Shift Your Mindset Quotes

preparation is obviously important, but at some point, you must stop preparing content and start preparing mind-set. You have to shift from what you’ll say to how you’ll say it.

Trading doesn't just reveal your character, it also builds it if you stay in the game long enough.

The acknowledgement of a single possibility can change everything.

Every single part of your life can be changed by a shift in perception.

When you release money blocks and become self-aware about your own personal relationship with money, you can begin to re-write your own personal money story.

Believing and investing in yourself is the best way to shift your thinking from a paradigm of excuses to one of solutions.

The thing is, there is no certainty in this life - in one second your entire world could shift. I'm not saying it will, but I am living proof that It can. We never prepare for tragedy and that's a good thing but my god what's it's taught me is how little we appreciate what we have or some cases once had.

When change happens, you have a choice for how you are going to respond. You can either lose your composure and react impetuously or use the event or situation as a learning opportunity to shift your mindset and respond appropriately. Begin to notice your responses when changes occur and do your best to choose a breakthrough over a breakdown.

By immersing yourself in empowering mental images, you can shift your mindset from scarcity and limitation to possibility and abundance.

simply telling yourself “I am excited” shifts your demeanor from what they call a threat mindset (stressed out and apprehensive) to an opportunity mindset (revved up and ready to go). “Compared to those who attempt to calm down,” the authors conclude, “individuals who reappraise their anxious arousal as excitement perform better.” Put differently: The sensations you feel prior to a big event are neutral—if you view them in a positive light, they are more likely to have a positive impact on your performance. These

When you want something so badly, shift your mindset from your idea of how you will get it, to which ways are available and what it will take.

A positive attitude eventually begets positive experiences. Choose to be happy. Decide you are well or happy instead of unwell or unhappy, and your experience of living will begin to shift. The mind is the one thing in this world we are able to control, so let’s control it!

When you shift to an abundance mind-set, you repeat to yourself over and over again that you’re unlimited because you emanated from the inexhaustible supply of intention. As this picture solidifies, you begin to act on this attitude of unbending intent. There’s no other possibility. We become what we think about, and as Emerson reminded us: “The ancestor to every action is a thought.” As these thoughts of plentitude and excessive sufficiency become your way of thinking, the all-creating force to which you’re always connected will begin to work with you, in harmony with your thoughts, just as it worked with you in harmony with your thoughts of scarcity. If you think you can’t manifest abundance into your life, you’ll see intention agreeing with you, and assisting you in the fulfillment of meager expectations!

Finding and acting on Black Swans mandates a shift in your mindset.

Life's true wonders unfold when we dare to shift our minds and embrace the transformative dance of paradigm change.

Keep Calm and Find Your Zen-ity

Never, ever, ever, write off anything you’ve achieved as merely being lucky. You are not lucky: you are hard-working and capable. Don’t ever question it.

Most people don't listen to understand, they listen, and push in, to prove their point is RIGHT!

Hаbіtѕ оf fіnаnсіаl ѕuссеѕѕ аrе lеаrnаblе, as аll hаbіtѕ аrе, bу practice аnd rереtіtіоn.

it takes life shifting experiences, that scare average people, to be able to activate and unleash, more of your potential

ReThink Real Success: Keeping your word to others and never lying to yourself

A growth mindset is like having a superpower—it turns failures into fuel, challenges into opportunities, and dreams into reality.

Let’s embrace the beauty of our choices, let's make them wisely and with intention and let's use them to create a life that we're proud of and a world that we're grateful to be a part of.

Seems today everyone is waiting for someone or someday. Some-one and Some-day don’t exist! There is only YOU and only NOW. Now is the time for YOU to take SWIFT ACTION with FIERCE Focus!

Pain is not a curse, but a teacher. It shapes us, moulds us and forces us to confront our deepest fears. It teaches us resilience, empathy and the courage to stand up and fight for what we believe in

By reframing the way you think about anxiety, you can take what was once a major drag and turn it into something useful and even beneficial in your life. And as you achieve this flip, you will naturally open the door to the extraordinary benefits that anxiety is designed to bring into your life. When functioning properly, anxiety can essentially grant you six superpowers: the ability to strengthen your overall physical and emotional resilience; perform tasks and activities at a higher level; optimize your mindset; increase your focus and productivity; enhance your social intelligence; and improve your creative skills. Getting a handle on your anxiety and shifting it to good opens the door to discovering how anxiety can become a superpower.

