5-Reps: Placebo, million-dollar lessons, and there’s always more to the story

“There are million-dollar lessons hidden in $30 books.”

-Noah Kagan

2.

At the end of his monthly reading list emails, Ryan Holiday always includes this line,

“I promised myself a long time ago that if I saw a book that interested me I’d never let time or money or anything else prevent me from having it.”

Good rule.

3.

There’s a parable about a master locksmith.

He’d go to a house with a jammed lock. In two minutes he’d pop off the lock and install a new one. His customers were happy until they saw the bill.

“$250? For what? It only took you a few minutes. You did it too quickly. How do I know the new one is secure?” They’d say.

On one hand, the customer is right. It was done quickly.

On the other hand, the locksmith trained for decades to master their craft. You’re not paying them for their time, you’re paying them for their years of experience and expertise.

Most people who share this parable stop there. As a celebration of expertise and a frustration of the widespread lack of appreciation of those same expertise. But it doesn’t stop there, does it? Because what people should value isn’t what they do value.

What the locksmith needs to do is pretend to struggle with the lock for 29 minutes and 30s before popping it off. He could break a sweat, ask for a glass of water and, if he was really savvy, break a tool or two. People would trust his work more and he’d be able to charge twice as much without a fuss. “Glad I called a real expert. It must’ve been really jammed . . .” The homeowner would think.