Should you waste an entire day focusing on one 10-second setback? Of course not! That would be just as wasteful as squandering $86,390. When thinking about this 10 seconds or $10 in the future, it will seem inconsequential. A small setback, when you zoom out on your timeline, becomes recognizable for what it is—insignificant.

Author Eckhart Tolle has great insight into the problem of fixating on the past or future; he once said, “All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry—all forms of fear—are caused by too much future and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances,

So the key lesson to take away here is to focus our attention and efforts where we actually have control and then let the universe take care of the rest. This turns out to be a very small subset of actions and thoughts, which is comforting in itself. Where a to-do list was once 10 items, you will find that it can easily be shaved down to three

When we think about motivation, we want something that will light a spark in us and make us jump up from the couch and deeply into our tasks. We want motivation that causes action. There are a few problems with this, namely the fact that you’re probably looking for something that doesn’t exist, and that’s going to keep you waiting on the sidelines,

Most of us will be regarded or defined by the actions we take, not the thoughts we have. And that’s where you have to take the leap of courage to get out of meditative mode and snap into action mode. Don’t hold yourself back because of the qualities or resources you need but don’t have. If you hop into doing mode and start rolling, you’ll find ways

most of us feel that we are seeking out motivation that creates action. But this is wrong and, in fact, in reverse. We will never be able to find a compelling reason or motivation to do things; it is unreliable at best and nonexistent at worst. So we should be using action itself to create momentum and then motivation.

The growth mindset is fundamentally different because it assumes change and growth are possible. Whatever you are right now is just a starting place from which to grow, improve, and develop. In this approach, nothing is impossible because it takes the position that learning and growth are almost always rewarded in some way. The possibility is

Humility is often confused for weakness of character, whereas qualities like presumptuousness, arrogance, pretension, and closed-mindedness are considered outward signs of inner strength. This is possibly the biggest fallacy of philosophy in the present world—the truth is the exact opposite. Humility and curiosity show strength of character and the

The 40% rule is straightforward. It says that when an individual’s mind begins telling them that they are physically or emotionally maxed out, in reality they have only pushed themselves to 40% of their full capacity. In other words, they could endure 60% more if only they believed that they are capable of it. When you think you have reached your