I no longer believe that character formation is mostly an individual task, or is achieved on a person-by-person basis. I no longer believe that character building is like going to the gym: You do your exercises and you build up your honesty, courage, integrity, and grit. I now think good character is a by-product of giving yourself away. You love things that are worthy of love. You surrender to a community or cause, make promises to other people, build a thick jungle of loving attachments, lose yourself in the daily act of serving others as they lose themselves in the daily acts of serving you. Character is a good thing to have, and there’s a lot to be learned on the road to character. But there’s a better thing to have—moral joy. And that serenity arrives as you come closer to embodying perfect love. Furthermore, I no longer believe that the cultural and moral structures of our society are fine, and all we have to do is fix ourselves individually. Over the past few years, as a result of personal, national, and global events, I have become radicalized. I now think the rampant individualism of our current culture is a catastrophe. The emphasis on self—individual success, self-fulfillment, individual freedom, self-actualization—is a catastrophe. I now think that living a good life requires a much vaster transformation. It’s not enough to work on your own weaknesses. The whole cultural paradigm has to shift from the mindset of hyper-individualism to the relational mindset of the second mountain.

Your heart, mind and body—and all your sixty trillion cells—work as a team. When you carefully choose your thoughts and mental images, and focus on what feels comfortable and good for your heart, you shift to a higher level of vibration, which, in turn, bolsters your immune system.

Mindset Shift Recap: #1: Sell a result, not a website. A website is only ever a tool. #2: Business owners always care most about their core business needs; not design, coding or technical aspects. #3: The market pays you for the value you create; not your time, effort, background, or education.

To build up your speed and create momentum, do you need to be pushed or pulled? Successfully shifting gears requires synchronization, coordination, and a sense of speed, whether fast or slow. Sometimes it is simply a matter of shaking up your routine to get things rolling in the right direction.

What is the most helpful thing we can do for the earth and her people, Kuan Yin?” “Kuan Yin is changing shape in response to your question, Hope. I’m not sure what this particular shape-shifting means, if it is an answer in itself or if she is adjusting to the question” Lena contemplates. “I’ll just watch for a moment and try to understand.” “Loving people is the most helpful thing anyone can do,” Kuan Yin answers after a short while. “Your society has the resources, at this very moment, to fashion industries and lifestyles conducive to a non-harmful environment. There is a popular belief that over-population is the threat to the earth’s environment. However, for many places upon the earth it is also very much a question of resource availability and distribution. There is a real need for creating a holistic infrastructure that can support everyone. A helpful mindset is simple-living and high-thinking”, continues Kuan Yin. “Science is constantly evolving. There are now recyclable batteries, ink cartridges, etc. Keep up to date on the latest technologies. Be aware, set examples and create trends that will positively influence people’s lives and the environment. As I said earlier, however, this is also a discussion about love and developing a greater capacity to love. It can help everyone. We’re all one huge family, a great continuum. Don’t underestimate the power of the love created in your homes and families. This love has an immense potency, the power to influence others lives in a positive way.

Similar to using an opponent’s energy to gain an advantage, leaning on your calloused mind in the heat of battle can shift your thinking as well. Remembering what you’ve been through and how that has strengthened your mindset can lift you out of a negative brain loop and help you bypass those weak, one-second impulses to give in so you can power through obstacles.

But simply asking “What if” questions is not the answer to getting unstuck. You will learn that first you need to reframe your mindset and see problems not as annoying, insurmountable, irrefutable obstacles but as amazing, juicy, creative opportunities. Opportunities that allow you to invent, innovate, create, explore, or whatever else you need to do to solve a problem and stop feeling stuck.

Mindset Shift Recap: #1: Sell a result, not a website. A website is only ever a tool. #2: Business owners always care most about their core business needs; not design, coding or technical aspects. #3: The market pays you for the value you create; not your time, effort, background, or education. #4: If you think like a business owner, you will succeed. If you think only like a web designer, you will fail.

Too many of us start our days consuming instead of creating: browsing the web, watching TV, whatever. We become audience members and critics. Our thoughts get sucked into what other people are doing, how well they’re doing it, and the response they’re getting from the world. This is supertoxic, especially if you haven’t made any of your own stuff lately, and a surefire way to undermine all the creative mindset stuff I wrote about earlier in this chapter. Creating before consuming is a seemingly minor shift that will have a profound effect on your daily outlook and creative capacity. So please, create first. Make something (and ideally share it), no matter how small.

HOW TO REPROGRAM YOUR BRAIN TO ENJOY HARD HABITS You can make hard habits more attractive if you can learn to associate them with a positive experience. Sometimes, all you need is a slight mind-set shift. For instance, we often talk about everything we have to do in a given day. You have to wake up early for work. You have to make another sales call for your business. You have to cook dinner for your family. Now, imagine changing just one word: You don’t “have” to. You “get” to. You get to wake up early for work. You get to make another sales call for your business. You get to cook dinner for your family. By simply changing one word, you shift the way you view each event. You transition from seeing these behaviors as burdens and turn them into opportunities.

