• He was an artist creating paintings like the Mona Lisa, The Vitruvian Man, and The Last Supper

• He was an engineer designing the first versions of tanks, helicopters, and scuba gear.

• He studied anatomy dissecting over 20 human bodies and filling his notebooks with the most accurate diagrams of a human at the time

• And on top of this he was a chemist making all of the materials for his art and sculptures himself.

The really crazy thing though is that, I didn’t even begin to name all the fields that he advanced.

I just finished a 500 page book on Leonardo and I am honestly amazed at just how many fields Leonardo was a master in, and as I was reading it I came to realize that he was able to do everything that he did because of a habit that continues to be repeated over and over again throughout history.

This habit that we’re going to go over today is what made Leonardo a polymath genius.

So if you are someone who feels like they’re being put in a box, like you feel trapped in a sort of niche field, this article is especially for you, because so many of the great geniuses of history understood something very important, and that’s that in order to truly think like a genius, you have to be a master at many fields, and Leonardo is the perfect example of that, which leads me to the first point.

I - The Difference

Okay so to start what even if a polymath? a polymath by definition is “A person with expertise in a significant number of different subject areas”. The main thing that separates Leonardo from everyone else is exactly this, that instead of just being someone who had a deep knowledge in one single field, he was able to take from all these different fields and create something that no one else had before. You can think of it like a painting pallet. On the pallet you have all these different colors. Everyone else might be a master at one color. So maybe there was a master of yellow or a master of blue. during the renaissance this would be things like painting, or engineering, or anatomy. But what Leonardo did was master multiple colors. He was able to master blue and yellow and because of this he was able to mix the two colors together to create green. Or in a real sense he was able to combine multiple fields together to create something new.

The difference between a polymath genius and everyone else is that the polymaths are able to take a concept from a field and apply that concept to a different field without a second thought. Because they’ve mastered multiple fields they’re able to create something new and make things that are unique and different and I mean that is what the geniuses do. The key concept here though is to become a master in multiple fields so that you can blend the two together. Looking back to history this has happened over and over again to make breakthroughs.

The wright brothers obsessively studied the movement and the flights of birds before building the first ever machine that could fly. On top of this they took a lot of concepts from riding a bike and applied it to their flying machines as well

Issac Newton actually wrote more about theology and alchemy than about physics which was where most of his accomplishments lie, and he wrote in a way where he almost looked at theology and physics as in the same field.

Steve Jobs was constantly taking from different fields and applying them to his products at apple. He was actually obsessed with Da Vinci and was inspired by him to take on this philosophy and he one of the best quotes I’ve ever heard on being a polymath, he said “I’ve never believed that they’re separate. Leonardo da Vinci was a great artist and a great scientist. Michelangelo knew a tremendous amount about how to cut stone at the quarry. The finest dozen computer scientists I know are all musicians. Some are better than others, but they all consider that an important part of their life. I don’t believe that the best people in and of these fields see themselves as one branch of a forked tree. I just don’t see that. People bring these things together a lot.”

That’s the real difference between a polymath genius and everyone else. The polymaths are not stuck in one hyper specific niche field, but they’re able to take concepts from different fields and apply it to whatever they are working on. You can think of it like white light shining through a prism. The people who only look at the rainbow see all the different colors that there are, but if you can see the whole picture, it is all of the colors of the spectrum merging together right at the prism that make the white light. Or said in real life terms the regular person only see’s all these different fields separately. They see biology as one thing, mathematics as another, psychology over here, art over there. But the polymaths don’t really see that distinction, a polymath see’s all this different fields united. So as a polymath your job is to be that prism. To be that person that can bring all those colors together into that white light.

Chances are you’re not currently thinking like these though, and that’s okay because it’s not entirely your fault. In school you’re not taught like a Polymath. Even when you look at the schedule of a school you have all these different sections like math, science, literature, art all separated from each other. But the worst part is, is that all of as you go through the system you’re sort of forced to become more specialized, to dive very deeply into one specific niche field and never explore outside of the niche.

Going back to Steve Jobs he said “Edwin Land of Polaroid talked about the intersection of the humanities and science. I like that intersection. There’s something magical about that place.” There is something magical about that place, the place where math and science and art all connect, and that is where the great polymaths of history were able to make their biggest accomplishments. Most people go nowhere near that line, because they are so buried in one specific niche, but that line is where innovation happens, it’s where progress is made, and it’s where the greats of history live, and if you haven’t trained yourself to think like a polymath then you’re probably not there yet, but that’s okay because the following habit or system or whatever you want to call it is something that so many of the greats have used to become great polymaths and it’s called the multi-discipline way of thinking. If you’ve ever read about Charlie Munger then you might’ve heard of it already, but in this video were doing to go in depth about the concept, and show you how you can apply it and use it in your own life.

II - Leonardo Da Vinci

But first we have to go over how Leonardo Da Vinci used it. I said earlier that Leonardo Da Vinci was probably the greatest polymaths who ever lived because I mean you can see it everywhere in his life. We currently still have a ton of his journals and in the journals you can sort of see how in his mind there were no lines drawn between different fields. You can just see how sporadic and crazy and all intertwined all of these pages are, and they are an exact reflection of how things were in his head as well. These pages are the best way to describe what the intersection of science and art looks like and Leonardo even once wrote “Principles for the Development of a Complete Mind: Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses. Especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to anything else.” Everything connects to everything else, that is the perfect way to think about multidiscipline thinking. There’s this great quote from Walter Issacsons biography on him that goes “Leonardo’s interest in machinery was linked to his fascination with motion. He saw both machines and humans as apparatuses designed to move, with analogous components such as cords and sinews. As he did with his anatomy drawings of dissected bodies, he drew machines disassembled to show how motion is transferred from gears to levers to wheels and pulleys, and his cross-disciplinary interests allowed him to connect concepts from anatomy to engineering.” and Leonardo showed this philosophy countless times throughout his life.

The most famous way he did this was probably with The Vitruvian Man. This is not only a phenomenal piece of art, but it is also completely rooted in science. He was obsessed with studying of the geometry of the human body using the work of Euclid, and he also studied this guy named Marcus Vitruvius Pollio who wrote a classical book called The Ten Books on Architecture and he rooted this painting in a philosophy that expressed that the human body is supposed to be in harmony with the universe. So you can see how he is thinking in multiple disciplines here. It’s not just a painting but it is the literal intersection of geometry, and anatomy, and art, and architecture, and philosophy, all at the same time. Thats what makes the Vitruvian such a masterpiece, not just that it is a phenomenal piece of art.

The exact multidiscipline way of thinking was used to develop his flying machine. Leonardo did a deep deep study of birds for this, and I mean it’s hard to describe just how obsessed with birds he was for this. He studied how they move for hours and kept a lot of them around his house. He watched the an and in what places it is similar to the human body. He once again used anatomy for this when trying to figure out what motions a human could make to power the machine. And on top of this he believed that air and water were very similar so he used water to run a lot of his experiments and see how stones dropped into the water act and how it would be similar to turbulence in the air. So you can again see how he took from all these different fields to make sketches for his ornithopter and his aerial screw which were at the intersection of anatomy and art and science.

