May 9, 2024 • 11 mins
In this episode of 'Winning Without College', host Stuart Takehara, a fellow college dropout, shares insights on the importance of mindset, habits, and skills for success in business and life beyond formal education.
He discusses the impact of self-fulfilling prophecies on one's outlook, the power of perspective informed by his experiences living in Los Angeles and traveling full-time, and the differences in lifestyle and mindset between those chasing big dreams and those content with simpler lives.
Stuart emphasizes the necessity of changing the way we think, moving from wishing to planning and taking action, and draws parallels to strategy in blackjack to illustrate teamwork and overcoming difficult situations.
He also touches on the effectiveness of group wins over solo victories and introduces five hard truths about succeeding without a college degree, offering these insights for free on his website.
00:00 Welcome to Winning Without College
00:32 The Power of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
01:22 Life Lessons from Los Angeles to Living on the Road
03:16 Embracing a New Perspective and Launching the Podcast
04:02 Changing Your Mindset: From Wishing to Planning
05:44 Why New Year's Resolutions Don't Work
06:53 A Fresh Look at Blackjack and Life Strategies
09:20 The Importance of Team Wins and Surrounding Yourself with the Right People
10:10 The Five Hard Truths of Life Without a College Degree
Contact Us:
stuart@winningwithoutcollege.com
5 Hard Truths You Need To Win Without College:
www.WinningWithoutCollege.com/HardTruth
Submit Your Question to Be Answered On The Podcast:
www.WinningWithoutCollege.com/Podcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Stuart (00:00):
And welcome to winning without college, the podcast that helps you
develop your mindset, habits and skills.
You need to get aheadin business and in life.
My name is Stuart Takahara, your coach,your host and your fellow college dropout.
And when you're done listening to thisepisode, can I ask you a quick favor?
If you got value from it or you learnedanything new, if you can go over to apple
podcast or spotify and just give us afive star review, This helps us out by
(00:23):
recommending this show to others who arein the same situation as us, that want
to get ahead in business and in life, sothank you for supporting us in that way.
Let me ask you a question.
Do you believe in selffulfilling prophecies?
Like, you tell yourself,Today's gonna be a great day.
Or, today's gonna suck.
When I said the first thing,today's gonna be a great day.
(00:46):
How did that make you feel?
Happy?
Curious?
Maybe it put a little smile on your face?
What about when I said,today's gonna suck?
What did you do?
Maybe slouched yourshoulders a little bit?
Put your head down?
Maybe you felt sorry for me becauseI knew I was gonna have a crappy day?
And that maybe took you down a little bit?
Maybe took some wind out of your own sail?
(01:07):
Having the right perspectiveis so important on how you
will handle life choices.
Who you hang around with, socializewith, and normalize yourself with, can
and will determine your future path.
And I know that firsthand.
See, when I was living in Los Angeles, itwas a high paced, fast actioned lifestyle.
(01:27):
You can't turn your head left orright without somebody coming up
and introducing themselves to you orpitching an idea or having a friend
say, Hey, let's do something together.
And by doing something, I mean,launching a business or creating
an app or writing a screenplay.
I mean, something bigdreams, goals, ambitions.
They're everywhere.
I never had a shortage of peopleready for the next big thing.
(01:49):
And it was exciting.
And in my circle, nobody was complacent.
Now, for the past three and a halfyears or so, I've been on the road,
and I've been traveling full time.
As you can see, I'm here, ifyou're watching on YouTube, you
can see I'm in my van right now.
And I've met some amazing peopleon the road, and I've done some
absolutely memorable things.
I wouldn't trade forever, but it's thepeople I want to talk about right now.
(02:12):
Not the many, not the crazy, notthe once in a lifetime adventures
I've had that I wouldn't trade.
But it's the people I want to talkabout now, not the many, crazy,
once in a lifetime adventures I hadthat I wouldn't trade for the world.
Now the people living on theroad I've met have a completely
different perspective on life.
Completely different.
(02:32):
See, it's much slower paced.
Yes, many people I met arestill working from the road.
They have their remote jobs, they ownbusinesses, they have side hustles.
But the mood is different.
They aren't looking forthat next big thing.
They aren't pushing themselves tocreate that next big breakthrough,
the new must have shiny objects.
They're completely okaywith just getting by.
(02:55):
And to be honest, many, not all, butmany of the people I've met on the
road are complacent about their jobsand careers than anyone I've met.
In my entire life, andthat's not a bad thing.
The focus isn't on making it big.
