The Rules That Quietly Create Millionaires

Millionaires quietly make decisions that most people avoid. Most decisions are two-way doors. You're one decision away from a better life. Those decisions shape how you handle risk, failure, money, and every opportunity every single day. Where are you going to spend your time? Your energy is one of the most important decisions you get to make in life. We have a few values that are really important to us. One, which I talked about before, is just moving fast. I think there's also a lot of opportunity that is unrealized because people aren't maybe as willing to take risks. Keep avoiding them and you'll keep getting average results no matter how hard you work. So in the next 3 hours, you'll learn the decisions, habits, and strategies that quietly compound into extraordinary success over time. If you've been before, put a hashtag #believe in the comments below so I can feature you here in a future video. And if you're new, welcome to Believe Nation, the only channel that helps you believe in yourself daily, one video at a time. Most people think becoming a billionaire is just luck, but the truth is they just think differently than most people. First principles analysis, I think, is something that can be applied to really any walk of life, anything really. It's just, it's really just saying, you know, let's boil something down to the most fundamental principles. The things that we are most confident are true at a foundational level. When I'm 80, now 90, I want to have minimized the number of regrets that I have in my life. Being an entrepreneur is about taking risks, but it's about taking very calculated risks and being, you know, protecting the downsides. Forbes reports 70% of the world's billionaires built it all themselves, starting from absolutely nothing. The list is mostly a list of self-made billionaires. 70% of the Forbes 400 made their fortune. Here I come. I had a 1977 Fiat X1/9 that literally had a hole in the floorboard. I got a job working at night as a bartender at a place called Alon's, and then I got a job selling software at a company called Your Business Software. Mark Zuckerberg was a Harvard freshman with a gift for computer programming. He transformed a dorm room project into the internet's biggest global village. The site now has over 900 million users. If you don't change how you look at problems right now, you're going to spend the rest of your life building someone else's dream instead of your own. But everyone has a perspective, and that's in fact all vision means, that you see the world in a way that is either different or otherwise, okay, than, than somebody else. And you see opportunities that I think are— that you believe are particularly important to go in and address. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. When Jeff Bezos was working a safe, high-paying Wall Street job, he had an idea to sell books on the internet. His boss told him it was a good idea for someone who didn't already have a great job. He had to change how he looked at the problem, so he used what he calls the regret minimization framework. He pictured himself at 80 years old and asked if he'd regret trying and failing. The answer was no, but he knew he'd regret not trying at all. I, um, went to my boss and said to him, you know, I'm gonna go do this crazy thing and I'm gonna start this, uh, in this company selling books online. He said, you know, this actually sounds like a really good idea to me, but it sounds like it would be a better idea for somebody who didn't already have a good job. And the framework I found which made the decision incredibly easy, what I called, which only a nerd would call, a regret minimization framework. So I wanted to project myself forward to age 80 and say, okay, now I'm looking back on my life. I want to have minimized the number of regrets I have. That shift in thinking built a $3 trillion empire. Look at Elon Musk when he started SpaceX. He wanted to buy rockets to send to Mars, but they cost up to $65 million each. That price would have stopped anyone else, but he refused to think like an average person. He used first principles thinking. He broke a rocket down to its basic parts and asked what the raw materials actually cost. It turns out the materials were super cheap, so he decided to build the rockets himself. That shift in thinking changed the world. Sara Blakely sold fax machines door-to-door for 7 years. She had $5,000 in savings and an idea for footless pantyhose. Every factory told her no, but growing up, her dad used to ask her at the dinner table what she failed at this week. If she didn't have a failure, he'd be disappointed. She learned to look at failure as just a step in the process, not the end of the road. And because she thought differently about rejection, she kept pushing until she built Spanx and became a self-made billionaire. Now, right now you're probably thinking, I don't have billions of dollars or a genius brain of Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos to do any of this. You think they had some massive advantage that you don't have, but every single one of them started with zero, just like you. The only difference is they trained their brains to see opportunities where average people see dead ends. You can learn this exact same skill right now. I'm going to show you exactly how to rewire your brain to to think like a billionaire. Break down your biggest problems. When you face a massive challenge, you probably look around to see how other people solve it. You copy their methods. You hope for the best. That's called reasoning by analogy, and it keeps people completely stuck in average results. Billionaires don't think this way at all. They use a powerful mental model called first principles. The ancient philosopher Aristotle defined a first principle as the basic foundation from which a thing is known. It means you strip away all the assumptions, all the old traditions, and all the outside noise until you find the absolute facts. When you look at the raw facts of a problem, you see solutions that everyone else misses. So let's say you want to start a business, but you think it costs $50,000 to launch. Average thinking says, well, you've got to go get a bank loan or save up for 10 years. First Principles thinking asks, what do I actually need to get my first customer? You just need a phone and internet connection. Those cost almost nothing. When you stop accepting the rules that other people hand to you, you can unlock your ability to start creating wealth. So we need to start breaking down the obstacles into the smallest possible truth, you'll realize that most of your limits, they're just completely made up. Billionaires don't accept the world exactly as is. They break it down and rebuild it to serve their own vision. Once you start doing this, you'll never look at a roadblock the same way again. But breaking down problems is only the first step, because once you see the opportunity, you've got to know how to place the right bets. Take bets where you can't lose. Most people are terrified of taking risks because they think risk means losing everything. And you probably think that billionaires that billionaires are just wild gamblers who got super lucky. And that is not true. Wealthy people actually hate risk. They actively avoid risk. Instead, they look for asymmetric risk. Asymmetric risk means the potential upside of the decision is massive, but the potential downside is incredibly small. When Richard Branson started Virgin Atlantic Airlines, he didn't risk his entire music empire to buy planes. He made a smart deal with Boeing that let him return the plane after 1 year if the business completely failed. His downside was just a few months of leasing costs, but his upside was a multibillion-dollar airline. So you need to start looking at your own life through this exact same lens. Stop risking everything on ideas that have a tiny payoff. Stop staying in a safe job where your downside is wasting 40 years of your life and your upside is a 2% raise and start looking for bets where you can lose a little bit of time or a little bit of money, but you could potentially change your entire financial future. If you make 10 asymmetric bets and 9 of them fail, that one win will completely wipe out all of your losses and make you incredibly wealthy. You've got to train yourself to spot these opportunities. If you don't take these smart bets, you'll spend your entire life working for someone who actually does. Taking the smart bet requires serious courage, which leads directly to how you handle your biggest fears. Look at your life from the end. Your brain is wired to keep you comfortable right now. When you face a tough choice, your mind instantly thinks about the immediate stress, the fear The fear of looking stupid, the potential for short-term pain. This is exactly why you put off your dreams. To think like a billionaire though, you've gotta force your brain out of the present moment. You must use the regret minimization framework from Jeff Bezos. So you project yourself forward to age 80. You picture yourself sitting in a rocking chair, looking back on your entire life, and you ask yourself, will I regret not taking this chance? The daily fears you have right now usually completely vanish when you look at them from the end of your life back to today. When you're 80, you won't care if you lost a little money at age 30. You won't care if your friends thought your idea was crazy. You'll only care about the chances you didn't take. You'll be haunted by the dreams that you let die inside you. When you view your decisions from the perspective of your 80-year-old self, the right choice becomes incredibly obvious. You stop playing small. You stop worrying about rejection. You realize that the pain of regret is infinitely worse than the pain of failure. Build systems instead of chasing goals. So you've been taught your entire life to Set big goals. But if goals were the secret to extreme wealth, everyone who set a goal would be a millionaire. The truth is, winners and losers often have the exact same goals. Every athlete wants to win the championship. Every entrepreneur wants to build a big company that has a huge impact. The goal isn't what makes you successful. Billionaires focus entirely on systems. A goal is a singular outcome you want to achieve in the future. A system is the daily process that you follow right now. If you focus only on the goal, you'll feel miserable until you finally achieve it. And once you Once you hit it, you lose all your motivation. When you focus on building a world-class system, you win every single day that you show up and run that system. If your goal is to make $1 million, your system is making 50 sales calls every morning before 10:00 AM. You can't control if a client buys from you, but you can control your system of making the calls. Wealthy people fall in love with the daily actions. They optimize their habits. They obsess over the small, boring details of their daily routine because they know that extraordinary outcomes are just the result of ordinary habits repeated over decades. So stop obsessing over what the finish line goal is going to look like and put all your energy into your daily work. If your systems are excellent, the money will naturally follow. And to build a great system, you've got to stop blindly following the herd. Stop copying what everyone else does. One of the biggest mistakes you make is looking at highly successful people and trying to copy exactly what they did. Now, I love modeling success, but this is also a massive mental flaw called survivorship bias. Bias. During World War II, the military wanted to add armor to their bomber planes. They looked at the planes coming back from battle and saw that they were covered in bullet holes on the wings and the tail. The military wanted to put armor on those damaged spots, but a brilliant mathematician named Abraham Wald realized they were looking at the wrong thing. The planes that took hits to the engine never made it back at all. The military needed to armor the engines, not the wings. In business, you only see the people who survived. You see the college dropout who built a massive tech company. You don't see the 10,000 other college dropouts who went completely bankrupt doing the exact same thing. You can't just copy the visible actions of a billionaire. You've got to understand the unseen principles behind their actions. So don't just look at their current morning routine. Look at how they made the decisions where they were broke. Understand their risk tolerance. Understand how they manage their failure. When you overcome the survivorship bias, you stop falling for all of the empty success formulas. You start thinking critically about what actually drives success for your business. And that critical thinking is exactly the skill you need to master the hardest skill in business. Cut your losses faster than anyone else. When you put time, money, energy in a project, you desperately want it to succeed, right? When it starts failing, your brain tricks you into holding on. You think, if I just work harder, I can turn this thing around. This is sunk cost fallacy, and billionaires violently reject it. Billionaire quant trader Igor Tulchinsky says that cutting losses is the hardest and most crucial skill in business. Wealthy people know that the resources you spent yesterday are gone forever. You cannot get them back. The only thing that matters is the future potential of the project. If a strategy isn't working, billionaires cut it immediately. They don't care how much money they spent already. They don't care if it hurts their pride. They ruthlessly kill bad ideas so they can free up their capital and their energy for the massive opportunities ahead. So you've got to train yourself to detach your emotions from your business decisions. Look at your current projects, look at your current investments, look at your current team, look at your current habits, and ask yourself, if I wasn't already invested in this, would I start this today? And if the answer is no, then you cut immediately. And this