The story of the titan Atlas is traditionally one of oppression. As punishment for his defiance of the Olympian gods, Atlas is imprisoned by Zeus, condemned to carry the sky on his shoulders for all eternity. He gets a brief respite when he convinces Heracles to carry the load, but is quickly tricked back into his chains. And so he stands, crushed by the weight of the sky, for all of his immortal life.

In some versions, Atlas carries the world itself, not just the sky, but the intent is the same: Atlas carries the world as a punishment. In this traditional depiction, he is shown groaning under the load, crumbling beneath the immense weight.

But there is another way to see the story.

At the Rockefeller Center in New York is a statue of Atlas standing tall, proudly bearing the load nobody else can shoulder, a regal being doing all he can to carry the weight of the world.

This statue celebrates the titan’s strength. He is not shown in chains, nor is he bowed beneath the globe. Instead, he gazes towards the future, with one foot stepping out, as if carrying humanity forward.

This statue is often associated with Ayn Rand’s book, Atlas Shrugged, though the statue was made long before the book was written. Atlas Shrugged is about those who bear the world’s burdens — the wealthy capitalists and industrialists according to Rand — walking away from the expectations imposed on them by the mediocre masses. (Rand, a Russian transplant to the US, was reacting to communism and was perhaps overly enthusiastic about capitalism). Thus, the image of those who bear the greatest loads and carry the weight of the world shrugging it off and retiring to form a perfect society.

I don’t think this version is much better.

The story I want to tell is one in which Atlas is a hero. He has the strength and the will to carry the world, and so he does, not because others force him to do it, but because he believes in living at his greatest potential and taking on the challenges worthy of his strength. He helps others by carrying them through their troubles, moving the entire world into a future of possibility and promise.

Even in my story, Atlas is an impossible ideal, but he represents something I think we should all aspire to: serving humanity at our greatest capacity.

If you are a genius at healing the sick, do that. If you are a brilliant game designer, do that. If you are excellent at working financial markets, do that. And in all cases, do it to make the world a better place, whatever that means to you. We ought to carry the burdens that our strength allows us to shoulder, to help others where we can. By doing this, we can lift them up.

And we ought to do it with no thought of thanks or recognition, but simply because it is within our capacity and concern to do it. We don’t have to work ourselves to death and poverty, but we shouldn’t hold back our gifts for want of reward.

In my version of the story, Atlas is happy to help because he is so powerful and so caring that the burden of the world is nothing. He was made to carry it, and it is his greatest pleasure to serve. He doesn’t turn his back on the world, shrugging it from his shoulders, nor does he buckle under a weight he resents as punishment.

Instead, he smiles and stands taller, so that everyone can be that much closer to the sun.

As an individual, you can accomplish a lot, but no matter what, you will always be limited by your available time and experience. Being able to learn from other people’s experiences, wisdom, and skills is the key to fast-tracking your growth and capabilities.

The mentors who have gathered around me have been so valuable in helping me move forward, take initiative, and untangle the many complex problems I’ve faced starting businesses and creating positive change in my community. But I’m not the only person for whom mentors have been important.

Some of you probably know I’m a history buff, and one of my favorite kinds of books to read is biography. This summer, I read Titan, the biography of J. D. Rockefeller, this fall I read Jobs, and I’m currently about halfway through The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie.

These are all massively influential people who had far-reaching impact not only on their own times, but on future generations as well. And, even if they wouldn’t admit it (Steve Jobs, maybe), they all had great mentors. Rockefeller and Carnegie gushed about the generosity of their mentors, and Carnegie in particular spoke of his early employer as the ideal of businessmen. The men who helped Rockefeller and Carnegie take their first steps in their careers were remembered fondly by both men.

Mentors matter. They provide guidance when you are trying to figure out how to solve a problem. They provide motivation when you have to check in. They provide connections to their own networks as you are beginning to grow. They provide opportunity, often simply by giving you a place or a job to gain experience.

If you can get someone else to contribute a little bit of their hard-won experience to your own enthusiastic but naive efforts, you will leapfrog past many of the obstacles that slow others down.

