21 Lessons From the Unknown Teenager Who Persisted His Way Into the Inner Circle of the Uber Successful

Portrait of Alex Banayan (from his Linkedin profile)

Alex Banayan achieved something insane.

He was an unknown kid from a normal family with no famous connections and he ended up interviewing, and in some cases befriending, the likes of Tim Ferriss, Maya Angelou, Quincy Jones, Bill Gates, and Lady Gaga in a few short years.

Alex was chasing a dream to help the disillusioned kids of his generation escape the rat race and find deeper meaning in their work.

He wanted to show them how with wisdom from the greats.

His story is shared in his incredible book The Third Door, and here were 21 of the most impactful lessons that he learned from his travels and interviews:

21 Business & Life Lessons

1. Have a mission people can get behind. The main reason successful people even considered meeting with Alex was because he was trying to achieve something bigger than himself. The mission of helping kids get more out of their lives resonated with them. It wasn’t selfish — he wanted to help other people.
2. The power of a story (especially a well-told story). Early in the book, we see Alex hack his way onto the TV show The Price is Right, win a sailboat, sell it and use the…