Leach - The formula for success: how to win at life using your own personal algorithm

SAMUEL LEACH

This edition first published 2019

2019 Samuel Leach

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available.

ISBN 9780857088222 (paperback)
ISBN 9780857088192 (ePDF)
ISBN 9780857088215 (ePub)

Cover Design: Wiley

Life is a puzzle that the greatest minds on earth have been debating, theorising, and seeking to answer for many thousands of years. From microbes to constellations, the philosophical to the spiritual, and more recently the mysteries of quantum theory and the multiverse, the key to understanding life lies in learning to recognize and work within its patterns and rules. And it is only when you understand the mechanics of any system (including life), that you can begin to truly prosper within its boundaries.

For me, unlocking the prosperity of life is a personal quest that concludes with me being the best that I can be every single day that I draw breath. This book is about the patterns that I've discovered by studying the lives of incredible people, aligning them with my own experiences, and applying those rules to everything that I do. More importantly, it is about how you (whoever you are) can learn to do the same. I dare you to read on and I'll prove it to you.

But if you think that this is just a get-rich-quick scheme, or what I'll be talking to you about will be easy go and find another book. Because for this to work in your life, for the algorithm to lead you to a life full of wealth and prosperity, you will need to be prepared to get uncomfortable. Massively and seat-squirmingly uncomfortable.

The algorithm of prosperity contained in this book is a series of rules and attitudes which, when uploaded to an open mind, can create as much success as that mind can imagine. If I can do it, starting from a one-bedroom flat which I shared with my Dad and my older brother, so can you. It would be easy to assume that my story revolves around gambling on the stock exchange and getting lucky, or that I started out with my family's financial backing. But you would be wrong on both counts. It involves risk-taking but, as you will discover, there is a gulf between gambling and taking risks; and between getting lucky and the sure-fire algorithm of prosperity,

My success has been built entirely upon attitude and application trading was merely the road I found myself on. I honestly believe that I would have found the same level of success on any path I had chosen to walk down because I desired it more than anyone else who I encountered. It might have been working on an oil rig, tenpin bowling, being an Xbox champion, boxing, or long-distance swimming. Whatever it was, I believe I would have mastered it. And as for my parents' backing I had that 100%, but not from their bank accounts; their backing came in the shape of imparting belief and giving me their unconditional love.

Trading has, of course, played a massive part in my life and I will touch on some aspects of it (as a commercial opportunity and as a life skill) as we proceed through the book.

The most dangerous risk of all is the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet that you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.

Alan Watts

Algorithms are the invisible mechanics behind everything you see around you. They are the intricacies of the miracle that turns a seed into a tree, the rules that blend single notes into beautiful harmonics, and the way Google decides what to put at the top of the list when you are searching, researching, buying, or browsing

In its simplest form, an algorithm is a mathematical equation which translates input data into a result. Algorithms are both naturally occurring (in that they describe observable behaviours), and intelligently designed (where they can be used to predict outcomes and calculate probabilities). Pretty much everything that you do or connect with each day is based on some sort of algorithm. Let me show you what I mean.

The alarm that woke you up this morning went off because you programmed some pre determined numbers into an electronic device which counts seconds, minutes, and hours. The breakfast that you ate was based on data that you had previously gathered (derived from preferred taste or nutritional values) and the subsequent calculations and decisions you made as a result of that data. The route you took to school or work was not a random journey it was chosen because you applied an algorithm of convenience, cost, speed, and direction to establish the most appropriate method to get you to where you needed to be. You can apply this thinking to the clothes you are wearing right now, the time of day that you feel most alive, the things you watch on YouTube, the people you spend most of your time with, and the amount of money that sits in your bank account. Whether you are aware of it or not, algorithms control everything that you do. And knowing that simple fact should give you a sense of great power because it means that different data will generate a different result, and therefore you can change your life.

Even the things that you are currently trying to think of to prove me wrong are algorithms including all of the random behaviours and circumstances that are outside yours or anybody else's control. You were born into an algorithm based on the genes and circumstances of your parents, the country and location you grew up in, the school you went to, and the tastes that you developed as a child. All these things in essence, the cultures that surround each one of us contain the algorithms which shape our lives; or, in other, words the algorithms of life and prosperity.