My First MillionI took a personality test. The result was brutal.
My First Million
Embarrassment and the mirror 0:00
He starts by saying he actively tries to avoid embarrassment, even more than pain or death. The first story comes after he sells a company and hires a life coach. The coach gives him a personality test, and the result shows an off-the-charts narcissism score of 110. At first he treats it like a joke, then he realizes the test is pointing at something real: he sees himself as special, but he also looks for others to confirm it. That can help him take risks, but it also leaves him low when he does not feel seen. The lesson is to notice the pattern and become clear about what is special so you do not need constant outside validation.
A blunt correction 6:00
He then tells of a call from Scott Harrison, who tells him he says “like” far too often on his podcast. The note is embarrassing, but he values it because it is true and not self-serving. He sees it as a rare kind of help: someone who was willing to say something uncomfortable that could make him better. He is still working on it.
The sushi plan fails 7:31
The second embarrassment comes from age 21, when he and two friends try to start a sushi restaurant chain. They have little real experience, but they feel confident because they won a business plan competition and spent months planning every detail instead of doing the actual work. They make a huge binder and meet the founder of Noodles and Company, expecting advice. Instead, he looks at the plan, tells them plainly that it is nothing, and explains that a real restaurant starts by finding a location, signing a lease, and opening soon. They leave in silence, feeling that they lost their dignity, and realize they had been wasting time.
Opposite Day 13:31
He tells the George Costanza story, where chicken salad turns into tuna on toast and a simple change in action changes everything. That becomes his rule: stop planning to look good, and start doing the thing. He says he became a man of action, and a mentor later called this a high bias for action after seeing them move fast on advice.
Reinventing Himself 16:00
He then turns to being shy as a boy, calling himself the laugh track and recalling a painful note he wrote to a girl. He lies about who the note was for, then carries the lie for months until he moves to China. On the plane, his sister tells him he could be anybody at the new school, and he decides to be the coolest guy he knows. He says the same shift later helped him leave being a tech entrepreneur and start this podcast.
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