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My First Million

If you want a rich life, watch this before 2026

52 min episode · 2 min read
·
Jesse Hitler

Episode

52 min

Read time

2 min

Topics

Career Growth, Productivity, Health & Wellness

AI-Generated Summary

Key Takeaways

  • Getting Light: Clear all clutter before planning by deleting unused apps, canceling subscriptions, donating unworn clothes, and reaching inbox zero. This creates psychological momentum and removes 815 unread texts worth of guilt before starting the new year planning process.
  • Musogi Framework: Select one major year-defining accomplishment annually that takes significant effort. Over 50 years from age 37 to 87, this creates 50 monumental achievements plus 300 mini-adventures from bimonthly Kevin's rule events, building a remarkable life resume.
  • Eight Box System: Create eight life categories like adventure, marriage, fitness, kids, business, personal goals, family, and finance. List everything you want to accomplish in each bucket as a living document, checking items off and adding new ones throughout your lifetime.
  • Winning Habits: Add one new positive habit per quarter instead of making resolutions. This compounds to 8 new habits in year one, 12 in year two, creating sustainable behavior change through incremental additions rather than overwhelming January commitments that typically fail.

What It Covers

Jesse Itzler shares his systematic approach to annual planning, including the Musogi concept of one year-defining goal, Kevin's rule for bimonthly adventures, and the eight-box framework for organizing life priorities around work instead of vice versa.

Key Questions Answered

  • Getting Light: Clear all clutter before planning by deleting unused apps, canceling subscriptions, donating unworn clothes, and reaching inbox zero. This creates psychological momentum and removes 815 unread texts worth of guilt before starting the new year planning process.
  • Musogi Framework: Select one major year-defining accomplishment annually that takes significant effort. Over 50 years from age 37 to 87, this creates 50 monumental achievements plus 300 mini-adventures from bimonthly Kevin's rule events, building a remarkable life resume.
  • Eight Box System: Create eight life categories like adventure, marriage, fitness, kids, business, personal goals, family, and finance. List everything you want to accomplish in each bucket as a living document, checking items off and adding new ones throughout your lifetime.
  • Winning Habits: Add one new positive habit per quarter instead of making resolutions. This compounds to 8 new habits in year one, 12 in year two, creating sustainable behavior change through incremental additions rather than overwhelming January commitments that typically fail.

Notable Moment

Itzler reveals he reads his books 60 times before publication, then requests two additional weeks after the deadline to improve it 10 percent more, ensuring he delivers the absolute best version possible regardless of commercial outcome or reviews.

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Episode Transcript

That is un freaking believable. That made me cry. This is Jesse Hitler, and he's got the craziest resume you've ever seen. He sold a private jet company to Warren Buffett. He helped build Zeego coconut water. And he's the only guy who can say that fifty Cent was his intern. But I don't admire Jesse just because he's rich financially. I admire him because he leads such a rich life. He runs these crazy endurance races. He goes on adventures with his friends, and I've always wondered, how does one guy do so much? As Jesse says, we don't lack time, we lack a system. So that's why I'm here at his house today to learn the exact system that he uses to plan his year. Jesse, teach me how to plan my year. Listen. This is so exciting, man. Thanks for being here. Yeah. I mean, first of all, before we even get started, I think it's just really important to talk about why we're here. I don't take years lightly. You know, we don't get a lot of them, and we're all so busy. And I feel like in general, most people plan their life around work, and I think it's really important to plan work around your life. In other words, we tend to play life on defense. Like, our calendars fill up with other people's requests for time, Zoom calls, and meetings, and weddings, and appointments, and kids stuff. But before you know it, like, what do we have to show for a whole year? Right. So we're sitting right now in December, and do you feel like you had a great 2025? Like, what were some of your highlights of 2025? So I had a few events that I thought were pretty awesome. So we we you went to one of them. In January, we planned a big event, and we we did it. It's called Hoop Group. So that's kind of one of my favorite parts of the year. I feel like because of our conversation last year, I picked a Musogi, which we'll talk about, but, like, this sort of grand challenge for the year. And I did it, and I'm, like, really proud of myself for doing that. And I kinda know that I really would've I wouldn't have done it this year. It would have been on my Sunday list. Right. And and then there's other things where I kinda procrastinated or, like, you know, I couldn't tell you, like, what happened in April? I have no idea. You know, like, there were some months that just flew by because I wasn't very intentional. So let's say I did, like, some of the things that I feel really proud of, like, I started coaching. I told you I started coaching a high school basketball team. We, you know, launched a new project for for our work, and we really, like, poured ourselves into that. So there's a few things that …

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