In short, mentors are vital.

So, how do you go about surrounding yourself with a network of supportive people have both the desire and the ability to help you succeed?

Help Them First

Maybe you saw that coming, but yeah, the best way to find mentors is to be an excellent helper first. If you work a part-time job, do everything you can to contribute above and beyond what’s expected of you.

• Stay late to clean.
• Offer to design promotional materials.
• Help your boss learn or use social media, or whatever skills you can share.
• Share observations about how to improve things (you deal with customers face to face, after all).
• Ask questions from a sincere desire to learn your boss’s challenges and then see if you can find solutions.

These might seem trivial, but most people don’t do these simple actions. Doing them shows that you care about the business and doing a good job, and for you, it’s not just a paycheck. If that’s all you want out of the relationship, that’s fine too, but it’s probably not going to get you a fervent supporter.

If you don’t work for someone else, make friends with business owners in your community or others who are farther along the path than you. Ask them questions and look for ways you can provide help in their endeavors.

This is how I ended up with so many mentors.

• I befriended the owner of a local coworking space and then volunteered there on and off for a year. He has helped me navigate every major challenge I’ve faced since coming to Boulder.
• I invited the co-owner of a coaching business to speak at an educational event I hosted for my friends, then followed up with her and learned that her partner needed help with social media marketing, which I offered to do. Even though that was a paid exchange, I worked hard to be as helpful as possible and ended up with one of my most valuable mentors, who connected me with another amazing coach with whom I’m working.
• I made a point of having a real conversation with the owner of a local taco place every time I go, invited him to coffee several times, and just was a friendly guy, without explicitly looking to gain anything (and I have yet to find a way to help him besides eating at his place a lot). He has inundated me with brilliant business advice and tons of local connections.
• My bosses at the tutoring company where I work have been some of my biggest supporters, which I attribute to the fact that I have always gone out of my way to improve my teaching skills, taken an active interest in promoting and growing their business, and have directly asked them how I can be better at my job and more valuable to them. I have also started projects within the business and offered to expand their materials.

In all these cases, I found a need and met it, while also doing what I could to demonstrate both appreciation for their valuable time (it is valuable if they are worth knowing, by definition) and genuine liking for them as people.

Respect Their Time

People love to share what they’ve learned, so don’t be shy in asking for advice or help, but make sure you respect their time.

One of the best ways to do that is to set a meeting outside of normal workaday interactions. You can phrase it however you like, but I’ve found it very effective to ask, “Do you have some time this week to help me with some questions I have about X, Y, and Z?”

This gives them the chance to gather their thoughts and doesn’t take away from their busy lives or your work time.

Prepare

And when you do sit down, don’t just wing it. Take 5 or 10 minutes to compose some questions you have and write them down.

I’ve found that taking notes at meetings with mentors does a couple things:

1. It helps me remember what we talked about and what I need to do next
2. It gives the impression that you care enough about what they are saying to write it down, encouraging them to do it again some other time

If you’re not comfortable writing during a one-on-one, that’s fine, but I urge you to give it a try. It has transformed my overall effectiveness.

Be Open to Alternative Ways to Learn

Your mentors might not always be the kind of people who can simply compose their thoughts and deliver them in pithy comments. And maybe they’re shy or don’t have the patience for sitdowns.

That doesn’t mean they don’t want to teach you. It just means you must be open to alternative teaching methods.

• Watch how they work and especially how they interact with customers.
• Listen to what they think about in terms of the business.
• Pay attention to what they pay attention to. It’s probably the right thing to look after.
• Emulate and imitate where appropriate.
• Look for the ways they correct you.
• Be open to invitations. Maybe they have other ways to guide you other than sit down meetings, like making you aware of growth opportunities.
• Listen to their stories. People usually tell stories for a reason, and that reason isn’t always to entertain. You can learn a lot about what someone considers important and valuable from the stories they tell.

Basically, it all boils down to being extremely helpful and being willing to learn. As long as you are those two things, most people will naturally want to help you succeed.