Pete has a few methods he uses to help manage people through the fears brought on by pre-production chaos. “Sometimes in meetings, I sense people seizing up, not wanting to even talk about changes,” he says. “So I try to trick them. I’ll say, ‘This would be a big change if we were really going to do it, but just as a thought exercise, what if …’ Or, ‘I’m not actually suggesting this, but go with me for a minute …’ If people anticipate the production pressures, they’ll close the door to new ideas—so you have to pretend you’re not actually going to do anything, we’re just talking, just playing around. Then if you hit upon some new idea that clearly works, people are excited about it and are happier to act on the change.” Another trick is to encourage people to play. “Some of the best ideas come out of joking around, which only comes when you (or the boss) give yourself permission to do it,” Pete says. “It can feel like a waste of time to watch YouTube videos or to tell stories of what happened last weekend, but it can actually be very productive in the long run. I’ve heard some people describe creativity as ‘unexpected connections between unrelated concepts or ideas.’ If that’s at all true, you have to be in a certain mindset to make those connections. So when I sense we’re getting nowhere, I just shut things down. We all go off to something else. Later, once the mood has shifted, I’ll attack the problem again.

an individual task, or is achieved on a person-by-person basis. I no longer believe that character building is like going to the gym: You do your exercises and you build up your honesty, courage, integrity, and grit. I now think good character is a by-product of giving yourself away. You love things that are worthy of love. You surrender to a community or cause, make promises to other people, build a thick jungle of loving attachments, lose yourself in the daily act of serving others as they lose themselves in the daily acts of serving you. Character is a good thing to have, and there’s a lot to be learned on the road to character. But there’s a better thing to have—moral joy. And that serenity arrives as you come closer to embodying perfect love. Furthermore, I no longer believe that the cultural and moral structures of our society are fine, and all we have to do is fix ourselves individually. Over the past few years, as a result of personal, national, and global events, I have become radicalized. I now think the rampant individualism of our current culture is a catastrophe. The emphasis on self—individual success, self-fulfillment, individual freedom, self-actualization—is a catastrophe. I now think that living a good life requires a much vaster transformation. It’s not enough to work on your own weaknesses. The whole cultural paradigm has to shift from the mindset of hyper-individualism to the relational mindset of the second mountain.

CHANGING YOUR LIFE TO ACCOMMODATE THE SIXTH SECRET The sixth secret is about the choiceless life. Since we all take our choices very seriously, adopting this new attitude requires a major shift. Today, you can begin with a simple exercise. Sit down for a few minutes and reassess some of the important choices you’ve made over the years. Take a piece of paper and make two columns labeled “Good Choice” and “Bad Choice.” Under each column, list at least five choices relating to those moments you consider the most memorable and decisive in your life so far—you’ll probably start with turning points shared by most people (the serious relationship that collapsed, the job you turned down or didn’t get, the decision to pick one profession or another), but be sure to include private choices that no one knows about except you (the fight you walked away from, the person you were too afraid to confront, the courageous moment when you overcame a deep fear). Once you have your list, think of at least one good thing that came out of the bad choices and one bad thing that came out of the good choices. This is an exercise in breaking down labels, getting more in touch with how flexible reality really is. If you pay attention, you may be able to see that not one but many good things came from your bad decisions while many bad ones are tangled up in your good decisions. For example, you might have a wonderful job but wound up in a terrible relationship at work or crashed your car while commuting. You might love being a mother but know that it has drastically curtailed your personal freedom. You may be single and very happy at how much you’ve grown on your own, yet you have also missed the growth that comes from being married to someone you deeply love. No single decision you ever made has led in a straight line to where you find yourself now. You peeked down some roads and took a few steps before turning back. You followed some roads that came to a dead end and others that got lost at too many intersections. Ultimately, all roads are connected to all other roads. So break out of the mindset that your life consists of good and bad choices that set your destiny on an unswerving course. Your life is the product of your awareness. Every choice follows from that, and so does every step of growth.

If you can learn to FOCUS on the feeling you get AFTER making a positive choice, and not DURING a negative choice, you will alter your mindset even more.

When the people in your Endgame are threatened, your mindset shifts. You see conflict is unavoidable. A fight is coming. You get ready for war. You build a strategy. You reason backward. From the Zero-Sum Game back to the Positive-Sum Games that help you win. You reason backward from the conflict to the alliances that will help you win it.