Their focus is on the adventureand the travel and the lifestyles.
And that's one of the things thatattracted me to hitting the road.
(03:16):
When I sold my last business,you see, I was done with work.
I needed a break.
I was burnt out.
You know, I needed that little sabbaticalthat I've been on, but the three years of
being on the road of just existing for me.
wasn't enough.
I wanted more.
And as I grew more and more increasinglyfrustrated that I didn't have enough,
(03:36):
Support community while on the road that Ican share the same passions and viewpoints
with I knew I had to make a change Ireally wasn't ready to give up traveling.
I still love it I still want to doit, but I was ready to begin and
circling myself with other like mindedentrepreneurs I was ready to get back
in the game and I was ready to finallydo something that had been on my list
(03:57):
And that was launching this podcast andthis business winning without college.
And the first thing I had todo was change the way I think.
I would say change yourenvironment, but sometimes that's
harder for some than others.
So instead I'm going to have, I'm going tochallenge you to change the way you think.
Now, let me give you an example here.
When I've been traveling, peoplecome up to me all the time and
(04:20):
they say, Wow, I love your van.
I wish I could afford a van like yours.
Or they say, I wish I couldlog as many miles as you do,
but I can't afford the gas.
And that is such thewrong way of thinking.
You see, they've already setthemselves up for failure by
starting the statement with, I wish.
Wishing, will get you nowhere.
Wishing is dreaming.
(04:40):
You'll wake up every day and you'll beexactly the same as it was yesterday.
And next month will bethe same as last month.
And next year will bethe same as last year.
You need to quit wishing.
You need to change the way you think.
So instead of saying, I wish Icould afford a van like yours,
you should be asking yourself,How can I afford a van like yours?
(05:00):
How?
Can I afford, not I wish I could afford,
or, what can I do to get one step closerto being able to buy a van like yours?
By changing that one simple thought, Iwish I could, to how can I, it sets up
an entirely different path in your mind.
They say a business thatfails to plan, plans to fail.
(05:24):
And the same can be said in real life.
If you don't make a plan to be ina better spot tomorrow, you just
won't be in the same spot, you'reactually going to be falling behind.
You see, the world continues to turnand life moves forward, but because
you're still in the same spot, youactually start being left behind.
Now,!
(05:44):
I don't believe in New Year's resolutions.
I think that New Year's resolutionsset yourself up for failure.
And why?
Because people put such unrealisticexpectations on themselves.
They do it because it's trendy, or becauseof peer pressure, or maybe they just do
it because it's what they've always done.
But you have to be aware, at the time,that all your efforts today are going
(06:07):
to make you a better person tomorrow.
A stronger person.
The other reason I don't believe in NewYear's resolutions is because I don't
want to wait until the New Year to changesomething about me that I don't like.
If you see yourself doing somethingyou don't like, or you know
you're doing something you don'tlike, you need to fix it now.
You don't need to wait untilthe New Year to change you.
That's just kicking the can downthe road, and that's delaying,
(06:28):
and that's making excuses.
And some people willsay, why not wait though?
It's only a few, it's only afew months until the new year.
Well, have you ever heardthe term, time is money?
I'm sure you have.
Waiting will only get you deeperand deeper into that hole.
You have to change the way you think.
You have to change your perspective.
And nobody else can dothat, except for you.
(06:49):
It's all, only, waiting.
Up to you.
Let me give you another example onhow you can change the way you think.
Do you ever play blackjack?
You ever go to the casinoand play blackjack?
\ Whether it's for fun at a party onyour phone, or you know, at a casino.
Let me ask you a question.
What do you think theobject of blackjack is?
Most people will say it's to getclosest to 21 without going over.
(07:10):
That's how I learned it.
That's how it was explained to me.
You wanna get closest to21 without going over..
What if I told you that'snot the object of the game?
Object of the game is to win.
The goal of Blackjack is towin, and how do you do that?
You do that easiest, you do thatbest, by getting the dealer to bust.
Then, the whole table wins.
(07:31):
Let me say that again.
The object of Blackjack isn't to getclosest to 21 without going over.
The object of Blackjack isto get the dealer to bust.
Because when the dealerbusts Everyone wins.
You win, all the players win, andeven maybe the dealer wins too
because you're going to be tippingpart of your winnings to them.
So, how do you get the dealer to bust?
(07:54):
So in Blackjack, unlike a lot ofother games, in Blackjack, you can
show your cards to other players.
You can talk to other players.
This isn't poker where you'replaying against each other.
In Blackjack, you as a customer,you're playing against the house,
and the house has an advantage.
