Formulas for Success | The Silent Majority

I have recorded about 15 episodes for the Nick Halaris Show🎧 and have another dozen in the queue. Already, something really interesting is emerging. While I hesitate to say that “I’ve discovered the secrets to success”—this whole creative endeavor is largely a reaction against that kind of oversimplification of the art of living—I’m seeing something fascinating. There seems to be at least two distinct pathways to creating a life of both success and meaning:

1. Authentic Passion + Entrepreneurial Action + Intrinsic Motivation

2. Selfless Service + Entrepreneurial Action + Intrinsic Motivation  

Successful people either start from a place of authenticity—i.e. they do what they feel called to do—or from a commitment to service—i.e. they accept a greater responsibility for the world around them. Add in some entrepreneurial action, which is kind of extremely proactive and creative energy, with some intrinsic motivation, where you can engage in work on a consistent basis regardless of what happens, and you have a formula for success.

I think in both pathways, what’s happening is a reflection of a broader truth: that if you orient your life in either of these two directions you will find success, almost no matter what. There’s an inevitability to it, a kind of formulaic predictability.

Of course, I know that nothing in life is guaranteed and that these words might fall on deaf ears, especially for those who are struggling or maybe just starting out. To be sure, life has a way of making a lot more sense when you are looking backward. But time and time again in my podcast conversations, I keep hearing about incredible coincidences and chance encounters that appear like magic in the lives of my guests. And as they look back on their path, it’s these chance moments that they point to as the keys to their success.

There’s “luck,” as when you roll the dice and get your number, and then there’s Luck, which some people say you make, but I think comes inevitably to those who find the courage to follow these paths

As you all know, I’ve been writing more and more about my positions on the key political battles of our age. And from the feedback I keep getting from all of you—Thank you for that, by the way!—I am beginning to believe that there is a massive silent majority forming in America that would rally around a platform based on these three components:

1. Compassionate Responsibility

2. Practical Progressivism

3. Decisive Action

People are just tired of divisive, interest-group, zero-sum politics and hungering for something different, something that can channel what’s best in us rather than what is worst. I’m convinced that Americans would rally around a unifying message of compassionate responsibility, where we are asked to join together to do the necessary work of freedom, not for the benefit of some over others but truly for the good of all. Americans are ready to answer the call to sacrifice, if only we can start articulating a believable vision for a greater future. We’ve grown cynical in this country, perhaps understandably so given the plague of selfishness that has spread across our land, but I know that behind that dark veil lies a true American spirit, one that wants to be challenged to a more noble path.

Americans are also tired of indecision, incrementalism, and kicking-the-can-down-the-road. Just as they are looking to be inspired to a higher mission, they are looking for decisive, practical action. As we discussed last week with the housing affordability crisis: let’s put in place policies that will actually work instead of just pandering to interest groups with things that look good on paper but don’t actually make a difference. The same goes for every other big issue we face today. The time for half-measures and virtue signaling is over. This is what I mean by Practical Progressivism and Decisive Action

A lot of you have asked me “Hey Nick, when are you going to run 🇺🇸?” Well, I can tell you this: it’s something that’s definitely on my mind. It always has been. I hesitate today only because I feel called by two other important missions. 1. I want to give the absolute best of myself as a father to the boys and I know that political life would take me far away from them and these critical years. And 2. I feel compelled to see this creative project—the newsletter and podcast—come fully to life, whatever that may mean. There’s just so much inside me that I have to get out into the world and I feel like I’m just getting started. Thank you all so much for being here and staying with me.

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