The Iceberg Principle:
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Back when I was training for my first black belt in Hapkido, I had this one Korean instructor who, to put it mildly, he and I had a love/hate relationship.
It was actually a perfect opportunity to practice Hapkido principles both on and off the mat—learning to redirect his energy instead of meeting it head-on.
We were close in age, but there was a massive difference in our skill levels. He'd devoted decades to consistent martial arts training while I was still figuring out how to balance my electrician career with my training.
What made our dynamic even more interesting was that our skill gap was huge, but our emotional maturity? Well, let's just say we were probably neck and neck there.
While I was grinding toward my 1st dan, he was preparing for his 4th dan test. In my mind, technically this guy could do no wrong. Every technique was crisp. Every movement was precise. Every demonstration was flawless.
He was what I thought mastery looked like—composed, confident, and seemingly effortless in everything he did on the mat.
Then one day, I walked into the dojang early and saw something that completely shifted my perspective.
There he was, alone on the mat, working on his kicks for his upcoming test. And he was struggling.
Not just struggling—he was frustrated, breathing hard, and clearly not satisfied with his performance. His kicks weren't landing with the precision I'd always seen. His balance was off. He'd stop, shake his head, reset, and try again. This was the first time I'd ever seen him look anything less than expert-level perfect.
It was eye-opening. Not humbling for him, but absolutely perspective-shifting for me.
Here I was, watching a 3rd-dan black belt—someone I considered a total badass—working through the same kinds of challenges I faced daily. The difference wasn't that he didn't struggle. The difference was that I'd only seen the end result of thousands of hours of struggling.
That moment taught me something profound: What we see as mastery is just the tip of an iceberg. The real work—the real building—happens beneath the surface, invisible to everyone else.
Years later, I encountered this same principle in Morgan Housel's book The Psychology of Money. I recommend this as a good read if you don't want to get your ass kicked on the financial mat.
He explains that one reason so many people struggle with accumulating wealth is because you can't see it. People want to be "millionaires" so they can spend a million dollars—which would quickly make them not-millionaires.
Meanwhile, truly wealthy people are wealthy precisely because they don't spend their money. You can't see wealth; you can only see spending.
Every day driving around West LA, I see cars that cost as much as houses in most of the US.
Last week, I spotted a gorgeous Maybach S580, and I couldn't help thinking: "Did that thing lose 20% of its value the moment he drove it off the lot, just like every other car?"
We go through life wanting external signals and validation of our value. But that's the very trap that keeps real success away from us. True mastery, true wealth, true strength—it's all built on what you can't see.
I'll share one of my favorite stories on excellence.
"Pablo Picasso was sitting in a café in Paris when a woman approached him with a napkin and a simple request: "Could you sketch something for me? I'll pay you for it."
Picasso took the napkin and, in less than a minute, created a beautiful drawing. When he handed it back, he said, "That will be $30,000."
The woman was shocked. "$30,000? But it only took you a minute!"
Picasso smiled and replied, "No, madame. It took me my entire lifetime.""
This story captures the iceberg principle perfectly. What the woman saw was one minute of effortless creation. What she didn't see were the decades of study, practice, experimentation, and refinement that made that minute possible.
Picasso began drawing seriously at age seven. By thirteen, he was already more skilled than his art teacher father. He spent his teenage years mastering classical techniques before developing his revolutionary cubist style. He created over 50,000 artworks in his lifetime—paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, and prints.
The napkin sketch wasn't just a minute of work. It was the culmination of thousands of failed attempts, countless hours of study, and decades of pushing the boundaries of what art could be. The visible dollar value was built entirely on invisible preparation.
Picasso understood that mastery looks effortless precisely because of the enormous effort hidden beneath it. He wrote: "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child." The simplicity people saw was built on extraordinary complexity they couldn't see.
Warren Buffett is worth over $100 billion, but if you saw him on the street, you might mistake him for a retired insurance salesman.
He lives in the same house he bought in 1958 for $31,500. He drives a modest car. He shops at regular grocery stores. By all visible measures, he doesn't look like one of the world's wealthiest men.
This isn't by accident—it's by design.
Buffett understood early that wealth and the appearance of wealth are often inversely related.
While others were buying expensive cars and flashy houses to signal success, Buffett was quietly building what he calls "a money machine"—a collection of businesses and investments that generate cash year after year.
His approach is almost boringly simple:
But this simplicity is built on extraordinary discipline that most people never see.
Buffett reads 500-1,000 pages every single day.
Every day.
For over 70 years.
He's one of the most well-read people on the planet, but you won't see that knowledge displayed on his office walls or in his public persona.
He wrote:
Buffett's billions aren't the result of lucky breaks or flashy deals. They're the compound result of decades of invisible preparation: reading, thinking, learning, and making boring but intelligent decisions year after year.
The wealth everyone sees today was built on decades of choices nobody saw: living below his means, reinvesting profits instead of spending them, and choosing long-term compound growth over short-term gratification.