But you can take back someof that advantage by openly
communicating and strategizingwith the table and other players.
(08:14):
This is just like work in the office.
When one person wins, thewhole team should win.
So even when you're dealt a crappy handin blackjack, like a 16 and the dealer
showing a nine, by working with yourteam or the other players at your table,
you can still win that hand by workingtogether to get the dealer to bust.
Because if you're sitting in secondposition, you still have three more
(08:35):
players, the book says hit, right?
If you're You've got a 16 sittingby a 9, but the odds against
you to bust are even greater.
But you can communicatewith the other players.
What are you going to do?
Are you going to hit?
Are you going to stay?
How are you going to play your hand?
You can look at what cards have alreadycome out of the deck or out of the
shoe, and you can kind of get an ideaof what is it going to look like.
You know, what's, what's, what'shis hand going to play out to be?
(08:57):
What's the future going to be?
And you can utilize thatinformation to your advantage.
So when you start looking at these thingsdifferently than others, you're going to
see that there's multiple opportunitiesfor you to take advantage of.
that situation., I'm gonnaask you, when you go into your
office next, just look around.
Switch up your routine.
Look at things from afresh perspective, because
You never know what kind of opportunitiesawait you in your current space.
(09:20):
And finally, know that you're not alone.
Have you ever watched a team win theSuper Bowl or the NBA championships?
What is that energy like?
I'm not talking about you ifyou bet against a team, that's,
that's a totally different thing.
I'm talking about theenergy of the winning team.
What does that feel like?
You have a team celebratingall together, jumping up and
down, smiling, laughing, crying.
The energy is amazing.
(09:42):
One person's energy feeds off theother, and that feeds off another.
It multiplies.
Now, have you ever watched a progolfer win a golf tournament?
Yeah, the crowd goes wild, but theenergy of that one person winning all
by themselves doesn't have that samemagnetic effect as winning with a team.
(10:02):
Group wins are muchgreater than solo wins.
So surround yourself with a great team.
And before I leave you today, I wantto talk to you about one more thing.
See, I believe there are five hardtruths in going through life without
a college degree that you need toknow, and not accepting these hard
truths are going to get you nowhere.
You can have great accomplishments, youcan have your big and small wins, you
can have the right thinking and the rightmindset, but if you're going to ignore
(10:25):
these hard truths, or if you just choosenot to accept them, unfortunately, you
may not have the life that you want.
And so I want to give you these hardtruths, and tell you exactly what
they are, and why you need to acceptthem, and I want to do it for you.
For free.
All you have to do is just logonto my website, winning without
college.com/hard truth and sign up.
I'm gonna send you these truths once a dayfor the next five days, absolutely free.
(10:47):
That's winning without college.com/hardtruth, \ or you can use the link
in the description below, winningwithout college.com/hard truth.
Until next time, remember yoursuccess doesn't come with a syllabus.
Forge your own path, break the mold,and keep winning without college.
Thanks for listening, thanks for watching,and I'll see you in the next episode.
And welcome to winning without college, the podcast that helps you
develop your mindset, habits and skills.
You need to get aheadin business and in life.
My name is Stuart Takahara, your coach,your host and your fellow college dropout.
And when you're done listening to thisepisode, can I ask you a quick favor?
If you got value from it or you learnedanything new, if you can go over to apple
podcast or spotify and just give us afive star review, This helps us out by
(00:23):
recommending this show to others who arein the same situation as us, that want
to get ahead in business and in life, sothank you for supporting us in that way.
Let me ask you a question.
Do you believe in selffulfilling prophecies?
Like, you tell yourself,Today's gonna be a great day.
Or, today's gonna suck.
When I said the first thing,today's gonna be a great day.
(00:46):
How did that make you feel?
Happy?
Curious?
Maybe it put a little smile on your face?
What about when I said,today's gonna suck?
What did you do?
Maybe slouched yourshoulders a little bit?
Put your head down?
Maybe you felt sorry for me becauseI knew I was gonna have a crappy day?
And that maybe took you down a little bit?
Maybe took some wind out of your own sail?
(01:07):
Having the right perspectiveis so important on how you
will handle life choices.
Who you hang around with, socializewith, and normalize yourself with, can
and will determine your future path.
And I know that firsthand.
See, when I was living in Los Angeles, itwas a high paced, fast actioned lifestyle.
(01:27):
You can't turn your head left orright without somebody coming up
and introducing themselves to you orpitching an idea or having a friend
say, Hey, let's do something together.
