Be "Boring" If You Want to Be Successful


Read Online

Hey All,

In 72 hours I go to hospital.

It's always a stark reminder that alive time is a gift. I meet so many people who waste their time waiting to be ready or getting their ducks in the row or waiting for the numbers to tick over to 2025 so they can feel the time is right. It makes me sad.

A good dose of anaesthetic and a bunch of medical forms with warnings that "you could die from this procedure" always wake me the hell up. I wish everyone had this level of urgency.

Stop waiting and making excuses. Now is the only time.

Here's my most shared tweet this week (click to read all of it):


Be “Boring” If You Want to Be Successful

Is it just me or is the glamorous life overrated?

It feels to me like everyone wants us to be these main characters in these fictional hero stories. Like our lives have each become a Marvel movie with endless sequels.

There’s a story about boxer Floyd Mayweather. WWE executive Paul Levesque visits him before a big fight.

He goes backstage expecting to see Floyd pumping himself up Tony Robbins-style. Or doing some crazy warm-up routine.

Instead, Floyd is watching a boring baseball match on the sofa with his legs up. He’s just chilling despite all the hype around his career. He got to where he is because he does the boring things well.

Filmmaker Christopher Nolan is another example. The guy doesn’t own a smartphone. He has a virtual assistant reply to his emails and text messages. He rarely uses social media either.

When he sits down to write a script he uses an old laptop with no internet connection (my wife calls these people basic b*tches).

Christopher puts a lot of his success down to the boring moments in between events when most people can’t stand the silence and insist on filling the void with another TikTok video.

Being boring is what eventually makes you successful.

Do these boring things to find success sooner.

“The older I get, the more I realize that success at most things isn’t about finding the one trick or secret nobody knows about.

It’s consistently doing the boring, mundane things everyone knows about but is too unfocused/undisciplined to do. Get good at boring” — Mark Manson

Exercise

Predictable and boring.

Exercise lowers stress and releases the happy drug of endorphins. If you don’t look after your body it’ll eventually sabotage you. It’ll start with a lack of energy, then turn into some illness that requires prescription meds.

Choose a form of movement. Do it every day. Stretch. Maybe do some yoga. Practice slow breathing. Add some meditation for extra relaxation.

This advice is so basic because it works.

Read throughout the day

Reading is how we inject new ideas into our brains.

It’s boring. It takes concentration. It takes discipline to read a 20-hour book in a week or two. It takes peace and quiet too.

To be even more boring, read the stuff nobody else is reading. Read the history books and attach what you learn to conversations you have today.

Reading is a superpower.

It’s where the best learning happens and it’s a great way to learn from the greats who you may never meet in real life. I learned a lot from reading Jim Rohn even though he died in 2009 when I was a young pup. I feel like I know him because of his books.

While everyone drowns in Netflix, read unpopular books, and become smarter.

Write so you can think

Most people are numb.

They parrot what the bosses say. They get consumed by whatever the mainstream narrative is or get trapped in some Elon culture debate.

If you don’t think, you become a lifeless zombie programmed by society for oppression and abuse. The best way to think is to write. Writing is therapy for the mind. Writing helps you join the dots between random ideas.

I find I rarely sit down to write with a good idea. No. I have good ideas as I start to write. My brain takes all the inputs from the last few days and spins them like a washing machine in my brain.

The output is often surprising.

If you don’t write you’re not thinking. And if you write in public then you get to combine your thinking with other minds. A lot of normal people refuse to write because they’ve been deluded into believing ChatGPT and AI will replace all forms of writing. That’s horse sh*t.

Writing may be boring and hard work. But it makes you a magnet for opportunities and smart thinkers. Write.

Go to bed at 9 or 10 pm

More trite advice. Soz.

If you don’t go to bed early you’ll wake up tired. Then you’ll be about as useful as a pair of tits on a bull. Even more cliche, wake up early and get a headstart on the day. Don’t sleep in and let your life pass you by.

Going to bed early is boring & it’s how you can become semi-extraordinary.

Eat a decent diet

Eating vegetables is boring.

They taste like eating grass and don’t have any sugar highs that make you high as a kite. Healthy food may be boring and make you a plain Jane, but it gives you enormous energy.

With extra energy you can achieve things others can’t. Eventually that reality can make you successful.

I eat a vegan diet. When I tell people they hold up the hippie peace sign. They assume I’m a hippie or animal lover, and that I drive a Toyota Prius. The truth is I eat vegan because it makes me feel good and it’s cheap.

Eating healthy isn’t a status symbol.

It’s just a way to get more out of your body and live with more vitality. Choose your food wisely.

Work harder than most

Your grandpa said it. Now I’m saying it.

Boring as hell, right? But I’m delivering on the headline, aren’t I? Society has programmed us to think we can have special things and get rich without much effort. Wrong.

You’ll never meet a successful person who didn’t work hard. What I’ve found is a lot of successful people don’t realize they’ve worked hard because they’re obsessed with what they do.

So hard work just happens on auto-pilot, and they don’t mention it in their Ted Talk or Harvard Commencement Speech.

The simple life is the best life

The simple life is boring to most.

I like raising my kid, doing work I enjoy, not owning flashy stuff, and just treating strangers like they’re all my mates. I don’t have wild aspirations to fly to Mars or make love to Jennifer Lopez.

But simplicity gives you clarity. A simple life makes it easy to live. A complex life leaves you at the mercy of gurus, shortcuts, and hidden secrets you spend your entire life looking for (and never finding).

So I ask you again: is the glamorous life worth it?

– Tim Denning

<<<>>>

P.S. I've always hated Black Friday.

But this year... for the first time EVER... I've found a way to make it fun.

Fun for me, and wildly profitable for you.

I honestly think you're gonna be stunned when you see what I have planned.

Curious?

Click here and I'll mark you down to get the scoop before the "official" announcement

Tim Denning – I help you write & make money online.

I run a 7 figure writer/creator academy with 1000s of students. I've been writing online for 9 years and gained over 500M+ views. Join my newsletter to find out more.

Read more from Tim Denning – I help you write & make money online.

Read Online Hey All, Happy New Year! Been a fun start to the new year. Today I drove to the beach using self-driving in the car. It felt weird not having to hold the steering wheel and putting my family's life in the hands of a computer run by AI. It's strangely freeing. Here's my most shared tweet this week (click to read all of it): Tim Denning @Tim_Denning A wise man once told me: The greatest act of self-love is being selfish enough to chase your obsession. I think about that every day....

Read online Hi All, Merry Christmas. This week was a sad one. My Christmas Day got cancelled due to a sick family member. Normally we go to their house by the beach but now we're not. So we'll be staying home and doing nothing which is a weird feeling. Because our house is small, we don't have room for a Christmas tree so I'm trying to get creative. I'm sure I'll find plenty of the things to do with my my daughter on Christmas. I've taken her to see Santa three times. Probably should do it...

Read Online Hi All, The end of the year is nearly here. 17 days to go. Don't waste them. Commit now to what you'll be doing in January to start 2025 with a bang. Next year for me will be the year of simplification and efficiency. 2024 was the year of extreme learning. Oh, and expect the Bitcoin price to explode in the next few weeks (not financial advice). Countries are starting to buy it. Here's my most shared tweet this week (click to read all of it): Tim Denning @Tim_Denning It took me 10...