Abraham Lincoln reportedly once said that if he had to cut down a tree and he had six hours to do it, he would spend the first four hours sharpening the axe. Many of us look at others and see the advantages they may have in some venture: family members; mentors; money and connections; We say these are the reasons others are successful Yet, if this is the case why does no one recommend trying to get these things in order to get success? Does success have multiple paths? The truth is, to achieve success we must constantly balance the scales in our favor because for many of us, success isn't going to be simply a binary we did something or didn't, it is going to be part performance, part market-fit, and a lot of luck over an extended period of time. If the setup is the most important part then that must be why McDonald's collects so much data, and values finding the correct location to place a given McDonald's restaurant so highly. They know that before they even lay the foundation or flip the first patty, that the restaurant is expected to have a certain level of performance. If the setup is so important that must be the reason that professional teams practice so much in the off-season, training their bodies, technique, and abilities to be able to perform in the high-pressure highly-contested environment of the actual game. Setup doesn't just mean resources or logistics, it means having the right environment and factors that lead to success whatever they may be. Dan Bilzerian in his book *The Setup* talks about how he designed his life to have the most success with women possible. For his setup one important aspect was at parties or social gatherings to design the ratio of men to women to be a certain way, having more women causes the amount of willing partners to go up significantly. Figure out what you're trying to accomplish SPECIFICALLY, find the best place to do that, find the best mentors to do that and do EVERYTHING you can to tip the scales in your favor.