I’ve had a lot of people ask me, “Navid, how do I know if I did TKS right?”
It’s difficult to answer this question because if you do TKS right, there are so many different outcomes you can achieve. You're in TKS to accelerate your growth and abilities to be able to create your own paths in life, and hopefully make an impact on the world.
TKS is designed to be “structurally unstructured”. I didn’t want to give everyone a cookie cutter experience like school. I want you to decide what you want to focus on, how deep you want to go, and how you want to invest your time. But even though TKS students have taken their own paths, there are many things they have in common.
If you do the following, you will significantly increase your ability to achieve incredible outcomes. This is what I think success is at the end of your first year in TKS:
Measurable:
- Follow the process. Complete 25 explore modules and 2 focuses. To do this right, you should take notes when doing explore modules, and the quality of your Focus content should be high (refer to playbooks for guidance).
- Note: some people have only done 1 focus and went really deep into it. Even though they made achievements, I highly recommend completing multiple focuses, then going back to the area you’re most passionate about later.
- Build friendships. Do 50+ braindates and be intentional about being authentic and leaving a positive impression. Talk to people in the sessions and stay a few minutes after sessions end to chat with others. Go on 10+ hangouts with different people and create memorable experiences. Open up with people and show them who you really are, and if they do the same you will be able to have deep conversations you can bond over.
- Do Focus Presentations. Do 3 focus presentations, and each time be intentional about implementing feedback to improve.
- Bonus: create your own opportunities to do focus presentations outside of TKS, like at school or at meetups.
- Crush All Challenges. Go hard and crush every challenge you do in TKS. It will be the closest thing you’ll experience to learning how to succeed in the real world. Find data, make thoughtful implications, give valuable data-back recommendations, and create a well-structured and nicely designed standalone deck.
- Newsletters. Consistently send monthly newsletters that show your progress and personal growth. Your newsletters will motivate you to grow your network and make progress. You should have sent a newsletter for each month you were in TKS, and keep continuing to send them after.
Not Measurable:
- Be active. Engage in each TKS session by asking questions, giving helpful feedback to Focus Presentations, and participating in the activities/discussions. Be active in Slack and contribute to the channels.
- Leave an Impression. You should be intentional about leaving an impression at each TKS session, in Slack, and at events. People should remember you in a positive way.
- Boss Mentality. Think like a boss, act like a boss, be a boss. Have confidence in yourself and don’t let anyone hold you back.
- Be Helpful: When you can help someone, you do it. Remember that TKS is a community of people, and people are the foundation of the world.
In TKS.life dashboard, you'll see milestones that can help you measure your progress. There are 5 reasons why I made these milestones:
- I’ve seen clear correlations between successful TKS alumni and following the process. My goal is for all of you to be as legit as possible, and this is the formula that will help accelerate your journey to get there.
- To give you an initial guide to start, but then you’ll keep following the process as you see results and opportunities come to you.
- There’s no maximum, only checkpoints. Just like the real-world, there’s no “100%” in TKS. You can go as far as you want!
- To give you positive feedback loops as you grow.
- You need to earn being in TKS, just being accepted into TKS is not success.
These milestones should be a guide for you. We don’t give homework or deadlines in TKS because that’s not how the real world works. You have to be self-driven and want to put in the work. TKS is a meritocracy and you have to earn opportunities and rewards, but you should do it for yourself (internal rewards), not for the external rewards.
Note: This shouldn’t be competitive! Collaborate with each other and leverage the knowledge and experiences from the TKS community. The only person you’re competing with is yourself.
Pro-tip:
Join Velocity. This isn’t for everyone, but if you do want to make TKS your top priority, you will gain a lot by following Velocity. If you decide to join velocity, do it for you. Don’t treat it like homework or school. If you do it, do it well. Velocity does take more time, so don’t overload yourself. Learn more here.
🔑 If you do everything listed above, you will achieve success in TKS. Do it at your own pace, do it for you, and do it right. Have high standards for yourself. At the end of the day, you are investing in your future self and I’m just here to help.
One last thing...
You should not expect to achieve anything during TKS or feel value from this experience if you:
- Don’t complete a Focus.
- Don’t do Explore modules.
- Don’t make a real effort to build friendships.
- Don't actively participate in sessions.
- Don’t engage in Slack.
- Don’t complete challenges.
- Don’t send monthly newsletters.
- Navid