Ludvig Sunstrom’s "The Ultimate Commonplace System" (TUCS) 2.0 – How It Works & What To Expect

TUCS 2.0 (The Ultimate Commonplace System) is an educational product created by Ludvig Sunström, proprietor of the “StartGainingMomentum” blog.

Originally released in 2016, the system was designed to provide insight into the underlying metrics and systems which underpin a “commonplace” system.

Whilst the original sold out of its initial 200+ copies in just over 78 hours, Ludvig has been working on creating a new version of the product, which will apparently expound on many of the core ideas promulgated by the first.

It’s in the interest of understanding what this “new” version holds for the users, as well as indications of the various underlying ideas that belay the “commonplace” ideal, I felt it appropriate to discuss what Ludvig has been developing.

What Is A Commonplace System?

The product was designed off the back of Ludvig’s personal experience with “commonplacing”.

He credits the centuries-old strategy with the monumental growth he’s attained in his health and professional life – giving him the inspiration to compile his learnings & discoveries into a product that other people could benefit from.

“Commonplacing” is the process through which many of the “luminaries” of the past 500+ years cultivated the ideas, experiences and insights which guided their work.

Whilst not overly discussed anymore, the cultivation of a “commonplace book” was a major aspect of learning all the way up to the 1850’s – with the process even being taught in Oxford and Cambridge in the 1700’s.

Many (if not all) of the great thinkers ended up keeping “commonplaces” – with the likes of Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and even the “Fairchild Eight” (creators of the modern CPU / microprocessor) exhibiting the same processes in their work.

What’s interesting is that ALL the historic examples ended up with pretty-much the SAME “notes” – but all lived 100’s of years apart. This means that – whilst the “commonplace book” undoubtedly played an integral part in the organization & development of their ideas, it wasn’t the “book” itself which helped them towards their goals… it was simply the medium through which they managed everything.

This allusion is vital. If the “commonplace book” wasn’t the attribution of their success, what was?

After studying many of these luminaries for his blog & podcast, Ludvig discovered that all of the most successful “commonplacers” simply shared a process.

This process was markedly DIFFERENT to everybody else, but lead to the same RESULTS (MASSIVE achievements as a result of continued focus on a particular craft).

The point of this is that whilst their process can duplicated, not many people actually understood whatthe process is/was, nor how it translates into the ability to achieve monumental success in a field. This is where the idea for Ludvig’s “ultimate” commonplace system came from.

Working on the premise that his “commonplace” is in fact a strategy through which he’s managed to capture at least a little of the “luminaries” of old (and has thus managed to attract a 500+ regular readers to his blog, 1,500+ buyers to his book, and 200+ buyers to his original TUCS product) – the original version (TUCS 1.0) gave an insight into the underlying MINDSET required to pull it off.

As Napoleon Hill said – “success leaves clues” – and if you want to actually affect GENERATIONAL change, the clues should exist within the “commonplace” books of the many household names we take for granted.

The new version (TUCS 2.0) promises to give users insight into this underlying process, with a view to explain the various “systems” that Ludvig has developed during this time.

The BIG discovery Ludvig made is to systematize his processes – meaning that rather than trying to work backwards from whether you should do things based on a “hunch” – gathering all necessary DATA and then condensing it into a series of PATTERNS gives the “commonplacer” the ability to make more informed decisions, but also to remove most of the “mystery” about life.

This – Ludvig proposes – is the CORE of what made what he calls the “commonplace mindset” one of the biggest underlying indicators of massive success.

TUCS = “MASTER” SYSTEMS

The BIGGEST point that Ludvig stresses is that whilst many people would consider “commonplacing” to be an activity, it’s actually a process – or more aptly – a MINDSET.

The “mindset” of commonplacing is the same as adopting a new set of principles through which to guide your life; from who to consider a “friend” to how to “properly” build a business, if you’re able to replicate the RESULTS of previous “masters”, it could shave years off any underlying achievement you wish to pursue. This is the basis of the newer version of the system.

