Reaching Real Success | The Third Door, by Alex Banayan

"The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers" is the story of Alex Banayan in his quest to uncover the secrets of the most successful people in the world and how they were able to become the bests in their industry.

From Bill Gates to Lady Gaga, Alex interviewed many top-performers and legends to ask them directly how they were able to start with nothing and reach the top.

When Alex embarked on his mission, he was just a teenager. He cold-emailed the people on his list of best in the world, but no one was willing to grant him an interview. Nonetheless, Alex never gave up. He committed to his mission and entered from the 'third door'. With the help of his friends and mentors, he reached his goal of publishing this book, in which he uncovers all the lessons that he learned throughout his journey.

AMAZON | GOODREADS

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Make your own destiny

This was the first time I didn’t have a teacher telling me when to show up for class. No one was telling me what to study or what the homework was. I’d hated checking boxes, but now that they were gone, I realized how much I’d relied on them.

Alex Banayan

I know of many people who struggle with the feeling of ownership, and unfortunately, many of them are never able to embrace it. When you commit to work for yourself and live life on your own terms, no one will be telling you what to do.

Isn't that great? It is until you face reality. When you commit to working for yourself, you are the reason for your own #success and #failure. It means that everything depends on you, and you must be disciplined, focused, and committed. Are you going to make it?

Alex Banayan is the youngest bestselling business author in American history.

When the opportunity comes, be prepared

Getting you through the door shouldn’t be hard. Once you’re in there, it’s all on you. So if I were you, I would prepare. Go home and watch all of Spielberg’s movies. Read everything you can about him.

The Third Door

The opportunity will come. The secret is to always be prepared and work hard, waiting for that moment in which all the hours you put in will pay off. That is a typical characteristic of the greats, and the story of Alex is another top-notch example. He never came unprepared.

Every legend he mailed, every interview he strived to organize, he was always ready to catch the opportunity. He read biographies, wrote notes, made researches to be 100% ready for those 30 minutes of the interview. The work is behind the scene, you just need to show up.

The "Inside Man"

The most important step, I realized, was finding that “Inside Man”—someone inside the organization willing to put his or her reputation on the line to bring you in.

Alex Banayan

Alex came to know and befriend many people inside the most successful organizations. He built a large network of connections with many amazing people.

Those people then helped him to reach out to the individuals he wanted to interview. The lesson is that human interaction is always better than a simple email.

Heart, discipline, desire

“I didn’t have the experience,” Sugar Ray told me, “but I had the heart, the discipline, and the desire.”

Sugar Ray

In has never been about talent. The secret of the people who reached the top is resiliency. The biggest enemy that will try to stop you at all costs is yourself. If you are passioned and motivated enough, and you really never give up, then the only way is up. This theme comes back over and over in the book, and Alex's example is the prove.

Find your inner potential

Qi Lu had told me he’d slept only a couple hours a night while creating Yahoo Shopping and I’d wondered how it was possible. Now I knew. My agent had told me rewriting the proposal would take thirty days. I finished in eight. When your back is against the wall, you learn what you’re capable of.

Alex Banayan

"When your back is against the wall, you learn what you’re capable of." You never know it until you enter the game.

When deadlines come, and everything is at stake, and the only person who can make it is you, you better deliver. If you have the right mindset, those situations will awake your real potential. Only then you will really know what you are capable of.

Remember to ask and never gave up

“I live my life by two mantras. One: if you don’t ask, you don’t get. And two: most things don’t work out.”

Richard Saul Wurman

• If you don't ask, you don't get: many times people are afraid to ask for what they want, fearing rejection and failure. The story of Alex shows instead that people are more than willing to help, just ask.
• Most things don't work out: even when you ask and work hard to achieve your goals, most things don't work out. You must focus on you and enjoy the process, the results will show up for themselves. Be persistent.

Is about pushing, not tipping

“A tipping point only appears in hindsight,” Elliott added. “You don’t feel it when you’re in the trenches. Being an entrepreneur is about pushing, not tipping.”

Elliott Bisnow

There is no 'Holy Grail' moment or secret. You realize this simple truth once you reach the top. It is all about the daily grind, showing up day in and day out. Pushing, not tipping. Once you reach your goal, you will look back and be proud of all the effort you put in, and all the moments you kept up and not gave up.

Elliott Bisnow is the founder of Summit, a family of companies, which includes Summit Series.

Change the world on your own terms

“When I was a kid,” Wozniak said, “I had two goals for my life. The first was to create something with engineering that changes the world. The second was to live life on my own terms.”

Steve Wozniak

It is not about money, not about success nor popularity. What matters is living life on your own terms, without any restriction or impediment.

When something that you created with your own hand and efforts changes the lives of millions of people, everything will be worth it.

Steve Wozniak is an American computer scientist, inventor, and programmer. In partnership with his friend Steve Jobs, Wozniak invented the Apple I computer.

Enjoy the process

I swore to myself that from now on I would be unattached to succeeding, and unattached to failing. Instead, I would be attached to trying, to growing.

Alex Banayan

The lesson learned at the end is that success is about growing and learning every day. If at the end of the day you are proud of yourself, it does not matter what you achieved or what other people think about you.

You define your own life, you define your own happiness, you define your own destiny.

Open The Third Door.

Thanks for reading.