Every few months, I do an AMA on X and answer a bunch of reader questions.
There are some questions I get on repeat and I can almost always tell that the person who asked it is NGMI.
If you are even remotely making it in life, you will get a ton of people asking you a whole bunch of questions.
You should help people where you see fit but at the same time you need to be smart enough to recognize people who are NGMI (not gonna make it) and are just wasting your time with questions.
LMM is a blog for intelligent and ambitious men so if you’re reading this, you already know that not all humans are equal.
“Some people are superior to others” is not a controversial sentence for you because you’re not the average dork who spends half his day on YouTube.
Some people are just not going to make it in life and the reason usually comes down to 1) Mindset and 2) Intelligence.
If someone is low IQ and they lack the mindset for success, any help you provide them is almost always a waste of your resources and time because these guys are NGMI anyway.
The question then arises, how do you know if someone is NGMI.
You can do this based on the kind of question they ask you.
Signs Someone is NGMI
1) Asking for permission
“Should I start an online business?”
“Should I build muscle?”
“Should I lose weight?”
This type of person is UNSERIOUS.
They will never make any money online. They will never be muscular and lean.
Someone who asks a question like this is simply a loser who’s wasting both your time and his own.
People who want to start an online business don’t ask “should I start an online business”. They just go and do it.
Only UNSERIOUS people ask questions like this. Just ignore them and say “I don’t know man” and pretend to be an idiot.
2) Asks a Web Search Answerable Question
“How to start an online business”
“How to lose weight”
These guys are worse than the people above.
People who ask “Should I…” are just idiots, but they aren’t disrespecting you.
Someone who asks you a question that they can answer with a 5 minute Google or Perplexity search is actually disrespecting you.
They are trying to use you as a search engine i.e. they don’t respect your time.
If someone actually wanted to learn how to build muscle, they would watch some YouTube videos and get a nice and detailed answer.
The reality is that these guys don’t actually want to do the work because no one who’s serious about something ever asks questions that are so basic that they could have found the answer in a 2 minute web search.
It shows that the person put in 0 effort to do their own research and does not respect you enough to care about your time. They want you to act like their personal Google.
Completely ignore this type of person and do not waste your precious and limited time to “help” them. Just say that you don’t know the answer and move on.
3) Perpetual information collectors
This is the guy who asks 10,000 questions but demonstrates no prior action.
Some people are addicted to asking questions and getting information out of you “just in case” they need it in the future.
You will be able to spot this guy after the first few questions. The telltale sign is zero hint of any action or effort put in.
“So how do I import from China?”
“How to handle slow delivery time and returns?”
“What to do if the factory produces a defective batch?”
In the meantime, if you ask them what they are trying to buy from China – they are “still deciding” i.e. you are wasting your time.
Same as above – just feign ignorance and don’t waste your time.
Life advice: People who ask 10,000 questions never take any action at all. If you have any sales experience whatsoever, you know this already. The guy who wants to learn about every feature and has tons of little queries never makes the purchase. He only wastes your time.
How to Know if Someone is Legit
People who are serious ask specific questions that aren’t easily answerable from web search.
The question itself demonstrates they have taken some action in the past, got stuck somewhere, and need help.
“When I squat, I feel like my lower back does a lot of work and it gets sore the next day. What could I be doing wrong?”
“I ordered a batch of coffee from China but the flavor was off. The factory is refusing replacement. What should I do?”
“I’ve been eating in a 500 calorie deficit for a month but I’m not losing much weight and I’m feeling very weak. What improvement can I make?”
Basically – you see PRIOR EFFORT being put in before the question is asked.
The question is not hypothetical daydreaming bullshit. Answering the question will actually help this guy become unstuck from a problem he’s actually facing.
This guy deserves help (if you like him) and you should answer him.
Hope that helps.
Your man,
Harsh Strongman