The most important thing to understand is that if you’re looking at making ANY sort of progress in life, there is generally the “right” way to do it, and a “less right” way. The “less right” way isn’t wrong… but will NEVER be as effective as the “right” way. This is why some people always seem to succeed, whilst most don’t.

The “trick” to massive success is to identify the traits that are tied to the “right” way of doing things (it could be the way you present yourself, the type of work you do, the way you approach problems), and apply it to your own life / opportunities.

The reason it’s important to consider this is because if you’re looking at moving forward in ANY capacity – you NEED to adapt your approach to be conducive that which “works”. This is not to say you have to change your entire method – just adapt it to ensure that you’re able to conflate the “best” elements of what’s worked well before. This is where many of the “greats” get their start from.

The point here is that Ludvig’s purpose behind “TUCS” is to highlight the role of MASTER systems in the development process. “Masters” are simply those luminaries throughout history whom have given guidance based on the quality of work they produce. As mentioned, many of these people – unconsciously – kept “commonplace books” – which suggests they ended up systematizing much of their underlying processes. It’s this process which TUCS was designed to cultivate.

What It’s Meant To Do…

The TUCS 1.0 system was created to INTRODUCE users to the underlying SYSTEMS they are using in their lives.

TUCS 2.0 looks to not only expand on this core MINDSET shift, but also illustrate a number of CORE systems that Ludvig has personally developed – off the back of a number of “masters” he’s drawn inspiration from…

  • Napoleon’s “Corps” System – LIFE TRANSFORMATION by compartmentalization (just how Napoleon did to revolutionize the French army)
  • Francis Bacon’s “Empiricism” System – Using EVIDENCE to support decisions (not the other way around)
  • Michelangelo’s Note Taking System – focusing on APPLICATION of ideas to cultivate new RESULTS
  • The “Eros” Principle (Ancient Greece) – Building the CORE of any idea / principle (rather than the peripheries)
  • A number of others…

Everybody has “systems” for EVERYTHING

  • What you wear
  • What you eat
  • What do you do to “relax”
  • What you do with your “friends”
  • What you think about on your own
  • What you do to get ready for bed
  • What you do in bed
  • What you read (if at all)
  • What you watch / listen to on TV/Radio
  • What you do with your computer

The “trick” many of the luminaries employed was to STREAMLINE all their “non-essential” systems into stuff that can either be duplicated, outsourced or minimized to the most infinitesimally small undertaking that it would take up no more than a few hours to complete.

A good example was Steve Jobs’ “uniform” (black turtleneck / jeans) – wearing the same “outfit” every day as to not have to waste brain power worrying about it.

You also find this a LOT with “luminary” type people – they really just neglect EVERYTHING else in the pursuit of the “one” thing they *REALLY* want to indulge in.

Doing this for ALL aspects of your life NOT ONLY allows you to channel your most potent energy onto “what actually matters” (which I’ll explain in a second), but also gives you the capacity to upgrade, optimize and maintain your various systems that you may have in place already.

This allows you to consider everything from your health to your job – removing the necessity to stress over things which (in practice) are actually quite mundane.

This is the core of TUCS – the transference of a “lifestyle” into a series of SYSTEMS which the curator able to doggedly follow, and – ultimately – use to channel their energy into the CORE thing that improves your life – developing EXPERTISE.

The most important thing to consider with this is the “real” secret to “commonplacing” is the MINDSET SHIFT which cultivates success.

When you realize that “success” is ENTIRELY an “internal” factor – and has VERY LITTLE to do with external factors – you’ll begin to become more successful by virtue of your lust for intrigue and creativity.

The BIG PROBLEM besetting the MAJORITY of people is they are simply looking “elsewhere” for success. Which market should I sell to? Which “crypto” coin should I buy? Which sports team should I bet on? Which blog should I start?

The reality – and irony – is that the people who are most “SELFISH” (in terms of their time) end up becoming successful by virtue of how SELFLESS they end up becoming with their results.