“I’m the one chance you’ve got of staying alive.” – Clara Oswald, Doctor Who, Season 8, Flatline

Maybe you’ve run into this problem: You want to make a difference in the world by inspiring, motivating, and supporting the people around you, but you aren’t in charge. You don’t feel like anyone is paying attention to your ideas or giving you permission to start a new project that might take the business in a new direction, or even start a new company that would change the face of the town.

So you just keep on working at whatever you do, coloring in the lines, and dreaming about the day you get to take a stand.

This is a difficult place to be because you have great ideas and strong convictions, but you are afraid that if you take action on them, you will upset people. You aren’t sure if they are happy where they are, and even if they aren’t, change is always scary. You don’t want to be the one to bring that on.

But the thing is, while change is scary, it is also inevitable.

You might as well be the one to direct it and help people grow with it, rather than resist and stagnate.

So how can you get over the leadership hump to get others on board and make a difference?

It’s actually really easy. There are only 2 steps:

1. Start on your own
2. Ask for help

In every leadership role I’ve ever taken on, this is how I started:

• Eagle Scout: I did all the legwork to come up with an idea, connect with the Audubon Society of Greenwich, and acquire all the materials. Then I asked all my classmates to help. I soon had supporters, cheerleaders, and advocates when things got messy.
• Tutoring for at-risk kids: I approached the high school to offer my personal services for free. Once the program was signed off, I asked my boss if they could donate books. They offered to provide not just books, but full program support, and I’ve taken a step to improve the lives of kids who otherwise might not go to college.
• Everyday Heroism: I wanted to develop a set of principles that anyone could live by to be heroic. So I came up with the list, put in some time on my own elaborating on them, then invited some friends over to help me hash out the details. We’ve established a mutually supportive group and they are taking real steps on their own dreams and goals.

Why does this work?

Once you start on something on your own, it shows both your commitment and the fact that it is workable. This is important because when you just explain an idea, people can’t always see it as reality until they can see it in front of them.

When people see you committed to making something happen, especially if it’s in line with their own goals, they will get excited about your passion. And they will want to help. That’s just what people do when they are excited about something.

The trick is making it easy for them to help. Not everyone you inspire will be a die-hard fan. Some will support you in principle, some will show up if there are donuts, and some will follow you to the ends of the Earth.

To get them on board, provide a different level of engagement for each:

• My Eagle Scout project could count towards my classmates’ community service requirement. So that was an easy sell.
• Tutoring kids who need it is what my employers wanted to do when they started the business, there were a lot of advantages to helping me (exposure, good PR, I had already done the work), and the cost was comparable to what they already put in for business-as-usual.
• For Everyday Heroes, the friends who got involved really support me and want to help me, so they were closer to fans, but I also offered them something exciting: the chance to live at their greatest potential.

Common Pitfalls

• Asking people to do work without showing up first. That’s management. It’s a valuable skill, but it requires pre-established authority. It’s also less inspiring. The best managers are also great leaders, and good leaders know when they have to manage to get a bigger job done. But it doesn’t get people on board and excited.
• Trying to do everything yourself. You can’t. There isn’t time, and you’re not good at everything. Give people the chance to contribute their own skills and they will actually be happier than if you do everything for them. People want to feel useful.
• Thinking you have to know everything already. I struggled with this for a long time, thinking I had to be an expert for people to follow. Just start what you can. As long as you don’t tell people what to do, they will see it as a shared journey, which is what good leadership is anyway: keeping the group together. And if you need more expert knowledge, you can be the leader who connects the expert with the group that cares about them. Both sides will still look to you for initiative and inspiration.

One Final Thought

Leadership isn’t about showing people the way. It’s just about walking the path with them and helping them shoulder their burdens, maybe showing them what you’ve learned, but always being open to crafting a shared experience.

If you’ve ever led a wilderness trip, you know that no two trips are the same, even if you’ve been on that trail a thousand times. You will always learn from those you lead, and they expect to be part of the journey.

And just because you’re the leader, doesn’t mean you’re In Charge.

KC***

What does heroism mean to you?

For some people, heroism is about showing up for their families. Maybe you make a comfortable income, but getting home late and never having the chance to tuck your kids into bed makes you feel empty and hollow.

