Life Lessons from a NY Times Best Selling Author With Tucker Max

Tucker Max received his BA from the University of Chicago in 1998, and his JD from Duke Law School in 2001. He even attended Duke Law School on an academic scholarship, where he neglected to buy any of his textbooks for his final two years and spent part of one semester–while still enrolled in classes–living in Cancun.

His first book, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, is a #1 New York Times Best Seller, spent five years on the list, and has over 2 million copies in print. His second book, Assholes Finish First, and his third book,Hilarity Ensues, are also NY Times Best Sellers.

He co-wrote and produced the movie based on his life/book, also titled “I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell.” He has also been credited with being the originator and leader of a new literary genre, “fratire,” is only the third writer (after Malcolm Gladwell and Michael Lewis) to ever have three books on the NY Times Nonfiction Best Seller List at one time, and was nominated to the Time Magazine 100 Most Influential List in 2009. He currently lives in Austin, Texas.

Favorite Success Quote

“Every day write down one example of you working your process and one example of how you are making your life about other people”

Key Points

1. Life is Not Complicated but it is Difficult

Many people like to make life seem more complicated than it really is. In reality, life is simple, but it is hard as hell and it boils down to two things:

-The relationships you have with the people that you love

-The work you do

If you can master the relationships in your life and you can do work every day that you find personally fulfilling, allows you to have freedom, and adds value to others, than you are about as successful as they come.

2. The Best Way to Make Money is to Help People

If you want to be rich, then you have to help a lot of people. Making money is all about the art of problem solving and helping others improve their lives in a way that they cannot wait to pay you.

Everyone is in pain and everyone is struggling with something in their lives, no matter how rich, good looking, or successful they are, and if you can find that thing and offer them a solution that genuinely works, you will be able to make more money than you ever imagined.

3. Achieving External Success Alone is Unfulfilling 

In the interview Tucker talked about how he had all of the external trappings of success. Millions of dollars in income, meet and sleeping with countless beautiful women, a healthy body, and a great career, but still found it ultimately unfulfilling, because he had not done the work on himself.

No matter how much you achieve in your life, if you do not work on yourself and if you do not take care of your emotions and inner world, no amount of outward success will leave you fulfilled.

4. Knowing Is Not Enough 

If everyone in the world acted on what they knew, we would live in a society where everyone was happy, healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Think about it…

Everyone knows that to be healthy you should move more and eat less. Everyone knows to be wealthy you should work hard and smart, and spend less than you make. Everyone knows to be wise you should read more and be around smarter people.

So why the hell don’t people do this?

They have an action problem, not a knowledge problem. If you want to succeed in life, you have to take the action, knowing is not half of the battle, it’s about 10% and massive effing action is the other 90%.

5. You Make Your Own Purpose 

Many people have been sold a lie that they have to go on this mystical journey to find their purpose. That if they go and meditate in a dark cave a ball of light will come down from the heavens to reveal to them what they need to do.

This is pure bullshit.

If you are struggling to find a purpose it is because you don’t find a purpose you make one!

Pick something that you enjoy and are good at that will allow you to maximize your relationships with the people you love and serve the world, and you have successfully found a purpose worth living for.

Like we said earlier, this is quite simple, but not easy.

But it is also worth it.