Your mind-set goes something like this: “If they can do it, so can I.” “It’s not fair for you to have more than I.” “But I didn’t get to do that, why should you?” On and on they go. In this case you’re determining what is good for you on the basis of someone else’s conduct. They, not you, are in charge of your emotions. If you are upset because of not being able to do something that someone else has done, then you’ve given them control over you. Whenever you compare yourself to anyone else, you are playing the “It’s not fair” game, and shifting from self-reliance to other-directed external thinking.

The key to letting go of negativity lies in our willingness to change our perspective and be proactive. It’s with this mindset that we’re able to persevere through difficult times and help others to do the same. Positivity is contagious, but it has to start with you. NO MORE EXCUSES…SERIOUSLY We make excuses all the time for a variety of reasons, mostly as a defense mechanism to protect ourselves from humiliation and criticism. Nobody wants to be cast in a negative light, so if there’s an opportunity to shift the blame without consequence, the decision seems obvious. Again, this all comes back to letting ourselves off the hook and deflecting accountability. It might be convenient, but it won’t get you very far in life. The same can be said for procrastination. Consider all the reasons why you put something off. You’re tired and would rather do the work another day. You’re afraid of what others might think if you don’t succeed. You don’t have all the answers, and that scares you. But this isn’t what we tell ourselves. Instead, we rationalize that it isn’t the right time to proceed with our plans.

So called ‘success’ is the marriage of your mindset, skill-set and resourcefulness in any given context. But there are few guarantees and no perfect recipes for it. It is subjective and shifts - and is dependent on the flow of life’s wider events- which is why it is so often illusive.

Just by a mindset shift, even if you're doing the exact same action, you can shift your energy and your vibration and your entire being from feeling like you're sacrificing -- which is only paving the road to resentment -- and shifting instead to that place of service.

these insights, taken together, will help you shift your mind-set, recalibrate your workflow, and push more incredible ideas to completion. —

Use positive affirmations to shift your mindset and re-train your brain for positivity.

Developing a positive attitude is one of the most transformational things you can do to shift your mindset, improve your disposition, manifest good things, and attract quality people into your life.

Once you start shifting your mindset and getting into the flow with money, your energy will shift and many other parts of your life will start shifting too.

If you’re playing it safe and you want to be rich, you need to stop playing it safe. You need to shift your focus from where you’re at and what you stand to lose and become consumed by thoughts of where you desire to be and all you have to gain. You need to play to win instead of play not to lose.

Faith raises your frequency. When you trust that your riches are on the way, instead of biting your nails over the what-ifs and how the hells, you shift your emotional state from doubt and fear to excited expectation. This shift raises your frequency, opens you up, and makes you aware of people and opportunities you weren’t seeing before.

When you learn to master your mindset and focus on thoughts that elicit strong, positive emotions, you wield your power to take crazy leaps of faith in spite of your fears and your Little Prince trying to hold you back. It all starts with your thoughts; they are the catalyst that brings on the shift that changes what you believe and how you act.

The first distinction is that millionaires think long-term while the middle class thinks short-term. Shifting this mindset is the starting point for achieving success.

VEBLEN HAD RISEN UP the ranks of the temp agency, and nowadays made eighteen dollars an hour, just enough for rent and food and a few small items of need. Keeping a low overhead was part of her mind-set. It made for an existence that was lean and challenging, like life on the frontier. She believed it was important to be fairly compensated for your time and work, but that it was also important not to earn a bunch of money just to play a predetermined role in the marketplace. When unforeseen expenses came up, such as when her 1982 Volvo 244 blew its head gasket, she discovered how vulnerable she was—and had to take a second job for a while, packing candles into boxes in a factory in Milpitas on the night shift. But for the most part, her life worked. She was getting better at Norwegian, and her translations came more easily. She’d accomplished things, hadn’t she? All kinds of things you couldn’t put on a résumé, such as deciphering the cryptic actions of family members, and taking care of them until the day they died.

Forgive those people that hurt you so you can put the past behind you. Break those chains. Restore strength that leads to peace, joy, and achieving abundance. Shift your energy to battles that bring you back into your purpose immersing yourself in things that feed your spirit.

So many people live miserable every day. It’s a natural mind set from a hurtful past, or present day struggles. Most things in our lives that leave us with an uneasy state of mind, and the feeling unhappiness we can’t control. The few we can control we must put our foot down. That search for happiness resides within. Look for the kindness within yourself and let it shine. You’ll find your thoughts have shifted, and what you’ve found in yourself is what you’ll expect from others with no exceptions.

Don't betray your progress by realigning with people you've already moved on from. Otherwise you'll be letting other people's demons rattle your angels.

A long time ago, I stopped sitting at tables where I might be the topic when I get up.

There are people who hate you based on untrue thoughts they have about you in their minds.