THIS is the crux of TUCS, and why Ludvig’s original tagline was “Turn Ideas Into Money” – the underlying benefit of adopting a “commonplace” mindset was to give you the inspiration & foresight to work on creative tasks (which sits at the core of ALL monumental success).

Being CREATIVE means you are not scared about every little thing you’ve ever made, because you’re in a constant spiral of growth – building bigger & better results over time. This is why some of the world’s largest companies NEVER shy away from sharing what they’ve built; whilst many of the “competitive” companies (who didn’t really create much) are EXTREMELY scared of whether someone else will “steal” their market lead.

What It Actually Does

To explain – there are 1,000’s of “success” products which explain the methods of achieving X or Y. These “methods” are simply systems which are designed to provide the user with an insight into how to achieve a particular result in the future.

The PROBLEM with these is they IGNORE the CORE element of “success” – the central pillar around which ALL achievement is built… personal capacity.

Expertise is the CORE of success. The more “expertise” you have in ANY field, the more ability you have to deliver RESULTS that other people cannot. The delivery of these results is what cultivates attraction, and why some people “have it” whilst most don’t.

As explained, the TUCS ideal has been to take this underlying principle and give it context to the modern world.

Apart from giving people an overview of how to set up a “commonplace” using the likes of OneNote or EverNote, the new edition delivers a number of core “Master” systems which guide the reader towards a number of new avenues through which they’re able to develop and grow.

The effectiveness of this process is – obviously – dependent on the user, and means that if you’re genuinely curious about what the system does – it will be a good way to discern the facts from a reputable and concise source.

The offering is not without criticism.

I worked on the original “TUCS” and it wasn’t an overly stimulating product. It was very superficial and dwelt a lot on the underlying mindset behind the “commonplace” ideal, not with many of the deeper ideals which it espouses.

The key thing to understand with the new update is that it’s become much more focused on the methodology behind the “process” of commonplacing; whilst ensuring that the core principles are maintained.

This not only means that Ludvig has gone to further pains to describe how to use the various technologies available today… but has also gone deeper into why they are important.

Whether it’s effective is dependent on the way the product is delivered. We’ve found that most people will *NEVER* apply any of the core principles delivered in a piece of work because there’s no way for them to do so. With TUCS 2.0

TL;DR

TUCS 1.0 was popular, although the product itself wasn’t actually that good (I helped create the website etc and had access to it).

TUCS 2.0 promises a number of upgrades to the product, as well as the experience of its consumption…

  • Kindle (read the book on Kindle)
  • Web application (download content via PDF etc)
  • Extra bonuses / benefits delivered via PDF
  • Infographic of the overall system schematic
  • Email support + backend community
  • Interviews + “insight” from a number of masters

The key thing to appreciate is that the underlying “message” of TUCS hasn’t changed. Not only does it focus on pushing its readers towards the idea of systematizing everything within their lives… but it also attempts to elevate “what” they do by virtue of the various “master” systems included in the package.

The core of the product is still to guide buyers towards focusing relentlessly on “themselves” – perfecting a set of EXPERTISE through EXPERIENCE (which is derived through the provision of “service”).

The service you provide (in a personal capacity) determines the level of results you attain afterwards. The aim of TUCS is to push the reader towards the cultivation of more potent results by engaging in the provision of more effective service. This can be done by offering their services in a “freelance” capacity, or just to indulge in more difficult tasks in their work.

Keeping track of the progress made from these changes (systems) not only makes them stick over the long term, but also ensures that they can be optimized, improved and even delegated (if possible).

The LEVEL at which this is achieved typically determines the level of success one may expect from the “market”. This is why many of the “luminaries” of old are still revered today – they focused their energies onto their own expertise in a particular area, and ended up cultivating some of the most effective “systems” humanity has ever conceived. Their sharing of these “systems” is what made them renowned.

Whether you’d achieve the same is up to you. The key is that if you’re open to adopting a new type of mindset, it gives you the ability to consider exactly what you want to achieve, and – ultimately – gives you an underlying step-by-step process of how to get there.

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