Here's what the iceberg principle teaches us:
Every impressive performance rests on an invisible foundation of unglamorous preparation.
This works across all contexts:
People see the medal ceremony, the IPO announcement, the happy anniversary photo, or the published research. They don't see the daily grind that made those moments possible.
This creates a dangerous illusion.
We compare our behind-the-scenes struggles to everyone else's highlight reels. We see others' successes but not their sacrifices. We see the results but not the process.
What makes this "warrior wisdom" rather than simple motivational advice is its emphasis on building regardless of recognition or visibility.
Warriors understand that the most important work happens when nobody's watching. The samurai doesn't train for applause—he trains because his life depends on it. The true martial artist doesn't practice to impress others but to perfect their craft.
This mindset fundamentally changes how you approach everything.
The warrior's path is often invisible because it's internal.
You're building character, competence, and capacity that others can't see.
You're developing what the Stoics called "preferred indifferents"—things that have real value but don't depend on external validation.
This approach requires tremendous faith because you're investing in results you can't immediately see. You're planting seeds that may not bear fruit for years or decades. You're building strength that others won't notice until you need to use it.
When you embrace the iceberg principle, something remarkable happens. Your relationship with success fundamentally changes.
Individually, you develop what psychologists call "intrinsic motivation"—you become driven by the work itself rather than external rewards. This makes you more resilient, more creative, and ultimately more successful because your energy source is internal and sustainable.
You stop needing others to validate your progress because you can feel it happening. You develop what martial artists call "internal power"—strength that doesn't depend on size, speed, or external circumstances.
Professionally, this mindset makes you incredibly valuable. While others are managing their image, you're building real competence. While others are networking for quick gains, you're developing deep expertise. While others are chasing visible metrics, you're creating sustainable value.
Organizations desperately need people who do excellent work regardless of who's watching. When you build that reputation, opportunities find you instead of you chasing them.
In relationships, people sense depth in those who've done invisible work on themselves. There's an authenticity and groundedness that comes from building character in private. You become someone others can depend on because your strength isn't for show—it's real.
Collectively, when more people embrace this principle, we create a culture that values substance over style, competence over credentials, and character over charisma. We build institutions and communities that can weather storms because they're built on solid foundations, not flashy facades.
Start by honestly examining your current approach to success. Ask yourself:
Write these answers down. Most people have never distinguished between building their image and building their capacity.
Level 1: Shift from External to Internal Metrics: Stop measuring your progress solely by what others can see. If you're trying to get fit, focus on how you feel and what you can do, not just how you look. If you're building a business, measure learning and system improvements, not just revenue. If you're developing relationships, focus on your character development, not just social proof. Start tracking invisible metrics that actually predict success.
Level 2: Embrace Process Over Outcomes: Begin falling in love with the work itself, not just the results it produces. Like Buffett reading 500 pages a day or Picasso creating thousands of pieces before his breakthrough, commit to daily invisible work regardless of immediate results. Choose one area of your life and commit to consistent, unglamorous improvement for 90 days without telling anyone about it.
Level 3: Build Systems That Compound Invisibly: At the advanced level, create systems that generate long-term value while requiring minimal management. This might mean investing in index funds instead of trying to time the stock market, building genuine relationships instead of networking for immediate gain, or developing skills that will matter in 10 years instead of chasing current trends.
Your ego will constantly push you to make your work visible. Social media has made this worse—we're addicted to likes, shares, and comments as validation. But remember: the most important work happens in silence.
When you feel the urge to broadcast your progress, pause and ask: "Am I doing this work for the work itself, or for the recognition?" There's nothing wrong with sharing milestones, but if you need external validation to continue, you're building on sand, not rock.
The strongest foundations are built in the dark. Trust the process even when no one else can see it.
Here's your challenge for the next three months:
At the end of 90 days, evaluate: How do you feel about your progress? How has your relationship with success changed? What invisible strength have you built?
Remember: Everyone sees the black belt ceremony. Few see the thousands of hours on the mat. Everyone sees the million-dollar business. Few see the years of 16-hour days and failed experiments. Everyone sees the happy marriage. Few see the difficult conversations and daily choice to love.
True success isn't built on what you can see—it's built on everything you can't. The master struggling with his kicks. The billionaire reading 500 pages a day. The invisible work that makes the visible results possible.
Your iceberg is under construction right now. The question is: are you building above the waterline for show, or below it for strength?
Build deep. Build invisible. Build real.
The foundation you can't see is the only one that will hold when the storms come.
Are you sicked and tired of being surrounded by losers, lemmings and Luddites?
Then join the Leader's Dojo, where you not only discover how badass you are but you're surrounded by other badass warriors and leaders who will help you to be even better.
Helping young men to become warriors, leaders, and teachers. Showing them how to overcome fear, bullies, and life's challenges so they can live the life they were meant to live, for more, check out https://CharlesDoublet.com/
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