level of extreme discipline is incredibly painful in the moment, but holding on to a losing hand guarantees that you stay broke for the rest of your life. And once you clear the losing ideas, you have to have the right motivation to push your winning ideas forward. Make your work about more than you. If your only motivation is to have a nice car or buy a nice house or escape your job you hate, you're never going to make it. Building a massive business requires an insane amount of effort and stress and rejection. And when things get incredibly dark and you want to quit, a selfish desire for money will not keep the energy there to allow you to keep going. You must be driven by a mission to serve other people. You're built to serve. I think that— I think your biggest purpose in life comes from your deepest pain. The things that you struggle with the most are the exact things that you are uniquely qualified to help other people overcome. Billionaires build massive wealth because they solve massive problems for a lot of people. They don't wake up thinking about how to just extract dollars from the economy. They wake up obsessing over how to deliver insane amounts of value. When you can shift your focus from what you can get to what you can give, then your entire business transforms. People can feel your intention. Customers don't buy from people who are just trying to make a quick buck. They buy from people who genuinely want to improve their lives. So when you dedicate your life to serving others, it unlocks more motivation. You push through the obstacles that would break an average person because you know that other people are depending on you to win. Step into your greatness. You've got everything you need right now inside of you. So stop waiting for someone else to give you permission to be amazing. Your dreams aren't crazy. They're just waiting for you to show up and do the work. Your intelligence is the reason you're not successful. Being smart might actually be holding you back. Every day I see brilliant people with sky-high IQs lose to others with half their talent. Why? Because intelligence alone doesn't automatically translate to results. If you keep letting your smarts run the show, you'll watch those average people the ones who show up consistently and push through leapfrog right over you. And the worst part? The world misses out on your genius. The woman who should have cured cancer might be stuck in a dead-end job because she didn't believe in herself or take action. Think of the Tortoise and the Hare. The fast, cocky hare, the smart one, took a nap thinking he had the race won. The slow but steady tortoise kept going and crossed the finish line first. In real life, too many smart people act like the hare, so confident in their brainpower that they get complacent or overcomplicate everything, while the less assuming tortoises quietly grind out the win. Being the hare might feel good at first, but it doesn't win races. I learned that the hard way. In my early 20s, I had a shot at a life-changing deal, selling my first company for millions of dollars. I was trying to be the smart kid with a detailed plan, and I overplanned everything. I spent months crafting the perfect business plan instead of actually doing something. And guess what happened? A big company came looking to buy businesses like mine, but we weren't ready to move. It came down to my company and our biggest competitor, and we lost. And that competitor of ours got bought for $40 million while I was still polishing my plan. $40 million. That stung. I could have sold my business for $40 million, but I missed my shot because I was being too perfect. That failure woke me up. I realized my smart plan was really just fear in disguise. Fear of making a mistake. Fear of it not being perfect. Perfectionism is really just fear. We call it diligence, but really you're just scared. I decided to become a recovering perfectionist after that. Now when I get a great idea, I force myself to act on it immediately before my brain can come up with 20 reasons to wait. I learned that a half-assed plan that you actually execute is better than a perfect plan that stays in your head. Now, at this point, you might be thinking, Evan, are you saying I should stop being smart? Am I supposed to dumb it down to succeed? No, I'm not saying abandon your brain or act recklessly. I'm saying you have to change how you use your intelligence. Right now, your smarts are running the show and running you into a wall. You probably pride yourself on being the smartest person in the room, but is that working out for you? If you're so smart, why aren't you where you want to be? The truth is, raw intelligence without execution gets you nowhere. You have to get out of your head and into action. Being smart is a gift, but if you don't pair that gift with courage, with discipline, with hustle, it will absolutely hold you back. Don't let your ego or fear of not looking smart keep you from growing. The only thing worse than being seen as not smart is being full of potential and never actually achieving anything. So yes, keep your intelligence, but put it to work for you, not against you. So let's talk about how to fix this. Let's turn your intelligence into an asset instead of a liability. Here we go. Why smart people struggle with success and how to turn it around. Number 1, you overthink everything. Smart people can get stuck in analysis paralysis. Your brain sees 20 angles to every problem. You can imagine every possible outcome, and all that analysis leaves you spinning in circles. Sound familiar? You plan and you plan and you plan, and nothing actually happens. Meanwhile, someone with half your brain power just picks a direction and goes. They get results while you're still in your head. Here's the deal. Thinking about doing something and actually doing it are completely different things. No matter how brilliant your idea is, you must act on it. Studies in cognitive psychology even show that excessive deliberation can lead to worse decisions because you start second-guessing yourself and overcomplicating simple choices. So what's the solution? Decide and go. Give yourself a deadline to make a decision and then execute. Trust your intuition and start moving. You can adjust course as you go. Remember, real progress happens in the real world, not in your head. Don't let overthinking murder your momentum. Number 2, you're chasing perfect and it's slowing you down. This was my curse in school. You might have been the kid who got A's, who set super high standards, In life and business, those high standards can actually cripple you. You rewrite the opening chapter 7 times and never publish the book. You tinker with your product endlessly because it's not good enough yet to launch. Guess what? Perfect is the enemy of progress. Successful people execute and then iterate. Unsuccessful smart people keep polishing a draft that never sees the light of day. Here's how one entrepreneur put it: You can't refine what doesn't exist. You can't improve a product that never launched. Average performers often beat perfectionists because they're willing to put out good enough and then improve later. My own $40 million mistake was due to perfectionism. I waited and wanted the perfect plan, and I was too late. Learn from my mistake. Launch messy. Embrace mistakes. Done is better than perfect. And remember that urge to be perfect? It's really fear. Perfectionism is fear in a tuxedo. It looks respectable. Even admirable, but it's killing your success. So punch fear in the face by putting out your work, flaws and all. Progress beats perfection every time. Number 3: You rely on talent instead of work. This one stings, but I've seen it so often. Things come easy for you, right? School, jobs, picking up new skills. You're used to being the best with minimal effort. Meanwhile, others had to grind to get good, and the result is you never developed the discipline and habits that success actually requires. Maybe you breezed through school without studying, so you never learned how to truly study or struggle. You prided yourself on pulling off last-minute miracles or acing presentations with no prep. And it worked until now. So when you finally hit something hard, something that doesn't come instantly, you stall or quit because you don't have the tools or grit to push through. Psychology research backs this up. People who think intelligence is fixed tend to avoid challenges that might prove them wrong. But those who believe abilities grow with effort are the ones who persist when things things get tough. So natural talent might open the door, but discipline, resilience, and grind get you to the finish line. If you've coasted on talent, it's time to be humble and get to work. Being smart is not an excuse to be lazy. Embrace the beginner's mindset. Push yourself to do the uncomfortable drills, the boring repetitions, the late-night study sessions. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard every single time. Number 4: You get bored and lose focus. So let's get real— highly intelligent people people get bored easily. Your brain craves novelty and big ideas. Once you figure something out, doing the actual work feels tedious. You love planning the project but hate the day-to-day grind of executing it. And I get it. But here's the reality: most success is built in the boring middle. The book that you want to write— 5% is the exciting idea and 95% is sitting down day after day banging out words or editing. And that business you want to build, the concept This is thrilling, but actually building it involves 1,000 tedious tasks, paperwork and emails and routines. Not exactly fun or intellectually stimulating. The smartest people often struggle here. Isn't this work beneath me? No, this work makes you. Consistency is the secret weapon of the average. Those who succeed are willing to do the uninspiring stuff consistently without constantly questioning, is this worth my genius? If boredom is killing your momentum, fix it by reframing the boring stuff as a challenge. Can you show up and execute even when it's not exciting? That's your new game. Also, systemize your life. Build routines and accountability that keep you moving forward even when you're not feeling it. The ability to do boring things consistently is incredibly valuable. Master it and you'll leave the dabbling geniuses in the dust. Number 5, you live in theory, not reality. Smart people often fall in love with theories and big picture ideas. You might design elegant strategies in your head, craft perfect models of how things should work. But then here's how things do work in real life, which is usually much messier. If you're too attached to the ideal scenario, you can become disconnected from actual reality. So for example, you might refuse to launch a product until you understand every aspect perfectly, or you insist on a plan going exactly as imagined. And when it doesn't, you freeze. Meanwhile, less brilliant people are adapting on the fly and they're getting results. So what's the fix? Embrace reality and adjust. Don't let your beautiful theory stop you from getting your hands dirty. Maybe your strategy should be tweaked. That's fine. Maybe your hypothesis was wrong. Learn and you pivot. Actionable data comes from the real world, not the daydreams. So don't wait for conditions to match your mental model. Get out there, try stuff, and adjust to the feedback. Remember, your ability to learn and adapt beats your ability to pontificate. Communicate, stay grounded, and stay flexible. Number 6: You undervalue emotional intelligence and help from others. Success is not a solo brain game. It's a team sport. If you're brilliant but can't work with other people, you're going to hit a ceiling fast. Maybe you've told yourself, others just slow me down, or no one can do it as well as I can, right? Classic smart person trap. The truth is, someone with average IQ but great people skills will outrun a genius who alienates others. Businesses, careers, life, they all run on relationships. If you struggle to communicate, to collaborate, or to ask for help, that's a major blind spot. And I used to try everything alone and not admit weakness. It nearly broke me. I was too embarrassed to tell anyone that I was struggling, and that loneliness almost made me quit. I learned that if you don't ask for help, you end up stuck and isolated and far more likely to fail. So don't let the pride or social awkwardness sabotage you. You. You don't have to be an extrovert or the life of a party. I'm not. Just develop the skills to connect and communicate. Listen more, be curious about others, find mentors, and accept their advice. If you lack some of the soft skills, learn it. Being smart means you can grow here too. Remember, being right isn't enough. You have to bring others along if you want to do something big. And if you have a big dream, you'll definitely need others. So start valuing emotional intelligence as much as book intelligence. It's not It's the glue that holds your success together. Okay, now let's bring this home. We've identified the traps. Overanalysis, perfectionism, coasting on talent, lacking a follow-through, living in theory, and flying solo. These are natural tendencies of a powerful mind. But if you leave them unchecked, they become big barriers. The great news is you can overcome each one. Self-awareness is step one. If you've nodded along or winced at any of these points, you're already learning where to improve. Step two is to work with your tendencies instead of against them. Them. Build systems and habits to counteract your weak spots. For example, if you know that you overthink, set strict deadlines or accountability partners to force action even when you're in your head. If you're a perfectionist, set good enough goals. Deliberately release version 1.0 of a project when it's 80% there, just to prove to yourself the world doesn't end if it's not perfect. If you get bored, gamify the process or tie boring tasks to a deeper mission that actually fires you up. Practice doing things before you feel fully ready for them. This starts to train you to gather