Everything starts with your mindset.
If your head’s not in the right spot, you won’t be able to execute effectively.
Physical challenges are 90% mental (that’s why I love them). That’s why I talk so much about cold showers. They force you to physically face mental blocks head-on. They give you physical encounters with usually intangible obstacles.
If you want to do something hard, difficult, or seemingly impossible, you have to start with mindset. Here are five mindset shifts you need to make to do the impossible:
Realize that Everyone Is Normal
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Everyone is normal.
Celebrities aren’t special. Billionaires aren’t special. Athletes aren’t special. Stop freaking out when you see them.
Everyone is a normal person. You’re normal. Richard Branson is a normal dude. Get your head around that.
There are no special people. The people you think are special just work their tails off, repeatedly find and capitalize on opportunities, and get lucky (luck is a case of hustle + timing). No one “just” gets lucky.
Don’t make yourself feel better by trying to convincing yourself Richard Branson is just special.
He’s not special.
He works his tail off.
Think Bigger – Way Bigger
Stop thinking small. Get outside the box – way outside the box.
Get outside your head. Stretch your mind. Dan has tons of these frameworks and parlor games. His latest one, the 737 challenge, asks what you would you if you had to make fifteen million in seven years or your mother or someone would die. What would you do?
The goal is to change your entire basis for reality – the way you think about things. Instead of focusing on how to make 1 or 2K/ month, start thinking about how you could make 10, 20 or 50K/ month.
It takes a different mindset to get you to that level.
You have to operate on a different level to generate $500/ month than you do to generate $5,000/ month. More importantly, you have to change the way you think.
Thing bigger – way bigger
Stop Doing Stupid Work
I have this as a sticky note on my desktop:
Don’t ever solve the same the same problem three times in a row. If you have the same question or problem three times in a row, systematize it. Macro-fy it. Outsource it.
Stop doing stupid work. Don’t waste your time, energy, or focus on stuff that doesn’t need to be done by you.
No more stupid work.
Do The Dirty Work
The dirty work is where the money is.
Stop focusing on what you’re “passionate” about. Nobody cares about what you’re passionate about.
Get passionate about solving people’s problems.
There are a ton of people who have made money doing the dirty work. Watch Dirty Jobs for a season, and you’ll find a crazy number of people who’ve made their money doing the dirty work.
There are tons of jobs that “nobody” wants to do, and they’re willing to pay for someone else to do them. There’s your opportunity.
Do the stuff that nobody else wants to do. Solve problems that people want to have solved.
Realize that You Can Do Anything You Want To Do
You can quit your job tomorrow. You can pack your bags, and get a plane ticket to anywhere in the world.
You can do that now.
You don’t need anyone’s permission. You can literally do anything you want.
You can do whatever you want. Wrap your mind around that.
— Joel Runyon (@joelrunyon) November 20, 2013
Just let that sink in.
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Now, go take cold shower, change your mindset, and get after it.
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Did one of these mindset shifts resonate with you? Share it with a friend.
Photo credit: J_O_I_D
Great stuff bro!
BTdubs how’d you do that sexy little twitter card on the bottom? 🙂
You go to the tweet you want to appear in the post, click ‘more’ and ’embed tweet’, and copy and paste the code. Hope that helps!
Whenever you tell people they can do anything they’ll find at least 10 excuses as to why they can’t. Guess that leaves more for us to do. 🙂
Wow, I totally agree with this post. I have taken a lot of inspiration from your work and it’s really cool to find we have some overlap. I just posted an article where I say the same thing about no one being special.
Putting people up on pedestals distances us from achieving greatness. If you see someone else achieve something, that means it is possible. You aren’t special in some inability to do the same thing just as they aren’t special in their ability to do it.
Great post, Joel.
Great tips! I really love reading your posts. It never fails to motivate me especially when I almost runs out of gas
since i’ve been living in SE Asia for 3 years, I pretty much take cold showers every day by default. 😉 Great list. Especially liked the bit about thinking bigger. Why think $2k/mo when you can think $10k/mo or bigger and in the process of trying to achieve it, you’ll probably make that $2k anyway… lots to think about for sure!
Great post Joel! Mindset really is everything. My big mindset shift recently was going from freelancer to scalable business entrepreneur, which is a huge shift that has really opened up my potential.
I like your style. No bullshit. You are an inspiration.
Very well said! Right to the point and no BS sugar coating things! I agree with what you are saying. No one cares about what you are passionate about, hell, do what you’re passionate about after you’ve made your peace with money. If you’re passionate about something and enjoy it, a lot of other people probably are too. There isn’t going to be much there when everyone does the same thing. Supply exceeding demand not good!
I like your straight up approach to this post. Its so true. It’s too easy to do the same and think the same day in day out, but change is vital.
I don’t agree with not living our passion.
Okay…
I used this stuff to work my day.
i can improve myself … i want to do some impossible .. but i have no tricks never have ha bigger mind … but i can do some special … give ma a chance or give ma a advise for chase highness …
its is really inspiring but it too late for me because now i m a age of 45 because now i thing ei cann’t the take the risk with my family.
what do your think?