A paradigm shift is a long-lasting change in the way we think about our lives. It's a shift in our perception of reality, a change in our beliefs and assumptions, and a new way of looking at the world around us.

A paradigm shift is not a small change. A small change is a minor adjustment in our behaviour or habits, while a paradigm shift is a complete overhaul of our way of thinking and acting.

In order to achieve something you’ve never achieved before, you have to become someone you’ve never been before.

Some people are not mad at you; they're mad it's you.

Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should live their lives, but none about their own.

For me, life is too short, or too long, to allow myself the luxury of living it badly.

Sometimes when you face hardship you think you've been buried when you've actually been planted. Keep growing.

The future many pursue is only a step ahead: Get to work. Get to lunch. Get to the end of the day. Get to the weekend. Pay the bills. When you’re engaged in short-term goals, [you're] like a hamster on a wheel: expending lots of energy, but not making progress. To exit the rat race of [one-step-ahead] day-to-day mindset requires a shift in your focus. Begin thinking much bigger and further out. [Instead of asking yourself, "what am I doing after this task?" ask yourself:] Where could you be in five years?

It has taken dedicated effort and time to shift my scarcity mindset into empowering energy that uses money as a tool to create momentum and impact.

The second tactic is to admit that you’re feeling bad. I’ll take out a Post-it note and write, “I am super stressed out about X.” That little act shifts my mindset from worrying about my worries to simply declaring them.

Ironically, I wasn’t falling back asleep because I was worried about not falling back asleep—a common cause of insomnia. Once I realized my rumination was itself a distraction, I began to deal with it in a healthier manner. Specifically, if I woke up, I’d repeat a simple mantra, “The body gets what the body needs.” That subtle mind-set shift took the pressure off by no longer making sleep a requirement. My job was to provide my body with the proper time and place to rest—what happened next was out of my control. I started to think of waking up in the middle of the night as a chance to read on my Kindle and stopped worrying about when I’d fall back asleep.2 I assured myself that if I wasn’t tired enough to fall asleep right at that moment, it was because my body had already gotten enough rest. I let my mind relax without worry.

We’re suffering from the rise of evaluative dating—cross-examinations that feel like job interviews. Throw out your checklist and shift to the experiential mindset. Stay present and pay attention to how you feel around the other person. Mindset matters: Whether you believe the date will go well or poorly, you’re right. You can use a pre-date ritual to get into the right mental state before

Dissatisfaction is responsible for our species’ advancements and its faults. To harness its power, we must disavow the misguided idea that if we’re not happy, we’re not normal—exactly the opposite is true. While this shift in mind-set can be jarring, it can also be incredibly liberating.

So how do we equip ourselves to respond to stress positively? Here are some of my favorite mindset shifts: Acknowledge your personal strengths—perhaps you’re nervous about stepping out on to stage, despite having spoken to groups of people many times before. Imagine the support of your loved ones—as if you partner, spouse, or children were at your side, enthusiastically encouraging you to step ahead. Remember times in the past when you overcame similar challenges—you may not have experienced that exact same situation before, but you have most certainly thrived through a similar level of challenge. Summon the most courageous version of yourself, and then follow your own advice—we often find it’s easier to give advice to others than follow our own, so bring this outside wisdom into the picture.

The bottom line, when it comes to rebooted retirement, is that it’s not just about a new “length of service.” It’s also a mindset shift, in which you’re only partially defined by what you do. Other criteria include how well you adapt to a variety of careers—ones that will hopefully give you a sense of purpose, satisfaction, and optimism. Some things to consider when it comes to a new approach to retirement: •   Zero in on the aspects of your work that you love and physically can do and focus on those. •   Examine educational opportunities to develop skills in new areas that will allow you to keep pursuing your passions. •   Assuming you’re financially stable, consider a second (or third or fourth) career in new areas in which you’re motivated by passion, rather than money.

One small shift in mindset, one tiny tweak to your daily routine — these are the things that can end up driving your future.

We’re all informavores. The drive to know the unknown still exists in us all. It powers the unpredictability of the scarcity loop. It’s that deep, angsty discomfort we feel as we wait for information about an outcome. That could be knowing the falling of slot machine reels, a flood or drought of likes, the shifting of a Robinhood stock, or waiting for a rightward swipe.

We can find evidence for whatever mind-set we choose. I once heard a story about a man who uses a wheelchair. When asked if it was difficult being confined, he responded, “I’m not confined to my wheelchair—I am liberated by it. If it wasn’t for my wheelchair, I would be bed-bound and never able to leave my house.” This shift in perspective completely transformed how he lived each day. Reframing your habits to highlight their benefits rather than their drawbacks is a fast and lightweight way to reprogram your mind and make a habit seem more attractive.

