the woman in the red dress

if you haven’t seen The Matrix, there’s a scene that might change your life.

it happens when Morpheus is teaching Neo how to stay alive in a fake world built to mess with his head.

as part of the training, Morpheus takes Neo to a fake city packed with people.

he only gives 1 rule:

pay attention.

then Neo spots her.

while walking through a bland, corporate-looking crowd, a woman in a red dress is walking the other way.

she’s beautiful.

& she’s looking right at him.

while Morpheus is still talking, Neo can’t stop staring at her.

suddenly, Morpheus asks him:

‘were you listening to me, Neo? or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?’

they freeze.

‘look again’

Neo turns back to the woman & she’s not there anymore.

instead, there’s a man pointing a gun at his face.

‘if you are not one of us, you are one of them.’

the woman in the red dress is an analogy i first heard from Alex Hormozi — of course — & it’s a reminder of a lesson i keep having to relearn over & over again:

stick to the plan.

if you really think about it, the secret to success has been hidden in plain sight this whole time.

1. define what success is to you.

2. do the work to create that success.

3. don’t stop until you achieve it.

let’s say you wanted to become a YouTuber.

it’s pretty easy to come up with a plan that could get you there — just post videos every day, get better each time, & don’t stop.

that’s a great plan!

& if you did it for a long enough time, it’s unlikely that you wouldn’t succeed.

so why do most people still fail?

the woman in the red dress.

see, humans follow a predictable pattern of emotions when we try to change our behaviour, like when we’re chasing a goal.

here’s my version of it:

the process is simple:

1. we see an easy way to get what we want.

2. we try it & learn that it’s not easy.

& it’s at this point where we have a huge decision to make.

we can either keep chasing the next ‘easy’ way to get what we want — the woman in the red dress.

or,

we can accept that the hard work we’re avoiding is the way.

most people fall for the woman in the red dress every single time.

& as a result, they never see things through long enough to succeed.

• they make 10 YouTube videos, none of them blow up, & they quit because ‘the algorithm is rigged.’ but the Instagram algorithm is better, right?

• they go to the gym for a couple weeks, don’t see any progress, & they quit because they ‘don’t have the genetics for it.’ but Ozempic works, right?

• they go on a few dates, don’t find the person they’re looking for, & they quit trying because ‘the dating market sucks.’ but being single isn’t bad, right?

it’s shiny object syndrome at an existential level.

& it’s the single biggest obstacle to overcome.

because here’s the thing:

if you spend your life jumping from 1 ‘easy’ thing to the next, you won’t do enough of anything to make a dent.

but if you can just find a way to resist the woman in the red dress — to wake up every day & pour everything you’ve got into what matters most — that’s what it takes to reach your potential.

so the only question left is,

how?

i have some good news for you:

just being aware of this trap is the first step to escaping it.

you’re still gonna get distracted & feel tempted to jump onto an ‘easy’ path every now & then.

but now that you’ve seen it, you’ll see it every time.

i’m writing this today because that exact process happened to me yesterday.

after my last 2 videos flopped, i almost started an AI web design company (lol).

but once you’re aware of the woman in the red dress, there’s a second step you need to take:

you must recalibrate your mind to understand how much work is required.

Michelangelo said, ‘if people knew how hard i worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.’

i could copy/paste a million quotes from every successful person ever & they would all say the same sort of thing:

there are no shortcuts. if you want to do anything great with your life, it takes an insane amount of work.

so the next time things get hard & the woman in a red dress shows up, you can look at her with new eyes.

are you going to be like everybody else, losing focus & staying trapped in the cycle of ‘potential’ with no progress?

or are you going to stick to the plan?

remember — it’s your choice.

if you are not one of us, you are one of them.

quick announcement!

i’m opening a paid program in April where i’ll work with you 1 on 1 to get you out of that trap, so you stop wasting days & turn your potential into results.

i’ll have more info soon, but if it sounds like something you might be interested in, click the button below to join the waitlist!

(there’s only gonna be a few slots, so the waitlist gets first dibs!)

join the waitlist

some things i learned

1. neanderthals were more like us than we’ve been taught
   they made tools & ornaments, had language & fire, & they even buried their dead. Kevin Kelly inspired me to learn more about other sentient beings that our ancestors met, because AI isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with forms of intelligence different to us.

2. the generational belief gap nobody wants to talk about
   in a massive Harvard study, people were asked how much they agreed with different statements.
   
   73% of boomer males agreed: ‘no matter what psychological challenges i face, i will not let them define me.’
   

   72% of gen Z females agreed: ‘mental illness is an important part of my identity.’
   
   which belief would you want your child to have?

3. an Australian potato farmer won a ~1000km race… by accident
   in 1983, a 61 year old potato farmer named Cliff Young showed up in work boots & entered Australia’s most brutal ultramarathon for fun.
   
   but unlike every other athlete, he had no idea you were supposed to sleep during the race, so he just kept running for 5 days straight.
   
   he won by 10 hours.
   
   when he found out there was prize money, he gave it away to all the other runners, saying ‘they worked just as hard.’

   

   what a legend.

cool stuff i found

1. a unique watch i like a lot
   the Swiss-made ‘SLOW JO 17’ shows 24 hours all at once, which means it only needs 1 hand. pretty cool if you ask me!

   

2. a clock for bookworms
   i didn’t mean to put 2 timepieces on this newsletter, but look how cool this one is. it tells the time in quotes, with a new passage hand-picked for every minute of the day.

   

3. a photographer with pictures i can’t stop looking at
   i’ll just let Dr. Kathryn Cooper’s work do the talking:

   

bonus meme:

anyways, that’s all for this week!

like i said, i had my own ‘woman in a red dress’ moment after a couple of my videos flopped back-to-back.

but after taking some time to give myself perspective, i feel better than ever about where i am now, & where i’m headed.

my first paid 1 on 1 coaching program will start on April 1st, & i’m spending every minute of every day figuring out how to make it so good that i could charge a million bucks for it without feeling greedy.

(to be clear, it won’t cost a million bucks, but i just want anything i charge money for to be genuinely life-changing for you)

i’ll have more info soon, but in the meantime, join the waitlist & i’ll keep you updated along the way!

join the waitlist

go make yourself proud this week!

liam (:

PS - selling you anything is genuinely scary for me, because i value your time, energy, & trust in me so much. i promise that i’ll never take advantage of it.