Leonardo applied this way of thinking to everything that he did and this was in part how he was able to be such a genius, but what really made him be this way, what was it that made him think in a multi-discipline type of way, and the answer is that he was just relentlessly curious. And when I say curious he was actually one of the most curious people I have ever studied. He had this habit where he would carry around a notebook everywhere he went so he would constantly have a notebook on him, and then whenever he had a question about the world he would write it down. So in his notebooks there are all of these sporadic questions everywhere, for example take these three ““Why do fish in water move faster than birds in the air, though both are surrounded by fluid?” “Why does the wind move in waves, like water?” “The blood that moves within the veins flows like the water that circles in a whirlpool.” As you can see these three questions are three completely different questions from completely different fields all asked around different times, but they all have something to do with the other. And this was simply the effect of Leonardo following his curiosity. Because he followed his curiosity it led him to all these different pathways which he could then connect later.

It all goes back to that quote “Realize that everything connects to everything else”. The fish in the water connects to the bird in the air, the blood flows in the way that water flows. This is how Leonardo was able to do so much, because he constantly was applying different fields to whatever he was working on, and this is one of the most important skills that you can develop, especially when the modern world is constantly pushing you to become more and more niched into one specific field. So the next section is going to go over the steps for how to become a multi-disciplined thinker and become the ultimate polymath genius.

III - Multi-Discipline Thinking (4 Steps)

Okay so as always I like to break things down into steps because, steps are easy to remember, and they’re easy to apply. I broke down Multi-Discipline thinking into four steps so that you can start to think more broadly about whatever field your in. The formula is 1. Master One Field 2. Widen Your Learning (Follow Curiosity) 3. Spot The Patterns 4. Apply Across Fields (Build A Web)

Step One is to Master One Field. This step is really important because there is a very big misconception about being a polymath that needs to be cleared up, and that is that being a polymath is not being the jack of all trades but it’s about being able to think in multiple disciplines. The difference is that the jack of all trades is okay at many fields, but the true poly math is a master at one field and is able to bring in concepts from other fields to advance in that one field. This ultimately leads to advancements in the other fields as well ironically. This is why before becooming a polymath you have to master one field first. For Leonardo that field was art, for Steve Jobs it was personal computing, for Ben Franklin it was the printing press business. The main benefit of becoming a master of one craft first though is that you now have a formula for how to learn a craft, and so once you master a craft it’s a lot easier to add these tertiary fields to your mind.

Step Two is to Widen Your Learning. After mastered one field it’s then very easy to translate the skills of learning into literally every field, and so learning becomes a lot faster and a lot easier, but there’s a very important factor to this step and that’s that you absolutely have to follow your curiosity. For Leonardo Da Vinci while he was painting he became obsessed with light, because obviously painting is a lot of playing around with light and shadows, and so instead of just observing light he actually began studying it. It was like a branch of curiosity that he followed into a completely different field of optics. Steve Jobs while he was in college, well he wasn’t really in college he actually dropped out and still kept going to classes, but he stayed on campus and he only went to classes that interested him and that he was curious about. And so he took classes like Zen philosophy and Calligraphy. The point is that these other fields have to be something that you are interested in naturally. If you try to study something just because it will help your main field and it doesn’t peak your curiosity it won’t work because your mind won’t give importance to the new field. I know it sounds cheesy but this other field should call to you and you should follow your curiosity.

Step Three is to Spot The Patterns. This is probably the most important step. There are patterns that govern all the laws of nature, and as you start exploring other fields you will begin to notice these underlying patterns. A lot of these patterns will inevitably go back all the way to nature as that is where all things stem from. Leonardo said “Nature is the source of all true knowledge. She has her own logic, her own laws, she has no effect without cause nor invention without necessity”. Leonardo showed this in his own life when he was studying bird. Instead of just observing the birds fly he tried to derrive the underlying principle for how they could fly, and so he came up with the concept of lift which could not only be applied to a bird but also to a machine. He also found that the concept of lift was not just applicable in air but in any wavelike substance like water. And so it was by finding this underlying principle of nature for how birds fly that he was able to form all of the connections between all these different fields. This step is so important and is probably one of the most valuable things you could ever develop in life because it is what leads to step 4.

Step Four is Applying Across Fields. Once you have the underlying principle you’re going to find that it is going to be incredibly easy to connect different fields to each other, and a lot of times you’ll find that, that underlying principle is actually the real discovery. When Issac Newton discovered gravity it was because he connected the falling of smaller objects to the orbits of large masses. For Leonardo it was lift that really showed him how similar air and water are. Steve Jobs was constantly making analogies about nature of his companies, comparing markets to bee colonies and stuff like that. This is the 4 step formula for thinking in multiple disciplines and its very clear that the genius in this lies in the third step, the finding of the underlying principle. Once you start seeing the world in this way it is very obvious to just naturally think in this way. So now that you have a good overview of thinking in multiple disciplines we have to go over some historical examples to really solidify this line of thinking.

IV - Historical Examples

Since we already covered Da Vinci a ton we’re going to use a different example this time. Let’s use Edwin Land. Honestly it is an absolute crime that no one talks about Edwin Land because he was a genius. Edwin Land is the founder of polaroid but he literally said that he wanted Polaroid to be at “The intersection between art and science” and it really was. Polaroid didn’t even start as a camera company they started as a polarizing filter company who wanted to put polarizers on cars. This meant that Edwin Land was pretty much a physicist studying light, and he completely mastered this field. He was also very interested in chemistry and psychology though, and the result of all these fields coming together was when one day his daughter asked him “why can’t I see my photo right away”. He then mixed light with the chemistry to make mix the colors in the camera into the photo, and sold the camera with the psychology knowing that people would buy it to see the picture they took right away. This is peak polymath thinking and in the words of Steve Jobs talking about Edwin Land “I always thought of myself as a humanities person as a kid, but I liked electronics. Then I read something that one of my heroes, Edwin Land of Polaroid, said about the importance of people who could stand at the intersection of humanities and sciences, and I decided that’s what I want to do.”

Another person who thought in a very similar way was Walt Disney, and although when you think of Walt Disney you probably don’t think polymath genius he actually was a remarkable multidiscipline thinker. Obviously Walt was an animator at heart but by the time of snow white he had hired out most of the animation to other people so he was free to explore different fields that all ended up culminating into snow white.He brought in actors to show his animators about body movement (this is actually really similar to what Da Vinci did with anatomy for his paintings), he studied storytelling deeply and the psychology behind it way more intensely than for any of his other projects, and his team even created a new type of camera called the multi-plane camera to add more depth to the movie. All of these different fields coming together at Disney Studios to create what might have been the most successful movie in all of history. Just a side note that later on, on top of that he also made up the term Imagineering, which is the combinatin of imagination and engineering and that team is still around today making all the engineering behind the technology at the Disney Theme parks.

So it’s very clear that new things come about with multidiscipline thinking. Wether its new discoveries in science or some of the most beautiful works of art every made. But if it really is so useful to think in this way, then what is it that stops people from thinking in this way? Because obviouslyif it was easy to think in multiple disciplines everyone would, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

V - The Roadblocks

There’s two roadblocks to watch out for when pursuing the thinking of a polymath and those road blocks lie in step 2 and step 3. These are the two reasons for why most people aren’t modern polymaths.

The first reason is that curiosity gets conditioned out of most people. As a kid you are constantly curious and you are constantly questioning the world around you. I mean everyone knows that one annoying kid who asks you a question and when you give an answer they just keep asking why why why why. That’s really important. It’s a curiosity about the world. Not really about anything specific but just about everything. In this way, even if you have already mastered a field just by being curios about the world around you you naturally learn different things from different fields. However as you get older that curiosity sort of gets numbed down by society, people begin to conform and ridicule the ones who are willing to look foolish and ask these why questions all the way down into the unknown. And so in order to be a polymath you have to bring back that spark of curiosity you had as a child. I actually think about the Frankenstein movie that just came out where the monster is created and everything is just new to him, the leaves, the sun, the water everything, and he’s constantly curious. This is the type of curiosity Da Vinci had and it comes from a childlike spirit. So this might sound crazy but it helps to just go for a walk and just imagine as though you are experiencing everything for the first time. This way you can see what calls out to you, what questions come to mind, and just follow your curiosity, just like Frankenstein.