God's knowledge surpasses our understanding. He knows what we need, not just in the present moment but throughout our entire journey. He knows the desires of your heart, the dreams you hold, and the struggles you face. Nothing escapes His loving attention. Just as He cares for each animal in nature, He will take care of you. He is aware of your needs before you even express them, and He stands ready to supply them according to His perfect wisdom and timing. Embracing the idea that God knows and supplies your needs requires a shift in your mindset and a deepening of your trust. It means recognizing that your Heavenly Father is not bound by the limitations of this world. In fact, He often works in ways that defy human understanding, providing for our needs in ways we could never have anticipated.

What’s your unique angle in thirty seconds or less?” In other words, why would anyone care to read his newsletter? I know that sounds harsh, but that’s the first question you have to answer before you put yourself into the public sphere. Pressed into defining his unique angle, Ben paused. He rumpled his face up, laughed nervously, and shrugged. This is hard! Finally he spoke, slowly, and then with confidence. Listen to how Ben defined his angle, his sauce: “I’ve been a performance coach for the last fourteen years, working with the best athletes in the world. Helping people perform better is my groove. I want to help anybody who wants to have a great day and shift them into the mentality to dominate their life. I have information to share when it comes to dealing with the best.” That is beautiful! Both in its heartfelt honesty and authenticity, but also in its clarity. Let’s pick it apart and look at what he did in those four sentences: He defines who he is, Why you should trust him, What he is passionate about, and What unique thing this prepares him to do for you. It is clear, approachable, direct, and short. The first three sentences define what makes him special (fourteen years helping the best athletes in the world perform better!), and the fourth (how he’s solving his customers’ problems, teaching mindsets needed to dominate life) defines the kind of love and attention he’ll generously dispense to cultivate a community. Take a minute, and as Ben has done, write out a pitch in your journal describing your special sauce. CHALLENGE Write out your unique angle. There are no right answers here. You can change these any time you’d like. Who are you? Why should people listen? What are you passionate about? What will you do for people?

Gratitude isn’t just a fancy way to pat yourself on the back or feel smug about saying “thank you” to the barista who spelled your name wrong. Nope, it’s a full-on life upgrade that doesn’t require a subscription or Wi-Fi. It’s a mindset, a way to see life that makes even a cold cup of coffee feel like a small win. When we show gratitude, we’re not just hoarding all the good vibes; we’re actually tossing them back out into the world like confetti, starting a chain reaction of positive energy. But let’s be honest—when was the last time you truly asked yourself: What am I grateful for? And no, your Wi-Fi signal doesn’t count. Life’s a busy, chaotic mess. Between trying to remember your passwords, dodging traffic, and figuring out what’s for dinner (again), it’s no wonder we forget to appreciate the little things. That’s where gratitude comes in, giving us a chance to hit the brakes on our runaway thoughts and realize that, hey, maybe we do have it pretty good. That shift from “Ugh, my life is a series of unfortunate events” to “Wow, I have a roof over my head and socks without holes” can do wonders for your outlook. Gratitude is like the mental equivalent of putting on glasses—suddenly, everything comes into focus. It grounds you in the now, making you realize that even during your worst “can’t-even” moments, there are still little gems worth celebrating. Whether it’s your friend’s cheesy joke, your pet’s goofy antics, or the sheer joy of finding that one comfy spot on the couch, these snippets of life, when recognized, add up to a sense of well-being that no amount of scrolling through social media can match. The magic of practicing gratitude is that it turns “not enough” into “more than enough.” It’s like discovering you’ve been living in a treasure chest all along. And here’s the kicker: gratitude isn’t just about feeling warm and fuzzy; it’s also about spreading that warmth to others. Your good vibes become a beacon, making people wonder, “What’s their secret?” Spoiler: It’s not a miracle supplement. But let’s talk about giving back. What does it mean to share gratitude with the world? It’s not complicated. It’s about realizing that by being aware of what we’re thankful for, we create an atmosphere where appreciation becomes a thing. That sincere “thank you” you offer to the overworked delivery driver or the moment you pause to notice the sunset—those actions radiate positivity more than you know. Gratitude is the gift that keeps on giving, even when you’re not keeping tabs on it. If you want to research this more, Google is full of studies and numbers. But the real takeaway? Life experience shows us that gratitude is more than just a practice; it’s a game-changer. It shifts our focus to what we have, building mental resilience and helping us find peace and strength in the present. It’s a reminder that life’s value isn’t in towering achievements or shiny things but in the love, laughter, and moments that make us human.

Really, it starts with a shift of mindset. With a new habit, reinforce this behavior by saying things like: “I’m the type of person who ____.”  Then, follow through by doing it on a daily basis. Eventually your internal identity will match this daily routine.