For others, it’s the other way around: you take care of the home and family, but you want to have a bigger impact in the wider community.

Other people want to feel heroic about their personal efficacy. They read about ultra-marathons and watch videos of acrobats and yearn to develop those skills, to test themselves.

Some want to learn how to be great at chess, or a sport, or they want to expand their skill set through education and experience. Others want to make a lot of money.

Or maybe you have a cause you believe in, and making a difference in that would make you feel heroic.

To me, it means supporting others in creating their dreams, believing in them, and setting an example of personal excellence.

It is having faith and taking action in support of the belief that anyone, anywhere, can realize their dreams and be historically significant in their communities and the lives of those they care about. It’s about empowering people, in whatever ways I can. When I started this blog, all I could do was share my story and hope it inspired. Then, I taught people how to create strong, energetic, vibrantly healthy bodies.

Now, I’m working on a new approach. It’s about helping people realize their heroism in their business and worldly affairs. There’s a lot of overlap with health and psychology, but I’ve come to the conclusion that money, finances, and how you conduct yourself in business are simply reflections of personal and social value (whether real or perceived).

The project is called The Everyday Hero (working title). You’ll probably see hints of it cropping up on my main URL, and when it launches, you can expect an invite. I’m not sure if it will supplant Warrior Spirit or coexist, but there will probably be some inconsistency with WS posts while I’m getting TEH up and running.

Everyone has their own definition of heroism, and all of them are worth realizing. My mission in life is to help them realize it.

What would your life have to be like for you to consider yourself a hero?

KC***

PS: If you would like to help out, let me know what you think of the name, The Everyday Hero, in the comments.

I learn a lot from my mornings. They usually set the tone for my day.

For example, last week, I missed my morning run and meditation most days. On the weekend, today and yesterday, I managed to make those both happen. The difference was pretty noticeable.

Sometimes, I have to make a choice between getting work done and going out for my run. My first instinct is to do the work, but that’s actually not as significant an investment in my performance and my day as running. On days I run, I have more focus, more energy, and more optimism than on days I don’t run. So while trading the run for an extra 30 minutes of productivity in the morning might seem like a good idea, it actually costs much more than 30 minutes of productivity. It decreases what I do throughout the day, both in terms of quality and quantity.

Running and meditating have been more useful than productivity tricks in helping me grow and take on the wide variety of challenges I am facing lately. I’ve basically discovered that running is one of the most effective things I can do in the mornings. It’s one of the best uses of my time, even (especially) when I’m feeling overwhelmed with too much to do. Taking a short run actually helps me get more done than if I just buckled down and tried to just do the work.

As the Zen saying goes, You should meditate thirty minutes a day, unless you are very busy. Then you should meditate an hour.

Certain habits are like that. They aren’t productive in their own right, but they make us much more effective in everything else we do.

So my challenge to you is to think about the little, seemingly extraneous things that you do that actually have a very important impact on your overall ability to do good work in the world. Some places to start looking:

• Personal care: exercise, diet, sleep, hygiene (a shower and shave can do a lot for your sense of efficacy)
• Treats: a particular cup of coffee, a craft beer in the evening
• Personal expression: clothes, grooming, color scheme (maybe it really matters that you have a blue notebook), accessories (my hat makes me feel heroic)
• Tools: do you love your MacBook so much you get more work done just because you get to use that shiny laptop? I take meticulous notes in all my meetings now because I love to use my nice pens.
• Leisure: when you make time for your favorite video games or sports, you can bring yourself to your work with more engagement, so that hour playing Call of Duty isn’t really wasted
• Environment: a favorite cafe, certain office furniture, a particular park, music, light, noise levels, a good chair

Make sure you dedicate time and money to these things. As long as you don’t go overboard, they really are an investment in yourself because they do make you more effective.

Just because we take pleasure in something doesn’t mean it is a wasteful indulgence. Good tools are a pleasure to use, but they are also great at helping you produce good work. A well-earned treat at the end of the day can be a motivation to work hard. Leisure time can provide the opportunity to unwind, shifting your brain from focused mode (great for problem-solving) to diffuse mode (great for creativity and opening up to new ideas).