The second roadblock that comes up is that people tend to look for facts instead of principles. After your curious and start looking through different fields its very easy to fall into the niche trap again and this is why step three is so important. A lot of people when attempting to think in multiple disciplines get sucked into separating the two fields completely. Maybe one of your fields is physics and one of your fields is art. But the idea is to find the principles behind why things are why they are. When Leonardo was painting a lot of his art involving water he didn’t just want to paint how the water looked, but he actually wanted to understand why the water moved the way it did. That why question is the principle. For water this was the principle of flow which can then be applied to multiple fields and because Leonardo understood this he was also able to create some of the best paintings involving water at the time.

Other then these two roadblocks thinking in the way of a polymath is really not that difficult, it is simply just something that you have to live by. To be relentlessly curious, to constantly be looking for these principles in nature, and to be constantly applying these principles into whatever your doing. And the key is just repetition. Because the more that you do this the easier it will become and the more natural it will be to think in this way, and that’s when you really get to Leonardo or Steve Jobs level of genius.

And always remember this Da Vinci quote “Realize that everything connects to everything else”

Something they don’t teach you in your temple. The Gods envy us. They envy us because we’re mortal, because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we’re doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again.”

I try and think about these words everyday. They’re the reason why I strive for greatness.

We get one chance here. One short chance to do something in the world. To be completely defined by our actions.

For a small moment in time, we have the opportunity to make history.

As Steve Jobs said:

“You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear.”

That’s it. One short chance to blaze in the sky. Once you realize that the question becomes, what are you going to do with it. And one of the greatest philosophers and thinkers of all time has an answer for you.

Nietzsche said:

“I know of no better life purpose than to perish in attempting the great and the impossible.”

These quotes echo in my head over and over again.

Remember them, for they may save your life as they did mine.

I just re-watched the movie “Troy” last night and I am mind blown by the amount of lessons I took from the movie.

Here is a list of the top 5…

1. The Culture
   
   I recently had the opportunity to interview a Macedonian historian, and was amazed at the culture that people like Thucydides, Demosthenes, Aristotle, and Alexander lived in. As well as the people they looked up to.
   
   They didn't see the gods as far away, but they thought of themselves as direct descendants from them. They admired traits like courage, bravery, honor, and legacy (something which seems to have been lost today).
   
   Alexander the Great believed to be descendant from Herakles on his dads side, and Achilles on his moms side. He aspired to be like them and to emulate their traits. And for him, these were his ancestors.
   
   I love that idea. Of trying to emulate the gods. To aim at the highest possible version of yourself and higher. That is a beautiful takeaway.

2. Seeking Immortality

   "Myrmidons! My brothers of the sword! I would rather fight beside you than any army of thousands! Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions! Do you know what's there, waiting beyond that beach? Immortality! Take it! It's yours!"
   
   This speech is incredible.
   
   Right before the battle Achilles looks at his men and gives this speech. This is exactly how you inspire your troops. You tell them they are the best in the world, and you end it with what they can gain. In this case they are seeking glory, and honor, and immortality. They want their names to live forever!

   This is a theme that Achilles constantly acts out throughout the movie. He is seeking glory, he is seeking immortality. This dialogue between Achilles and Hector shows this:
   
   Achilles: They'll be talking about this war for a thousand years.
   Hector: In a thousand years, the dust from our bones will be gone.
   Achilles: Yes... but our names will remain.

   This is the exact mentality I want to have.

3. The Battle

   I love the idea of a worthy opponent. Hector was a worthy opponent for Achilles.

   Before they fight Hector says:

   "I'll make a pact with you. With the gods as our witnesses, let us pledge that the winner will allow the loser all the proper funeral rituals."

   And Achilles responds:

   "There are no pacts between lions and men"

   This has to be one of the coolest responses ever in movie history! I love this because I aspire to have this confidence before a battle. To walk forward with a 100% in my abilities and in my inevitable triumph. The same way Alexander did before Guagamela, the same way Topuria had before Olivera.

4. A Simple Maxim

   "All my life, I've lived by a code, and the code is simple: honor the gods, love your woman, and defend your country. Troy is mother to us all! Fight for her!"

   As much as I love Achille’s speech to his troops, I love Hector’s just as much. He is a simple guy, and lives with an honorable code. To love what he stands for, and be willing to fight for it

   Life is a constant battle. Be willing to fight for what you love.

5. The Art Of The Sword

   The last thing is that I simply love the swords fights.

   I mean can you imagine being in that form of 1 on 1 combat.

   

   The amount of confidence, and honor, and courage, and bravery you need to do this is unbelievable. I admire all of these traits.

Hi, I’m Nic. I’ve read over 100 biographies of history’s greatest men. The following is a list of the top 50 books I would start with when getting into biographies. 30 of them of biographies, and the other 20 are books I think everyone should read. I wish you well on your biography reading journey!

Entrepreneur

1. Walt Disney by Neal Gabler

2. Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance

3. The 38 Letters From John D. Rockefeller To His Son

4. The Nvidia Way by Tae Kim

5. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

6. Titan by Ron Chernow

7. Source Code by Bill Gates

8. The Book Of Elon by Eric Jorgenson

9. Poor Charlie’s Almanac, Charlie Munger

10. The Fish That Ate The Whale by Rich Cohen

Conqueror

1. Alexander the Great by Philip Freeman

2. Hannibal by Philip Freeman

3. Caesar by Philip Freeman

4. Napoleon A Life by Andrew Roberts

5. Masters of Command by Barry Strauss

6. Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff

7. Philip and Alexander by Adrian Goldsworthy

8. Hitler’s Charisma by Laurence Rees

9. Talleyrand by Duff Cooper

10. Napoleon’s Military Maxims

Genius

1. The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

2. Einstein by Walter Isaacson

3. Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman

4. Genius by James Gleick

5. Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age by Carlson W. Bernard

6. Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

7. Tesla’s Autobiography, Nikola Tesla

8. The Wizard Of Menlo Park by Randall Stross

9. Isaac Newton by James Gleick

10. Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson

Must-Read Stories

1. The Founders by Jimmy Sonni

2. Endurance by Alfred Lansing

3. Lift Off by Eric Berger

4. Alone On The Wall by Alex Honnold

5. Confessions Of An Advertising Man by David Ogilvy

6. Instant: The Story Of Polaroid by Christopher Bonanos

7. Bushido: Code Of The Samurai by Inazo Nitobe

8. Reentry by Eric Berger

9. Glock by Paul M. Barrett

10. Talk To Strangers by Matt Dahila

Historical Narratives

1. The Lessons Of History by Will and Ariel Durant

2. The Changing World Order by Ray Dalio

3. Zero To One by Peter Thiel

4. The 33 Strategies Of War by Robert Greene

5. The Art Of Seduction by Robert Greene

6. Mastery by Robert Greene

7. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

8. Principles by Ray Dalio

9. 12 Rules For Life by Jordan Peterson

10. 10. Beyond Order by Jordan Peterson

    I read a biography every week, and share the insights in newsletter form.

• He was making battlefield decisions at 3 in the morning

• Constantly running on almost no sleep

• Continually outworking everyone around him

But how was he able to do this?