And by doing something, I mean,launching a business or creating
an app or writing a screenplay.
I mean, something bigdreams, goals, ambitions.
They're everywhere.
I never had a shortage of peopleready for the next big thing.
(01:49):
And it was exciting.
And in my circle, nobody was complacent.
Now, for the past three and a halfyears or so, I've been on the road,
and I've been traveling full time.
As you can see, I'm here, ifyou're watching on YouTube, you
can see I'm in my van right now.
And I've met some amazing peopleon the road, and I've done some
absolutely memorable things.
I wouldn't trade forever, but it's thepeople I want to talk about right now.
(02:12):
Not the many, not the crazy, notthe once in a lifetime adventures
I've had that I wouldn't trade.
But it's the people I want to talkabout now, not the many, crazy,
once in a lifetime adventures I hadthat I wouldn't trade for the world.
Now the people living on theroad I've met have a completely
different perspective on life.
Completely different.
(02:32):
See, it's much slower paced.
Yes, many people I met arestill working from the road.
They have their remote jobs, they ownbusinesses, they have side hustles.
But the mood is different.
They aren't looking forthat next big thing.
They aren't pushing themselves tocreate that next big breakthrough,
the new must have shiny objects.
They're completely okaywith just getting by.
(02:55):
And to be honest, many, not all, butmany of the people I've met on the
road are complacent about their jobsand careers than anyone I've met.
In my entire life, andthat's not a bad thing.
The focus isn't on making it big.
Their focus is on the adventureand the travel and the lifestyles.
And that's one of the things thatattracted me to hitting the road.
(03:16):
When I sold my last business,you see, I was done with work.
I needed a break.
I was burnt out.
You know, I needed that little sabbaticalthat I've been on, but the three years of
being on the road of just existing for me.
wasn't enough.
I wanted more.
And as I grew more and more increasinglyfrustrated that I didn't have enough,
(03:36):
Support community while on the road that Ican share the same passions and viewpoints
with I knew I had to make a change Ireally wasn't ready to give up traveling.
I still love it I still want to doit, but I was ready to begin and
circling myself with other like mindedentrepreneurs I was ready to get back
in the game and I was ready to finallydo something that had been on my list
(03:57):
And that was launching this podcast andthis business winning without college.
And the first thing I had todo was change the way I think.
I would say change yourenvironment, but sometimes that's
harder for some than others.
So instead I'm going to have, I'm going tochallenge you to change the way you think.
Now, let me give you an example here.
When I've been traveling, peoplecome up to me all the time and
(04:20):
they say, Wow, I love your van.
I wish I could afford a van like yours.
Or they say, I wish I couldlog as many miles as you do,
but I can't afford the gas.
And that is such thewrong way of thinking.
You see, they've already setthemselves up for failure by
starting the statement with, I wish.
Wishing, will get you nowhere.
Wishing is dreaming.
(04:40):
You'll wake up every day and you'll beexactly the same as it was yesterday.
And next month will bethe same as last month.
And next year will bethe same as last year.
You need to quit wishing.
You need to change the way you think.
So instead of saying, I wish Icould afford a van like yours,
you should be asking yourself,How can I afford a van like yours?
(05:00):
How?
Can I afford, not I wish I could afford,
or, what can I do to get one step closerto being able to buy a van like yours?
By changing that one simple thought, Iwish I could, to how can I, it sets up
an entirely different path in your mind.
They say a business thatfails to plan, plans to fail.
(05:24):
And the same can be said in real life.
If you don't make a plan to be ina better spot tomorrow, you just
won't be in the same spot, you'reactually going to be falling behind.
You see, the world continues to turnand life moves forward, but because
you're still in the same spot, youactually start being left behind.
Now,!
(05:44):
I don't believe in New Year's resolutions.
I think that New Year's resolutionsset yourself up for failure.
And why?
Because people put such unrealisticexpectations on themselves.
They do it because it's trendy, or becauseof peer pressure, or maybe they just do
it because it's what they've always done.
But you have to be aware, at the time,that all your efforts today are going
(06:07):
to make you a better person tomorrow.
A stronger person.
The other reason I don't believe in NewYear's resolutions is because I don't
want to wait until the New Year to changesomething about me that I don't like.
If you see yourself doing somethingyou don't like, or you know
you're doing something you don'tlike, you need to fix it now.
You don't need to wait untilthe New Year to change you.
That's just kicking the can downthe road, and that's delaying,
(06:28):
and that's making excuses.
And some people willsay, why not wait though?