What makes you more effective? Can you make more time for it so you can bring even more engagement to your work?

KC***

I woke up this morning and looked out on a winter wonderland. Snow had been coming down all night, and it was falling in tiny biting crystals that stuck to everything. Very pretty, very cold, and very wet. The sidewalks were covered in snow.

“I guess I’m not going for my morning run,” I thought.

Then, I stopped myself and asked a different question: “Can I go for my morning run, in shorts and a shirt as usual?” I’d run in cold weather before, but not in actual falling snow.

I honestly didn’t know the answer to that.

I decided not to make assumptions about my limitations and just give it a shot. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

It actually was pretty bad. The snowflakes were small and kept getting in my eyes. About halfway through the run, I got brain freeze from the melting snow in my hair. But it wasn’t impossible. And it was kind of fun, in a masochistic sort of way.

But I realized once I was out there that my fears were way more severe than the reality. Other than the visibility, I wasn’t that cold.

The lesson: don’t make assumptions about what you cannot do. Don’t make assumptions about what you can do, either.

Take the first step. Things usually look scarier than they really are, so base your judgement on what happens once you’re in it, not what you imagine might happen looking from the outside in.

Another way to look at it is to focus on the step right in front of you.

You don’t have to have completed the entire run before you walk out the door, but so often, that’s what we try to do in our minds, and that’s what scares us from even starting. Nobody does a run in one bite. We do it step by step, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally.

So, if something feels overwhelming, check in to make sure you’re not trying to swallow it whole in your mind.

KC***

One day, I needed new pants. The jeans I’d been wearing were so torn up I was ashamed to wear them. I went to Macy’s and bought the jeans I thought I should own: Levi’s 501s.

I was so enamored of the label that I didn’t even consider other options, determined to fit into this arbitrary definition of ‘cool’ even if it felt miserable, which it did.

I have weird proportions. I’m tall and lanky with a narrow waist, which is difficult enough (try finding 31×34 pants anywhere). Add to that the fact that my thighs and glutes are big for my size thanks to weightlifting and I’m impossible to fit. I felt like the Tin Man.

But I stubbornly biked around in my Real Jeans, feeling good about my authentic denim and that little red tag.

Until the hip pain started and I had to admit that I couldn’t sacrifice my comfort to fit into a pair of pants.

There was one pair of pants I’ve owned that actually felt and looked really good. They were prAna jeans, which I could get from a local store. They were expensive, had spandex in them, and were so self-consciously stylish, there was no way I could wear them, but I decided to try them on anyway.

And they felt amazing. I couldn’t stop thinking about how lovely life would be if I were wearing comfortable clothes. Every time I walked by the store, I dreamed about those tempting jeans, refusing to admit I wanted them. I just didn’t consider myself the kind of person who cared about clothes.

I’ll cut to the chase: I bought the jeans.

I felt so much better in pants that actually accommodated my body and mobile lifestyle that I couldn’t fault the fact that they were a bit pricey.

I got so many compliments on my new look and I felt empowered because I could move without pain. I’ve worn them almost every single day since, so they have more than paid for themselves in daily comfort and durability.

***

Clothes are an interesting area of life. They are a mode of expression, so when we can’t find clothes that fit us or look good on us, we get the message that nobody thinks our bodies are worth expressing. Plus-size women face this their whole lives, which is why the initiatives in this article are so inspired.

It’s amazing what effect uncomfortable clothes can have on self-esteem, especially if the comfortable ones are hard to find, untrendy, or simply non-existent.

Because we all have a right to feel comfortable with who we are, and to feel like we are not just okay, but awesome.

Imagine what life would be like if, instead of forcing yourself to fit into other peoples’ expectations of how things should be done, your life fit you like a glove. You got paid to do what you loved, you had the time and energy to do the things you enjoyed, you spent time with people who supported and believed in you, who connected you with the right opportunities.

All of your clothes look great on you, not because they are the snazziest, trendiest clothes out there, but because they work for you.

