Developing Killer Instincts

Good day peoples,

Everybody from your senile grandmother to your stupid dog has instincts. Everyone has that intuitive thing that gets them out of trouble and tells them what to do when their brains are telling them otherwise.


The difference between gut instincts and killer instincts is that you are born with one; the other is sharpened and perfected with time.

Guess which one is which.

Killer Instincts: Beyond Gut
So what are killer instincts? How do you know if you have them or not? Killer instincts don't refer to the ability to predict that Brazil will win the World Cup or that every Thursday fuel prices go up; it's the ability to correctly predict, through careful study of a situation and experience, the correct outcome of each and every scenario you face.

It can be predicting a guy's first move when you're in a fight, coming up with a product that sells more than water, bluffing the other guy just right in negotiations to maximize your end of the bargain, or knowing exactly which words will get you a free pass when your wife finds out about your mistress.

It's about rarely being wrong when interpreting and calculating the consequences of a situation. It's the innate ability some people have to always be on top of things. In business, it's often the difference between those who make it and those who don't. Killer instincts are your way of saying to Lady Luck, "Screw you, I don't need your help."

It's above and beyond the gut feelings we were all born with. It's much more than listening to the nervous feeling in your stomach. Those instincts, everyone has. A person with killer instincts sees an enemy where others don't see anything, a hotel and casino empire (Bugsy Siegel) where others see desert, and so on and so forth.

It's not only about getting out of a jam. It's about having vision, knowing when it's the right time to finish off an enemy, knowing when to freeze a  a stand-up guy because he's about to lose it all, anticipating what the other guy is going to do before he even gives it any thought, etc.

Killer instincts allow you to make the first move, think big and feel confident in your decisions even if you're going against a trend.

All right, you're convinced that you need to "refine" your gut feeling. Now what do you do?

Are you born with killer instincts?


No one comes out of their mother's womb with the instinctive ability to beat the stock market year after year. You are a product of your environment. Absolutely. But just like some people get all the women without even trying while the rest of us have to grow testicles the size of a walrus to even make a move, some guys have killer instincts even if they didn't spend a second of their lives "on the street."

Learning From The School of Life

Good day peoples,

Hope ya'll good and you've got your thing on lock. Been tied for a while but I'm back and this time round on a more serious tip. If you turn on the TV these days (local or international), you'll see all of your favorite windbags talking about education reform. They tell us we need to give the schools more money for textbooks and that we need to improve our focus on certain subjects. If you ask me, this is all a load of bull. Growing up, I wanted the best education in the area I really wanted to achieve in -- my life. Life is a bi**h, but it can teach you things no one else can. Any fool can go through life hoping for a chance to be on top, but it takes a real professional to know what he wants and take it. Most won't ever learn how. Luckily for you, school is in session, and I'll be your teacher. Pay attention and you just might make it through what I call the school of life, understood?

Use Your Head
Like most things, you use it or lose it. I’ve seen plenty of my crew who jumped before they looked and ended up in the piss pot. You’ve got to have smarts to survive in this world. Anytime you need to make a move, stop and think. This small space of time will save you and your crew a huge headache down the road. Obviously there will be times when you need to act fast, but if you’ve been taking the time to plan, you’ll almost always make the right call. Fail to plan, plan to fail. No dude ever stops learning. We would still be wiping our backsides with leaves if we did. If someone in your group is bringing down the operation with their incompetence, well, you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.

Act Like You’ve Got a Pair
The shy get stomped. When you enter a room, you have to command it. You are the best, so know it and act like it. I’m not talking about being a cocky dude. I’m saying you need to exude confidence and have some real balls. Make decisions and stand by them. Don’t piddle around trying to make up your mind. Be firm and decisive. Fear is what kills half of the people around there enivironment. To be victorious, you have to completely eliminate fear. Fear is why you make excuses for not doing what you have to. Anytime I feel that sickening sensation of fear crawling up my back, I do what I need to do anyway. It pays off, too. See, the funny thing about fear is, on the other side of it lies a life of bliss and success. So have some balls and walk with your chin up. It’s the only way to get respect.

Finish The Job
In my job, you finish the job or they finish you. Procrastination and half-assed work is unacceptable. How can you reach the top of a table with two legs? Your focus should be on building a foundation of solid and complete work. Figure out a list of what you have to do and start with the biggest and most difficult task. Knocking out the big guns gives you a snowball effect, making it easier to finish everything else. The key here, class, is focus. You can get anything done if you just focus on it. Be sure to get the whole crew in on it and the rewards will be more than enough to go around. Those who refuse to be team players won’t last long, in or out of the unit.