real-world feedback. And if going it alone is not working for you, find a coach, a community, a partner who can push you and keep you accountable. And most of all, shift your identity. Don't see yourself as the smart one. See yourself as the bold one, the action taker, the lifelong learner, the resilient fighter. Yes, you're smart. So use that brain to strategize ways to get out of your comfort zone instead of clever excuses to stay in it. My mom used to tell me, if you have the ability, you have the responsibility. If you can, then you must. And that hit me hard and stays with me. Your intelligence is a gift, not just for acing tests or impressing people, but for making an impact. If you're capable of more, you owe it to yourself and the world to do more. I know there's genius inside of you. Everybody has what I call Michael Jordan level talent or genius. That's something. Don't let it go to waste because of fear laziness, or ego. Break the patterns. Do the uncomfortable work. The world needs what you have, and you deserve to fulfill the measure of your potential. Ready to discover the skills that could skyrocket your success this year? These aren't academic theories. They're practical, in-demand abilities that you can learn without a formal degree. Each skill taps into emerging market needs, offers entrepreneurial leverage, and has scalable impact. Let's dive in and imagine the possibility possibilities each one opens up for your business and income. Skill number 1, AI integration and automation, turning intelligence into income. Okay, so what is it? Here we're gonna leverage AI and automation tools to streamline operations, create smarter products, or even launch AI-driven services. It's using machines to do the heavy thinking or doing for you, from chatbots that handle customer inquiries to AI systems that optimize your marketing or inventory in real time. Here's why it matters this year. The AI revolution isn't coming. It's right here now, and it's rewriting the rules of business. By 2024, 70% of organizations reported using AI in some capacity, up from just 55% the year before. Companies are pouring investments in the AI at record levels— over $109 billion in the US in 2024, with nearly $34 billion globally into generative AI. And they desperately need people who can make it work. The catch? There's a huge talent gap. 94% of business leaders say they face AI-related skill shortages on their teams, with 1 in 3 reporting massive gaps in critical AI roles. What does that mean? Demand is way bigger than supply, and that means opportunities for you. Entrepreneurs who are AI savvy can step in and command premium prices for their solutions. This isn't just for tech companies either. From healthcare to finance, AI is being woven into daily operations. Even the FDA, FDA has approved hundreds of AI-enabled medical devices, and self-driving cars are logging thousands of rides right now. The world is racing to adopt AI, and those who can ride that wave stand to reap huge rewards. So how can entrepreneurs profit? Think of AI as a force multiplier for your business. An entrepreneur with AI skills can automate super boring processes, freeing up time to scale faster. You can make smarter products with better features. You can and offer AI consulting and integration services to companies who are willing to pay for help. So for example, a small e-commerce founder might use AI to personalize their shopping experience for each customer automatically, leading to happier customers and higher sales. Or maybe you're launching a micro SaaS tool that uses AI, like an AI scheduling assistant or content generator. Even a one-person business can serve thousands of customers when AI is doing most of the work. The evidence is everywhere. Companies using AI report higher productivity and lower cost, and many have seen AI-driven projects boost their bottom line. One entrepreneur created an AI-powered copywriting service and landed hundreds of clients globally, essentially earning money 24/7 as the AI works for them. The key is that AI is practical and learnable. With countless online courses and tools, you can start applying AI even if you're not a programmer. Programmer. Many AI platforms are actually plug and play. So this year, knowing how to harness AI is like having a superpower. It's not just about efficiency, it's about unlocking new income streams. From automating your marketing to building the next ChatGPT-like app for a niche industry, AI integration is a skill that can pay off almost immediately. So embrace it and you ride the biggest tech wave of our era straight towards profit. Now AI might be the brains, but data is the backbone. So next, let's look at the skills that turn raw numbers into Skill number 2, data analytics and business intelligence. Profiting from big data. Okay, so what is it? It's the skill of collecting, analyzing, and drawing smart insights from data to drive business decisions. So data analytics is like having X-ray vision for your business. It lets you see the patterns and trends that normal people's eyes would miss. So business intelligence or BI goes hand in hand, focusing on those who are using insights to make strategic calls. This skill isn't about math genius. It's about knowing which numbers matter and how to translate them into action. So why it matters right now in this year, we live in a world that has tons of data. Every click, every purchase, every interaction, it can be tracked. But few people know how to turn that ocean of information into actual real value. And that's where you can come in. Companies have realized that gut instinct isn't enough. 81% of businesses now believe data should be at the heart of all decision-making, and they're willing to pay handsomely for those who can deliver results. Why? Because data-driven businesses simply perform better. They're more productive and more profitable on average than their less data-savvy peers. Companies that truly embrace analytics have seen efficiencies boost as high as 60 to 80% in operations. It's not just about giant corporations. Even small startups benefit when they can quickly identify which product feature is a hit or which marketing channel brings the best ROI. And this is a very clear trend. The global big data analytics market is massive. It's over over $270 billion in value and still growing. And there's a shortage of professionals who can wrangle data effectively. Executives are literally hungry for insights. A recent survey found 88% of business leaders rank data analytics as a top priority for upskilling in the organization. So this year, being fluent in data is like having a secret weapon in your market. You base decisions on facts, not guesses, which is a recipe for winning. Meaning. So how can entrepreneurs use it? Data analytics can make you rich in two ways. First, by applying it to your own business, you can pinpoint your most profitable customers, you can find inefficiencies to cut, you can test pricing strategies with actual hard evidence. For example, Netflix famously used data analytics to save $1 billion a year by recommending exactly what viewers wanted. So imagine bringing that kind of insight into your business decisions. Secondly, you can sell this skill as a service to others. Many companies, especially smaller ones, they drown in data but have no idea what to do with it. You could come in as a freelance analyst or consultant, turn their data into a clear action plan, and charge premium fees for delivering growth or savings. So picture telling your client, I found a way to boost your sales 20% by analyzing your customer behavior, and then actually doing it. There are real case studies of entrepreneurs doing just this. One startup founder used business intelligence tools to optimize her inventory and eliminated over $100,000 in annual waste directly padding her profits. Another built a consulting agency that helps local businesses set up simple dashboards and KPIs, and within a year he was booking 5-figure contracts regularly. The bottom line is data analytics is practical and learnable. There's tons of online courses, YouTube videos, tools that are now drag-and-drop. Master it and you can either supercharge your own business or become the go-to data guru who turns others' confusion into cash. So in this year Data, it's a new oil, and knowing how to drill for it is an extremely high income skill. Now, having great data is pointless if you can't attract customers. That's where our next skill comes in. It's time to cash in on the art of getting noticed. Skill number 3: digital marketing and growth hacking. Scaling visibility into wealth. So what is it? Digital marketing is a skill of getting customers for people's businesses online through channels like social media, through search engines, through email, through LLMs, and more. Growth hacking is a trendy way to say creative, fast-paced marketing experimentation, right? So finding clever, low-cost tactics to drive growth or sales for your business or other people's. This skill is about making your business impossible to ignore on the internet and turning that attention into revenue. So covers everything from running targeted ads, optimizing a website to rank on Google or GPT, crafting viral content, analyzing campaign data, to tweak for better results, making YouTube videos to spread your message. Why it matters this year is you could have the best product or service in the world, but if nobody knows about it, you don't make a dime. This year, digital marketing remains one of the highest skills for entrepreneurs because online attention is the currency of our kingdom. Just look at the numbers. Global digital ad spending is projected to hit $843 billion. Yes, with a B. Companies large and small are pouring money into Facebook ads, Google searches, TikTok videos, wherever their audience lives online. And they need experts who know how to navigate this landscape. Landscape. The job outlook also reflects that demand. Marketing roles are expected to grow by 10%, faster than the average for all careers. And in particular, there's surging demand for people skilled in areas like marketing analytics, content creation, and SEO, SEM, because every business wants to rank number one on Google and decode the algorithms of ChatGPT. The beauty of digital marketing is that it's practical and learnable. No MBA required, just practice, creativity, and keeping up with the trends. We're also seeing new frontiers like AI-driven marketing. Over 50% of businesses are already using generative AI to improve their operations. All this means that entrepreneurial marketers who stay sharp can out-hustle their bigger competitors. So in this year, if you know how to get the right message to the right people at the right time online, you basically have a license to print money. So how can you use it as an entrepreneur? Digital marketing is often the make-or-break skill that determines if you scale or if you stay stock. And so if you master it and you can acquire customers on demand, you can enter new markets quickly. You can even build a personal brand that multiplies all of your opportunities. Take for example an online fitness coach who leverages social media marketing by mastering YouTube and Instagram. She grows her audience to hundreds of thousands and launches a fitness app that earns 7 figures online. Or think of a small local business owner who uses savvy Google search ads and SEO to dominate local search traffic, right? Their store goes from unknown to the go-to place in town. And these aren't hypotheticals. These things are happening right now all around us. As an entrepreneur, you can also sell digital marketing expertise. If you're great at, say, SEO or Facebook ads, you can freelance or start an agency. Businesses are eager to pay because they've seen the ROI. For every dollar spent on email marketing can yield $36 in return, as various studies have shown. So a skilled email marketer is worth their weight in gold. Another real-world use case, an entrepreneur Growth hacked his startup by creating a referral program that went viral. So think Dropbox's free storage for referral strategy, acquiring millions of users without a massive ad budget. That's growth hacking in action. So digital marketing lets you scale up quickly. An ad campaign can reach millions of people overnight. A piece of content that catches fire can bring in floods of traffic. You're not limited by your local area, your storefront, and with analytics tools, you can measure every penny and double down on what works like truly data-driven marketing. And the emotional side, it's pretty thrilling to see your business blow up because of a campaign that you created. The control is right here. It's in your hands. With consumer attention shifting every year, today it might be YouTube or LinkedIn newsletters. Tomorrow, who knows? Entrepreneurs who have the skill will ride each wave and outpace their competition. Digital marketing and growth hacking are high-income skills because they directly drive revenue, and mastering them means you can virtually write your own success story. Story in this digital age. So now you've got the customer's attention. Now we need to convince them to open their wallets. The next skill is all about the art of persuasion, and it's one of the oldest and most profitable tricks in the book. Skill number 4: persuasive communication and storytelling. Selling anything to anyone. So what is it? This is the skill of conveying ideas in a compelling way. So that's through sales pitches and marketing copy, or even everyday networking conversations. It includes sales and negotiation, right? Convincing a customer or partner to say yes. Copywriting, which is writing words that sell from ads to landing pages and storytelling, crafting a narrative that hooks people in emotionally. It's how to talk or write so people listen, trust you, and feel motivated to act like clicking the buy now or signing a contract. Why it matters this year is no matter how advanced technology gets, the power of a good story and genuine connection communication never goes out of style. In fact, as automation rises, those human-centered