Well, Napoleon specifically designed his life to maximize things like speed, clarity, and control, and thanks to a 1000 page biography by Andrew Robertson I have a pretty good idea on the habits he used to make this possible.

This book is filled with letters Napoleon wrote, his military maxims, accounts from people closest to him, and detailed accounts of his campaigns. So after reading it I’ve condensed this book down to 13 habits that define Napoleon.

And it all starts with his daily habits.

1. Compartmentalization

Andrew Roberts explained it best when he said:

“Napoleon was capable of compartmentalizing his life, so that one set of concerns never spilled over into another”

He could go from planning a military invasion to writing legal documents in the same hour without losing focus. Compartmentalization is one of the skills that allowed Napoleon to do so much in his life because it allowed him to switch from task to task without losing any momentum and without carrying any baggage from the previous task.

Here’s how Napoleon thought of it:

“Different subjects and different affairs are arranged in my head as in a cupboard. When I wish to interrupt one train of thought, I shut that drawer and open another. Do I wish to sleep? I simply close all the drawers and there I am-asleep”

You can think of your mind like a cupboard. And every drawer is a different different section of your life. Let’s say you just had an argument with your wife and now you’re struggling to focus on your work. Using the cup bard method, you would simply close the drawer with your relationship while at work and open the drawer for your work. I will say that this is less of a method and more of a lifestyle. The more that you practice this, the easier it will be to shut and open drawers, and the faster that you’ll be able to move from task to task.

During the Italian campaign in 1796, Napoleon had already racked up five major victories, but things were falling apart in the background. France was short on supplies. His generals were worn down, and back in Paris Josephine was cheating on him.

That same week, he sat down and wrote a plan for seven more victories, he wrote to suppliers for more ammunition, he wrote to his generals abut footwear for soldiers, and then he went out an executed his plan.

That’s compartmentalization. He didn’t let other areas of his life bleed into his focus on the campaign. He treated each problem like a new drawer, and only kept one drawer open at a time.

This is a big difference between Napoleon and everyone else. Whenever a problem arose, Napoleon shut out all the other drawers and focused on one single problem. Every other drawer was closed.

2. Strategic Rest

One of the craziest things I found in the Andrew Roberts biography was Napoleons sleep schedule.

During peacetime he got 6 to 7 hours a night. But during war it usually dropped to 3 or 4. Sometimes less, and not all at the same time. This wasn’t because he was trying to prove something, but because he adjusted his rest depending on what the moment required. He’d grab short naps between battles which allowed him to be giving orders constantly. For Napoleon it was about urgency and he adjusted his rest based on how urgent the situation was.

The book describes his sleep during the Prussian campaign:

“Napoleon would often sleep for just an hour or two at night, then take short naps in the day-sometimes while fully clothed, lying on a table, or sitting upright in his carriage-so he could continue working without delay.”

You have a very similar scene in 1806,

Right before the Battle of Jena, Napoleon had barely slept for two days. His generals urged him to rest. Instead, he took a 15-minute nap in his tent, woke up, walked outside, and dictated the entire next phase of the campaign. That same day, he crushed the Prussian army.

And this is actually a very common thing with very successful people. It’s usually in sprints when the biggest accomplishments in history have happened.

• Elon Musk sleeping on factory floors

• The Wright brothers napping in between test flights

• Edison and his employees crashing under tables while building the lightbulb.

But why is this so often the case?

Well a common trend that you see with a lot of great people right before they achieved whatever it is that they achieved, you see a sort of sprint. This sprint phase can last a couple of weeks or a couple months but it’s a phase where an obsession completely consumes you, and this usually comes with the cost of sleep.

For Napoleon this tended to be during battles or during campaigns, where he really needed to be working all the time, and so he adjusted his sleep to his work not his work to his ideal sleep. Because during these sprints it’s not about how much you rest, but it’s about how you use it.

For Napoleon, energy wasn’t just a resource ,it was a weapon, and he refused to waste it.

3. Minutiae

It’s interesting that I mentioned Elon Musk in the previous section because Elon Musk in a lot of ways is sort of like a modern-day Napoleon. One of these ways is by being extremely knowledgeable on the Minutia of his company.

Minutiae is the small, precise, or trivial details of something. It’s the small things in the company.

There are many stories from Tesla from lower-level employees where Elon Musk would just show up and start questioning them about all their tasks, many of them even saying that he knew the information better than they did. And there are many similar accounts from soldiers in Napoleons army.

Napoleon personally reviewed supply chains, troop positions, uniform design. He knew his army and it’s strategy in it’s entirety.

He once said:

“The slightest circumstance decides the issue of a battle. Therefore, a commander must pay attention to details.”

And his staff learned very quickly, if something was off, he’d notice.

There was a moment during the 1805 Ulm campaign where he paused a march, not because of enemy movement, but because he noticed a missing shipment of boots. There were thousands of men ready to go, hundreds of miles from home, and Napoleon is here noticing footwear missing. That shipment arrived two days later and the next morning, they fought the decisive battle.

Now of course the boots weren’t the reason they won but the point is that it’s the little details that make the difference when it comes to the large outcomes. This true in war, but it’s also true in everything else. Whether you’re editing a video, launching a product, or studying for an exam, it’s usually not the big idea that gives you the advantage. It’s the small details that others miss

4. Relentless Reading

“Read and re-read the campaigns of Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus, Turenne, Eugene, and Frederick. This is the only way to become a great general.” -Napoleon

Like many great people Napoleon was a relentless reader.

He even had a custom-built traveling library so that he could take a small library of books with him on campaigns. But a lot of great people read, the thing that set him apart from others was how he read. Napoleon read with intentionality.

Andrew Roberts writes:

“He was exceptionally well-read in history, especially military history, and constantly sought to apply lessons from past campaigns to present circumstances.”

While many people read a lot, it’s the people who read with intention, and the ones who actually apply what they read who actually manage to change the world.

Before his Egyptian campaign, Napoleon studied the Koran, accounts of Alexander’s Egypt campaigns, and books on the region’s geography and culture.

Before Russia, he read books on Charles XII’s invasion, topographical maps of Lithuania, and reports on the Russian army’s structure.

He wasn’t just reading history for the sake of reading history. He was reading history with the intent of changing his actions in the future.

Alex Hormozi has this great quote:

“Rather than picking up your next book, take action on your last book.”

This quote perfectly summarizes the way Napoleon read, and it’s something that you can even incorporate into your own life.

• If you’re launching a product, study past launches. If you’re entering a new market, learn its history.

• If you’re facing a challenge, find someone who’s faced it before, and read how they overcame it.

Think about what your goals are, and then think about what your currently reading right now and then you can ask the question wether you’re reading tactically or not.

5. Fast Decisions

Napoleon was known for making fast decisions.

One of the clearest examples of this was during the Ulm campaign. General Mack expected Napoleon to take the slow route through the Black Forest. But Napoleon quickly decided to split his forces into small corps and surrounded him from multiple angles. This single fast decision forced a full surrender without a major battle.

Napoleon once said:

“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.”

This mindset even shaped how he strategized.

Napoleon designed a system called the corps system where the army is split into small corps that could operate on their own. These corps we’re small agile units usually consisting of some artillery, infantry, and cavalry. Having this system in place allowed for faster communication and therefore faster decisions.

One of the main reasons why Napoleon was so adamant about moving fast is because of a concept called a feedback loop.

A feedback loop is a system where your decisions create information that affects your next decision.

In simple terms:

you do something → you see what happens → you use that result to adjust your next move.