Spread a mindset, not just a footprint. Running up the numbers and putting your logo on as many people and places as possible isn’t enough. 2. Engage all the senses. Bolster the mindset you want to spread with supportive sights, sounds, smells, and other subtle cues that people may barely notice, if at all. 3. Link short-term realities to long-term dreams. Hound yourself and others with questions about what it takes to link the never-ending now to the sweet dreams you hope to realize later. 4. Accelerate accountability. Build in the feeling that “I own the place and the place owns me.” 5. Fear the clusterfug. The terrible trio of illusion, impatience, and incompetence are ever-present risks. Healthy doses of worry and self-doubt are antidotes to these three hallmarks of scaling clusterfugs. 6. Scaling requires both addition and subtraction. The problem of more is also a problem of less. 7. Slow down to scale faster—and better—down the road. Learn when and how to shift ears from automatic, mindless, and fast modes of thinking (“System 1”) to slow, taxing, logical, deliberative, and conscious modes (“System 2”); sometimes the best advice is, “Don’t just do something, stand there.

In 2015, we see a rigid dichotomy between the traditional mindset of school district technology leaders and those leaders and teams who have shifted to a mindset that puts students - not technology - at the center of organizational decision-making.

For pretty much my whole life, I thought I was living to better myself, to create the best life possible. About a year ago, that mindset changed. I now believe I’m here to create the best world possible. This shift from me to everyone is what altered my entire understanding of passion, and my purpose. Ben Horowitz is one of my digital mentors (meaning I follow his blog). I find him very insightful. Whenever he says (or writes about) anything, I inevitably start nodding my head until my neck is sore. Here’s an excerpt from the commencement speech he gave at Columbia, his alma mater: “Following your passion is a very me centered view of the world, and as you go through life, what you’ll find is that what you take out of the world over time—be it…money, cars, stuff, accolades—is much less important than what you put into the world. And so my recommendation would be to follow your contribution. Find the thing that you’re great at, put that into the world, contribute to others, help the world be better. That is the thing to follow." Most of the time, if you follow your contribution, it’s either already a passion, or likely to become one. Doing something you’re good at is intoxicating, as is contributing to the world. Writing and launching The Connection Algorithm was a full year of hard work. It was the result of countless hours of reflection, deeply philosophical thinking, and brutal honesty. Throughout the entire process, I felt driven, passionate, and motivated. At first, I thought this was because I was doing it on my own. But I’ve come to realize it was something else—something far more profound. Shortly after the book was released, I began receiving emails from people who had read the book and been deeply impacted by it. A highschooler in Miami. An entrepreneur in Amsterdam. A small business owner in the midwest. People were also leaving reviews on Amazon—people I didn’t know, saying the book helped them live a better life. And on my Kindle, I could see passages that people were highlighting. People weren’t just reading my book, they were taking notes on useful things to remember. The craft of writing has been unbelievably fulfilling for me. And so I’m continuing the pursuit. My motivation is no longer to make a buck, or “win at life.” Rather, I’m working to improve the world. I think of myself as an inventor, creating a new piece of art for the world to discover. When you make the world better, you get rewarded. So find your craft, and then determine the best contribution you can make with it.

Hustling requires more than just a shift in mindset. That mindset needs to actually inform your actions. The leap from mindset to taking action is a big one. But the actions themselves don’t have to be big. You can start by making small adjustments, and slowly build up your skills. Eventually, you’ll notice yourself making decisions differently, prioritizing tasks differently, and spending your time differently. This chapter goes through the different habits and behaviors, large and small, that you should be cultivating as you wade deeper into hustling.

Pete has a few methods he uses to help manage people through the fears brought on by pre-production chaos. “Sometimes in meetings, I sense people seizing up, not wanting to even talk about changes,” he says. “So I try to trick them. I’ll say, ‘This would be a big change if we were really going to do it, but just as a thought exercise, what if …’ Or, ‘I’m not actually suggesting this, but go with me for a minute …’ If people anticipate the production pressures, they’ll close the door to new ideas—so you have to pretend you’re not actually going to do anything, we’re just talking, just playing around. Then if you hit upon some new idea that clearly works, people are excited about it and are happier to act on the change.” Another trick is to encourage people to play. “Some of the best ideas come out of joking around, which only comes when you (or the boss) give yourself permission to do it,” Pete says. “It can feel like a waste of time to watch YouTube videos or to tell stories of what happened last weekend, but it can actually be very productive in the long run. I’ve heard some people describe creativity as ‘unexpected connections between unrelated concepts or ideas.’ If that’s at all true, you have to be in a certain mindset to make those connections. So when I sense we’re getting nowhere, I just shut things down. We all go off to something else. Later, once the mood has shifted, I’ll attack the problem again.” This idea—that change is our friend because only from struggle does clarity emerge—makes many people uncomfortable, and I understand why. Whether you’re coming up with a fashion line or an ad campaign or a car design, the creative process is an expensive undertaking, and blind alleys and unforeseen snafus inevitably drive up your costs. The stakes are so high, and the crises that pop up can be so unpredictable, that we try to exert control. The potential cost of failure appears far more damaging than that of micromanaging. But if we shun such necessary investment—tightening up controls because we fear the risk of being exposed for having made a bad bet—we become the kind of rigid thinkers and managers who impede creativity.

