Episode Overview

Podcast: Something You Should Know
Host: Mike Carruthers
Episode: How to Improve at Anything & The Truth About Owning Nothing – SYSK Choice
Date: September 6, 2025

In this episode, host Mike Carruthers explores two main topics:

1. The science behind getting better at anything you do, featuring expert Eduardo Brissinho, who discusses the “performance paradox” and effective strategies for improvement.
2. The growing trend and potential dangers around the concept of “owning nothing,” featuring bestselling author Carol Roth, who examines social, economic, and historical implications of the movement to rent rather than own assets.

The episode also contains quick, science-backed life tips throughout.

Segment 1: The Performance Paradox – How to Improve at Anything

Guest: Eduardo Brissinho (Speaker, Author of The Performance Paradox)

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Paradox of Performance

• Definition: Focusing solely on performance—doing your best and minimizing mistakes—often prevents you from actually improving.
• Quote
  “The performance paradox is a counterintuitive phenomenon that if we focus only on performing, our performance suffers.”
  — Eduardo Brissinho [06:39]

The Learning Zone vs. The Performance Zone

• Performance Zone: Doing what you already know, minimizing errors, and seeking to win or succeed.
• Learning Zone: Focusing on improvement, experimenting, making mistakes, and seeking feedback.
• Example:
  “If you look at a world class athlete... the reason they become so good is because they have spent a lot of time doing something very different from what we see during the match.”
  — Eduardo Brissinho [06:56]

Deliberate Practice Beats Mere Experience

• Just repeating the same tasks or “experience” isn’t enough after you hit early proficiency.
• Improvement comes from targeted practice, breaking down difficult parts, seeking feedback, and intentional experimentation.
• Quote
  “There's research out of Harvard... What they found is that on average, patient outcomes of doctors goes down the more years of experience.”
  — Eduardo Brissinho [01:47, 11:05]

Examples from History & Research

• Demosthenes: The Greek orator didn’t improve by giving more speeches, but by deliberate discomfort (stones in his mouth, a sword to correct posture, practicing in noisy places).
• Benjamin Franklin: Improved his writing by reconstructing sentences from great writing and then comparing his effort to the original [12:51].

Navigating Learning and Performance at Once

• While strict deliberate practice is ideal but time-consuming, most improvement comes from embedding learning into daily routines—asking for feedback, reflecting on mistakes, sharing goals for improvement.
• Quote
  “The best opportunity for all of us to improve is to embed the learning zone into our performance zone... Our goal is not only to get things done, but also to get things done while improving at the same time.”
  — Eduardo Brissinho [14:00-14:55]

Experience vs. Expertise

• Experience alone doesn’t guarantee growth—intentional strategies do.
• Having a “growth mindset,” i.e., believing improvement is possible, enables deeper, more successful learning.
• Quote
  “We are confused about the difference between experience and expertise.”
  — Eduardo Brissinho [11:05]

The Importance of Feedback

• Critical to improvement, but should be seen as information, not orders; you decide what to apply.
• Quote
  “Feedback is information about what's in other people's minds... The information they share is always... very helpful to inform how we can continue to do things better.”
  — Eduardo Brissinho [18:00]

On Practicing vs. Just Doing

• “Doing more” helps novices, but plateaus as you become proficient unless you intentionally challenge yourself or seek new models.
• Quote
  “From episode one to episode 100, you became significantly better from just doing it. But I wonder, whether from episode 500 to 900, you've become significantly better.”
  — Eduardo Brissinho to Mike Carruthers [19:17]

How Much Practice? It’s Not All About Total Hours

• The best in any field balance intensive, focused practice (2-5 hrs/day for top violinists) with rest, not endless repetition.
• Rest, sleep, and breaks are part of effective skill-building.
• Quote
  “Engaging in the learning zone takes a lot of mental effort and concentration. And quality is really important, not just quantity.”
  — Eduardo Brissinho [22:49]

Practical Learning Strategies for Any Skill

• Experimentation: Be clear on whether the goal is to learn or perform.
• Feedback Seeking: Most effective, especially in social, collaborative, or work settings.
• Deliberate Practice: Small, focused, repeated skill-building with feedback.
• Knowledge Integration: Use digital flashcards to reinforce crucial ideas (generate answers, not just recognize).
• Quote
  “Digital flashcards are an example of a very effective learning zone strategy to develop our knowledge of things that we deem important.”
  — Eduardo Brissinho [26:41]

Memorable Closing Exchange

• Eduardo Brissinho: “You have a wonderful voice and a wonderful podcast. Thank you, Mike, for having me in it.”
  — [27:11]

Segment 2: The Truth About Owning Nothing

Guest: Carol Roth (Author of You Will Own Nothing)

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Origins of the “You Will Own Nothing” Concept

• Phrase first widely circulated from a WEF (World Economic Forum) video predicting "You'll own nothing and you'll be happy.”
• Roth's concern: Wealth—individual and generational—almost always derives from ownership.
• Quote
  “There is one thing that I know more than anything to be true and that's wealth comes from ownership. So the idea that people wouldn't have ownership was very concerning to me.”
  — Carol Roth [02:16, 29:39]

Is There a Conspiracy?

• Possible to see underlying organized interests (financial, technological, corporate elite) aiming to preserve control and profit during cycles of shifting financial/global order.
• More nuanced than a direct plot; sometimes, outcomes (eroded ownership) are happy accidents for the powerful, not explicit master plans.