It’s a cycle of action → response → adjustment → new action, and every time the loop runs you become more effective.

Napoleon realized that by using the corps system and making fast decisions he was able to increase his feedback loops to make better decisions than his enemies.

Napoleon would make a move, see how the enemy reacted, and immediately adjust his position or strategy. And because he was already moving, that adjustment would take effect instantly. The entire army could shift directions while the enemy was still figuring out what just happened.

6. Tight Communication

At one point Napoleon was commanding 200,000 men across hundreds of miles literally communicating by writing letters, so of course clear communication is going to be a key concept here.

Napoleons orders were always short and actionable. There was very little fluff if any. It was just what needed to happen, by who, where, and when.

During the Prussian campaign, one of his generals misread a vague report which caused hours of delay and his delay almost cost him the key position. It turned out it was a mis-translation error by one of his scribes. So after that, Napoleon started rewriting many of the dispatches himself, some of them only three lines long, but they were always exact

Winston Churchill would always say:

“It is slothful not to compress your thoughts”

Napoleon thought the exact same.

He always started his orders with the action, then who was responsible. then when or where it needed to happen, and that’s it because any more would be fluff.

This is called The 1-1-1 Method. 1 action, 1 person, and one time

There are a lot of people who think more is better, but you can sort of think of it this way. If you we’re to make a 1 hour video that could be edited down to 30 minutes. You just stole half an hour of someones time. It is slothful not to compress you thoughts, and this lesson will definitely pay off in execution.

7. Concentration Of Force

Speaking of execution, this is a strategy that sounds simple, but when putting it into practice it can be life changing. It’s called the central position.

You see during this time most people would spread their army out as wide as possible in order to cover the most ground, but Napoleon would actually concentrate all his forces together, an focus on one point of the enemies army.

During the Italian campaign in 1796, he faced two Austrian armies moving in from different directions. He was badly outnumbered, but it didn’t matter. Napoleon concentrated his forced and split the two armies. He turned his entire army one way and crushed the first group at Montenotte, then turned around again and beat the second at Millesimo.

When you concentrate your force and aim at one point, the impact multiplies, but this concept can be applied to your life too.

When your energy is scattered, when you’re moving in 10 different directions, it’s hard to make progress with anything. But if you cut down to one of two things that you can put all you attention towards than you can conquer that thing, and then turn around and conquer something else as well.

8. Flanking Maneuvers

Now this wasn’t his default strategy, he didn’t use flanking all the time, but when he did he used it to great extent.

The clearest example of this is the Battle of Austerlitz. During this battle Napoleon set a trap. He made his right flank look weak on purpose and the enemy fell for it. They overextended and while they hit the right flank, Napoleon led his main force from the side and drove right through the center line. The battle was over in hours.

Andrew Roberts called Austerlitz a:

“masterpiece of tactical deception and execution, showcasing Napoleon’s unparalleled ability to manipulate enemy movements and exploit terrain to his advantage.”

The entire trap was built on misdirection. They were looking in one direction, while he hit them from the other.

You can think of it like a UFC fighter being overextended on a jab, only to get clocked with a right hook.

At it’s core that’s what flanking really is. It’s approaching a problem from an angle that breaks the pattern.

9. Calculated Risk Taking

So Napoleon wasn’t much of a gambler. When he took risks, they we’re always calculated and with lots of preparation and so when did take these calculated risks he bet heavy on them.

Crossing the Alps was a great example of this.

This was an extremely risky maneuver, but Napoleon planned it to the hour. He arranged for artillery to be taken apart, staggered his army into waves so the supply line could keep up, and communicated all the instructions clearly. It was a very big risk, but because he planned it so well he was able to pull it off and surprise the Austrians who never expected it.

Warren Buffet said:

“The wise ones bet heavily when the world offers them that opportunity. They bet big when they have the odds. And the rest of the time, they don’t. It’s just that simple.”

This is actually one of the main philosophies that Berkshire Hathaway used to dominate the stock market.

10. Control The Propaganda Machine

Right after battles Napoleon would send bulletins back to France letting people know what had happened in his campaigns. But Napoleons bulletins we’re a bit more dramatic.

Instead of writing a list of events he wrote exactly what he wanted to public to hear. For every battle he fought the book goes over the numbers he reported vs the actual amount of enemies they captured, and it was always exaggerated.

But for the public, it worked.

Andrew Roberts writes:

“Napoleon’s bulletins were often exaggerated and theatrical, but they succeeded in turning setbacks into stories of resilience, and victories into moments of national pride. He understood the value of narrative control long before it became common practice.”

The battle of Marengo was a fairly close one, but Napoleon framed it as a strategic triumph and most of the people in France had no idea how close it actually was. The point is that Napoleon made it a habit of constantly staying on top of the propaganda, and because of this, the masses loved him and his enemies feared him.

And this is something you can use to.

If you’re working on something, don’t let that thing go unnoticed. Tell the story the way you want to tell it, the way you want to be perceived. Because if you’re not shaping the story, than someone else will, and it might not be the one you want.

11. Emotional Control

Napoleon didn’t just command armies. He commanded himself. This means showing insane calmness in situations of extreme stress.

Andrew Roberts writes:

“He showed a remarkable ability to control his emotions, especially anger, which he believed clouded judgment. He understood that the man who remains calm under pressure is the one who can think most clearly.”

This was a pattern with Napoleon.

When something went wrong, he didn’t explode. He paused. Processed. Then responded.

During the Egypt campaign Napoleon was given news that Josephine was cheating on him. This was very bad and got even worse when the British newspapers got ahold of the news. This of course is great example because Napoleon, used his drawer system to control his emotions over the situation.

Honestly you’d be surprised how many people aren’t able to control their emotions, and if you can master this then it’s sere you very well in many areas of your life.

12. Lead By Example

“He had the ability to inspire love in his men not merely because of his astonishing victories, but also because he shared their dangers, their food, their clothing, their bivouacs, and often their hardships. They knew he was there, with them, in every sense of the word.”

Napoleon didn’t lead from a palace he led from the front.

One of his officers wrote:

“Bonaparte sleeps among us. He walks with us. He looks us in the eye.”

If there’s one thing you don’t want to do to the people around you, it’s making them feel inferior. You actually want to do the opposite. You want to make the people around you feel big, you want to make them believe in being a part of something bigger than themselves.

Andrew Roberts puts it like this:

“Napoleon taught ordinary people that they could make history, and convinced his followers they were taking part in an adventure, a pageant, an experiment, an epic whose splendor would draw the attention of posterity for centuries to come.”

It was this that made his men fight so hard, a belief in a cause, and of course no one is going to support that cause if there is a hypocrite at the top.

And that’s the principle: never ask someone to do something you wouldn’t do yourself.

There were nights where Napoleon would sleep on the ground next to cannons. This is how he was able to lead in such an extraordinary way. So much so that his soldiers called him “le petite corpral”. A nickname that showed that they respected him for being one of them.

13. Belief In Destiny

This is probably the most important one, that no one really talks about.

There’s actually a phrase that goes:

“There are no atheists in foxholes”

This phrase is used to suggest that in times where your own life is not in your own control, you’re sort of forced to believe in some sort of destiny or fate. And there are these moments in history where destiny seems to be on the side of the victorious.

• You can think of George Washington having bullets fly past him during the French and Indian war

• Or Winston Churchill being captured by enemies during the Boer war.

Napoleon at one point was left stranded in Egypt because the British came and blew up all their boats, and one of his soldiers came and asked him if destiny had forsaken him.

