Ryan Nicodemus (and his partner Joshua Fields Milburn) help over 20 million people live meaningful lives with less through their website, books, podcast, and documentary. The Minimalists have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Forbes, TIME, ABC, CBS, NBC, BBC, CBC, and NPR. You can connect with him and learn more at www.theminimalists.com/start/ Favorite Success Quote “It’s not a matter of being busy, so are the ants. The question is: What are you busy about?” ~Henry David Thoreau “Love people and use things because the opposite never works.” Key Points 1. Embrace the Drudgery  Conventional wisdom states that “If you do something you love, you will never work a day in your life”. Unfortunately, as nice as the sentiment sounds, the reality is quite different. If you want to succeed at anything in life, you are going to have to work and let me tell you, there will be times that, no matter how much you love what you do, the work will feel like endless drudgery. I believe that a more accurate statement is, “If you love what you do, you will be able to stomach the hard work.” Ryan loves sharing his message with millions of people across the world, but he doesn’t always love the daily grind of writing, marketing, and speaking. I love empowering men all over the world to achieve their full potential, but I don’t always love managing employees, testing marketing campaigns, or putting out fires. Because we love what we do, we are able to handle the drudgery. That doesn’t make the work any more pleasant or any easier, but it does give those difficult tasks a greater sense of meaning and purpose. This extends beyond the realm of business too. Think about dating and relationships. Just because you are madly in love with someone doesn’t mean that the relationship will not take hard work. There will be fights, there will be disagreements, there will be times when your partner is struggling and you need to stand by and support them. And guess what? It’s hard. But if you truly love that person, it’s also worth it. So embrace the drudgery, realize that you will have to work and you will have to work hard. But remember that if you are working on something you love, the drudgery will be worth every second of pain. 2. Get Clear on the Massive Action You Need to Take  The first step to success in any endeavor is gaining clarity on what you want to achieve. The second step is gaining clarity on the actions you must take in order to manifest that dream and bring it into reality. Knowing what you want is not enough, you must have a very clear blueprint for the specific actions you are going to take in order to achieve your end game. Do you want to be financially independent? Great! Now, what specific actions are you willing to take in order to achieve that goal? Will you work 10-12 hours a day for the next five years? Will you devote all of your free time to your side hustle? Will you break off friendships that are dragging you down and keeping you mediocre? What are you going to do to make it happen? Do you want to be the healthiest man possible? Great! Now, what are you going to do to bring that goal to fruition? Will you give up drinking, smoking, and drugs? Will you commit to training 5 times a week? Will you cut out sugar, gluten, and processed foods? What are you going to do to make it happen? You see, it’s great to set goals, but most people forget that every worthwhile goal requires massive action. And before you set out to achieve a goal, you need to have a very clear picture of what it is that you are willing to sacrifice and what actions you are willing to take in order to achieve your dreams. 3. Giving is Living  While this might sound cliche and overplayed, the secret to living truly is giving. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun to live for yourself. It’s fun to focus on your own happiness. It’s fun to do your own thing and give a single finger salute to the world. But how long will it fulfill you? When you