自從2004年他的網站“教你致富網”（I will Teach You to Be Rich，以下簡稱IWT）上線以來，米特·塞西在“千禧一代”中已經建立起了一個忠實的粉絲群。在這12年間，塞西還寫了一本風靡一時的暢銷書?，F在，他的網站已經做到了上百萬美元，付費用戶超過3萬人。塞西還創辦了一家叫做GrowthLab.com的網站，讓廣大創業者可以利用這一資源建立和培養線上業務。塞西稱該網站“沒有提供任何廢話、花而不實的宣傳和瞎碰亂撞的策略。”

不久前，塞西參加了Product Hunt網站舉辦的一場線上直播訪談，其間談到了企業的增長戰略、時間管理和瑜珈等方面的話題。

企業增長背后的心理學

“起初我有很多戰術上的問題，比如使用哪個電子郵件服務供應商，什么時候應該組織一次線上研討會，電子郵件的轉化漏斗應該是多長等等?，F在看來，我認為搞清楚這些問題是很重要的。

但真正的增長取決于你能否把這些事情全部做好，然后繼續去解決其他高價值的問題。但你能否真正取得驚人的成功，要看以下問題有多少戳中了你的內心：

? 你打算打動的是誰？是像Techcrunch這樣的科技媒體，還是你的用戶？

? 你說你要考慮長遠發展。那么到了產品該發布的時候，如果你的產品還沒有完全準備好，你是否愿意取消耗資幾百萬美元準備的產品發布會？

? 你說你想要一支‘小而精干的團隊’，但你又說你想要造成很大的影響力。那么你是否準備改變其中的某個理念？（我以前也跟自己說過‘小而精干的團隊’這種話——我也不知道為什么。這種話只是老調重彈而已，我說的時候也并沒有深入思考過。改變了這一理念后，IWT團隊才得到了發展壯大。）

? 如果人們來退貨了，你在心理上能應付得來嗎？

? 隨著業務的增長，你是否還能不忘初心？”

20多歲時沒必要做的事情

“我以前曾經低估過一些象征性事物的價值，比如帶著一瓶酒到朋友家里聚會（‘反正他家里不缺酒’——但酒不是重點），或是裝修自己的房子（‘不裝也挺好的，反正過一兩年我還得把它卸了’），或是穿得再講究些（‘反正她愛的是我的人’）。

現在我認為，這些事情都非常重要，即便這些都是很微妙的事。你可能說不出一些高端商店高端在哪里（有可能是燭臺、地板或是服務員的服飾），但你就是知道它跟沃爾瑪不一樣。所以這些微妙的事也是很重要的。

我還想提一件事——大學教育。很多人喜歡說：“別浪費時間上大學了，直接接受社會大學的教育吧。”我很喜歡大學，我覺得上大學是我做過的最有價值的事之一。你在大學里不僅可以選擇自己喜歡的課程，你還學到了紀律，學到了人際關系，學到了怎樣應對體制。我早已不記得我在2003年的統計學課上回答過什么題目了，但我直到現在每天還在應用我那時學到的技能?！?

時間對企業家的價值

“我認為聰明人經常掉入一個陷阱——盲目追求擺在他們面前的一些目標。我在之前的一家公司工作時，有一次我曾經在會議室里與5個人圍繞著一個很小眾的功能激辯了30分鐘。突然我們都住了口，意識到我們在爭論的東西其實并沒有什么意義。很多年后我還記得這個時刻。在那30分鐘里，我們圍繞自己的觀點激烈論戰。但對于大局來說……它其實并沒有什么意義。

這是一個聰明人經常會面對的風險。隨便把一個難題放到他們面前，他們都要挑戰一下。所以你應該考慮的是：‘它值得我付出時間嗎？它對我真的有價值嗎？’我經常會思考這個問題。其實你可以跳出圈子來看問題——比如休個假，或是像我一樣搞一個每周一次的‘戰略日’，這些都有助于你看清事物的本質?！?

瑜珈和冥想的好處

“我認為瑜珈和冥想是很好的鍛煉，很多人通過它找到了價值，但其中不包括我。去嘗試一些新方法總是很好的。但你并非非得通過瑜伽、冥想、愿景板或是綠色果汁什么的才能取得成功。你可以看看哪種方法最適合你，然后每天堅持下去。”（財富中文網）

作者：Polina Marinova

譯者：樸成奎

Since launching his website, I Will Teach You to Be Rich (IWT) in 2004, Sethi has built a loyal following of millennial readers—and we mean loyal. Twelve years and one bestselling book later, he has built the site into a multi-million dollar online business with more than 30,000 paying customers. Sethi also founded GrowthLab.com, a resource for entrepreneurs looking to launch and grow an online business. When describing the site's mission, Sethi promises “No sugar-coating, BS, or random tactics.”

On Thursday, the entrepreneur participated in a live chat on the site Product Hunt where he discussed business growth strategies, time management, and yoga.

On the psychology behind growing a business:

“At the beginning, I had a million questions about tactics, like which email service provider to use, what time to host a webinar, how long email funnels should be. Looking back, I think it was critical to master those questions.

But the real growth came from getting good at those, checking the box, and moving on to higher-value questions. The biggest surprise was how many of those questions deal with inner psychology:

? Who are you trying to impress? Techcrunch or your customers?

? You say you're willing to think long-term. Are you willing to cancel a multi-million-dollar launch because the product isn't ready?

? You claim you just want a "small, intimate team" but you also say you want to have a big impact. Are you prepared to change one of those beliefs? (I used to tell myself the small/intimate thing—I don't know why. It was just a stock phrase I said without thinking about it. Changing this belief led to growing the IWT team.)

? Are you able to mentally handle people refunding products?

? Can you keep the mind of a child even while your business has grown?”

On things he thought were pointless his 20s:

“I used to undervalue the importance of symbolic things. Like taking a bottle of wine to a friend's place for a party ("He already has enough alcohol"—that's not the point). Or decorating my apartment ("It's fine, I'm just going to take it down in a couple years anyway") or dressing better ("she should like me for who I am").

Now I think those are incredibly important, even though they're subtle. You may not recognize the reason you know you're in a high-end store now (it's the subtle candles, the floor, the clothes that the employees are wearing), but you know you're not in Wal-Mart. And it matters.

One other thing I want to mention: COLLEGE. It's really popular for people to say, "Don't bother with college, get a real-world education." I loved college and think it was one of the most valuable things I ever did. Not only can you choose your own curriculum, you learn the skills of discipline, building relationships, navigating bureaucracy. No, I don't remember the quiz I took in 2003 on statistics, but I still use the skills I learned in college every day.”

On the value of your time as a business owner:

“I think one of the seductive traps that smart people fall into is chasing arbitrary goals that are put in front of them. At a prior company I worked at, I remember being in the conference room, debating some esoteric feature with 5 other people for 30 minutes. Suddenly we stopped and realized we were arguing about something meaningless. It was a pretty amazing moment that I still remember years later. For those 30 minutes, we were ferociously battling over our views. But in the grand scheme...it was pointless.

This is a risk smart people have. Put a challenge in front of them and they'll attack it. But the larger question is, ‘Is this worth my time? Is this something I genuinely value?’ I think about this a lot. Getting away—whether a vacation, or even the once-a-week Strategy Day that I do—is helpful in getting perspective.”

On the benefits of yoga and meditation:

“I think yoga and meditation are great for people who find value from them. But I don't. It's great to test and try new approaches. But you don't need yoga, meditation, a vision board, or green-juice smoothies to be successful. Find what works for you and do it every single day."