 In this era, everybody's completely obsessed with productivity techniques, whether it is a method of journaling or it's a new app you've discovered or it's just the way you structure your day. It seems to be all the rage, but I don't think people are focusing on what is truly most essential to really be productive and also fulfilled in your life. And I want to share what I think that is in today's video. What's up guys? Alex Hein, author of the book, Milk the Pigeon, if you've ever wondered what to do with your life or you feel lost and meaningless, check out this book on Amazon because I think it can really help you. Now something that's very important is that my online business building program is reopening in a couple weeks. The first link below this video is for a free 30 minute podcast on how you can design the life you want through the online business that is your dream business. So if building a business or building a YouTube channel is your thing for this year, check out the link below this video and join the wait list there. Now I think most people don't see the results they want in life because we are expecting to be handed this map. This is how you should live, Jimmy. This is what you do from ages seven to 12. And then from 21 to 24, this is your roadmap and your playbook. But then wait because at 25 to 28, this is what you have to do differently. Sorry guys, newsflash, that doesn't work for human lives, right? It doesn't work because it only works if you want to live a conventional status quo life, which is fine. But if you don't want to live that, if you want to live an unconventional life and there is no map, there is no playbook, you have to design the map. You know, I've shared this idea that when most of us don't know what to do in our lives, we do one of two things. The first is that we conform, you know, we want to be a lawyer. So we go to school, we pass the bar exam, then we practice a hundred hours a week and that's just what being a lawyer is. We get married, we have the 2.5 kids and the white picket fence. And then that's human life for us because we're following the status quo. It's okay. And then the other half is that we rebel. If we're like, no, screw the status quo, that bullshit's not for me. I'm going to be the rebel. I'm going to be a hippie backpacker in Thailand. I'm going to get dreadlocks. I'm going to go do ayahuasca every year in Peru. I'm going to go be the rebel. But very rarely in between is there someone who's just like, you know what, elements of both of those lives appeal to me. But I don't really fit into any of these boxes. So what's me? And that can be very confusing because it's like a kind of identity crisis that so many millennials and people in their twenties have where it's natural if you question things. So you have to design your own map for your own life. But what if you don't know what you really want? You know, when I bring this up to people, they very often follow up with, well, what if I'm not passionate about anything? Like, I don't know anything that really excites me. I don't know what I would really do if I won the lottery. And I think this is that kind of perfectionism that comes in thinking that your next decision has to be the decision for the next 20 years, but it doesn't. You know, when I was 22, I don't have a goddamn clue what I was going to do with my life. I got the best job that I could that was mildly interesting. After a year, I quit it. I bought a one way ticket to China. I came back. I started a business. The business was not my passion. I became a personal trainer. It was not my passion. I then worked on building that business every day. It still was not my passion, but it was something that was the best thing at that moment. Will Smith shares the story about his dad in an interview that I think will be really helpful here. So this interview on the Charlie Rose show, he said, one summer, his dad tore down a brick wall in front of his business and told 12 year old Will and his brother to rebuild it. It took them a year and a half and they actually ended up doing it. And he said, don't you ever tell me that there's something you can't do. You don't try to build a wall. You don't say, I'm going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that's ever been built. You don't start there. You say, I'm going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid. You do that every single day and soon you will have a wall. If you don't know what to do, you just lay the first brick, which is basically whatever seems to be the most exciting and growth oriented thing right now in your life. So if there is no map for your life, you don't know what you're the most excited about. You can pick what you're 10% excited about, move in that direction. That's obviously where the flow is. And then if that changes or when it changes, then move into another direction. Because when the flow changes, you need to pay attention to that and then lay that kind of brick. For me, the first brick was going to China. That was the first brick and listening to my gut. And then the second brick was starting to build a business. The third brick was writing a book. The fourth was the YouTube channel. The fifth was getting my doctor in Chinese medicine. The sixth is what I'm building now. Every brick reveals the next brick, but you'll never know unless you lay that first brick. So if you don't know what to do, just pick that first brick and lay it perfectly. You know, my China might be your welcome to my channel video. My China might be your decision to take that job as an au pair in France or in Spain. In my China, that may be your decision that you're going to take a sabbatical for a couple months and go figure out what your best, most exciting next steps may be. Just lay that first brick perfectly because you are designing your own map for your life. Now again, for me, one of the most important aspects of building my dream life was building a business where I can control how I spend my time. Now I'm opening enrollment again for my course, Alive Business Mastery. The first link below this video is a free 30 minute podcast on how to design your dream life through an online business. So if that's a priority for you this year, you want to build a brand like mine, you want to build an online business, add your name to that list, listen to that podcast, and I'll let you know my business course opens. All right, you guys, that's all I have for today. There's two videos on this topic right here. Check it out.