skills become more valuable. This year's marketplace is hyperstimulated. Consumers see thousands of ads and posts a day, so the ability to cut through that noise with a resonant message is pure gold. 68% of consumers say that a brand story influences their buying decisions. People remember stories up to 22 times more than plain facts. That's huge for entrepreneurs trying to build a memorable brand or pitch to investors. And yes, we see evidence that storytelling and communication translate to better better results. Marketing campaigns built around a narrative can boost conversion rates by 30% or more. On the sales side, companies are actively looking for leaders with strong social influence and communication skills. Even the World Economic Forum highlighted leadership and social influence as a top skill for the future. Why? Because a person who can rally a team, win over a client, uh, negotiate a profitable deal, they are invaluable. Also, let's talk money. Jobs like sales executives or copywriters are often high-paying because they directly bring in revenue. A top-performing tech sales rep, for example, can earn a six-figure base salary plus another six figures in commissions. Copywriters who crack the code of persuasion are similarly rewarded. Many freelance copywriters charge $100+ an hour, and businesses happily pay because one killer sales page or email sequence can generate hundreds of thousands in sales. Words are powerful, and this year, those who who can wield that power expertly will find that it translates into serious income. So how can you use it as an entrepreneur? You're always selling, not just your products, but your vision, your brand, even selling yourself as a trustworthy partner. Persuasive communication turns this into a superpower. Mastering storytelling means you can craft a brand narrative that makes customers feel something and remember you. So for example, instead of just saying, uh, our shoe is comfortable, you share the story of a customer who, thanks to your shoe, ran their first marathon pain-free to honor a loved one. Right now, you're not just selling a shoe, you're selling inspiration, you're selling identity. That's the difference that makes people lifetime fans. On a more practical side, entrepreneurs skilled in communication, they'll just close more deals. So imagine you're negotiating with a supplier or an investor. If you can clearly articulate your value and persuade them effectively, you'll likely get better terms, maybe tens of thousands saved or gained in one conversation. If you sell services or high-ticket products, strong sales techniques like consultative selling or solutions-based selling is key. Today's customers expect you to understand their needs and tailor your offer. Being able to do that can literally double or triple your closing rate. So for example, you can monetize a skill by offering freelance copywriting or sales consulting. Great copywriters are in short supply, even with AI writing tools around, because someone has to give the AI the right emotional direction. Direction. Businesses will pay top dollar for emails and ads that actually convert. One excellent sales page can be worth millions to a company. So paying a writer $10,000 a craft, it is— it's a no-brainer for some companies. Skilled copywriters routinely earn over $150,000 a year once they built a reputation. And don't forget content creators and influencers. They are essentially storytellers too, turning authentic communication into followers and income from ads and sponsorships or product sales. Emotions drive decisions. And if you can tap into emotions with genuine communication, you can drive decisions in your favor. So this year, mastering persuasive communication and storytelling isn't just a nice to have. It's often the difference between a business that just fizzles out and one that actually becomes a phenomenon. We've covered brains, data, marketing, charm. Our final skill might not sound as glamorous, but it's a massive moneymaker in today's world. It's all about protecting the wealth that you're building. And it's an area where demand is exploding. Skill number 5, cybersecurity and data protection, guarding the digital gold mine. Okay, so what is it? Cybersecurity is the skill of keeping data, software systems safe from hackers and breaches. It's being the, uh, digital bodyguard for businesses. This includes understanding how to prevent attacks. So think malware, phishing, ransomware, knowing how to plug vulnerabilities in networks or websites and making sure that companies follow best practices so sensitive information like consumer data is not stolen or compromised. It's deeply technical for those who specialize, but at a high level, it's very learn-by-doing problem-solving field, and you don't need a PhD to get good at it, just solid training and experience and a curious mind. Data protection goes hand in hand, so think dealing with proper handling and compliance, like the laws of the land. So for an entrepreneur, having cybersecurity skills means that you can both both protect your own venture, but also potentially offer security solutions to other people as a business. So why does it matter this year? One word: risk. As businesses digitize every aspect of their operations, the risk of cyberattacks have skyrocketed, and so have the costs. The average cost of a single data breach hit an eye-watering $4.9 million globally. So for a small or mid-sized company, that kind of hit can be fatal. That's why firms are desperate for cybersecurity expertise. And why it's become a high-income skill, high-demand skill. We're in a situation where there aren't nearly enough cybersecurity pros to go around. The global cybersecurity workforce is millions short. One recent study showed about 4.8 million cybersecurity roles are unfulfilled worldwide. There are millions of openings and not enough people with the skills, a gap that widened by 19% in just one year. So talent shortage is actually the number one obstacle companies face in securing their systems. This kind of supply-demand mismatch is exactly what drives up incomes for those who have the skill. So companies have even started to prioritize this in budgets because they simply cannot afford the alternative. Companies without adequate security staff end up paying on average $1.76 million more per breach due to slower response and damage control. But just beyond like corporate IT departments, every entrepreneur with an online presence needs at least basic cybersecurity security savviness. Cyber threats this year are more sophisticated. Yes, hackers are using AI too. So on top of that, customer trust and regulations require more solid data protection. You don't want to be that startup that leaked user data and lost credibility overnight. So from ransomware attacks shutting down hospitals to small businesses getting scammed from phishing, the threat is universal. This urgency is driving a huge market for cybersecurity products and consultants. Global spending on cybersecurity is rising every year, tens of billions of dollars annually, as businesses effectively say, please take our money and keep us safe. If you can step in with the skills to do so, you will be richly rewarded. So as some evidence, top freelance cybersecurity experts report rates of $200 to $300 an hour, and experienced security consultants can make over $500,000 a year by serving multiple clients. So it's no surprise that when the stakes are this high, why companies are willing to pay for peace of mind. So how can entrepreneurs use it? If you're building your own company, cybersecurity skills are like an insurance policy and a selling point. You can save a ton of money by implementing security measures yourself instead of hiring some expensive firms and avoid disaster that could derail your business. But also, being more security-minded from day one can be a competitive advantage. You can use that in your marketing. Customers and partners will feel safer dealing with you. So for example, uh, e-commerce entrepreneur who knows how to secure their payment systems and protect customer data not only avoids costly breaches but can market their store as ultra secure, which gains more customer trust and extra sales in an era of privacy concerns. On the other side, cybersecurity is also an amazing service and a business opportunity. So given that huge talent gap, you could start a consultancy or freelance as a virtual CISO, as Chief Information Security Officer, for multiple small companies that can't afford one in-house. They get your expertise part-time, you get a hefty paycheck. Some entrepreneurs are launching cybersecurity startups. So whether that's, um, developing a niche security software tool or you're offering specialized training, there's even demand for things like ethical hackers who companies pay to test their defenses. We've seen solo consultants charge retainers in the thousands per month per client just to be on call for security incidents. And with new data privacy laws popping up all the time, like Europe's GDPR and others, businesses are scrambling for guidance, which is another avenue for advisory services you could offer if you're well-versed in compliance. So the key point is this: threats are growing and talent is scarce. If you equip yourself with this skill, you become part of a highly sought-after elite group of people. Not only can you command higher fees because preventing a multimillion-dollar breach is essentially worth a high payout. But you also carry the confidence that you can protect the empire that you're building too. In a time where a single hack can wipe out years of effort, the entrepreneurs who understand cybersecurity will safeguard their wealth and even turn security into a profitable service for others. It's truly a high-impact, high-income skill for today's age. So each of these 5 skills— AI integration, data analytics, digital marketing, persuasive Communication and Cybersecurity hits the sweet spot of being practical, learnable, and immediately valuable this year. They align with the biggest technology shifts and market needs that we are seeing right now. AI is everywhere. Data is the king. Online growth is non-negotiable. Human connection still seals a deal, and security underpins it all. The best part is you don't need a fancy degree to get started with any of these. There are YouTube videos, bootcamps, online courses, communities for each skill that you can start learning right now. Entrepreneurs who invest time in mastering even one or two of these will position themselves to generate wealth in the short term. We're talking within a year or two, not decades. And it's all backed by trends and numbers that I've already cited throughout this entire video. The market is hungry for these abilities. So ask yourself, which of these skills speaks to you right now? The entrepreneurs getting rich this year aren't necessarily the ones with the most funding or the fanciest ideas. Often they're the ones who have the right skills at the right time and execute relentlessly. Now you know 5 of those right skills. It's time to choose, learn, and leap. Here's to your success, because this year might be the year your hard work and high-income skills make you the next great success story. Most of what you learn in school is completely useless for making real money. School teach you about money? And the answer is nothing. They know nothing about money, and they teach our kids. The highest earners in the world ignore traditional career paths and focus on stacking a handful of high-impact skills. And if you keep following the old rules of climbing the corporate ladder, you will stay stuck struggling to pay your bills while watching other people live your dream life. A salary is the drug they give you when they want you to forget about your dreams. Let's look at Warren Buffett. He is one of the richest investors investors alive. But if you walk into his office, you will not see his university degrees on the wall. The only thing he hangs up is a certificate for a public speaking course that he took. I actually had the diploma in the office, and I don't have my diploma from college, I don't have my diploma from graduate school, but I've got my Dale Carnegie diploma there because it changed my life. He realized that learning the skill of communication would instantly double his value. He ignored traditional rules and focus on a skill that actually prints money. By far the best investment you can make is in yourself. If they just learn to communicate better, both in writing and in person, they increase their value at least 50%. Now you might be thinking, okay, that's easy for Warren Buffett, but I'm just too busy trying to survive to learn something new. The actual truth is you do not need to quit your job or spend years back in a classroom. You just need to focus your limited time on the exact abilities that the market actually pays for. And so today I'm going to show you the 7 high-return skills you can start learning today that will completely transform your earning power. Master artificial intelligence and prompt engineering. So you might think that artificial intelligence is going to steal your job, but the truth is a person who knows how to use artificial intelligence is going to take your job. It's projected that 75% of global businesses will use AI in their daily operations. If you ignore this trend, you'll be completely left behind. A massive report shows that artificial intelligence could add $4.4 trillion to the global economy, so you need to claim your piece of that pie. The most important high-return skill right now is prompt engineering. This just means knowing exactly how to talk to artificial intelligence to get the best results. You cannot just type in a lazy question and expect magic magic. You have to use a specific 4-part framework. First, define the role. So tell the program to act like an expert copywriter or a brilliant lawyer. Second, provide the data. Give it examples of what you want. Third, make the specific ask. Do not be vague. And fourth, request the exact format, like a bulleted list or a table. When you master this