It's only a few, it's only afew months until the new year.
Well, have you ever heardthe term, time is money?
I'm sure you have.
Waiting will only get you deeperand deeper into that hole.
You have to change the way you think.
You have to change your perspective.
And nobody else can dothat, except for you.
(06:49):
It's all, only, waiting.
Up to you.
Let me give you another example onhow you can change the way you think.
Do you ever play blackjack?
You ever go to the casinoand play blackjack?
\ Whether it's for fun at a party onyour phone, or you know, at a casino.
Let me ask you a question.
What do you think theobject of blackjack is?
Most people will say it's to getclosest to 21 without going over.
(07:10):
That's how I learned it.
That's how it was explained to me.
You wanna get closest to21 without going over..
What if I told you that'snot the object of the game?
Object of the game is to win.
The goal of Blackjack is towin, and how do you do that?
You do that easiest, you do thatbest, by getting the dealer to bust.
Then, the whole table wins.
(07:31):
Let me say that again.
The object of Blackjack isn't to getclosest to 21 without going over.
The object of Blackjack isto get the dealer to bust.
Because when the dealerbusts Everyone wins.
You win, all the players win, andeven maybe the dealer wins too
because you're going to be tippingpart of your winnings to them.
So, how do you get the dealer to bust?
(07:54):
So in Blackjack, unlike a lot ofother games, in Blackjack, you can
show your cards to other players.
You can talk to other players.
This isn't poker where you'replaying against each other.
In Blackjack, you as a customer,you're playing against the house,
and the house has an advantage.
But you can take back someof that advantage by openly
communicating and strategizingwith the table and other players.
(08:14):
This is just like work in the office.
When one person wins, thewhole team should win.
So even when you're dealt a crappy handin blackjack, like a 16 and the dealer
showing a nine, by working with yourteam or the other players at your table,
you can still win that hand by workingtogether to get the dealer to bust.
Because if you're sitting in secondposition, you still have three more
(08:35):
players, the book says hit, right?
If you're You've got a 16 sittingby a 9, but the odds against
you to bust are even greater.
But you can communicatewith the other players.
What are you going to do?
Are you going to hit?
Are you going to stay?
How are you going to play your hand?
You can look at what cards have alreadycome out of the deck or out of the
shoe, and you can kind of get an ideaof what is it going to look like.
You know, what's, what's, what'shis hand going to play out to be?
(08:57):
What's the future going to be?
And you can utilize thatinformation to your advantage.
So when you start looking at these thingsdifferently than others, you're going to
see that there's multiple opportunitiesfor you to take advantage of.
that situation., I'm gonnaask you, when you go into your
office next, just look around.
Switch up your routine.
Look at things from afresh perspective, because
You never know what kind of opportunitiesawait you in your current space.
(09:20):
And finally, know that you're not alone.
Have you ever watched a team win theSuper Bowl or the NBA championships?
What is that energy like?
I'm not talking about you ifyou bet against a team, that's,
that's a totally different thing.
I'm talking about theenergy of the winning team.
What does that feel like?
You have a team celebratingall together, jumping up and
down, smiling, laughing, crying.
The energy is amazing.
(09:42):
One person's energy feeds off theother, and that feeds off another.
It multiplies.
Now, have you ever watched a progolfer win a golf tournament?
Yeah, the crowd goes wild, but theenergy of that one person winning all
by themselves doesn't have that samemagnetic effect as winning with a team.
(10:02):
Group wins are muchgreater than solo wins.
So surround yourself with a great team.
And before I leave you today, I wantto talk to you about one more thing.
See, I believe there are five hardtruths in going through life without
a college degree that you need toknow, and not accepting these hard
truths are going to get you nowhere.
You can have great accomplishments, youcan have your big and small wins, you
can have the right thinking and the rightmindset, but if you're going to ignore
(10:25):
these hard truths, or if you just choosenot to accept them, unfortunately, you
may not have the life that you want.
And so I want to give you these hardtruths, and tell you exactly what
they are, and why you need to acceptthem, and I want to do it for you.
For free.
All you have to do is just logonto my website, winning without
college.com/hard truth and sign up.
I'm gonna send you these truths once a dayfor the next five days, absolutely free.
(10:47):
That's winning without college.com/hardtruth, \ or you can use the link
in the description below, winningwithout college.com/hard truth.
Until next time, remember yoursuccess doesn't come with a syllabus.
Forge your own path, break the mold,and keep winning without college.
Thanks for listening, thanks for watching,and I'll see you in the next episode.
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