The World Works How You Want It To Work.

As we grow up, we often hear one simple phrase that can change the way we approach life:

“The world doesn’t work that way.”

Yet the deeper I dig and the more I learn, I’ve realized that the best of the best make the world work their way. And it’s not even just the top dogs, it’s all the ordinary people who’ve created a life they love. People who’ve achieved success have learned that they don’t have to follow the rules the world set on them, they can set their own.

They finish a degree in computer science at MIT in 1 year instead of 4. (Read Scott Young’s story here.)

They’ve built their entire life around the having the freedom to travel… and somehow turned that into a career. (Read Chris Guillebeau’s story here)

They’ve completed law school without having attended any classes… and threw a “bring your notes” kegger party instead. (Read Chris Sacca’s story here)

And there are thousands of stories just like these — of people who defied the odds because they ignored how the world was supposed to work.

But don’t just take my word for it… hear it from 3 inspiring individuals:

Steve Jobs

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In a PBS documentary, Steve Jobs shared his view on the world:

“When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money.

That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is — everything around you that you call life, was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.

The minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will, you know if you push in, something will pop out on the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it. That’s maybe the most important thing. It’s to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you’re just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it.

I think that’s very important and however, you learn that, once you learn it, you’ll want to change life and make it better, cause it’s kind of messed up, in a lot of ways. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again. “

Watch the interview with Steve Jobs here.

Derek Sivers

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When Derek Sivers walked into his first day of music lessons, his teacher said “ I suspect you can graduate [the Berklee School of Music] in two years if you understand there’s no speed limit. The standard pace is for chumps.”

The standard pace is for chumps.

His music teacher condensed 4 years worth of classes and practice into four, 3-hour lessons. Derek took his exams and graduated in 2 years.

Read Derek Siver’s story here.

Peter Thiel

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Peter Thiel is a successful entrepreneur and author. He was one of the founding members of PayPal. In his famous book Zero To One, he poses one simple question:

“How can you achieve your 10-year goal in 6 months?”

This question is impossible to solve… if we go by “how the world works”. But the question is so extreme that it forces us to radically change the way we approach problems. It forces us to let go of all the arbitrary assumptions and boundaries we’ve imposed on ourselves.

People who get what they want, do what they want… and the world bends to their will. This isn’t to say that you can just wish for everything to come true. Each and every one of these people worked their butts off to get to where they are today. But they skipped a few steps, took different paths, and got further than what “the world” would have given them had they just followed the path.

So whatever goal you want to achieve, think beyond the artificial boundaries that have been imposed on you. However you think the world works, it doesn’t. You don’t live within the rules, you set them. The world works how you want it to work… if you’re willing to put in the work that is.

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