CHAPTER 1

WHO I AM AND WHY
I’VE GOT SOMETHING
TO SAY

I was at rock bottom. Living in dirt.

On the streets.

Fat. Sad. Broke.

I thought about how to kill myself,

with the least amount of pain,

but guaranteed to work.

I just wanted to die, damn it.

I didn’t want to go on.

It was over, I was over, emotionally,

psychologically, physically.

Now I’ve got it all.

My life is like a dream.

I’m famous, rich, healthy

and happy as a pig in shit.

I make my dreams come true

and enjoy my life in California.

WHAT HAPPENED?

WHAT CHANGED THE LOSER
TO WINNER?

WHAT MADE MY SADNESS AND
HOPELESSNESS TURN INTO
HAPPINESS AND OPTIMISM?

HOW DID I GO FROM WANTING
TO DIE TO LIVING THE LIFE?

HOW DID I MAKE ALL OF MY
DREAMS COME TRUE?

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO
TO ACHIEVE ALL OF THIS?

The answers are in this book.

I describe my path to the top, from homeless guy to superstar with his own TV show, from self-hating fat to health and self-love, from the shadows of life to the sunny side of Los Angeles.

My name is Bastian Yotta, and I’ve got something to say to you! Before we begin, there are a couple of rules on how to read this book.

There are three types of people:

1) LOSERS

Losers are not people who make mistakes, they are people who don’t do anything, who don’t even try. Imagine a football game. The quarterback is running and running, and keeps on passing, but doesn’t make a touchdown. He isn’t a loser, it’s only a question of time before he’s successful, and every time he tries he gets better and gets closer to hitting his target.

The other guy sits on the field and says: Football is stupid, it’s a waste of time, I’ve never won and anyway my knee hurts. That’s the loser!

We laugh at this loser, but unfortunately most people are like him! Many don’t do anything – out of fear of making a mistake or not having any success. Every day they find a new excuse or make up a new alibi. That’s the loser.

2) WINNERS

He’s out there. He keeps trying. He gets better and better. He’s bigger than his problems and doesn’t make excuses, he finds solutions. He gives his all. Every time. One day he’ll be successful - the quicker he learns from his mistakes, the faster it comes. The winner doesn’t fail, he discovers what doesn’t work and tries another way, until he has reached his goal.

3) PEOPLE, WHO DON’T KNOW,
WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN

I would like to, but how? A baby might not be motivated to get up and walk, someone has to show him how to walk. You have chosen me to show you how, and I won’t let you down.

Once you’ve read this book, you will know what you need to reach your goals. So you, therefore, belong to group 1 or group 2. Your actions will make the difference!

I will give you the tools and explain how winning works. What you do with this is your decision.

When I spoke to publishers about my book, I was told I should deliver at least one hundred and fourty pages. I decided I would write a book of quality, not of quantity.

The publishers said I should just add a bit of blablabla and a few embellishments here and there.

I said: Auf Wiedersehen, bye-bye, don’t call us, we’ll call you.

It took a while, but I found the right publisher.

I’ll write this book the way I want to, and no one’s going to tell me otherwise.

I respect your time. You have a lot going on. Career, family, hobbies. I want to impart my knowledge to you as concisely as possible.

Here goes:

RULE NUMBER 1:

Every sentence has an impact and a meaning. Focus! Skimming through this book won’t work. It might be the one sentence that changes your life – don’t miss it!

RULE NUMBER 2:

Write down the “aha” moments, make a note in your cell phone. Whether it’s a sentence or just one word, you must bring this book to life by bringing it into your life!

RULE NUMBER 3:

Don’t believe a word I say. Why should you? You don’t know if what I say is wrong or right. All I’m saying is: it worked for me and for hundreds of thousands of students, that I coached personally, or online. Will it work for you? You’ll never know if you don’t give it a try!

And that’s what life is all about. Trial and error. Trying is better than studying. But studying and trying is even better!

RULE NUMBER 4:

I write like I talk. With a lot of energy. If you get off on grammar and complicated structures, you’re in the wrong place. Feel what I’m saying to you. While I’m sitting here, I’m focusing all my energy on my words, which are just coming to you right now. I’m with you, and that’s what counts. Feel this book. Feel my energy. We’re on this path together!

RULE NUMBER 5:

To hell with my rules. I’m not your father or your teacher telling you what to do. From now on we’re going to call the rules tips. When you go on a trip, you should listen to someone who has already made the trip. I’ll be your navigator. You don’t have to listen to me, but if you want to reach your goals, then you should do it.

TIP NUMBER 6:

Stop reading this book. Yeah, you heard me right: stop reading this book right now. Why? Because first I want to know why you are reading. Everything you do in life should have a purpose. So decide what your goal is and why you are reading this book.

Write it here:

I’m reading this book, because

When I’ve read this book to the end, then

With the knowledge I’ve gotten from this book I’m going to

TIP NUMBER 7:

Every pilot has a checklist to go through before he flies. Every single time. He knows the list by heart, but he still follows the protocol. I want you to do the same. Read all seven tips each time you begin to read the book. That is your checklist, and I want you to go through it, whether you read the book for five minutes at a time or for five hours.

ALL SEVEN TIPS IN SUMMARY:

1 Focus on each individual sentence,
it can change your life.

2 Write down your “aha” moments,
so you can remember them later.

3 Let my words follow your
actions. Try it out.

4 Be open to what I say and don’t
just read my book, feel it!

5 Rules are tips, because I want
you to be successful.

6 Why are you reading today?
What is your goal?

7 Go through these tips before you
start to read again, every time.

Great. And now a bit about me, so we can get to know each other better and you’ll be able to understand much more in this book. I’m not trying to write a biography. It’s about making certain things that I do now and have done in the past more understandable. I want you to understand me because I will be your loyal companion and best friend on the trip you are about to take. I want you to trust me. That’s why I’m writing to you about myself.

I am Bastian Yotta. I’m a superhero, who wants to change the world …

Okay, maybe we should start from the beginning.

I was born in 1976 in Landshut in Bavaria and made it through a brutal childhood. I was definitely not an easy kid because I was always so full of energy, a real little scoundrel right from the start. Today I still have problems accepting rules that I don’t understand.

When I understand something, I can give my all. If I don’t understand or no one explains it to me, I switch to stubborn pretty fast.

That resulted in regular, massive fights with my father until I was almost sixteen years old. I talked publicly about it for the first time in the TV show Adam sucht Eva1. My body and my soul still bear the scars. These experiences created a desire in me to one day be free and independent, so that no one can ever hurt me or force me to do something ever again.

Oh yeah, I was born Bastian Gillmeier – how I came to the name Yotta, I’ll tell you a bit later.

I was average in school, because I never understood why I had to learn all that crap there. I managed to get my high school diploma with good grades, though. I even learned Latin and Greek because the philosophers of the ancient world always fascinated me.

When I was finished with school, I began studying business and worked part-time for my father. As an insurance salesman! Let’s be honest, kids want to be pilots, secret agents or something like that. Insurance salesman was about the worst job I could imagine. But I wanted to please my father any way I could, and basically worked to win his respect and love.

What I couldn’t see at the time was that my father – as far as I’m concerned – didn’t love or respect himself and was in that way kind of like a bottomless...