The Racial Controversy Behind One of Alex Hormozi’s Favorite “Studies”
If you’re at all in to business or personal development you know Alex Hormozi
For those who don’t quick background. The easiest way to put it is he’s a gym bro who started in personal fitness & training, expanded in to owning a gym, then cracked the code to help others open their own gyms. He took some VERY hard learned lessons from early in his life and used them to help other business owners.
Currently, the owner of Acquisition.com, he invests in and helps businesses to scale to the next level.
Most people know him for his tremendous social media presence.
Constantly posting content with actionable tips that people can implement in their businesses TODAY. His goal is to teach everything he knows to the world, FOR FREE. Ranging from business to personal development (and the occasional recipe) he puts out content for anyone looking to grow.
One thing he has talked about a lot is a study done that shows the “3 Traits of the Most Successful People” (Video Below):
Trait #1: Superiority Complex
Trait #2: Massive insecurity
Trait #3: Impulse Control
To be successful you need to think that you can do bigger things, have a drive to not be a failure, and can stay focused for the long term. The result of this study actually makes a lot of sense.
However I have a big problem with this
Big pet peeve of mine. If you reference a “study” you should be willing to reference what it was or who it was done by, otherwise it just sounds like some made up garbage. Sort of like people who reference statistics on social media because they saw someone else post about it.
63% of online statistics are made up these days (see what I did there)
So what did I do? I researched
In 2014, 2 professors at Yale Law School (married duo Amy Chua & Jed Rubenfeld) wrote a book together called “The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America”. The thesis? Well, let’s take a look at the summary on Amazon:
“It may be taboo to say, but some groups in America do better than others. Mormons have recently risen to astonishing business success. Cubans in Miami climbed from poverty to prosperity in a generation. Nigerians earn doctorates at stunningly high rates. Indian and Chinese Americans have much higher incomes than other Americans; Jews may have the highest of all.
Why do some groups rise? Drawing on groundbreaking original research and startling statistics, The Triple Package uncovers the secret to their success.
A superiority complex, insecurity, impulse control”
Sound familiar?
The research is based off of United States census data, economic statistics, and personal experience. In the end they narrow down to 8 cultural groups who are listed as the most successful groups in the United States: Chinese, Jewish, Indian, Iranian, Lebanese, Nigerians, Cuban exiles, and Mormons. Hormozi doesn’t mention any of this does he?
Chua is someone who is familiar with a controversial style of writing.
Her 2011 best seller “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” also garnered backlash. The cover of the book reads: “This is a story about a mother, two daughters, and two dogs. This was supposed to be a story of how Chinese parents are better at raising kids than Western ones. But instead, it's about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory, and how I was humbled by a thirteen-year-old.”
One CNN writer summed up the book as “…[promoting] a new-racism”
Race & culture can be a very hard topic to discuss. As one who has, to date, only been able to read some summaries & articles on the book I am the LAST person who has any right to pass judgement on this book. I want to get back to my main interest, though, the DATA & the CONCLUSIONS.
Further expansion on the 3 traits outlines a stark contrast to why most American’s do not achieve great success. That the group think we’re raised on is quite different than how these other cultural groups are brought up:
Americans are taught that everyone is equal, that no group is superior to another. But remarkably, all of America’s most successful groups believe (even if they don’t say so aloud) that they’re exceptional, chosen, superior in some way.
Americans are taught that self-esteem - feeling good about yourself - is the key to a successful life. But in all of America’s most successful groups, people tend to feel insecure, inadequate, that they have to prove themselves.
America today spreads a message of immediate gratification, living for the moment. But all of America’s most successful groups cultivate heightened discipline and impulse control.
Minus trying to tie it to any specific cultural groups, I agree with the key points in the original study and really like the summary that Alex Hormozi uses in his speeches.
I’ve spent the past 4 years reading dozens of books on business, self development, entrepreneurship, and so on. These are truly common themes behind some of the most successful people in our country who have built something better for themselves.
KNOW that you are meant for something bigger & better than the Default Path the world will try to assign to you. Paul Millerd talks all about this in his book “The Pathless Path” (which he has a free download for on his website!)
Prove yourself & have a drive to not fail. In his book “The Power of One More: The Ultimate Guide to Happiness and Success”, Ed Mylett talks about how we operate being like an internal thermostat. If you want to win, you have to be willing to run hotter than others and even when things get tough, never cool off or become complacent.
Delay your gratification, it WILL be worth it. “The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime” by MJ Demarco has become one of my all time favorite reads. In the book, when Demarco talks about the “fastlane” he does not define it as going viral overnight & becoming a billionaire. “Fast” is a relative term that usually means 10+ years of focus to hit ultra success. Success takes time
While there may be some controversy behind the “study” that Hormozi references, I believe how he summarizes the key traits do still hold up. Took me a little bit to find this, but I’m glad i did. We all need some healthy controversy in our lives so we can have difficult conversations.
Big question, though, what are YOUR thoughts on this?
One Final Thing! 👋
I really love hearing from you guys and am always looking for feedback. How am I doing with this newsletter? Is there anything you’d like to hear me talk more (or less) about? Which aspects of the newsletter do you enjoy the most?
Feel free to reach out, send a note, and even just say hi!
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Thanks for reading!
~ A.J. Zampella ✌️
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Little about who I am and what I’m here to do:
15 years in tech & 20 years as a DJ
Mid-career professional trying to thrive in work and life
I spend 100s of hours figuring it out so you can learn in <5 minutes a week!
Other Interesting Things Around the Web I do:
Free DJ Sets/Mixes on Soundcloud - Yes I still DJ pretty often too
#AJsBookClub - Big Book Guy. Talk about “success focused books”
Grim & Grind - My clothing line, all things Creepy & Caffeinated