communication skill, you can do 10 hours of work in just 1 hour. You instantly become 10 times more valuable to any client or employer. Do not wait for the perfect moment to learn this. Action cures fear. Just open a free program today and start testing it. Build your momentum right now. But artificial intelligence is just a tool. To truly multiply your income, you need to know how to sell the value you just created, which leads perfectly into the second skill. Close high-ticket sales. Selling cheap products will keep you exhausted and broke. If you sell a $20 item, you need you need thousands of customers just to pay your rent. But if you master the skill of high-ticket sales, you only need a handful of clients to completely change your financial life. High-ticket offers are not about tricking people into paying more for the same service. They are about solving problems that are so painful, urgent, or expensive that premium pricing becomes totally obvious to the buyer. So you have to change your entire mindset around selling. Most people feel slimy when they ask for money, but you are built to serve. If you have a product or a service that can genuinely fix someone's problem, you have a moral obligation to offer it to them. If you do not offer it to them, you are hurting them. You are being selfish. Selling is just serving at the highest possible level. You also need to understand that sales is a learned skill, not a genetic gift. Companies that spend money on sales training are 57% more effective than companies that ignore it. You can learn the scripts. You can learn how to handle objections. Do not take the yes away from the customer before you even ask for the sale. So pick up the phone, make your premium offer, and let them decide. Selling one-on-one is incredibly powerful, but what if you want to reach millions of people at the exact same time? That is where the third skill comes in. Public speaking and video communication. You have to get on camera. It does not matter if you are shy or introverted. I was. Video communication is the single fastest way to build deep trust with a massive audience. When people can see your face, they can hear your voice, they connect with your story on a highly emotional level. You do not need a fancy studio or an expensive microphone. You just need your smartphone and the courage to share your truth. When I started making videos, I was completely terrified. I was an introverted guy who just wanted to hide. It took me 350 videos before I was not completely embarrassed to watch my own content back, and it took me 700 public videos until I actually started to think I was getting be good. I expected to suck at the beginning, and I did, but I just kept going. I focused entirely on the one person that I could help instead of worrying about the millions of people who were not watching me yet. So if you want to stand out in your industry, start making videos about your foundation story. Tell people why you started your business. Tell them about your struggles. Tell them what to believe. Do not wait for validation from the internet. Just put in the reps and build your back catalog. The market always rewards the people who show up consistently and speak with passion. The art of skill stacking. So school's taught you that you need to pick one major and do one specific job for the rest of your life, right? That is terrible advice for making real money. Our economy does not reward specialists who only know one narrow thing. The highest earners in the world use a strategy called skill stacking. You do not need to be the absolute best in the world at one skill. Skill, you just need to be in the top 20% for 3 or 4 different skills and then combine them. So instead of just being a normal graphic designer, you become a designer who also understands user psychology and direct response copywriting. That specific combination makes you incredibly rare. Research from the World Economic Forum proves that cross-functional skills are the most heavily demanded abilities in the entire global job market. So look at your life. Take your boring corporate experience, add a little bit of marketing knowledge, and mix in your weird weekend hobby. Suddenly you have a totally unique profile that nobody else can compete with. You stop being a commodity and you start being a category of one. When you are the only person who can do what you do, you get to dictate your own price. But what happens when you have these rare skills and people still refuse to pay you what you're worth, you have to master the next skill to force the market to respect your value. Data-driven negotiations. Most people walk into a salary review or a client pitch completely driven by their emotions. They complain about how hard they work. They talk about how long that they've been at their company. They say that they need more money because their rent went up. That strategy will keep you broke forever. Businesses do not care about your personal financial stress. They only care about the value that you bring to their bottom line. So if you want to double your income, you have to separate your self-worth from the negotiation process. You can use hard data. An analysis of 500 different salary negotiations revealed that using emotional arguments only worked 8% of the time. But when people presented a business case backed by actual market data, the success jumped to 67%. You have to do your research, find out exactly what your specific skill stack is worth in the open market right now. Present those numbers confidently. Show the client exactly how much money your work is going to make them. When you frame your request as a smart business investment instead of a personal favor, the money will flow to you. Negotiation gets you paid the right amount, but to build massive wealth that lasts decades, you need to understand the underlying pulse of your entire industry. And that brings us to skill number 6. Data analysis and market research. You cannot build a million-dollar business based just off of your gut feelings alone. You have to know your actual numbers. Most people are terrified of looking at their analytics because they are afraid of seeing the ugly truth. They would rather live in denial. But if you do not know exactly where your leads are coming from or exactly where your customers are dropping off, You are just flying blind. Data science and analysis roles offer massive salaries because the ability to read data allows companies to maximize their purchasing power and predict future trends. You do not need a fancy degree to do this. You just need to log into your dashboard and face reality, right? When I'm trying to grow a YouTube channel, I do not just guess what people want to watch. I look at the exact click-through rates on every single thumbnail. Thumbnail. I studied the audience retention curves for the first 60 seconds of the video. You have to do the exact same thing for your business. Track your conversion rates, track your email open rates, double down immediately on the things that are working and ruthlessly cut out the things that are failing. Let the data show you a clearer path forward. Now you can have the best data, the best sales pitch, and the best technical skills, but you will still hit a massive income ceiling if you try to do everything yourself. Yourself. This final skill is the ultimate wealth multiplier. Leadership and team building. You are the biggest bottleneck in your own life right now. You are trying to control every single tiny detail of your work because you are a perfectionist. You think nobody else can do the job as well as you can. That belief is keeping you stuck playing a very small game. The fastest way to scale your income to the moon is to stop asking how you can do a task and start asking who can do this task for you. When you transition into true leadership, your job is no longer doing the daily grind. Your job is to empower other people to do the work. Self-confidence and the ability to delegate are the absolute foundations of success for any high-level executive or business owner. You must learn the framework of eliminate, automate, delegate. First, eliminate the useless tasks that you do every day that do not actually move the needle. Second, automate everything you can using software and AI. And finally, delegate the rest of the work to talented people who actually love the things that you hate doing. You have to let go of your ego, let your team make mistakes so they can learn and grow, build a culture where your people feel like the work they do actually matters. And when you focus on serving your team and lifting them up, they will build your empire with you. You now have the exact 7 skills you need to completely double your income this year. But all of these strategies are completely useless pointless if you do not fix the one massive problem happening inside your head right now. Your true potential. The only thing truly holding you back from doubling your income is your own self-doubt. You have to decide today that your biggest goals are actually possible for you. Stop listening to the people who tell you to play it safe and stay small. Step into your greatness and do the work that you were put on earth to do. You might be sabotaging your success every morning without even knowing it. Billionaires have specific morning habits that set them up to win each day, and chances are you're not doing them yet. If you want to achieve billionaire-level status as an entrepreneur, it starts with how you begin your day. So let's dive into the 7 morning habits that billionaires swear by so you can start adopting them too. Are you ready to upgrade your morning routine? Let's go. Habit number 1 is wake up early consistently. Do you hit the snooze button? Billionaires don't. Nearly half of self-made millionaires in one study woke up at least 3 hours before the workday began. By contrast, only 3% of low-income earners did the same. Waking up early gives you a massive head start. It's quiet, it's distraction-free, and it's time you can use to invest in you before the world wakes up. Take Sir Richard Branson, for example. For example, he rises at 5 AM no matter where he is in the world. Why? It allows him to exercise, spend time with his family, and get in the right mindset before business begins. As Branson says, exercise and family time put me in a great mind frame before getting down to business. I like to wake up early so that I can work through my emails before most of the world logs on. That early start gives him an edge. So here's your action step: start waking up even just 30 minutes earlier than you do Now use your time for your growth, as we'll cover in the upcoming habits. Gradually push it to an hour or more. Consistency is key. Waking up at the same time each day trains your body and builds momentum. In my book, Your One Word, I talk about the power of defining a single core value. Use your extra morning time to focus on your core value or mission. This will give you a why that makes getting out of bed easier. Remember, the early bird catches the worm. Billionaires catch the worm and conquer the whole farm by breakfast. Habit number 2: Exercise and move your body. Your body is your engine. Billionaires treat it that way by making morning exercise non-negotiable. Dr. Richard Branson, worth over $4 billion, says the secret to his productivity boils down to two words: work out. He claims regular exercise is a tool that doubles his daily productivity. It boosts his energy and focus for the rest of the day. If a billionaire runs running 400+ companies can make time to break a sweat each morning, so can you. Science also backs us up. Morning exercise floods your brain with oxygen and releases chemicals that improve your memory and concentration. Even a quick 20 to 30 minute workout will get your blood pumping and your brain firing on all cylinders. Bill Gates starts many days with cardio exercise, often on the treadmill, while learning via video lectures. Oprah Winfrey does regular morning work workouts ranging from hiking to strength training to stay in peak state. These leaders know that a healthy body equals a more effective mind. Now don't worry, you don't need to train like an Olympic athlete. Just get moving. Do some stretches, do a quick run, yoga, hit the gym, or even take a brisk walk. Consistency matters more than intensity. As I often emphasize, building momentum is critical. By exercising each morning, you create momentum of positive energy that carries into your work. You will feel more confident, alert, and ready to tackle challenges. Plus, exercise is a natural stress reliever. So here is your action step. Pick a form of morning exercise that you enjoy, or at least can tolerate, and schedule it in. Even 15 minutes daily is a great start. Over time, you can ramp that up. Treat that appointment with your body as sacred. Remember, you're not just working out, you're sharpening your biggest business tool—yourself. As the saying goes, take care of your your body. It's the only place you have to live, and it will reward you with sharper focus and higher output all day long. Habit number 3: Practice mindfulness or meditation. Stressed out about the day before it even begins? Billionaires calm their mind first thing. Many credit meditation or mindfulness practices as their secret weapon for their success. Hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio, who's the founder of Bridgewater Associates, says, whatever success I've I've had in life has been more due to my meditating than anything else. This man manages billions of dollars and he gives a huge amount of credit to daily meditation, which was 20 minutes in the morning and again later in the day. It helps him stay calm, think clearly, and make better decisions under pressure. What's so powerful about mindfulness? By taking even 10 minutes for quiet reflection, you train your brain to handle stress and chaos without panicking. Studies show that practices like Transcendental Meditation can significantly reduce anxiety and stress and even improve your mental health and resilience. When you're an entrepreneur, your ability to stay focused