3948: Do You Control Your Life? by James Altucher on Control and Acceptance

Optimal Living Daily - Personal Development and Self-Improvement

Optimal Living Daily LLC

Mental Health, Health & Fitness, Education, Self-improvement

4.6 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2026

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3948: James Altucher explores how much of our stress and unhappiness comes from trying to control others, or allowing them to control us. Drawing from painful personal experiences with money, relationships, and success, he explains that real freedom begins when you take responsibility for your inner world. His insights reveal how persistence, creativity, and personal health combine to create the “luck” that leads to a truly self-directed life. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://jamesaltucher.com/blog/do-you-control-your-life/ Quotes to ponder: "NOBODY will ever remember how you helped them. And you can’t save anyone." "The key to freedom is Luck. But luck is not magic." "I’d rather be healthy than “right”." Episode references: The Law of Attraction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_attraction_(New_Thought) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I've always struggled to stay focused when I read, but when I listened to cult classic the secret history, everything changed.
0:08.0	Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it, and what could be more terrifying and beautiful, to souls like the Greeks or our own, than to lose control completely.
0:18.0	Before I realized it, I'd been listening for an hour, lost in pure, immersive storytelling.
0:25.0	Life changes when you listen.
0:26.9	The Secret History by Donna Tart.
0:29.2	Now on Spotify.
0:30.4	Now, are all the traitors present?
0:32.9	Let's get started, shall we?
0:34.9	From rags to riches.
0:36.3	I'm so sick of this.
0:37.5	Working like a dog and being treated worse.
0:39.6	Yorkshire to New York.
0:41.1	Poor climbers, you and me.
0:42.8	A life dedicated to revenge.
0:44.7	Let's make this an occasion to remember.
0:47.4	A woman of substance on Channel 4, stream now.
0:51.4	This is Optimal Living Daily.
0:53.3	Do you control your life? By James Altiture of Jamesaltiture.com.
0:58.3	And I'm Justin Mollick. Welcome back to Optimal Living Daily or the OLD podcast, where I read to you from some of the best
1:04.3	articles I can find and get permission from, covering personal development or self-help, minimalism,
1:10.0	productivity, and more.
1:11.9	All to help you live a more happy life and hopefully more fulfilling as well.
	...

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