who is really into finding assets and not liabilities. That's why I say, don't spend money.

• 27:36Ed Mylett?

  For the most part, until I was very, very wealthy, I avoided things that were liabilities like fancy dinners or cars that were going to depreciate in value, right? Things like that clothes that after you buy them really aren't worth very much money, they depreciate. I liked buying cash flowing assets, whether that was real estate or putting my money into some type of a fund that paid me something. Um, I learned about how money worked. I learned about how real estate worked. I learned on growing me and my identity through the mentors and personal development that I had. So 11 is acquire, uh, cash flow producing assets and not liabilities. Number 12, reduce all distractions. Become great at life of not being distracted. Most people in life end up not winning, not because of their lack of talent or lack of opportunity, but because they get distracted too easily.

• 28:21Ed Mylett?

  They get distracted with social things. They get distracted with television, social media, drama, relationships. Um, they just get distracted, whatever that might be, a hobby they're too into gaming. Whatever it is, be somebody who eliminates distractions and you are someone who's going to kick some tail in life. I can tell you that right now. Reduce all distractions. 13. Be a business athlete. Be somebody who decides that you're going to train like an athlete even though you're in business. That means your physical body, your weight training, cardiovascular training, your hydration. Begin to treat yourself like the, if you owned a thoroughbred horse, how would you treat it? Right? It's sometimes we don't treat ourselves that way. When I was very young, I read a book called The Corporate Athlete. Like, wow, I'm going to be an athlete.

• 29:04Ed Mylett?

  In fact, I'm old enough that back in those days, very few people lifted weights or even did any strength training that were also entrepreneurs, that were also business people. There was very few of them. Most of the gyms I went to were mainly kind of gym people, right? Who then went out and, you know, went to a corporate job every day or their, their blue collar job. There were very few entrepreneurs training. And I wanted to be an athlete. And so I've always approached my, the business as a sport. And part of that is my energy level, my focus level, my training, my presence, my strength, my stamina. These things all matter. So be a business athlete.

• 29:46Ed Mylett?

  That mindset alone is a shift for most people and an advantage. When you walk in a room, how you look physically, I'm not talking about whether you're handsome or pretty. I'm talking about that you make an appearance, that you make a presence. When I see somebody that's fit, I think this is a disciplined person. This is somebody I should take seriously. Now, I've taken a lot of people seriously in my life that don't have those things. I'm not saying you have to have that to be taken seriously. What I am saying is when you have that, you are taken seriously almost instantaneously because you don't even have to say anything. There's obviously something about you that says, I'm disciplined. I keep promises to myself. And your strength, your energy, um, your ability to affect people is dramatically better when you're an athlete in business. So be a business athlete. 14.

• 30:32Ed Mylett?

  Tithe? And or be charitable now. Find a way on your very limited income to give something away, to give to others.

• 30:42Ed Mylett?

  I believe there's a law of reciprocity in life. And I believe when you're somebody who starts out giving, even if it's small, even when it hurts, that eventually that you're blessed and and that there's something to be said for feeling good about the fact that you're contributing to others and not waiting until it's easy to do. And so even if it's very small, I mean, it could be, you know, a very marginal amount of money, but just to take a part of it and to give it to your faith or to give it to a cause you believe in or to give it to somebody in need. It'll come back to you tenfold, in my opinion. So tithe and be charitable now. And then 15. Be careful who you let get close to you. Be very careful of that.

• 31:24Ed Mylett?

  When my dad was getting older and I was still a pretty young person, I thought, my dad doesn't have a lot of close friends. I almost felt bad for my dad. My dad would say, Eddie, as the older you get, you'll realize that most people are in your life for a season. And it's not that most people aren't good. Most people are good. But I would just caution you to be careful with who you let get too close to you. And I think it's some of the best advice I could give you. I can tell you, most of the people that are past 30 years old right now are nodding their heads with me with massive agreement.

• 31:57Ed Mylett?

  People have to earn your loyalty. They earn your trust. And giving that away too early to somebody, I believe, is a mistake in life. And so be careful who you get close to. Be very careful. And who you are around regularly will determine your future. Okay, let's go all the way back to the beginning and go through 15 really, really quickly. Okay, so whatever age you are, if you're a young person, I made this for you today, but it can be any person listening to this. If you have any of these deficiencies fixed here, number one, outwork everyone. Number two, be willing to work for nothing or very little to be right near a mentor. Number three, do something entrepreneurial, young, or if you're older, start right now. Something entrepreneurial, trade something on the internet, whatever it might be. Number four, constantly work on and study the art of communication.

• 32:42Ed Mylett?