and composed is a competitive advantage. Meditation is basically a daily workout for your brain's calm and focused muscles. Successful people use different mindfulness tools. Meditation is one. Prayer is another. Breathing exercise can work, or journaling. Oprah Winfrey, for example, starts her day with 20 minutes of meditation to center herself. Jack Dorsey, who's the co-founder of Twitter and Square, reportedly does meditation each morning at 5:00 AM to clear his mind. This isn't just hippie stuff. It's about getting your brain into peak operating condition. When you're calm and centered, you make smart decisions, not emotional reactive ones. So here's your action step. Tomorrow morning, before diving into work, sit in silence for a few minutes. Focus on your breath or try simple meditation app. If meditation isn't your thing, just try sitting with a notebook and writing down your thoughts or intentions. More on intentions soon. The goal is to quiet the mental chatter and sharpen your focus. In Built to Serve, I talk about finding your purpose. Sometimes you can't hear your purpose because your mind is too noisy. So morning mindfulness will help you listen to that inner voice and approach the day with clarity and confidence. Habit number 4: Read and learn every morning. Billionaires are learning machines. They make feeding their mind a morning priority. So instead of scrolling social media or news fluff, they read books, articles, reports, anything that builds knowledge. Warren Buffett spends about 80% of his day reading and famously suggests aspiring entrepreneurs should read 500 pages a day. He says that's how knowledge builds up like compound interest. Now, 500 pages daily might be extreme for you, But the point is, never stop learning. Many of the top entrepreneurs use mornings for self-education. Bill Gates reads roughly 50 books per year, often devoting morning time to reading before work. Mark Cuban reads 3+ hours a day to gain any advantage that he can. Elon Musk has said that when people asked how he learned to build rockets, he simply answered, I read books. Billionaires treat knowledge as the greatest asset they can accumulate. The average person might be content with browsing headlines. The billionaire devours information that can spark new ideas or improve their decision-making. Now, you don't need hours each morning to read, but do try to read something useful each day. It could be a chapter of a nonfiction book that you're learning, an industry article, a biography of something you admire. Even 30 minutes every morning can set you apart. One study of rich versus poor habits found that 88% of wealthy people read at least 30 minutes a day for self-improvement. It's a habit that clearly correlates with success. Reading does two big things: it expands your knowledge and it inspires you by showing what's possible. You can effectively mentor under great people by reading their ideas and experiences every morning. So here is your action step: pick a book or learning resource like YouTube that aligns with your goals. Wake up, grab your coffee or tea or whatever you want to drink, and read before you jump into work mode. Make notes of any ideas that jump out and think about how to apply them to your business, your life. And over time, you'll notice that this habit not only increases your knowledge, but also puts you in a more inspired, motivated state to start the day. Feed your mind before you feed the world's demands. In a year, you'll have read dozens of books and your improved thinking will directly benefit your business. This is how you go to bed a little smarter each day, as Buffett says, by starting each morning as a student of success. Habit number 5: Plan your day and prioritize. Billionaires don't wing it when it comes to their day. They take a few minutes each morning or the night before to plan and prioritize what needs to get done. Instead of reacting to whatever comes up, they proactively decide what their day will look like. This often means identifying the number one most important task for the day and tackling it first. As the old saying goes, if you have to eat a frog, eat it first thing in the morning. In other words, do your hardest, highest-value tasks first while your energy and willpower are at their peak. Research backs up the power of planning. In Thomas Corley's study of rich habits, he found that 81% of wealthy people maintain a daily to-do list versus just 19% of low-income people. Not only that, 67% of those wealthy people complete 70% or more of their tasks each day. They write down what matters and they execute on it. Writing your plan forces you to clarify what's important. Remember, being busy is not the same as being productive. Billionaires focus on the few critical activities that drive their goals, not the trivial many. Jeff Bezos, for example, schedules his high-IQ meetings at 10 a.m. while he's still fresh. He refuses to take meetings early in the morning so he can have time to think, plan, and get important work done, and even enjoys a relaxing breakfast with family family before diving into Amazon business. Bezos said, I do my high IQ meetings before lunch. Anything that's going to be really mentally challenging, that's a 10 o'clock meeting. He knows he's at his best in the morning, so he protects that time for critical work and decision-making. By 5 PM, as he says, his brain is tapped out, so he structures his day to make the big moves early. So here's your action step: take 5 to 10 minutes each morning to map out your day. Write down your top 3 priorities. Do before you get caught up in emails or fires. If you have a major task that could really move your business forward, schedule time in the morning to attack it. Planning doesn't mean every minute is fixed. It means you have a game plan and clear priorities. This will keep you from drifting and reacting all day. As you complete your important task, check them off. It builds momentum and confidence, and over time, this habit will make you incredibly effective. Remember, either you run the day, or the day runs you. Billionaires run their day starting with a solid morning plan. Habit number 6: avoid morning distractions. That means no phone first. So here's a habit to not do: don't grab your phone the moment you wake up. Seriously, the average person, about 80% of people, checks their phone within 10 minutes of waking up. That means most people start their day in reactive mode, scrolling through notifications and emails and social media and the news and other people's agendas. Billionaires break this common habit. They protect their morning focus like gold. So why is avoiding your phone so important? Attention. The first hour of your day sets the tone for the rest. If you immediately plunge into a flood of messages and emails, you're telling your brain to play defense all day. You're chasing, you're reacting, you're stressing. Instead, successful entrepreneurs use mornings for offense— their goals, their mindsets, their plan. As we've already covered, they know Twitter and email can wait until they've taken care of key morning habits: exercise, planning, etc. By doing so, they stay in control. You own your morning instead of letting push notifications and inboxes own you. So think about it. When you wake up, your mind is relatively clear. If you fill it with a social feed or frantic work emails, you've essentially let 100 people in your bedroom shouting demands at you. Top performers often keep the phone on airplane mode or in another room until their morning routine is done. Arianna Huffington, as an example, not a billionaire, but a very successful founder, has spoken about banning devices from her morning routine to reduce stress. Even Oprah is known to avoid checking emails first thing. She'll spend her morning on meditation, exercise, and a good breakfast to ground herself. So here is your action step: don't check your phone for at least the first 30 to 60 minutes after you wake up. If you currently use your phone as an alarm, consider getting a separate alarm clock or placing your phone across the room so you can't mindlessly reach for it in bed. Use that first hour for the habits we're talking about— exercise, reading, planning, etc. If you absolutely must see if an urgent message came in, scan briefly after you've done one positive activity for yourself. Trust me, the world will not implode if you wait to check Instagram or Slack. By avoiding digital distractions, you give yourself the gift of presence and focus each morning. This will make you far more productive when you do dive into work. It might feel tough at first since phone checking is an addiction for many, but stick with it because reclaiming those lost minutes of focus is game-changing. Your brain Your team will thank you and your business will benefit from a more focused, strategic you each day. And habit number 7, cultivate gratitude and purpose. Billionaires often start their day by feeding their spirit and mindset, not just diving straight into work. This means practicing gratitude, visualization, or setting a clear intention for the day. It might sound a little touchy-feely, but this habit is about training your mind to be positive, cleaned and purpose-driven. When you're grateful and purpose-focused each morning, you carry that strength into everything that you do. Let's go back to Oprah Winfrey, for example. She has openly credited much of her joy and success to keeping a gratitude journal. In fact, Oprah kept a daily gratitude journal for a full decade, writing down 5 things she was grateful for each day. She says this practice changed her life profoundly. Why? Because it shifts your perspective to focus on abundance and opportunity. When you appreciate what you have, what you have appreciates in value. Gratitude literally rewires your brain to look for the good in situations, which is crucial for an entrepreneur facing daily challenges. Harvard researchers found that gratitude is strongly associated with greater happiness and health. It helps people feel more positive emotions, improves their health, and builds stronger relationships. Imagine starting every day feeling thankful and optimistic. Do you think you'd be more motivated and creative? Positive? Absolutely. Another powerful mindset habit is connecting with your purpose. Billionaires are often fueled by a big mission, not just money. Steve Jobs had a famous morning question he'd ask himself in the mirror: If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I'm about to do today? If many days went by with the answer no, he took it as a sign to change something. Now, that's a pretty heavy question, but it instantly cuts through trivial worries and forces you to focus on what matters. It gave Jobs a daily dose of perspective and drive. You don't have to use his exact question, but find a morning thought or mantra that connects you to your why, the reason why you do what you do. In Built to Serve, I explain that when you find a purpose centered on serving others, it ignites you every day. So use your mornings to remind yourself of that purpose. Here's your action step. Before you launch into your busy schedule, take a few minutes for gratitude or intention a ritual. This could be as simple as thinking of 3 things that you're grateful for as soon as you wake up, or writing them down in your journal. Feel that appreciation. Then take a moment to visualize your goals or say an affirmation that aligns with your mission. For instance, you might say, I'm building a business that makes a difference, or whatever drives you. If you're spiritual, you might pray or meditate on your purpose. The key is to start your day heart first, not just head first. When you do this, you'll notice you approach your tasks with more enthusiasm and resilience. Challenges that come up during the day won't knock you down as easily because you've rooted yourself in gratitude and purpose at dawn. So the 7 morning habits of billionaires: 1, wake up early. 2, exercise. 3, meditate. 4, read. 5, plan your day. 6, avoid distractions. And 7, practice gratitude and purpose. Now, you might be thinking, that's a lot to do every morning. Start with one habit at a time. Build it up. Consistency is more important than perfection. Even adopting a couple of these habits will give you a noticeable boost in your mood, your energy, and your productivity. The more you can stack together, the more powerful your morning routine becomes. Remember, morning routines set the foundation for your entire day. If you win the morning, you're far more likely to win the day. These habits are common among the ultra-successful for a reason. They work. They prime your body and mind to be at your best. And as an entrepreneur, your business rises or falls based on your mindset, energy, and choices. By noon, a billionaire has often taken care of their health, fed their mind, knocked out a top priority, and centered themselves on what matters. Imagine how further ahead you'd be if you did the same thing starting tomorrow. No more excuses. You do have time for this. Remember, it can all start by waking up a little bit earlier and not letting your phone hijack your attention. Protect your morning for you and the growth of your dreams. And over time, these small habits compound into massive results. Like I say in my book Momentum, success is built through steady momentum, and that momentum begins anew each morning. So now it's your turn. Which habit will you adopt first? Commit to it. Make it part of your identity. I'm the type of person who blanks every morning. Keep going even if you stumble some days. The goal is progress, not perfection. Soon you'll notice you're more in control, more energized, and closer to your goals than than before. This is how you join the ranks of the ultra-successful, one morning at a time. So you've got this. Make your morning count and you'll change the trajectory of your whole life. All that's left is to start. Get up, get going, and make your success routine a reality. All successful people have the exact same 7 traits. Most people will ignore this and stay average. If you ignore it, chances are 5 years from