I had a right to feel good in my clothes, and I was the one preventing myself from that because I literally thought I had to fit in. I didn’t. And when I stopped trying, but honestly went after the things that worked for me, people noticed.

Who knew jeans could be so profound…

Where are you trying to fit in at the expense of your own comfort?

KC***

I recently visited the Hemingway House in Key West, where I got to see glimpses of the life of a very interesting man. He lived during a period full of historically significant events, but walking through his house, I could imagine the years crawling quietly by, much as they seem to in my own home.

Hemingway, however, didn’t just hang out at home. His walls were full of photos of places he’d been and things he’d done, artifacts from his travels, and all the indicators of a life well-spent.

I imagine that the average person in 1940, when Hemingway published For Whom the Bell Tolls, thought it was a fairly mundane time. There was a world war going on, sure, but we in America have essentially been at war since 2001, and in 1940, mainland America had never been directly threatened.

Looking back, 1940 seems like a romantic era full of heroes and drama, but in reality, it was the individuals, like Hemingway, who brought the heroism and drama to the times. I imagine he would have thought our time was full to the brim with adventure.

“There’s nothing worth doing anymore,” is a phrase I often catch my brain throwing my way when life seems dull.

My solution is to choose something scary or hard and go do it.

It’s not that you have to manufacture adventure, but if you commit to living a life in pursuit of your personal best, in service to your dream, and to honor your goals, you will find adventure. It just sort of happens. You become heroic. It doesn’t matter if you are living in 1840, 1940, or 2040 (in the future, we’ll all have hover boards, and then things will really be exciting, oh, wait…)

No matter when or where you live, whether your life is full of story-worthy events is up to you.

Remember, history is made up of people doing extraordinary things. You can either ride on the wave of the history they create, or you can be one of the men and women creating history with your life.

Romanticize the past or the future all you want, but not at the expense of the present. Romanticize exotic locations and other peoples’ lives if you want to, but not at the expense of your own here and now.

Because there is adventure around every corner, in every moment. It’s up to you whether or not you follow it down the rabbit hole.

So, how can you open yourself up for adventure? Here are some tips:

• Whatever scares AND excites you, go do it. If it just scares you, you still might consider learning more about it and getting enough mastery of the issue that it isn’t as scary any more (eg, if you’re scared of being assaulted, don’t go do it, but consider learning how to defend yourself).
• Foster relationships. Adventures and opportunities come from people, so do everything you can to meet as many people as possible.
• Don’t ever write yourself off. Never say, “I can’t.” Instead, ask, “How could I?”
• Be willing to be uncomfortable. Pain and fear have a bad rap in our cushy modern lives. These feelings and emotions signal impending danger, not actual danger (You’re never afraid of something that is currently occurring, just what you imagine might happen next). Instead, be willing to entertain pain and fear. Have a conversation with them. Don’t shut them out completely. They tell you where you are growing and where you need to grow.
• Commit to doing one unreasonable thing, like running an ultramarathon, or taking only cold shower (my favorite), or only eating excellent food. It will annoy the hell out of people, but it will also earn their respect, and you’ll probably have some crazy adventures making it happen.

Do you ever catch yourself making the excuse of, “If I lived then/there my life would be more exciting and fulfilling?” What can you do to get that sense of excitement and adventure right now?

KC***

I came across a study recently looking at the relationship between stress and health. The study uncovered a relationship between high levels of stress and premature death, but only when those suffering the high stress also believed that stress was bad for them.

What I thought interesting is that the group that didn’t believe stress was negative still experienced the same amount of stress. They just didn’t die from it.

You can view the full study here.

In another study, it was shown that children who are praised for “being smart” exhibit less motivation on harder tasks. After a failure, they then became demotivated, giving up more easily and enjoying the task less. These negative effects were not seen among children praised for “working hard.”

Here’s that study.

What you believe about yourself and the world has very real and measurable effects on your health, your performance, and your overall well-being.

It matters.

