10 Things Most People Do Wrong Every Single Day by Nicolas Cole

If You Want To Sound Smart, Shut Up And Listen
This is the biggest one. The most common activity that most people get wrong every single day but have no idea that they’re doing it in the first place.
LISTEN.
We all talk. We all have conversations. We all share our thoughts and at the end of the day want to be heard.
But how much do we actually take a moment to HEAR someone else?
If you are waiting for the other person to finish talking just so you can start talking, you aren’t listening.
If you ask a question and then as the person is responding you say, “Yeah I know but…” you aren’t listening.
If you always have to be right, if you aren’t willing to be wrong, you aren’t listening.
You don’t sound smart by talking. You sound smart by listening. Really listening.

1. Social Media Mindblown
   There are some people in the world who treat social media like this:
   “It’s not that we weren’t perfect for each other. We just didn’t know what we wanted. I wish he would understand…”
   (Followed by 18 comments from her friends being all OMG WHAT HAPPENED CALL ME or GUYS SUCK or SRSLY GIRL I UNDERSTAND.)
   Then there are other people who treat social media like this:
   “I don’t know when it became ok to be gay but seriously guys go read the bible ok it says no gays allowed.”
   And then there are people like this:
   “So today this person was trying to talk to me on the train and I just couldn’t believe it and what amazed me was that he thought I wanted to listen when clearly I didn’t and he just kept talking and it makes me realize like not everybody in this world gets you and that’s ok but that’s how it’s supposed to be and I’m just lucky that I’m here and that I’m present because clearly he doesn’t get it but I do. #spirituality #awareness #notforeveryone
   You’re all doing it wrong. Stop.
2. Starbucks
   I might be the only person who finds this annoying but I don’t think I have ever walked into a Starbucks and ordered a small or medium or large coffee and the barista didn’t correct me. “Do you mean a Tall?” No. I mean a small. “So a Tall?” Sure, if that’s the word you have to use, but Tall to me sounds Large and I want to be clear I do not want a Large I want a small. “Ok so a Tall?” Just give me my coffee.
3. Gluten Free
   This one gets me because it’s personal. Gluten free isn’t a trend. It might be a trend in the sense that companies have jumped on the bandwagon to sell new products, but I could refute that by saying they see a need in the market and are providing a solution. I also have 18 years of living in the bathroom to tell me that going gluten free “isn’t a trend.”
   That said…
   Shouldn’t we be more concerned with the fact that most of the general population has no clue what they’re even eating in the first place? Flour is the MOST COMMON INGREDIENT in American food and the majority of the population doesn’t even know what it is, what it’s used for, what it does, etc. The fact that the general populous doesn’t care to be educated about what they’re putting in their bodies should be more alarming than whether or not “eating gluten free is a trend.”
   So, to clarify some mind-boggling questions I’ve been asked as a gluten free eater: Yes, strawberries are gluten free. They don’t come out of the ground breaded. Carrots are also gluten free. So are eggs. So is rice. So are sweet potatoes. So is chicken. Chickens are not born with a layer of breading around their wings.
4. Diet Coke
   You order a Big Mac with a Diet Coke because you don’t want to get fat.
   Nice. Diet Coke has artificial sweetener in it. That sweetener spikes your insulin. When your insulin gets spiked, you’re telling your body to store fat cells for later.
   Congrats, you just stored that entire big mac. Mmmmm.
5. “Just One Drink”
   I have nothing against drinking. If you want to get blackout, go for it.
   Where most people go wrong is their inability to moderate. “I’m just going to have one drink with dinner.” Next thing you know they’re singing Karaoke until three in the morning, going home with a guy named Steve (or a girl named Shannon) who is shaped like a pineapple and thinks Argentina is a city in Europe (where they obviously studying abroad in college).
   Drink for taste. Drink for culture. Drink out of respect, if you must. One drink can accomplish this.
   Soon as you start screaming the lyrics to your favorite Ke$ha song, you’re doing it wrong.
6. Brotein Shakes
   Back to the gym. If you think getting big or putting on muscle is about what protein shake you drink, you’re doing it wrong. And if all you drink are protein shakes and your diet sucks, you are going to have a protein shake physique.
   Source: I drink 0 protein shakes but have a very clean diet.

If you are interested in my workout routines and nutrition plan, you can find them here: Bookstore

1. Networking
   I network a lot. I send a lot of emails to very busy people. I receive a lot of emails and I am a busy man.
   This is an example of a horrible email:
   “Hey, so I saw you did X and I was wondering if you could show me how to do it. I want to know how. Whenever you get a chance, let me know when you can teach me because I think it would be valuable. Please respond as soon as you can.”
   (^ I get emails like that all the time.)
   If you want to connect with someone, PROVIDE VALUE FIRST. Don’t ASK. GIVE GIVE GIVE. Give so much that they can’t help but say yes. Give until they offer you something without you having to ask. Give, give, give.
   “Hey, I found your site and the content really resonated with me. I’m in the same field and I was wondering if you’d be willing to collaborate? I think I could help provide a lot of value to your audience. Let me know if you have some time to chat in the next week or two. Cheers!”
   Give first. Ask second.
2. “Hey yo ma, can I get yo numba?”
   Guys, do you want to know how to get the girl of your dreams? Do you want to know how you can pull the hottest girl in the room? Do you want to know how you can have every woman eating out of the palm of your hand?
   Hi, I’m Cole, and welcome to Cole’s Honesty Class, where I will teach you how to be fucking honest.
   It’s not that hard. Seriously.
   Do you know how many times I am told by guys around me all the things I SHOULD be doing with women? “Dude tell them about your job, they just want status. Dude, get them hammered, then they’ll do whatever you want. Dude, pretend like you don’t care about them, women love that. Dude, tell them about how successful you are, that’ll make their panties drop.”
   This past weekend (Halloween) I went to a huge party at Soho House here in Chicago themed after the Playboy mansion. If there is ANY environment where I “should have” taken the above advice (“play the successful card / get them drunk / etc.”) it was there.
   Instead, I found a very attractive girl and struck up a conversation. She asked if I wanted to get a drink and I told her I don’t drink. She tilted her head. She asked what I “do” and instead of listing off clients and big projects I said “I really enjoy writing.” Her eyes widened. She said the fact I don’t drink was so attractive, and then she opened up and said she secretly loved reading and had a huge appreciation for writing.
   At some point later in the night she asked me, thinking I was looking around at all the other women there, “So are you a tits man or an ass man.”
   I responded back, “I’m an energy man. I have to have an emotional connection.”
   Let’s just say I had a fantastic night.
   #Honesty
3. The Gym
   I live at the gym. I’m there every night for 2 hours, sometimes more. There was a time when I trained 4 hours a day. I have seen and continue to see lots and lots of people attempt to execute what they would consider to be an “awesome workout.”
   Look, curling so much weight that you have to practically swing the barbell up to your face and simultaneously break your back is not a good workout. Doing a squat where your range of motion is close to zero is not a good workout. Doing whatever you’re doing with the cable where your body is twisting way farther than it should is not a good workout.
   Stop trying to impress everyone and save yourself the injury.