September 30, 2024 • 48min
Simple Life Hacks That Will Change Your Future (Steal These Habits From Billionaires)
The Mel Robbins Podcast
Key Takeaways
- Warren Buffett's habits: Read daily to build knowledge and make better decisions. Force yourself to learn important skills like public speaking.
- Taylor Swift's habit: Capture creative ideas immediately in a notes app to build a library of inspiration.
- LeBron James' habit: Prioritize getting 8-10+ hours of sleep per night for peak performance and recovery.
- Sarah Blakely's habit: "Make the call" - don't be afraid to ask for what you want. You don't get what you don't ask for.
- Shigeru Miyamoto's habit: Regularly wander and observe new environments to stimulate creativity.
- Jamie Kern Lima's habit: Listen to your intuition and inner knowing, even if it goes against external opinions.
Introduction
In this episode, Mel Robbins breaks down six key habits of billionaires and highly successful people that anyone can adopt to improve their life and achieve their goals. She emphasizes that these habits are free to implement and only require commitment and consistency. The habits come from studying the routines and advice of billionaires like Warren Buffett, Taylor Swift, LeBron James, Sarah Blakely, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Jamie Kern Lima.
Topics Discussed
Warren Buffett's Reading Habit (04:01)
Warren Buffett, worth $145 billion, credits much of his success to his daily reading habit. In an interview, he stated:
"I just read and read and read. I probably read five to 6 hours a day. I read five daily newspapers. I read a fair number of magazines. I read ten ks. I read annual reports, and I read a lot of other things, too."
Mel emphasizes two key points about this habit:
- It's completely free - anyone can access reading materials at libraries or online
- Consistent reading creates "filters" in the mind that allow for faster decision-making
Buffett also discussed forcing himself to improve at public speaking by taking a Dale Carnegie course, highlighting the importance of pushing yourself to learn important life skills.
Taylor Swift's Idea Capture Habit (13:57)
Taylor Swift, one of the most successful musicians of all time, shared her songwriting process in an interview:
"I'm always pre-writing...if I get an idea that I feel like is a cool observation and it's a cool lyric thing, I just write it, I type it into this endless notepad on my phone."
Key takeaways from Swift's habit:
- Capture creative ideas immediately before you forget them
- Build an ongoing library of inspiration to draw from later
- Make creativity a daily habit by consistently recording ideas
LeBron James' Sleep Habit (20:48)
LeBron James, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, credits his longevity and performance to prioritizing sleep. In an interview, he stated:
"What I do to practice self care is I sleep. I love to sleep. I have to get my 8 hours of sleep. 8 hours plus...I think that's the best way to re-energize your body, re-energize your mind, re-energize your spirit, re-energize everything."
James aims for 10-12 hours of sleep when traveling for games. In a post-game interview, he shared that he had slept from 12-8am, then again from 8:30am-12:30pm before a game.
Mel emphasizes the science-backed benefits of sleep, including:
- Cleaning out toxins in the brain
- Repairing and boosting the immune system
- Consolidating learning and muscle memory
Sarah Blakely's "Make the Call" Habit (32:12)
Sarah Blakely, founder of Spanx, attributes much of her success to being willing to "make the call" and ask for what she wants. When asked how she landed Neiman Marcus as her first account, she said:
"I called them. What do you do? And they'd say, 'Oh my God, we go to trade shows. And we set up a booth and we've been doing it for seven years. And everybody says around year six or seven that you get a chance.'"
Key lessons from Blakely's habit:
- Don't be afraid to directly ask for what you want
- Doing things differently can set you apart
- Ignore self-doubt and take action
Blakely also shared a story of creatively demonstrating her product to the Neiman Marcus buyer in the bathroom when she sensed she was losing the pitch. This led to Spanx being carried in 7 Neiman Marcus stores.
Shigeru Miyamoto's Wandering Habit (39:56)
Shigeru Miyamoto, legendary video game designer behind franchises like Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda, has a habit of wandering city streets and parks to observe people and environments. This habit inspires the game worlds and characters he creates.
Neuroscientist Dr. Tali Sharot explains the science behind why this habit stimulates creativity:
"Whatever kind of life you have, you can actually shake things up a little bit. It can be something small, like, how do you commute to work? What route do you take to work?...By diversifying, we are doing a few things. We are dehabituating because now we have different inputs that we're not used to."
Ways to implement this habit:
- Take a new route to work
- Try a new hobby or take an online course
- Interact with people different from your usual social circle
Jamie Kern Lima's Intuition Habit (46:57)
Jamie Kern Lima, co-founder of IT Cosmetics which sold to L'Oreal for $1.2 billion, emphasizes the importance of listening to your intuition:
"Inside, in our gut, if we get still, if we listen to our soul, right, we get a knowing, an intuition, a still, small voice, a gut feeling...I don't believe your gut is ever wrong. I believe that it either leads you to the next right step or the next right lesson."
Key points about this habit:
- Trust your inner knowing, even when faced with external doubts
- Rejection or failure often leads to important lessons
- Be proud of yourself for listening to your intuition, regardless of the outcome
Conclusion
Mel Robbins emphasizes that all six of these billionaire habits are free to implement and only require commitment from the individual. She encourages listeners to start incorporating these habits into their daily lives:
- Read daily to build knowledge and improve decision-making
- Capture creative ideas immediately to build an inspiration library
- Prioritize getting 8+ hours of sleep for peak performance
- "Make the call" and ask for what you want
- Regularly expose yourself to new environments to stimulate creativity
- Listen to your intuition and inner knowing
Mel concludes by expressing her belief in the listeners' ability to create a better life by adopting these habits. She states that consistently implementing these six habits will undoubtedly lead to positive changes in one's life.