Let’s go.

Back in the days of big hair and bigger biceps, Arnold, the real-life moving assortment of human grape-muscles, existed. Well, when I say existed…he was young. And he was working.

When he was at his peak in his 20s - he was training 5 hours A DAY. One training partner wasn’t enough, he needed a few to keep up with him. Franco, his best buddy was his training partner in the morning, and other (almost) equally large men in the evening 2.5 hour session. NO one else trained this much. They thought it was ridiculous, and it was too much. One guy training more hours in one day (and with more weight) than most of us do in a week? It sounds insane - because it is. But we all know how history played out. 

His work ethic was undeniable. He wasn’t naturally talented, or better looking, or had lots of money to spend - he was just harder working than every single one of his competitors. And that got him the titles. That brought him the fame. That got him elected as governor. Twice. 

His competition motivated him.

Now, the world is more competitive than ever. Definitely more than it was back in the 80s, 90s, and even the 2000s. The internet is in full effect and we’re not just competing with people in our town, city or country - we’re competing with the best from all over the world. And we’ve got AI. Skynet-like tech that can make the basic jobs obsolete. You can write, design, create, and even strategise with AI. It’s great for consumers, and great for us, people who want to create and build something special (and leave something behind). It’s so easy to create now that the competition is as fierce as it’s ever been - because we’re not just competing with Caren down the street - we’re competing with a million Carens across the world.

If you identify as a human being, then you’re part of the 6 billion or so people on the internet. So to stick out of the ant colony online, you need to be truly ‘remarkable’ as Seth Godin put it. And you only have two options:

1. Do something no one else is doing

2. Do something better than everyone else 

The first option is enticing. All you have to do is ‘find a niche’ and ‘create something great’ within that niche.  It sounds easy. But ever since people started to realise this, they’ve ALL been choosing this option. There is no shortage obscure and niche ideas online that people have created to ‘own’ a category. But now there are so many weird things online we get decision fatigue choosing what we really want. 

If you want to buy running shoes and type it into google - you’ll get an overwhelmingly huge number of choices. That goes for almost anything we’re looking for. So for a new shoe creator, you’re probably going to be lost in the noise. 

And there’s another thing - you don’t know if your idea will work. You don’t know until someone pays you for it. You don’t know until you’ve invested some time (and money) into it. And unlike Jeff Bezos and Mark Zukerberg, your first ideas will probably be shite. Not that I don’t believe in you or anything. It’s just not as ‘easy’ as it used to be. 

So we’re left with the second option. Doing the thing better than everyone else. To do this we’ve got to work harder than everyone else. It’s tempting to think that all you need to do is ‘work smarter’, but that’s not true. Everyone is smart. If they’re not, they can fill that gap with AI. And if someone already dominates an industry you’re in, they’re probably smarter than you too because they have the experience you don’t. They have the money and the contacts and the resources to blow you out of the water. Unless…you’re willing to consider…that you can out-work them. 

You can put on your best Austrian accent, pick up a machine gun, and yell ‘get to tha Chappah’ to motivate yourself. And let the competition push you to work harder than ever before. To work harder than everyone. 

That’s what’s Remarkable. 

You don’t need a new idea. You don’t even need a VC fund (or your parents) to back what you’re building. You need to find something that already works, and work your ass off to create something better. Do the 5 hours per day of reps. Lift the weight. And as Arnold’s so famously said “sleep faster”.

The idea of ‘having an idea’ is already taken. Let the remaining ideas get chased by people that have time. Start working. Hard. Harder than everyone you know and everyone you don’t.

See you at the top. 

Harry

P.S. Want to unlock some time? Try putting away your social media for a day. It’s glorious.

P.P.S. Forward this if you found it valuable. Share the sauce, bro.