Here’s how Andrew Roberts describes his response:

“She has not abandoned us yet he told the directory she has served us during this entire operation beyond anything she has ever done. he even told Kleber that the disaster might be beneficial, as the British were now forcing him to consider marching on to India.”

The similarities between all of these events is that all these great men all believed that a higher power wether it’s God, or destiny, or fate, was guiding them through the chaos, and it’s not an accident either.

When you believe that something beyond your control is taking care of you, you begin to let that go look at the things that are in your control.

Opportunities spring up out of nowhere simply because you’re looking for them and you’re able to remain optimistic even in scenarios where there’s little hope.

So if you are ever in a foxhole, turn to destiny, and just choose to trust it.

If you got value from this article:

1. please consider reposting it

2. give me a follow for more

Thank you all very much for taking the time to read.

-Nic Munoz

Not just about oil, or business, but about how to have principles so strong that wealth is inevitable.

Now in case you don’t know much about Rockefeller, here’s a quick refresher.

• Rockefeller founded a company called Standard Oil, which processed and transported oil across the United States.

• His company quickly took over the oil market, making him the richest man in American history with an estimated net worth of 1.4 billion dollars

• That’s around 400 billion in todays dollars.

• At his peak, his wealth made up nearly 3% of the entire US economy. (Uncover lens)

But what’s interesting about Rockefeller isn’t just what he built, it’s how he thought about passing it on. These letters weren’t written to the public, they we’re written to his only son, and in these letters he gives his son a blueprint for how to build wealth.

And what stands out in these letters isn’t just the advice, it’s how different it is from what most of us were ever taught. Because Rockefeller knew that wealth isn’t passed down in currency, but it’s passed down in knowledge, and that’s exactly what these letters show.

So I broke down these letters into three categories and 15 principles that define how Rockefeller made his fortune.

If you continue to read I will take you through the principles John D Rockefeller believed would shape a son more wealth than ever.

Part 1: Mind- How He Trained His Son’s Thinking

1. Hardship Builds Character

“So where does the ability to practice come from? In my opinion, it is hidden in hardship. My experience tells me that walking a difficult road—a road full of hardships, misfortunes, failures and difficulties—will not only build our strong character, but also the ability to implement great things. Those who climb out of the midst of suffering know what it means to find ways and means to save themselves. To endure hardship deliberately is one of my beliefs of success.”

This quote encapsulates Rockefellers belief on hardship. He believed that hardship builds character and makes you resilient. This is of course based on his own experience. When he was young his family was very poor.

One time when he was a kid, he was all excited to go to school because there was going to be a photographer there. And photographs back then were very expensive so it was a rare occasion. But when the photographer was going to take the picture, he asked John to get out of the frame as his clothes were too shabby as compared to his classmates.

Rockefeller remembered this moment for decades saying about it:

“Looking at the adjusted camera scene, I clenched my fists in my heart and swore to myself: One day you will become the richest person in the world! What is the point of having a photographer take a picture of you!”

And Rockefeller faced a lot of this growing up.

His books in high school were all bought by neighbors, he started his career as a bookkeeper with a weekly salary of 5 dollars, from the very beginning he faced obstacle after obstacle and according to him, this is what built his character.

He said:

“ I believe that there is not one person in the world that does not long for a happy and luxurious life, yet not many people know where it comes from. In my opinion it does not come from wealthy blood , nor from a luxurious lifestyle, but from a luxurious character- the spirit of self reliance.”

He even went so far as to hide the fact that he was rich when his kids were growing up because he knew:

“the quickest way to harm someone is to give them money”.

So if you’re currently going through some hardship, know that it’s not for nothing. The hardship that you’re currently facing is building your character, and that will build ultimate wealth in the future.

2. Fail, A Lot

At one point in his Rockefellers life, he was just entering the job market and looking for a job and he writes about how he would get up at 8am every day, get dressed and look for a job, but for several weeks it was rejection after rejection, but he told himself :

“You are the only one who can go on forever. I warned myself: if you do not want others to steal your dreams, then you stand up immediately after being knocked down by setbacks”

Six weeks later he landed a job at the Hewitt-Tuttle Company and 3 years later he left that job and co-founded what would become Standard Oil. But it all started the day he got the job which he apparently celebrated every year as his “rebirth day”

The reason this day was important to him though, is because of the amount of failures he overcame, he said:

“My motto is: People always have to maintain their energy, remain strong and persistant, no matter what failures and setbacks they encounter, this is the only thing I can do.”

He even brought up Thomas Edison saying that Edison conducted 10,000 experiments before making the light bulb, and that to him failure was a test field for success. Every single time that Edison failed with the lightbulb he was one step closer to success.

Rockefellers formula was simple .

It was Dream + Failure + Challenge = Success

And when studying greatest people in history, a lot of them we’re also the greatest failures.

• The Wright Brothers had over 700 test flights before they finally had a successful flight.

• Nikola Tesla filed over 300 patents most of which failed commercially.

• James Dyson built 5,126 prototypes over 15 years of the Dyson vacuum cleaner before his 5,127th design finally worked and launched a billion dollar company.

There is no short cut.

Sometimes the best way to move forward is to simply fail a lot.

3. Love To Work

“I think that work is a privilege, as it brings more than just sustaining life. Work is the foundation of all business, the source of prosperity, and the shaper of genius. Work makes young people work harder and do more than parents no matter how rich they are. Work is expressed in the humblest form and lays the foundation for happiness. A job helps add flavours to life. But people must love work before it can return the biggest favours and achieve the greatest results.”

Rockefeller loved to work. It’s as simple as that. And although there’s a lot of reasons to not like work, there’s an analogy that might help understand this a bit better.

3 people are busy at work doing the same sculpting job.

You go to the first one and ask what are you doing. And he says :

“I am chiseling this stone so that I can then go home.”

This kind of person see’s work as a punishment.

The second one says:

“I am making a statue. This is a very hard job, but the compensation is high and I have to feed my family”

This kind of person although better than the first, is still not likely to build much wealth throughout his life.

And then there’s a third who points proudly at his work and says :

“I am making a piece of art”.

This kind of person takes pride in and enjoys his work, and what he finds is meaning.

Rockefeller writes to his son:

“John, if you view work as a pleasure, life is heaven; if you view work as a duty, life is hell. Reflect on your work attitude, it will make everyone happy”

4. Don’t Worship Money

One interesting thing about Rockefeller was that he was a devout Christian, but he was always clashing with many of the christians from that time because of their different philosophies. One of the big clashes he got in was of course about money.

There’s a verse in the Bible in the book of Timothy that says:

“the love of money is the root of all evil”

For Rockefeller he believed that loving money is only bad as a means of worship and not as a motive. Rockefeller actually saw being rich as a good thing.

He said:

“If you have money, you can benefit your family and friends, and give them a happy and comfortable life, and even benefiting the society, save the helpless poor people, then money will become the source of happiness”

To Rockefeller, money was like fire. Dangerous if you worship it, as you would probably become an arsonist, but if it’s in the right hand, you can use it to cook food, keep you warm, and light up the dark. Fire itself isn’t bad but when looked at in the wrong way it can become bad.

He even went so far as to say:

“I firmly believe that God has clear rewards and punishments, and that my money is given by God. And I can always make money. If God helps, this is because Go knows that I will return the money to society for the benefit of my fellow citizens.”