Respect Your Superiors
Your boss is in his position for a reason, despite what you might think about him. If he’s not following protocol or if he’s a big fesso, be patient and he’ll be out of there soon. In the meantime, you have to be the bigger man and respect him as your superior. That means following orders and biting your tongue. Don’t take anything too personally. You’ll look better in the eyes of your fellow subordinates for keeping your cool. Remember that the way of the world is that everything comes back to you. If you don’t respect your boss, how are you to expect the people under you to do the same? Just keep in mind that true leaders aren’t pompous blowhards. The great ones are down there in the mud with the rest of their men. Your time will come.

Keep Your Cool
You should never let your emotions get the better of you. Sure, sometimes the s*** hits the fan, but you have to keep your cool. Don’t get me wrong; I have lost my temper a couple of times here and there, but there is a time and place. Never lose your cool when dealing in business. It gives the whole thing a bad vibe and will rebound onto the other guys involved. That’s not something you want. When dealing with your lady, you have to be the calm one, too. A true capo uses his brain and gets things back in working order rationally. The key to keeping your cool goes back to confidence. If you’re confident in yourself and what you have to say, what’s to get all hot for? Not everyone is going to agree with you. Just worry about yourself.

School Is Now In Session
I hope you took notes and learned something today class. The school of life can be hard, but if you’re smart and play your cards right, you can come out with an A+. Always be willing to educate yourself. Treat every situation as a learning experience. Isn’t that all this life really is? It’s ultimately up to you. You can go out and take it by the horns or you can sit, hope and wonder. Whatever the case, life is what you make it. And that’s the ultimate test. I hope you’ve studied.

the audacious truth

Stay Ahead of Your Enemy

Good day peoples,

It’s one thing to know your enemy, but it’s another thing altogether to stay ahead of him. In order to do so, you must have a game plan that you stick to like lint on a cheap suit.

Successful men are decisive. But decisions aren’t made in a vacuum. Any boss who’s worth his weight in gold makes good decisions because he has a clear code that he and his crew abide by. Because the real world has a black-and-white moral code, the easiest way to let your enemy get the upper hand is by sitting on the fence, wondering what to do. As the Irish say when it comes to decisions; Shit, or get off the pot.

In the business world, things are not so clear-cut, but you still need a code, which means you have to develop your own. To stay ahead of your enemy, your personal code will allow you to be bold and decisive, rather than meek and awkward.

Work on Your Poker Face
A few weeks back, I told you dudes how a stern poker face can even any playing field. In the business world, the appearance of strength is at least as important as proven competence. It is for this reason that most of your upper management team is tall, slim, calm, and well-dressed. And if you have a choice, it is always better to be these things than short, fat, bald, and messy. Unlike the underground where a fat slob can rule, in the corporate realm, power follows the dashing.

But let’s return to square one. To maintain a good poker face, you might want to start by laying off the corporate crack that goes by the name of coffee. Drink a strong coffee or two in the morning, then keep your addictive need under wraps. After the coffee experience, on the other hand, you may feel like you’re firing on all cylinders, but there’s nothing as pitiful as a man in the throws of a caffeine fix, all jittery, eyes dilating, and limbs twitching like a junkie, holding his crotch as he speedwalks to the can.
So then, assuming you can cut out the coffee junk, you’re actually well on your way, since no poker face can survive a heart rate that doubles without any exercise beyond riding the elevator. In addition to this, chain smokers now have trouble convincing people they’re not nervous. And the last thing you want is to find yourself nicotine fitting in a meeting, nervously fidgeting, biting your nails, yawning for lack of oxygen, and looking wildly around like a guilty shoplifter.

Know Your Enemy’s Crew
If you have a workplace nemesis, you need to infiltrate his crew. Any enemy that’s worth plotting against has some kind of loyal group of associates who do his field work, report to him and take his orders. Although the demarcations between boss and his mafiosi is less clear in an office setting, power always seduces men who want to be king of the hill.

And because power is structured, it is crucial to have a clearer picture of your enemy’s structure than he has of yours. No matter how “Mickey Mouse” your respective operations are, the upper hand will always go to the man who veils his structure, who keeps his enemy off balance, and who hides his hand because he knows when the enemy is watching.

Check Your Blind Spot
If you’ve ever been cut off in traffic by some jackass with tunnel vision, you understand the importance of the blind spot. Without being paranoid, it is important to keep an eye on what’s happening behind the scenes. Figure out who’s spying on your habits. And for the love of the Godfather (Movie), if you get called in by your enemy, don’t go.