now you'll still feel stuck, or worse, you'll be looking back with regret, wondering what went wrong. I don't want that for you, and I know you don't either. Look at Walt Disney, the man who created Mickey Mouse. He was fired from his first newspaper job because they said he lacked imagination. Then his first animation company went bankrupt. He was told over and over that his ideas were too risky, too expensive, or just plain silly. At one point, he couldn't even afford food and survived by eating beans from a can. But he refused to quit. He kept creating. He kept believing. When he pitched Disneyland, more than 300 investors turned him down, yet he kept going until one finally said yes. Today, Disney is one of the biggest brands on Earth. He succeeded because he never gave up. So ask yourself, if a man who got fired for no imagination could build a world of imagination, what could you build if you refused to stop? I almost gave up on my dream too at 19. I quit on my first business. I had left a high-paying job opportunity to own a part of a startup and ended up making $300 a month. Nothing was working. I was grinding every day and feeling like a total failure. I was so embarrassed by how broke I was that I stopped hanging out with my friends, and I couldn't even afford pizza. One night I hit rock bottom and told my business partner, I'm done, I quit. And then a new kind of pain hit me. I pictured myself years later haunted by the fact that I gave up on my That vision of regret was worse than the failure, and I couldn't accept that. So the very next day, I crawled back into the office, which was my, my, uh, business partner's condo. I had no idea how I was going to fix things, but I made a decision. I would find someone who did know and learn from them. And I picked the best model I could think of— Bill Gates— since I had a software company, he had the largest software company in the world, and study how he built Microsoft and made his first million. And guess what? Guess what? Within a few weeks, we closed our first major deal for $13,500. I went from making $300 a month to bringing in a $13,500 check in a single deal. That blew my mind, and it changed who I was. I realized I could have stayed a quitter and missed out on everything, but instead I proved to myself that if you push one more day, if you're resourceful and you model success, you can turn things around. I learned a lot about the value of resilience and belief and finding mentors in your darkest moment. Now you might be thinking, okay, great story, Evan, but I'm not Walt Disney. I don't have a ton of imagination. I'm just a normal person with normal problems. Listen to me. Every successful person you admire started as a normal person with normal problems. None of them began with special powers. The difference is when things got hard, they didn't settle for normal. They made different choices, choices that built those 7 traits into them. You can make those choices too. This isn't about born talent or luck or money. It's about what you decide to believe and how you act when the pressure is on. And the fact that you're watching this tells me something, that there's a fire in you. Maybe it's small right now, but it's in there. And my job in this video is to pour gasoline on that fire. So here's the good news. These 7 traits can be learned. They can be practiced. They can become your traits at an identity level. Starting today, you can decide to develop each one and completely change the trajectory of your life. Life. So let's break them down one by one and get specific on how you can build them. Trait number 1: self-belief. All successful people believe in themselves unapologetically. They believe in their vision even when it's just a crazy idea and everyone else doubts them. There's a famous saying, whether you believe you can or you can't, you are right. And it's true. If you don't believe in your ability, you won't even try, or you'll quit as soon as it when it gets tough. On the other hand, when you do believe in yourself, you'll move mountains to prove yourself right. In psychology, this is called a growth mindset— the belief that you can improve and adapt. Stanford research has shown that the view you adopt of yourself literally shapes your life. If you believe you're capable of growth, you will grow. Successful people act like they're capable of amazing things long before it's evident, and that belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Think of Oprah Winfrey. Early in her career, she was fired and told she wasn't fit for television. She could have said, maybe they're right, and she faded away. But she didn't. She held on to her belief that she was meant for more. And now she's Oprah, one of the most influential media figures of all time. She believed in herself when no one else did. Do you? Ask yourself honestly, do you believe you can do great things? If your immediate answer is no, then let's change that right now. Now. You might say, but I've never done anything great before. So what? Every success story starts with someone believing before they have evidence. I learned this from my mom. She used to tell me, if you have the ability, you have the responsibility. If you can, then you must. Whenever I failed or felt down, she'd look me in the eyes and say, you're Evan Carmichael, you can do anything you believe you can. And I didn't buy it at first. I was a B and C student while my sisters got straight days. But after hearing it enough times, I finally thought, huh, what if she's right? And that little seed of belief— what if it's true— changed my life. I started behaving like I could achieve something, and eventually I did. Trait number 2: passion. Successful people love what they do. They are obsessed with it. They would do it for free just for the joy because it's part of who they are. I spent over 20 years studying entrepreneurs, artists, innovators, creators, and one of the most consistent pieces of advice is follow your passion. You have to find the thing that makes you feel alive, the thing that you would do even if you never got paid. Why? Because doing anything great is hard. It takes years of hard work. If you don't love the process, you'll quit. If it's just a paycheck or a casual interest, you'll give up when it stops being fun. But if you're truly passionate, you'll keep going even when it sucks, even when everyone calls calls you crazy, even when it doesn't make logical sense anymore, you keep going because you need to. It's who you are. You don't get to be the best by doing what you hate or what you think you should do. You become the best by loving what you do more than anyone else loves what they do. Think about the greats. Kobe Bryant shooting baskets at 4 AM because he loved the game, not just because someone forced him. Or Steve Jobs, who famously said, the only way to do great work is to love of what you do. He was right. If you haven't found something you can pour your heart into, you need to keep looking. Don't settle for a life of lukewarm interest. It's a recipe for mediocrity. So what do you love so much that you do it no matter what? What would you regret not doing? It might be a career, a project, uh, an art, a cause, anything. Identify it and give yourself permission to pursue it. Yes, you might have responsibilities and bills, and I'm not saying be reckless, but you owe it to yourself to incorporate your passion into your life and ultimately into your work. Because when you operate from passion, work doesn't feel like work. It feels like honor, like service, like play. And that's where the magic happens. You'll put in more effort, you'll put in more hours, you'll be a lot more creative and happy because it feeds you. That's how winners pull ahead of the pack. They're not straining themselves to compete. They're playing their own game that they love, so they naturally practice they learn more, they persist more. If you haven't found that thing yet, keep exploring. Follow your curiosity. Think about what pain you've overcome in your life. Often your purpose lies in helping others with the struggle that you went through. I always say your purpose comes from your pain. In my case, I struggled so much as an entrepreneur that I became passionate about making entrepreneurship easier for other people. Find your why. Action. Successful people do something. They have a bias for action. They execute fast, even before they feel ready. This is where so many people fail. They get paralyzed trying to plan the perfect approach or waiting for the right time, and they never actually start. Newsflash: there is no perfect plan and there is no perfect time. At some point, you have to pull the trigger and go. And I learned this the hard way in my first business. I was a perfectionist. I'm, I'm still a recovering perfectionist. I spent an entire summer drafting the ultimate business planning. Dozens of pages of research, projections. It looked beautiful. And while I was planning, a competitor in my industry was acting. They got out there, they got customers, they got attention. A large competitor came along looking to acquire a business like ours. And guess who was already ready and who wasn't? Not us. Our competitor got bought for $40 million and we got nothing. I missed out on a $40 million deal because I was stuck in planning mode. And that one hurt, but it taught me a pretty valuable lesson. A half-assed plan you start now is better than a perfect plan that you never execute. Most of your precious plan is going to be wrong anyway once it meets reality. You can't think your way to success, you have to do your way to success. So ask yourself, what's one important thing that you've been putting off because you don't feel ready? And decide to take one small step today. Make that call, publish the post, start the channel, make the video, reach out to that person, whatever it is, just start. You won't have all the answers, and that's okay. You figure it out by doing. Start before you feel ready. Trust that you'll learn along the way. The simple trait— being an action taker— already puts you miles ahead of most people. Remember, you can't steer a parked car, so get moving and you'll find your direction. Trick number 4: Embrace failure. Every successful person has a healthy relationship with failure. In fact, They fail more than the average person. The difference is they're not afraid of it. Most people are so terrified of failure that they don't even try, and that's the biggest failure of all. Successful people understand that failure isn't the end of the road. It's just a data point on the path to success. It's feedback, it's education, it's a necessary stepping stone. They don't take failure personally. They don't make it mean I'm a failure. They just say, okay, that didn't work. Didn't work. Good to know. What can I learn from this? Let's try again. They failed their way to success. In fact, they failed at more things than most people have ever attempted. Think about that. The average person might try a dozen things in their life and give up when something doesn't immediately work out. Successful people might try 100 things, fail at 90 of them, but the 10 that hit more than make up for it. Failure is the price of admission for success. Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, I put up as number 1. He put it this way, "I missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I was trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I failed over and over and over in my life, and that is why I succeed." Failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of success. Thomas Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful light bulb prototypes. When a reporter asked him how it felt to fail 1,000 times, he said, didn't fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps, and that's the mindset you need to adopt. Trait number 5: perseverance. Never giving up. If one trait separates the winners from the losers, it's the sheer grit to keep going no matter what. Life will test you, business will test you. Do you get back up one more time, or do you stay down? Successful people always get back up long after other people all have thrown in the towel. Remember Walt Disney with his 300+ rejections? That's perseverance. Or look at J.K. Rowling. She was rejected by 12 publishers. 