Not to mention that he finishes this letter with:

“It is time for me to read the Bible. The night is so beautiful tonight, every bright start seems to say ‘Good job! John’ Love, Your Father”

5. No Excuses Ever

“In my opinion “excuses” is a mental illness, and the people with this serious illness are all losers without exception. Of course, most people also have some mild symptoms. However, the more successful a person is, he less excuses he will find. The biggest difference between those who are prospering everywhere and those who do nothing is excuses.”

According to Rockefeller the worst type of excuses are health, intelligence, and luck.

The first of which being health in which people will say “I have this illness or this physical problem” Yet there’s the old saying that goes “I have been annoyed by my broken shoes until I met a man who has no feet”.

To give an example probably the most famous historical British person aside from Winston Churchill was a naval captain named Horatio Nelson.

• At age 36 he lost sight in his right eye at the battle of Calvi, Corsica.

• Two years later he lost his arm at the battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

• Yet even after this he continued his naval command and marked his name in history by defeating Napoleons Nay at the battle of trafalgar.

There are always excuses, but Rockefeller’s point is to just keep moving forward.

The second is intelligence and a lot of people fall into this one due to schooling. It’s a well known fact that IQ is highly correlated to the amount of money you will make in the future. However one thing that’s almost never measured is enthusiasm. Someone with a high IQ who is enthusiastic will always beat someone who is pessimistic, and since IQ isn’t something you can control you might as well focus on enthusiasm.

And the third is luck. Most of the times when you really investigate luck you will find that behind people who are “lucky” you will find preparation planning, and positive thinking.

“Excuses keep most people out of the door to success. Ninety-nine percent of failures are because people are used to making excuses”

6. Be Optimistic

“the level of confidence determines the level of achievement”.

This one is huge for Rockefeller, but it’s also huge for people like Walt Disney, Napoleon, and Peter Thiel. They’re all relentless optimists.

“successful people are just ordinary people who believe in themselves and affirm what they do. Never, never sell yourself cheaply”

In the end this is always what success comes down to. It’s believing in yourself, plus affirming that belief with your actions.

When Rockefeller was entering the oil business many people thought it was reckless. At that point in history the oil sector wasn’t as big as it is now, and it was a risky gamble, but Rockefeller jumped fully into the oil world. It was an optimistic belief followed by his actions showing his belief. And at the end of the day that’s all it took.

Now that we covered some of what made Rockefellers mindset, literally unbeatable, let’s go over the tactics he used to actually be unbeatable. Because his mindset was only part of the picture. The rest of it was straight warfare.

Part 2: War- How To Compete In The Business World

7. Business is war

The first thing you have to understand is that Rockefeller saw business as a war, and he was ruthless. He didn’t just set out for a slice of the pie but he set out for the entire pie, and anyone who tried to stop him was an enemy.

At one point one of his competitors named Benson wanted to build a 110 mile pipeline connecting Pennsylvania to the west. This pipeline would very much hurt Rockefellers business so he wasn’t about to let that happen. So first he tried buying the land the pipeline would go through, but Benson simply took a detour approach and kept going. He then told all of his allies to never let any pipelines cross their railways, but Benson did the same and eventually broke through. Eventually the pipeline was completed, but Rockefeller wasn’t done. He said

“I know that I have a tough enemy to conquer, but he cannot shake my determination to compete, because the 110 mile pipeline is my biggest threat. If I let crude oil flow there unimpeded, they will also acquire the supply line to New York. Then, Benson will replace me as the new owner of the New York oil refining industry, concurrently I will also lose ownership over the Bradford oil field. This is something I cannot allow.”

And what he did was kind of genius.

As Benson was enjoying his success Rockefeller sent huge amount of orders to the storage tank producers. Way more than they could handle, and way over their capacity. As the manufacturers got backlogged on Rockefellers order, Benson was unable to transport oil due to not having anything to transport it in. So all the crude oil he was transporting through the pipeline just had to be dumped into the wilderness.

In less than a year Benson surrendered.

“An excellent commander will not attack a bunker that has nothing to do with him but will try to destroy the bunker that is strong enough to destroy the city”.

Rockefeller focused everything on his biggest enemy and won.

It’s also interesting because Rockefeller had a lot of respect for a lot of people throughout his life and Benson was actually one of them. He didn’t hate his enemy but he simply understood that business is war, and focusing all of your efforts towards eliminating your biggest competitor will ensure that you maintain the monopoly.

8. Strong Negotiation

When it came to negotiating Rockefeller a list of 5 things that you absolutely must know in order to have a successful negotiation.

“First, the overall environment: what is the market situation an what is the business situation.”

This is extremely important because in order to have the upper hand you need to have extreme knowledge in the market you’re negotiating in.

For example if your in oil you need to know the process of refining oil, you need to know the real time valuations, you have to be on top of current events and the scarcity of it around the world. All of these facts will influence the negotiation.

“Second, your resources: what are your strengths and weaknesses, and what capital do you have”

“Third, the opponent’s resources: what are the opponent’s assets, and where are his strengths and weaknesses”

You have to play to your own strengths and to your enemies weaknesses.

Like in the story with Benson, Rockefeller clearly had more capital than him, but Benson still managed to build the pipeline. It was only when Rockefeller started exploiting his weakness by targeting the containment manufacturers that he was able to win the battle.

“Fourth, your goal and attitude: The motto of the god of sun Apollo, is only a short sentence: ‘You know yourself’. You need to know what you are doing, what goals you have, and how determined you are to achieve them.”

This one is very simple to remember but extremely hard to apply. How often do you fight a battle that doesn’t need to be fought. Rockefeller didn’t always go all in, but when he did he went all in with both feet. If your opponent is more determined than you than with enough him he will find a way to win, so you have to make sure that you are extremely determined to win.

“Fifth, the opponent’s goals and attitudes: try to judge the opponent’s goals, and it is also important to try to penetrate the opponents heart and understand his thoughts and feelings.”

Humans don’t always act logically. If you can get at the emotion of your opponent, many times you can exploit it and win. This is true in debating, or in sports, or in really any endeavor where you have opponents.

At one point Rockefeller really needed to raise 50,000 dollars and he was desperate to get it. And so he was out the street thinking when a banker came up to him and asked him to spend 50 grand. At that point Rockefeller saw his eagerness and even though he wanted to accept, he asked the banker to give him 24 hours. The next day he signed the loan contract and got very favorable terms He played stupid, he knew what he needed, he knew what the banker wanted, and because of this he was able to get a good deal.

9. Look for investments

In one of the letter’s he wrote to his son he mentions a speech given by a Mr. Charles about the three types of people with money:

“There are two kinds of people in the world that will never be rich:

First people who like to live a glamorous life, like flies starting at a stinky meat. They are very interested in luxury goods. They spend so much that they do their best to have exquisite costumes, expensive cars, luxurious houses, and highly sought after art. This kind of life is indeed fascinating, but it lacks rationality.”

You can think of these types of people like the business owner who instead of being at the office is constantly on vacation, or on their private planes, or wearing crazy clothes. Now he’s not saying that these things are inherently bad, but he’s pointing out that although these experiences are fascinating, they lack real purpose, and that’s the purpose of providing as much value as you can to as many people as you can.

“The second type of people are those who like to save money, and store it in the bank, but it is no different from freezing money. You must know that you cannot make money on interest.”

This is where most people lie. Although instead of bank nowadays, many times it’s a mortgage, or a car loan, or the worst one a credit card.

“However there is a kind of people who will become rich. For example, everyone here. We do not look for ways to spend money but we look for ways to cultivate and manage various investments, because we know that wealth can be used to invest and create more wealth, But we also know that every penny can bring benefits.”

