The Third Door

Chapter One

Staring at the Ceiling

Right this way . . .

I stepped across the marble floor and turned a corner, entering a room with glistening floor-to-ceiling windows. Sailboats drifted down below, gentle waves lapped onto the shore, and the afternoon sun bounced off a marina and filled the lobby with a bright, heavenly glow. I followed an assistant down a hallway. The office had couches with the most plush cushions I d ever seen. The coffee spoons sparkled in a way I d never seen spoons sparkle before. The conference room table looked like it had been carved by Michelangelo himself. We entered a long corridor lined with hundreds of books.

He s read every one, she said.

Macroeconomics. Computer science. Artificial intelligence. Polio eradication. The assistant pulled out a book on feces recycling and placed it in my hands. I flipped through it with sweaty palms. Nearly every page was underlined and highlighted with scribbles in the margins. I couldn t help but smile--the scribbles had the penmanship of a fifth grader.

We continued down the hallway until the assistant asked me to stay where I was. I stood there, motionless, looking at a towering frosted glass door. I had to stop myself from touching it to feel how thick it was. As I waited, I thought of all the things that led me here--the red scarf, the toilet in San Francisco, the shoe in Omaha, the cockroach in the Motel 6, the--

And then, the door opened.

Alex, Bill is ready for you.

He was standing right in front of me, hair uncombed, shirt loosely tucked in, sipping a can of Diet Coke. I waited for something to come out of my mouth, but nothing did.

Hey, there, Bill Gates said, his smile lifting his eyebrows. Come on in . . .

 

Three Years Earlier, My Freshman Dorm Room

I flipped over in bed. A stack of biology books sat on my desk, staring back at me. I knew I should study, but the

The day before his freshman year final exams, Alex Banayan hacked The Price Is Right, won a sailboat, sold it, and used the prize money to fund his quest to learn from the world s most successful people. Since then, Banayan has been named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list and Business Insider s Most Powerful People Under 30. He has contributed to FastCompany, The Washington Post, Entrepreneur, and TechCrunch, and has been featured in major media including Fortune, Forbes, Businessweek, Bloomberg TV, Fox News, and CBS News. An acclaimed keynote speaker, Banayan has presented the Third Door framework to business conferences and corporate leadership teams around the world, garnering standing ovations from Apple, Nike, IBM, Dell, MTV, Harvard, and countless others.

Exhilarating and empowering . . . If you care about your success, you have to read The Third Door. Tony Robbins, entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author, philanthropist, and the nation s #1 life and business strategist

From redefining success with Steve Wozniak to staring death in the eyes with Jessica Alba, this book is packed with adventure, drama, and remarkable lessons the whole way through. Whether you re an executive or a recent college graduate, you ll find inspiration and wisdom in The Third Door. Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post and New York Times bestselling author of Thrive

"The Third Door is at once a spirited coming-of-age story and a hard-headed examination of what it takes to succeed at the highest levels. Alex Banayan has cracked the code of the world s most successful people and shown he will soon join their ranks. Daniel H. Pink, New York Times bestselling author of When, Drive, and A Whole New Mind

  An emotional roller coaster . . . I laughed. I cried. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time . . . Once every few decades a book comes along that defines a generation. The Third Door is it. Eliana Murillo, head of multicultural marketing at Google

A treasure chest of wisdom . . . knowledge that can be used by anyone, anywhere, who wants to take their journey further . . . Banayan has become one of the most equipped guides to help you climb higher mountains in your life. Shawn Achor, New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage and Big Potential

Unlike any business book I've read. The Third Door is a thrill ride of hope, joy, ambition, and self-discovery. I cheered out loud, and at different points, tears trickled down my face . . . The Third Door motivated me turn up the volume in my life . . . A triumph. Maya Watson Banks, director of marketing at Netflix

A cinematic story full of drama,