Human Nature [Not History] Repeats (361)

Mike Malatesta  00:00

On today’s episode of The how’d it happened podcast, I am talking about one of my favorite podcasts besides mine, which is called Founders, just the one word founders. What’s so interesting about this, and I talked about it in the podcast is how important the past is to us. And not because history repeats itself, but because human nature does. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did. And here it is. Everybody, welcome back to the HOW’D IT HAPPEN Podcast. I’m Mike. And thank you for joining me for this Friday solo episode. So today, I want to talk about one of my favorite podcasts besides my own, and it’s called Founders. And the title of this episode is human nature repeats, human nature repeats. So I want to start by saying, Have you ever tried to learn from the future? Pretty tough, right? By Design? Of course, right? It’s hard to hard to learn from anything that hasn’t yet happened. We can, we can speculate on it. And we can make predictions and we can, you know, imagine what the future is going to be. And, and I can even help create it. I really do believe in that. But it’s hard to learn from it, because it has not happened. And what about the president? You know, have you had a lot of success learning from the President, it’s kind of hard, because you know, you’re right in the middle of it. So I admit, I have not been very effective at learning from the present, you know, mostly because the President as well, it’s fleeting, it’s like, disappears faster than the bullet train. In today’s video. If you ever seen a video of those bullet trains going through a station or something, it’s just the thought. And that’s how the President feels, to me, it’s hard to learn from something that is only there for a moment or less. In fact, I should do a podcast on the present, because it’s really interesting. The President is only the president for the President. And yeah, it’s like, well, that’s the past. So the future is kind of like, kind of cool, because you know, it’s always coming. And the past is kind of cool, because it’s always there. But the present is kind of weird, because it’s, well, it’s here and gone, just like that. So anyway, hard to learn from the future, hard to learn from the present, the bad leads the past, right. And the past is a great place to learn, because that’s where all the lessons are from what has already happened. In the past as a library from which we can study success and failure and breakthroughs and scams, and decency and indecency and everything else. It’s all there. And one of the way one of the main ways that I’m studying the past these days, is by listening to this great podcast that I found which is simply is called just simply called founders, fo u n d e, r. S. M. Its host is name is David Sandra, I had never heard of him until a few months ago when I got turned on to founders podcasts. But this guy, he reads a biography. Every week. I can’t read a biography and like a month, every week, he reads a biography. And he synthesizes its lessons into a podcast, that feels conversational, even though it’s just him talking, and I’ll give you an example. He’s just in a booth. I don’t even think there’s a video component to it. But he’s in the sound booth or like just doing what I’m doing. And he’s, he’s telling you about this book, and he’s referencing pages and, and paragraphs and all that from but what’s really cool is that he’s like, he acts like he’s having a comment like you and he and me or he, and everyone in the audience is having a conversation and will only say things like, you and I talked about this, you know, dot, dot, dot, whatever it was, and he always includes his he always says, you and I, you and I, you and I and it really is weird, I guess, in a certain sense, but it’s also really cool because he is acting as if he’s acting as if the two of us are talking about this, this book. And he’s, it’s, it’s a good podcast you should listen to so. So I’ve listened to the founders. A bunch since I first came came, became aware of it and I’ve learned so many things about people that some of whom I’ve heard about, like Henry Ford and Bill Gates and Kobe Bryant, Warren Buffett, Estee Lauder, Thomas Edison, and then some that that I had never heard of, or hadn’t remembered hearing of, like Vanderveer bush and Jay Gould and, and others, and he just, there’s, he’s done over 270 of these episodes so far. And Some of them are repeats, I can do multiple on biographies about Warren Buffett, for example, and I kinda like that too, because he’s not just doing you know, one book or one biographers take on a person who reads multiple ones in any shares them with you, like what I’m doing with this podcast and want to participate in more of the things I’m thinking about and exploring subscribe to my newsletter today. It’s super simple. Just go to Mike malatesta.com. Right now, put in your email, and you will get the very next issue. It’s short, thoughtful, and designed to inspire, activate and maximize the greatness in you. So what do I like about it? Why? Why do I think why am I talking about it? Why do I think you should give founders a try? Well, first, his mission is impressive. David’s mission is impressive. So, you know, like, who can read a biography a week, and then synthesize it to talk about it? I, I cannot do that. So I’m impressed by that. Second, it’s informative. Knowing and understanding more about the lives of the people who’ve started some of the best known corporations in the world makes me feel informed, and smart. And just one of the reasons I listen to podcasts, in general is to become more informed. Most of the ones I listen to are formed. I do listen to somewhere I like, want the comedy or something like Dana Carvey and David spades, I think is really funny. But, but I want to be more informed, and his podcast keeps you informed and makes you smart. Third, it’s instructive and challenging. You know, as I listen, I’m thinking, how can I use what I’m hearing to improve my companies to improve my capabilities and to improve my opportunities to be a better leader, be a better creator, be a better founder, be a better entrepreneur. And finally, learning more about the people and the origins of some of the greatest entrepreneurial companies. By the way, almost all great companies begin with a single, or a small group of entrepreneurs, that many people thought were nuts for doing what they were doing. So if you feel that way, don’t feel bad, because most of these stories, the people in them, were in the shoe in your shoes at the time that they started as well. But, you know, getting to hear about those origins. It’s just, it’s just flat out fascinating. You know, and why is it important to study to pass? Well, it’s important to study the past. Is it important to stay in the past? Because it repeats itself? No, that’s often what we’re told. But I’m not sure that that’s often what’s true. I’m not sure that history actually repeats itself. And David talks about this all the time. Whether history repeats itself or not. One thing that we can all be sure about is that human nature, most definitely does. Human nature repeats itself. And that’s why I think more of the reason why history appears to repeat itself. Because we as humans, as people, we repeat ourselves, we often make the same mistakes, for example, as those who’ve come before us, so listening to this, to these podcasts and listening to these to his him synthesizing these biographies is a great way to try to avoid having at least the bad part of human nature repeating itself, which is the mistakes, you know, avoiding that and, and, and on the other side of that coin, you know, getting the benefit of the good side of human nature that repeats itself, the valuable lessons of human nature that repeat themselves, and that he talks about in these podcasts and, and that’s the value of studying the past. So check out founders and see what you think they’re about an hour long or so. Maybe a little shorter, sometimes. I think you’re gonna love it. I think you’re gonna love the energy. I wish I had come up with the idea. But then I would also need to be able to read a biography a week, which would definitely be a challenge for me. So I’m glad that he’s doing the work. And the one final thing is he ends every podcast, with whatever biography or episode it is, say it’s episode 270. I’ll say Well, that’s. That’s 270. Biographies read 1000 to go, he always says 1000 to go, which I think is pretty cool as well. So check it out founders and I thank you very much for investing your time in me today. I hope that you’ve got an a positive return on that, which is my goal. And if you did, please share the episode and follow or subscribe to the podcast so that every episode comes to you automatically. Until next time, maximize your greatness and make your future your property. Something that you design and are proud to do. Thanks for listening to this episode of The how that happened podcast where we believe that success doesn’t happen. Unless you make it happen. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcast, Google podcast stitcher or wherever you like to listen. And while you’re there, please rate it and leave a comment as well. I’d love to hear your thoughts about the show ideas for future guests or whatever you’d like to share. And of course, you can always find me at Mike malatesta.com. See you next time. Thanks again for listening to the HOW’D IT HAPPEN podcast