I’m posting this in relationship to this week’s other post, in which I shared a 10-minute morning routine aimed at altering mindset. Even I called it ‘new agey’ in a derogatory way, and I realized that comment may have trivialized how important it is. I was apologizing for the fact that the exercise is all internal work when in reality I should have emphasized how significant that realm really is.

As the saying from the Upanishads goes:

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; for it becomes your destiny.

I worry that we tend to get fixated on actions and external results. This can be great because it helps us see when particular thoughts are producing the desired results, but the mindset can also lead us to trivialize the importance of thoughts.

Take some time to think about your beliefs about yourself and your world. Do you think certain categories of people are evil or untrustworthy? Do you consider yourself smart, dumb, a hard worker, or lazy? Do you think of yourself as attractive or awkward? Or both?

KC***

Imagine what your life would be like and what you’d accomplish if you started every day full of passion, purpose and drive. Not just a few days a month, or a few hours of each day, but every hour of every day.

You’re probably thinking that’d be great, but it’s not realistic. After all, moods and mindsets are fickle, and people are either born with drive or they’re not, right?

I found myself asking the same question recently, and I decided to see if I could find an answer.

In all my research on high achieving individuals, from the ultra-wealthy to the ultra-accomplished, I noticed that the biggest difference was their mindset. They ask different kinds of questions and see the world in a different way than the majority of people.

For an example of this, check out Sal Khan’s interview of Elon Musk.

It dawned on me that an essential technique for increasing people’s capabilities was to find a way for them to consistently elevate their mindset. Each day spent in a state of openness to possibility compounds on the previous ones.

The problem is, for most of us, our mindset is determined by our mood, which is often determined by the events of the day.

I needed a way to make sure that every day started with an empowered mindset.

What I hit upon was a combination of techniques from various coaches and personal development masters.

So, here’s another question: If you could guarantee that you approached every day with a sense of passion, purpose, and drive, would that be worth 10 minutes of your morning?

It’s basically a briefing for your day that focuses on instilling empowering mindsets, rather than encouraging disempowering ones.

I’ve woken up many, many times in a down mood–thinking about all that I had to get done, how tired I was, and how I was sick of the day-in-day-out repetition of my week–which is a great way to have an insignificant day, but no matter what, after doing this exercise, I am excited to get out in the world and make a difference.

1. You start by taking five deep breaths and forcefully exhaling them (don’t hyperventilate).
2. Ask yourself, “What am I grateful for?” Answer the question for a few minutes or until you run out of ideas.
3. Ask yourself, “What am I celebrating?” Answer that question.
4. Next, “What am I committed to (doing) today?” Sometimes, I answer this one with a list of important activities that I want to make sure get done, and sometimes, I choose certain ways of being I’m committing to (like speaking up when I have ideas).
5. Last question: “What can I let go of?” This is sort of a last resort to make sure you’re not holding on to any laziness or using your morning grogginess as an excuse to have a bad day. For me, the answer to this question is almost always, “I’m letting go of the idea that, just because I’m tired, I have to be in a bad mood.”
6. The final part of the exercise is my favorite, and in my opinion, the most powerful. You imagine all the people who are connected to you, one by one. As you visualize each person, place them in an expanding circle around you. I switch up the crowd each morning, depending on who I want to focus on, but my family is in there every day.
7. Imagine them sending support to you. I hold an image of golden threads that run from each person underneath my seat, holding me up.
8. Then, with every inhalation, imagine you drawing that energy into you, and with every exhalation, imagine yourself growing brighter and that light illuminating more people. The idea is that you are concentrating all the support from all the individuals in your life and sending it back out to bring light to everyone.

That’s it. Make sure you actually answer the questions. You aren’t allowed to just say, “I have nothing to be grateful for.” You must come up with at least 3 answers to each question. They can be small (I’m grateful for the beautiful weather), but you need an answer.

Sounds a bit new-agey, and I guess it kind of is. But the results are real, and that’s all that matters.

The effect is very subtle, but done consistently, it can have compounding effects on your days and your life. When you’re in a particular mindset, it can be difficult to notice, but try it out and see if your energy, drive, and connectedness is improved.

Let me know your experiences in the comments.

KC***