Real-World Manifestations

• Housing:
  • Corporate/private equity buying and renting out massive numbers of single-family homes ([33:27-35:27])
    • Pre-2010: Almost no institutional investment in single-family homes.
    • By end of 2022: Over 20% of US homes bought by corporate investors.
  • “They're trying to rent you the American dream and to make you feel good about it, like that's something you actually want to do.” — Carol Roth [33:27]
• Consumer Goods & Tech:
  • Subscription models and “feature rentals” in products you thought you owned (e.g., BMW seat warmers locked behind subscription [35:43]).
  • Smartphone ownership as tenuous—without OS access, your device is a brick; only two companies (Apple, Alphabet) control 99%+ of the world's smartphone OSes.
• The trend: Asset use is leased back to you under the rhetoric of “convenience” and “carefree living” [33:27, 35:43].

Power, Short-Termism, and Incremental Erosion

• Companies frame renting/subscription as beneficial—no maintenance hassle, flexibility, “carefree living,” but in reality consolidates wealth and erodes opportunity for asset-building.
• Short-term Wall Street thinking incentivizes extracting more from consumers now vs. long-term societal benefit.
• Quote
  “Wall street has a big issue with short termism, that they really think in quarters to quarters because that's how the market rewards them.”
  — Carol Roth [42:29]

The Psychological Angle

• Many young people opt for or resign themselves to not owning—partially as a coping mechanism for economic realities (student debt, expensive housing, gig economy).
• Ownership, when experienced, reveals tangible benefits—security, pride, wealth, sovereignty.
• Quote
  “There is something magical about owning something that I guess you don't know until you own it.”
  — Mike Carruthers [46:20]
  “When you understand the freedom and the sovereignty and the wealth creation opportunities...When you tell them it's achievable...they realize that, then they go, okay, yeah, I like this, and I want more of it.”
  — Carol Roth [46:44]

Is It Socialism? Or Something Else?

• Roth clarifies this isn’t about socialist ideology but about shifting financial stakes and preserving control for elites, with the public carrying the economic burden.
• Quote
  “It's literally the financial stakes shifting, the status quo is being disrupted. The people who are connected having to get, you know, trying to preserve what's theirs and everybody else just being cannon fodder.”
  — Carol Roth [44:29]

Takeaway Message

• The loss of ownership isn’t inevitable. Awareness, hope, and savvy action can counter the trend.
• Quote
  “The elites may want you to own nothing, but I want people to own everything... let's give them more hope and more opportunities and help them understand what those barriers are so that they can overcome them and do so in a financially savvy way and really fortify that American dream.”
  — Carol Roth [46:44]

Rapid Intel: Life Tips and Science-backed Advice

Walking for Longevity

• Brisk walking increases lifespan and reduces stroke risk
  • “People who walk faster live longer... up to 10 years longer... Women who walked briskly could reduce risk of stroke by 40%.”
    — Mike Carruthers [04:27]

Chewing Gum: Surprising Health Benefits

• Slightly curbs cravings; burns calories; keeps teeth healthy (if sugarless); increases saliva, benefiting enamel; boosts memory and alertness; reduces heartburn and may even ease symptoms of depression and anxiety.
  • “Chewing gum can slightly curb your cravings... It can also fight drowsiness, especially if you chew mint flavored gum... Chewing gum can also fight depression.”
    — Mike Carruthers [48:18]

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “The performance paradox is a counterintuitive phenomenon that if we focus only on performing, our performance suffers.”
  — Eduardo Brissinho [06:39]

• “There's research out of Harvard... on doctors. What they found is that on average, patient outcomes of doctors goes down the more years of experience.”
  — Eduardo Brissinho [01:47, 11:05]

• “We are confused about the difference between experience and expertise.”
  — Eduardo Brissinho [11:05]

• “Feedback is information about what's in other people's minds...that can inform how we can continue to do things better.”
  — Eduardo Brissinho [18:00]

• “You have a wonderful voice and a wonderful podcast.”
  — Eduardo Brissinho [27:11]

• “There is one thing that I know more than anything to be true and that's wealth comes from ownership. Ownership. So the idea that people wouldn't have ownership was very concerning to me.”
  — Carol Roth [02:16, 29:39]

• “They're trying to rent you the American dream and to make you feel good about it, like that's something you actually want to do.”
  — Carol Roth [33:27]

• “Wall street has a big issue with short termism, that they really think in quarters to quarters because that's how the market rewards them.”
  — Carol Roth [42:29]

• “There is something magical about owning something that I guess you don't know until you own it.”
  — Mike Carruthers [46:20]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [04:27] – Science of walking for health
• [06:32] – What is the performance paradox? (Eduardo Brissinho)
• [11:05] – Experience vs. expertise, Harvard doctor study
• [12:51] – How Benjamin Franklin practiced writing
• [14:00-14:55] – Embedding the learning zone into daily work
• [18:00] – The role and value of feedback
• [22:49] – Practice quantity vs. quality and rest
• [24:19] – Practical learning strategies
• [28:15] – The origins of the “you will own nothing” idea (Carol Roth)
• [33:27] – Housing and asset ownership shifted to corporate investors
• [35:43] – Subscriptions in consumer products and digital life
• [42:29] – Wall Street’s short-term thinking and its impact
• [46:44] – The value of ownership for young generations
• [48:18] – Health benefits of chewing gum

Tone and Style

The conversation is practical, accessible, and friendly, with an emphasis on actionable insights and clear, expert-backed explanations. Both guests use memorable stories and real-world examples to connect abstract trends to everyday experiences.

Summary Takeaway

This episode teaches listeners how real improvement isn’t about racking up hours of experience, but about the quality and intent behind practice, learning, and feedback. It also raises critical concerns about societal and economic shifts away from ownership—as it impacts wealth, empowerment, and future opportunity. Both topics are deeply relevant to anyone striving for self-betterment and financial security.