Stick To Business
Having mastered your poker face while building mental files of his comings and goings, keep your interest on the down low. The less he knows about your plotting mind, the longer you can fly under the radar. Meet him head on as a business associate and keep your language neutral and your behavior stealth.

the audacious truth

Be a Leader

Good day peoples,

Guys who like to be told what to do might make mama happy, but they will never be leaders. If you want to lead, you have to live like a shark, always be moving and making things happen. To be a leader, you have to think faster than the followers so that they don't get bored or disgruntled, because when they don't have enough to do, they get whiny. Followers are like children and can be controlled by anyone who tells a good story. Followers are also necessary, because without them you would have to do all the work yourself. There's no need for taking out the trash when you have plenty of fools with two hands to do it for you.

Leaders naturally rise in an organization. It's true that idiot sons often get vaulted into top positions, but real leaders don't get places because of daddy's pockets and daddy's buddies. A real leader takes offense to this kind of bum-squatting on unearned power. Frankly, it's appalling. A guy should rise on his own merits, he should be recognized for being talented, raking in cash, and making deals happen whether the cash comes in from busting heads or basic handshakes.

Still, anyone who wants to be a leader can't just sit back and imagine that hard work alone is going to get the job done. The same thing goes for women, you might be the star football player, but that doesn't mean you get to nail the hottest chick in school unless you pursue that goal. The meek will inherit nothing. The game of life requires more than dice, it takes balls. You have to go after what you want, you have to get up and go without hitting snooze six times and luck will find you. When luck becomes success, let everyone know that you made it happen. Don't be shy, because if you don't take credit, assholes will. In fact, taking credit is a time-honored principle of leadership. If you took someone else's idea and made it happen, then it's yours. Uncle Ben didn't build the building, but he got his name on it.

It's much simpler to think about being a leader than it is to actually be one. But if you want it, then follow these rules:

Wear Blinders
If you want to lead a group, I don't care if it's the Girl Scouts or the Russian Mafia, you’d better commit to the ideas of that group and believe them in your core. You should at least start out with this mindset, because it will help you get to where you're aiming. Along the way, you might find out that the Girl Scouts are more corrupt than the Russian Mafia, but once you are inside the power structure, you can deal with that like a professional. If you are a cynic or can't get behind an idea without weighing all of the nuances, you're too slow to lead. Doubters don't inspire people to make money.

Be Stable
Show up each day with the same face and the same demeanor. Don't be a mess in your personal life and let it spill into onto the job. The more stable you are, the more likely others will trust you. Whatever your vice is, limit it to a degree that doesn't affect your work ethic. Get a wife at some point and act like a grown-up. You can still chase girls, but guys who don't have a status quo life at home generally don't move up the ladder as fast as married guys. That's a fact. They make more money, they get more done and I suspect it's partially because they've gotta feed the monkey at home.

Reward Others
Nobody wants to work for a glory hog. The best way to get people to work for you is to give kickbacks. Money. Promotions. Gold stars. Whatever. Anything that makes a guy's head swell, that's what generates loyalty. The best leaders bask in the glory and then give rewards to the underlings that make them feel like winners. But this doesn't mean you should dole out rewards for the slightest thing if you do that, the rewards will have no meaning. If the cash flow is slow, nobody gets a reward until someone takes the initiative and creates some dough. Likewise, it helps to give a rat's ass about another guy's home life. God knows that everyone loves to talk about himself. Just ask a guy about his kid's sports talemts and he'll tell you more than you ever wanted to know about Junior and walk away thinking you cared.

Get In The Right Group
On your way to the top, you will meet a lot of people, some on their way up and others on their way down. The important thing is to get in the clique with momentum. Don't close down sniffer's row with the fools who stumble home broke and blitzed. Instead, be with the brass on the golf course for the 7 a.m. tee time. When you make contacts that can help you go places, pay them visits so that your name stays fresh in their minds. Don't look at the guys above you as enemies, but rather, see them as tools you can use. Once you are in the right club, don't screw it up.

Be On The Offense
In conversations, be the one with all the good ideas. Follow your instinct and you'll be a faster thinker than the cows who chew it over for an hour. You have to live in the moment while looking 10 years down the road. Whatever is going on that day, that's your job. You can hold grudges, but not if it slows business. Get a thick skin and don't become gun-shy when you get rebuked. Always be ready for the next thing.

The last thing any group needs is a slow-witted pacifist taking charge. If you want to lead, learn how to be scrappy and know what you want. Nobody is perfect and the followers don't have to love you. They just have to do what you tell them.

the audacious truth