  Number five, build a brand and a network. Number six, live below your means. Number seven, have an emergency fund. Number eight, learn and study money in the stock market, understand how it works. Number nine, pick something that takes advantage of some gift you have. Number 10, become an expert in real estate and buy some as soon as you're ready and find a good deal. Number 11, acquire cash flow producing assets. Number 12, reduce all distractions. Number 13, be a business athlete. Number 14, tithe and be charitable now. 15, be careful who you get close to. That's my advice to you. Now, what I'm going to do lastly is give you a bonus. What I didn't have on that list, because I would think it's obvious that I have a podcast that does this, which is you need to grow you.

• 33:26Ed Mylett?

  You need to work on your own development, your own learning, your own understanding, your own confidence, your own worth, your own thinking, your mindset, which means to me, you should pick a couple podcasts that you listen to of people that you admire and respect and take their counsel and advice. I don't think you should be listening to 20. I also believe you should read regularly. Now, you're blessed nowadays, I was not a good reader. I became a really good reader, but I was terrible at first, at retention, remembering what I read. But readers are leaders. Readers are leaders. And I had my kids reading many of these books when they were eight, nine, 10 years old. I'd give them projects in the summer when they're off of school to read these books and they'd give reports to me. And if they were good reports, they'd get a reward.

• 34:11Ed Mylett?

  So I'm going to list for you 12 books that have impacted my life. You can do audiobooks if you want. I like reading. I think there's something, if you can, to reading it, but if you're more audio and auditory in nature, listening to them as well. I've picked books that are older books. So these are not anybody that's been on my show. I didn't want to give any disrespect to people that have been on my show, have written incredible books, many of which are some of the best books I've ever had on, except my own book. I'm going to list my own. These are more like classic books that I've read that have had an impact on my life in no order, other than scripture, by the way. These are just 12 books I recommend you read that can make a difference in your life, whether you're eight years old, 10 years old, or 78 years old. Okay, here we go, 12 books really quick.

• 34:54Ed Mylett?

  Number one, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Get that book. I learned a whole lot about the art of a mastermind, the collective mind, goal-setting, all kinds of different things. It's, it may be the most important book other than scripture that I've read. Number two, As a Man Thinketh by James Allen. So much of our life is what we think about. Read As a Man Thinketh by James Allen. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Carnegie. That's number three. Number three, how to win friends and influence people. Being able to connect with people and having the ability to do that is so important in life. The Power of One More by yours truly.

• 35:41Ed Mylett?

  I get to recommend my own book. Can you imagine having to listen to recommend my own book out of 12? So it's the one book that's been on my show. I will recommend just because I do believe so deeply in the content in there. The reason I'm not naming people on my show is because there's just too many and there's too many good books. Next book, The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason. Incredible book, incredible book. Next book that affected me very deeply, The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. This was a very critical book for me in my life. And by the way, everybody, I've read hundreds and hundreds of books, if not thousands. So for me to pick 12 was very difficult. I'm leaving a bunch of great books off this list that just quite frankly, didn't occur to me when I made the list for you today.

• 36:24Ed Mylett?

  Next book, The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. Incredible book. I like, you know, these are mainly older books. I love wisdom from the ages. And so I love cutting edge books too, like I have on the show, but I love wisdom from the ages. And The Richest Man in Babylon, Think and Grow Rich, As a Man Thinketh. These books are wisdom from the ages. Next book, Mindset by Carol Dweck. Had a deep impact on me. Most of these books are about how you think and changing your mindset. And literally this one happens to be called Mindset by Dweck, and it's outstanding. Next book, The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren.

• 37:09Ed Mylett?

  This is one of those books that literally changed the way that I looked at my life. And it's a classic book. I believe it's the number one selling book of all time. I could be wrong about that, but I'm pretty sure I'm right about it. The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. The next book is more of a business book. It's just affected me so deeply. I couldn't have a list without recommending it. Good to Great by Jim Collins. It just really changed the way that I looked at business. And it changed the way I believed about myself and that I could win in business. That you didn't have to be brilliant or charismatic. And it's about getting the right people on the right seats on the bus. So Good to Great by Collins. Two more books for you as we wrap things up today. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

• 37:55Ed Mylett?

  I was very blessed to meet Dr. Covey and to hear him speak on that book. And yeah, I don't know how someone can go through life without reading that book. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is an incredible book. And then last, The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer, who as many of you know, was an important person in my life. And it's one of the guiding principles of my life is my confidence stemming from my intent as opposed to my abilities. And so the power of intention. And so I hope today between my 15 keys to being successful, and I could have named 500, and these 12 books that I've given you a great place to start

• 38:35Ed Mylett?

  if you're a young person or at any age to start over and to begin to change your life. And if you are a young person, live a life that you're capable of where you contribute and give and you're blissful and successful by however you end up defining that in your life. Shaping your mindset with these books will help you a great deal. Okay, everybody, I hope today helped you. I'd recommend that you share this episode with just about anybody that you love, particularly the young people, but anybody who wants to be successful. I feel pretty strongly today's show can make a big difference for them. God bless you. Max out.

• 39:10Ed Mylett?

  This is the Ed Miliband Show.