How Richard Branson nearly killed me

My body was broken. But my belief in myself was stronger than ever. [Mindvalley Logo]     Growing up in an immigrant family home, I was hammered with the belief that “hard work equals success.” But as I got older, and I sought out some of the world’s top entrepreneurs as mentors, I actually saw a complete opposite way of living life. These entrepreneurs and many billionaires worked less than 21 hours a week. They were just highly effective in every single hour they dedicated to their work. This insight was an ‘a-ha’ for me. Don’t believe me? Check out this picture.     What you’re seeing over here is the view from my current location. I’m currently staying with my mentor and friend Naveen Jain in his beautiful home on Moskito Island owned by Sir Richard Branson. Off in the distance is another island he owned, Necker Island. In 2019, I was on that very island for a mastermind alongside other incredible entrepreneurs. One morning at 6am, Richard woke us all up, pointed 2 miles towards the horizon at Moskito Island, and issued a challenge: To go for a morning swim to the island. He may have been in his 60s at the time, but as an enthusiastic sportsman, Richard outlasted most of us doing a leisurely backstroke. I, on the other hand, was not a strong swimmer. And I knew this long distance swim in open water was going to be a massive stretch. Sure enough, by the time I returned to the shore 2 hours later, my body was broken. But my belief in myself was stronger than ever. Because I learned an important lesson that day that shifted my model of entrepreneurship forever.     Richard had explained that he sought to spend hours everyday in nature, working out, and pushing his body through physical challenges. Because it fed him with ideas and inspiration that made him better at what did. This was a consistent pattern I noticed among so many great entrepreneurs. Naveen Jain, who I’m currently staying with, takes me on a 6-7 mile walk everyday through the hiking trails of Moskito Island, where we discuss ideas, visions and new projects – instead of doing it in front of our laptops. The principle here is called ‘Navigation vs Acceleration.’ And great entrepreneurs know how to perfectly dance between the two. They may go into ‘Acceleration mode’ where they spend half of their lives in the office, pushing their team, looking at data and numbers, and ideating with their programmers. But they also spend an equally large portion of their time in ‘Navigation mode.’ This is where they work on themselves, connect through masterminds, discover fresh new ideas, and fine tune their vision for their life and their business. This is why 50% of my time is spent growing my business. And the other 50% is spent questioning my business. So if you’ve come to realize, just like I did that morning in 2019, that simply focusing on tinkering with your business is a one-way ticket to being forever stuck on a perpetual hamster wheel… Then I invite you to switch into ‘Navigation mode’ for just 4 hours this Thursday to learn, grow, and question your business in a brand new Mindvalley online seminar:   [How to Scale Your Business to $10M, $50M or Even $100M in Revenue](   The seminar is free to the public and happens at the following times:   - 🇺🇸 Los Angeles: 7am - 11am - 🇺🇸 New York: 10am - 2pm - 🇩🇪 Berlin: 4pm - 8pm - 🇦🇪 Dubai: 6pm - 10pm - 🇮🇳 Mumbai: 7:30pm - 11:30pm - 🇭🇰 Hong Kong: 10pm - 2am (+1)   [Save my spot](     [Mindvalley Logo]( 14525 SW Millikan Way #31545 Beaverton, OR 97005-2343 [Get it on Google Play]( [Download on the App Store]( [Facebook icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Instagram icon]( [Youtube icon]( [Whatsapp icon]( [Telegram icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( [Support Center]( Policy](