Elon Musk is hiring. I am applying.

DO NOT do this to your kids. Your identity depends on your commitment.

How you see the world determines who you become - outlook shapes outcomes. I share business and life lessons that encourage a growth-oriented mindset.

Here are this weeks insights:

1. Are you INTERESTED or are you COMMITTED? Your IDENTITY depends on this.

2. One of the greatest gifts you can give your kids is not what you do for them but what you DO NOT DO for them.

3. Elon Musk is hiring. I am applying!

You can access previous editions of my weekly emails here. Let’s begin!

(1) Are you INTERESTED or are you COMMITTED? Your IDENTITY depends on this.

Fill out the answers to these questions:

• At what age do you want to be financially independent?

• How much money do you need every month to more than cover your costs? 1 lac? 10 lacs? 1 crore?

• What kind of car would you like?

• What kind of house would you like?

• What kind of family would you like?

• Where would you like to travel?

• Who would you like to help?

This becomes your vision. You always create a vision first.

And then you come up with "how am I going to achieve it?"

Here is ONE question which will determine whether you are going to achieve every one of the things you listed above:

"Are you interested on achieving all this or are you committed to achieving it?"

If you're "interested" you'll do what's easy and convenient. You'll keep using stories and excuses and reasons why you can't.

But if you're "committed" you'll upgrade your identify to match this new destiny. You'll upgrade your beliefs so that you believe you can achieve it. You'll upgrade your self worth, so you feel you deserve it. You'll upgrade your knowledge and skills. You'll develop the habits that are required to achieve this and more.

So, are you INTERESTED or are you COMMITTED?

First you make the DECISION, then you figure out HOW.

(2) One of the greatest gifts you can give your kids is not what you do for them but what you DO NOT DO for them.

The hot water than softens a carrot will harden an egg. You will try many things as a parent which won't work. When this happens you have not failed. You have just figured out what does not work so that you can try something else.

In order to succeed in life your kid needs 3 things:

1. RESOURCES - Has he learnt how to learn? Is he deeply engaged? Is he being challenged to do hard things?

2. PROCESSES - Is he able to pull together what he has learnt to create something unique? Has he learnt how to work with others in a team? Has he learnt the value of preparation?

3. PRIORITIES - Is he spending his waking hours playing video games or is he so into using his RESOURCES and PROCESSES to bring his imagination into REALITY that this is all he gravitates towards?

Don't make the mistake of flooding your children with RESOURCES i.e. knowledge, skills and experiences. If they are not deeply engaged and are not challenged to do hard things then they will not be able to develop the PROCESSES they'll need to succeed in the future.

Self-esteem is the sense that "I'm not afraid to confront this problem and I think I can solve it". This doesn't come from abundant RESOURCES. Rather, self-esteem comes from achieving something important when it's hard to do.

By sheltering children from the problems that arise in life, we have inadvertently denied this generation the ability to develop the PROCESSES and PRIORITIES it needs to succeed.

Start early and help your kids solve simple problems that can help them build their PROCESSES and a healthy self-esteem. One of the greatest gifts you can give your kids is not what you do for them but what you DO NOT DO for them.

Ideas from the book "How Will You Measure Your Life?"

(3) Elon Musk is Hiring. I am applying.

Here is what Elon Musk is offering to work for the Department of Government Efficiency:

1. Super high IQ

2. Willing to work 80+ hours per week

3. No pay

I AM APPLYING … HIS PRINCIPLES!

I find the man inspiring! He may have his flaws but he is doing more in the time he has on this earth than any human I know. I try to learn from him so that I can be better.

Elon Musk is able to run Tesla, SpaceX, X Corp, The Boring Company, xAI, Neuralink and now he has taken over the responsibility for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)? How is that humanly possible? How does he have the time?

He is able to do all of this by:

1. Hiring a talented team: He inspires and attracts some of the best minds to work on projects which make them feel like revolutionaries.

2. Thinking from First Principles: most people think using Analogies.

Let’s dive deeper into how he thinks so that we try to think like him. Here is Elon talking about what First Principles means:

The normal way we conduct our lives is that we reason by Analogy. We do this because "it is like something else that was done." Or "it is like what other people are doing." It in mentally easier to reason by Analogy rather than First Principles. 

First Principles is a physics way of looking at the world. What this means is that we ask ourselves: "what are we sure is true or as sure as possible that is true?" And then reason up from there. This takes a lot more mental energy.

Here is an examples of Analogy Thinking:

• Battery packs are expensive and that is how they will always be because that's the way they've been in the past. Historically they've cost $600 per kilowatt hours so it's not going to get better.

Here is First Level Thinking: 

• Battery packs: what are they made of? Cobalt, nickel, aluminum, carbon, polymer for separation and sealed can. What are the spot market value of these constituents if we bought them in the metal exchange? Oh, it's $80 per kilowatt hours. So clearly you need to think of clever ways to take those materials and combine them into the shape of battery cells to have batteries that are much much cheaper than anyone realizes.

I have been asking myself First Principle Questions. So should you!

Harsh Batra (LinkedIn)

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