Daily Affirmation: If I am willing to spend two years of my life like others won’t, I can spend the rest of my life like others can’t.” The Sky Isn’t The Limit Never tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon. The sky is not the limit, if so we never would have gone to the moon. With the proper mindset and mentors, regardless of where you are presently in life, your possibilities are limitless. You are one idea or one person away from resources that could change the legacy of your family and those of others. Will your great-great grandchildren remember your name because they see your footprints (i.e. businesses you left them, stocks you purchased or real estate)?

A great antidote to the consumer mindset is the producer mindset. The producer mindset leads you to have an Output: to create/do something. It spurs you into action.

Use your body language and posture to project confidence. Shift your physiology into a more powerful pose or position and your mindset will follow.

If you are suffering from ill health, it is important to keep reassuring yourself that you are going to get better. Your body is highly attentive to your thoughts and words, soaking them in like a child. You want your mind and energies to move in the direction you wish to go.

Remember to stuff,” before the guards shuffled her onward with the butts of their rifles. As though she wouldn’t. When Nona was locked away in the bathroom stall stealing toilet paper, judiciously stuffing it down her shirt as Pyrrha had taught her—Pyrrha had a very Blood of Eden mindset, if you thought about it—she heard Camilla outside by the sinks, saying quietly: “Let me see her.” Crown said, as though casually surprised, “Do you really want to? It’s not a good day. She’s in and out … Moving her has been a royal bitch. We’ve had to keep shifting her between beds ever since we got her here.” “Okay. Let me see her.” “If you agitate—” Camilla said, “You know I can help her, Third. You know I want to.” It seemed like Crown was going to say a joke or something dismissive again, but then she said, “So long as Dve doesn’t tag along. Your call.” When Nona rustled her way out of the stall, Camilla looked at her chest, and her mouth quirked in something that might have been the tiniest and most beautiful smile yet. But Crown didn’t notice.

Remember to stuff,” before the guards shuffled her onward with the butts of their rifles. As though she wouldn’t. When Nona was locked away in the bathroom stall stealing toilet paper, judiciously stuffing it down her shirt as Pyrrha had taught her—Pyrrha had a very Blood of Eden mindset, if you thought about it—she heard Camilla outside by the sinks, saying quietly: “Let me see her.” Crown said, as though casually surprised, “Do you really want to? It’s not a good day. She’s in and out … Moving her has been a royal bitch. We’ve had to keep shifting her between beds ever since we got her here.” “Okay. Let me see her.” “If you agitate—” Camilla said, “You know I can help her, Third. You know I want to.” It seemed like Crown was going to say a joke or something dismissive again, but then she said, “So long as Dve doesn’t tag along. Your call.” When Nona rustled her way out of the stall, Camilla looked at her chest, and her mouth quirked in something that might have been the tiniest and most beautiful smile yet. But Crown didn’t notice.

The world you experience is a reflection of the thoughts you entertain. If you find yourself wanting more from life, it’s a sign that your thinking is ready for an upgrade. Shift your mindset, and watch your life transform.

The mere act of showing up for yourself each day will begin to shift the world in your favor.

To do that, you need to shift your mindset from one that focuses on the practice of law to one that focuses on how the business must work.

Success in entrepreneurship is very much like a game—part chess match, part poker tournament, and part schoolyard soccer competition. You’ve got to make decisive moves in a really strategic way, bluff on occasion when you want others to think that you have a better hand, and pass the ball to and from teammates to hit your goals. Sometimes, it will be a straight line to a quick score, and at other times, you will have to double back, up the ante, and formulate a new plan.

Customers want to bond with a brand on a deeper level. They want you to be their BFF, Sherpa, and cheerleader all in one.

Don’t spin your wheels chasing after something that is not meant to be. There is something else better that is just around the corner, and it’s got your name on it in ALL CAPS!

Networking is a deposit in the bank of your future and in your startup. It won’t happen immediately, but if you do it right, you will continue to receive its dividends for years. I, for one, can network with the best of them! You can too.

Tackle the “meh” first.