This is where Rockefeller’s secret really lies.

Rockefeller knew that in order to take over the market he had to reinvest his earnings back into the business, and that’s exactly what he did multiple times. There are so many examples in these letters where Rockefeller wants to expand but the people around him want to save money so Rockefeller ends up putting his own money on the line.

He did this because he knew the importance of making every penny work for him.

10. Discover others weaknesses

Rockefeller was known for striking at weakness. One of the clearest examples of this was during the South Improvement Company scheme. While most oil refiners were fighting each other for market share, Rockefeller spotted something they didn’t.

They were all paying full price to ship their oil.

He saw the weakness, and he moved.

He secretly made deals with the railroads. Not just to get cheaper rates for himself, but to collect rebates on every barrel his competitors shipped. That meant every time they moved oil, he got paid. And they didn’t even know it. That single move let him undercut their prices, expand his control, and quietly choke out anyone in his way.

Rockefeller once wrote to his son:

“In a competition, the person who first discovers the opponent’s weakness and strikes hard is often the winner.”

The core idea behind this tactical brilliance is something called a pressure point. In the human body, a pressure point is a tiny spot where a single hit can end the whole fight.

The body is full of these pressure points.

So is business.

A pressure point in a market might be distribution, or information, or timing. The point is that Rockefeller was always searching for these pressure points, and he always made sure to strike there first, should he be given the opportunity.

11. Treat Employees Well

Rockefeller completely dominated multiple markets. But inside his companies he dominated a bit differently. He dominated with respect.

In one of the letters he writes:

“I love my employees. I never scold or insult them loudly, nor do I become domineering and indomitable in front of them like some rich folks do. What I provide my employees is warmth, equality, and tolerance. All these combined into one word is called respect. Give the people the respect they deserve, and they can fully realize their potential.”

This is the part of Rockefeller that most people miss. Because he wasn’t just a business strategist, but he was also a leader of people. He led an entire company to become one of the greatest monopolies in history

So how did he do this?

Well he didn’t believe in being extremely harsh on his workers. Instead, he did his best to draw out the best in them using respect.

You can think of it like in a greenhouse. Inside a greenhouse, the environment is completely controlled. Every factor is meant to encourage the plants to grow as large as possible. This is exactly what Rockefeller built. He created a company filled with systems for people to rise up.

He never raised his voice.

He didn’t try to push others down.

He observed constantly.

And he listened.

To give an example, one of his key employees, Henry Flagler, started as a partner in a small refining deal. Under Rockefeller’s leadership, he grew into the right hand of Standard Oil. Henry was trusted with massive decisions and given the space to execute. This all happened because of Rockefeller’s design though

Rockefeller specifically designed his companies to make sure that his workers could keep rising if they worked hard. The rule was: if you bring results, you will move higher up at Standard Oil. Many of the competitors he bought out eventually became some of his biggest allies at his own company.

On a more personal level Rockefeller believed in a slow trust. Trust that you can earn. Charlie Munger used to say that “Trust is one of the greatest economic forces on earth.” And so Rockefeller looked to work with people who he could depend on, and completely 100% trust.

This structure made Standard Oil thrive.

12. Use Greed

Rockefeller didn’t shy away from greed.

He used it as energy.

He wrote to his son:

“Destiny must be created by oneself… and what one really wants must be obtained by every means.”

That was not some sort of warning, he was telling his son to use greed. He believed greed wasn’t a sort of sin. But instead it was a calling, that there is still more to get, more to do, more places to go and conquer.

Most people treat greed like a fire to be put out. Rockefeller treated it like heat to be directed.

He said:

“Every step I move forward can make me feel the power of greed.”

He continues to say:

“What one really wants must be obtained by every means,”

Remember that he is writing to his son.

This power of greed made him dangerous. It made him incredibly focused. He didn’t crave money for comfort, but he craved it to satisfy an endless hunger.

For Rockefeller greed was a motivation. Greed was focus. Greed was the thing that allowed him to zone in on a task and get it done.

So this may be slightly machiavellian. Or maybe a lot machiavellian. But if you want to use this Rockefeller principle:

Use greed as fuel.

Alright now that we’ve covered Rockefeller’s unstoppable mindset, along with his ruthless business philosophy we have to go over the other part that made him great. Because at some point, the empire becomes a monopoly. At that point the question becomes, how do you leave behind a legacy that lasts, and Rockefeller mastered this art. So let’s talk about that. Let’s talk about how he was able to leave behind a remarkable legacy.

Part 3: Legacy- How To Build Something That Lasts

13. Lead By Example or Take responsibility

There’s this one story that Rockefeller tells his son where he was debating with his board on wether they should buy another oil field in Lima. It was a lot of debating and the board eventually decided that the investment would be too risky. But Rockefeller still had one more move up his sleeve, he told the board

“I decided to use my own money to make this investment and take the risk for two years. If it succeeds in two years, the company can return the money to me ; if it fails, I will bear all the losses myself”

And if you think Rockefeller made the wrong move look at what happens next.

“My determination and sincerity touched my biggest opponent, Mr. Pratt, as tears welled up in his eyes and excitedly said to me ‘John my heart is captured by you. Since you think we should do this let’s do it together! If you can take the risk so can I!”

In the end they succeeded with the Lima fields and made all their money back, but the real lesson here is that true leaders lead by example.

True leaders take responsibility for any outcome that may happen, and they always align their actions with what they profess.

14. Have A Vision

“My son, destiny must be created by oneself, and what one really wants must be obtained by every means. Every night before going to bed I advised myself: I want to become the largest oil refiner in Cleveland, let the flowing oil creek turn into bundles of banknotes, I want to align every thought to profit motives and help myself become the king of oil”

One thing that all great people have is a vision.

There are so many people who are directionless in todays world, so many people unsure of what to do, almost to the point where when someone comes along and says “I have a vision, I have direction” it’s attractive and it’s charming, people actually want to follow you.

Rockefeller knew this to his very core, and he uses this analogy to describe it:

“It is like loosening a yacht from the dock and forgetting to start the motor. You will follow the currents, and sea breeze, currents or other ships that might collied into you and cause you to sink to the bottom of the sea at anytime. Maybe something good is waiting for you on the other side, but unless a miracle occurs, you will not be able to reach the other side smoothly. Establishing a purpose is like turning on the engine of a yacht, which can propel you towards the path you choose. Purpose can add direction and strength to human efforts”

15. Reputation Is Everything

“A person is great not because he has a certain official title. The reason why he is great is that he used a few tools to create a greater cause and accomplish his life goal as an unknown civilian. This is the real greatness.”

At the end of the day Rockefeller was ruthless competitor, a ruthless businessman, and a ruthless negotiator, but all of this can’t be separated from all the good that he did.

• Because the same man who crushed competitors also built the University of Chicago.

• The same man who squeezed every drop of profit from his pipelines also funded medical research, libraries, and schools all over the world.

• Throughout his entire life Rockefeller gave away over 500 million dollars, not just to be charitable, but because he believed that reputation was everything.

From the way that he treated his workers to the countless donations that he contributed to society Rockefeller made sure that his reputation was a good one. And it’s weird because when you think of Rockefeller now, you sort of think of this ruthless business man type, when in reality he actually cared very much about his legacy.

So I would like to end with this quote directly from him:

“If you forget what I said tonight, please do not forget the following statement: The person who thinks the most, feels the noblest, acts the most righteous, and lives the most fulfilling life”

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I read a biography every week and then write an article about it.

Wishing you all the best in your journey,

-Nic Munoz