12 publishers said Harry Potter wasn't worth publishing. She could have stopped at rejection number 12 and we'd never have known Hogwarts, right? But she persisted until a small publisher took a chance on her. Now she's one of the best-selling authors in history. Stories like that aren't the exception, they're the rule. Virtually every success is built on a mountain of persistence. They say it takes 10 years to become an overnight success, and it's true. The problem is most people never make it to year 10 at whatever they're doing. They quit at year 2 or 3 because they're not seeing results yet. Don't let that be you. Perseverance is a choice. It's a quiet, daily choice that I will not quit. Decide that for yourself. Decide that no matter how long it takes, you're going to see your vision through. There are no expiry dates on your dream. I don't care if it takes you until you're 30 or 40 or 65. Time is going to pass anyway, so you might as well keep pushing towards something that you care about. Keep going. Trait number 6: Positive environment. All successful people raise their standards for their environment. They purposefully shape who and what they surround themselves with. So you've probably heard the saying, you are the average of the 5 people that you spend the most time with. With. It's true. Environment is everything. If you hang around 5 pessimistic, lazy, excuse-making people, you will become the 6. If you hang around 5 ambitious, optimistic, high-performing people, you'll also become the 6. We as human beings are contagious to each other, so winners curate their environment ruthlessly. So this means 2 things: cutting out the negative influences and adding in positive influences. First, the You must distance yourself from chronic negativity, naysayers, people who hold you back. Sometimes that's friends, even family. Sometimes it's the content that you consume. Pay attention to how the people around you make you feel. Do they make you feel energized, inspired, capable, or do they make you feel drained, discouraged, and small? If it's the latter, you need to start spending less time with them. This can be hard, but it's necessary. Successful people from tough backgrounds often had to be the ones who said enough. I love you, but I can't have you around my dreams if you're going to tear them down. They raise their standards and refuse to tolerate constant negativity around them. They stop blaming their circumstances and they started demanding more of themselves. That's how you break free from a limiting environment. You declare to yourself, I will not accept this anymore, and you change it. Now, cutting negativity alone isn't enough. You have to add in positivity too. If you don't supportive, inspiring people in your life immediately around you, seek them out. Find a community of people who are also pushing for more and believe in more. That might mean joining groups or clubs or online forums. Even here in the comment section here in Believe Nation on this video, put it down below. Fill your ears with the words of great mentors from videos and books and podcasts. I still do this constantly as a shy introvert starting my business. I didn't have any entrepreneurial friends to turn to, so I turned to my heroes. I called them aspirational mentors. Through their biographies and their talks. Their mindset became my mindset. You can do the same. There's no excuse to not have positive influences. You have YouTube, you have audiobooks, you have virtual mentors at your fingertips 24/7. Make use of it every day. Consume something that elevates you, ideally earlier in the morning. It's like healthy food for your brain. Trait number 7: a strong purpose. The final trait that all successful people share is that they're driven by a deep sense of purpose. They know why they do what they do, and that why is everything. It gives meaning to their work and fuel to their fire. Purpose is what turns a job into a mission. It's the difference between someone who is just making a living and someone who's making a difference. Now, if you study the greats, you'll see this over and over again. They weren't just chasing money. They're usually chasing a mission to change something in the world or to reach a personal vision. When you have a purpose set Setbacks don't defeat you as easily because you know what you're fighting for. Like Viktor Frankl said, he who has a why to live can bear almost any how. Successful people have a powerful why. I like to say your purpose comes from your pain. Whatever you struggled with in life is what you want to help other people through. Now here's another thing: having a purpose also attracts other people to you. People want to be a part of something meaningful. Your team, your customers, your audience, they will rally around you if you have a genuine mission. It's inspiring. It's also a compass for your decisions. When you're lost or you're facing a tough call, you can ask, does this align with my mission or not? That clarity becomes gold. The world needs what you have. Successful people internalize this. They carry a sense of duty about their purpose. It's not just about personal gains, it's about using your gifts to make an impact. When you approach your life like that, as a mission, you become someone a lot more powerful You won't give up easily because it's not just your own comfort that's on the line, it's your calling. And that is identity-level motivation. That's what creates your legacy. So those are the 7 traits, and I'll list them out one more time. And as I do it, I want you to imagine who you could become if you committed to all 7. So self-belief, trusting that you can figure things out and win even when no one else believes in you. Passion, doing work that lights you up so you have endless fuel to devote to it. To it. Action: moving quickly and decisively rather than overthinking and hesitating. Embracing failure: learning from every misstep rather than never trying because you're afraid. Perseverance: getting back up every time, outlasting everyone who gave up. Environment: surrounding yourself with inspiration and cutting out the negativity. And purpose: knowing exactly why you're doing all of this and letting that why drive you forward. Notice something important here. None of these traits are genetic. None are privileges given only to the lucky. They are all choices. They are habits of mind and behavior that anyone can cultivate, including you, especially you. Success is not this mystical thing that is handed out to a select few. It's the result of building these traits day by day until they become who you are. Don't be intimidated by the entire list. You don't have to master all 7 overnight. Just start with one. Which one of these do you need the most right now? Pick that one trait and focus on it this week. Write a sticky note reminder. Do one small action each day and practice it. Keep it simple. If you chose action, for example, then every day this week, identify one important step and do it before your head hits the pillow. If you chose self-belief, start each morning with a video, an affirmation, a visualization of you accomplishing your goal. Bit by bit, you'll feel that trait growing stronger inside you. And here's a secret: these traits reinforce each other. When you act, you gain confidence. Your self-belief grows. When you persist through failure, you discover new passion and purpose. When you surround yourself with positive people around you, you'll find it easier to keep going, and your belief gets stronger. It's all interconnected. You're basically upgrading your identity piece by piece, and momentum will build. Now it's your turn. No more waiting, no more excuses. The good news is you have the blueprint. You have the same 24 hours in a day as everyone else. You have gifts inside you that the world needs. Yes, needs. It's time to unleash them. So the moment this video ends, I want you to take one concrete step toward your dream using one of these traits, even if it's tiny, especially if it's tiny. Just do it now and then do it again tomorrow and then again the next day and let those little steps compound. Remember, the only thing that can stop you is you, and you're done standing in your own way, aren't you? If you don't design the life you want, you'll end up living a life you don't. Most people drift through their days letting others call the shots, then wonder why they feel stuck. If you never take control, you'll look back and see you traded your dreams for someone else's plan. There's a famous parable about a fisherman and a businessman. The The businessman urges the fisherman to expand, to work tirelessly for decades so he can eventually relax and enjoy life. But the fisherman laughs. He's already spending his days doing what he loves with the people he loves. The lesson here is to know what you actually want out of life and to live it now instead of blindly following what others think you should do. When I was 19, I lived that lesson. I had high pain main job offer on the table, my ticket to the safe, successful life that everyone expected, and I turned it down to make $300 a month and own a piece of a startup. Why? Because I imagined myself at 40 looking back, miserable that I never gave my dream a shot. I thought, if I don't do this, I'll regret it for the rest of my life. And the fear of regret was stronger than the fear of failure. So I took control and designed my own path, and it was the best decision. Best decision I ever made. Now, maybe you're thinking, that sounds great, but I can't just redesign my life. I have responsibilities. I'm too deep in my career. It's too late for me. Listen, that doubt is exactly why you must start now. If you have a family depending on you, that's all the more reason to build a life that you are proud of, to set an example and give them the best of you. If you think you're too old, then you definitely don't have time to waste living someone else's dream. You can every obstacle you have as more motivation to get this right, not less. So no more waiting, no more excuses. Today, let's start designing the life that you want. Here are 5 practical steps to do it. Let's dive in. Step number 1: take full ownership of your life. No one is coming to save you or hand you your dream life. It's on you. The first step is to accept that completely. Psychologists call this an internal locus of control, and research shows people who have it are far more successful, healthier, and happier. Here's what it means. When you believe that you shape your destiny, you actually do. So starting right now, own everything in your life, the good and the bad. Don't blame your boss, the economy, or your past. The moment you take responsibility for where you are, you gain the power to change where you're going. This isn't about beating yourself up. It's about recognizing that you are in control of you. My mom drilled this into me from a young age. She used to tell me, if you have the ability, you have the responsibility. If you can, then you must. And she was right. You can improve your life, so you must. It might feel heavy to carry that responsibility, but trust me, it's also liberating. Because if it's your responsibility, it's within your control. The life you want is not some lottery ticket. It's a choice. And you're making that choice every day with your actions. Actions as well as your inactions. So decide right now that you're in charge of your life's design. When you truly internalize that, you'll feel an incredible surge of power and clarity. This is your life, and claiming it is step one to changing it. Step number two: define a clear vision. Find your why. You can't design a life you love if you don't know what you want. So step two is to get crystal clear on your vision and your why. What does your ideal life look What does success look like? More importantly, why does it matter to you? Take the time to answer these questions in vivid detail. Write it down. Studies show you're 42% more likely to achieve your goals just by writing them down. Don't just say, "I want to be happy," or "I want success." Paint a specific picture. "I want to run my own marketing firm helping small businesses grow," or "I want to live in a cabin by the lake and write my novel." Whatever it is for you. Define it so clearly that you can taste it, because if you don't have a target, you'll hit nothing. Now let's talk about purpose. A vision isn't just about the what, it's about the why. One of the best ways to find your purpose is to look at your pain. I believe your purpose comes from your pain. The biggest struggles you've overcome are the ones that you are uniquely equipped to help other people through. The challenges that knocked you down, the people that hurt you, the problems that you solve for yourself— those experiences gave you strength. Use them. Maybe you fought through poverty or you beat an illness or you overcame extreme shyness. Whatever it is, that story can become your mission. In my early entrepreneurship days, I struggled hard. I felt alone. I felt like a failure. And that was painful. That pain became my purpose. I'm now driven to help other entrepreneurs so they don't have to struggle as much as I did. Your pain can motivate your purpose in the same way. When you know why you're doing something, you'll find the strength strength to do anything. So get clear on what you want and why you want it. That vision will be your North Star when things get tough. Step number 3: Take immediate imperfect action. Now that you know what you want, it's time to get moving. Step 3 is to take action before you feel 100% ready. Most people wait and wait for the perfect timing, the perfect plan, more certainty, and they never go anywhere. Do fall into that trap. A good plan executed today beats a perfect plan never executed. Clarity comes from doing, not just thinking about it. When you take even a small step, you get feedback, you learn, and you build momentum. I had to learn this the hard way. Early in my career, I was such a perfectionist that I spent an entire summer writing and polishing the perfect business plan instead of actually talking to customers. And guess what? An opportunity came and went while I was was planning and I missed out on a $40 million deal because I wasn't ready to act. Now that hurt, but it taught me something valuable. I'll tell you exactly what I realized. Most of your plan is going to be wrong anyway, so get out there and test your assumptions. I stopped overthinking and started doing, and it made a huge difference. Now maybe you're afraid that if you act now you might fail. So try this as a reframe. Not acting is the only guaranteed failure. According to Psychology Today, 92% of people never achieve their goals, largely because they never follow through. And I don't want you to be in that 92%. So break your biggest vision into the smallest possible step and do it today. Send that email, create that prototype, wake up an hour earlier, whatever moves you an inch closer, do it. You won't have all the answers, and that's okay. You'll figure it out as you go. Action creates clarity. Action builds confidence. Every step you you take sends your brain evidence that you are the kind of person who takes charge. So stop waiting, start now, adjust later. Your future self will thank you. Step number 4, surround yourself with support and belief. Designing your dream life is not a solo project. You are massively influenced by the people and the inputs around you. So step number 4 is to build a winning environment. Surround yourself with people who lift you higher. Who challenge you, who believe in you, especially when you struggle to believe in yourself. Motivation doesn't last on an island. We all have moments of doubt, and that's when your environment will make or break you. Uh, Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins, uh, mentor, famously said, you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. And there's truth in that. If your 5 closest contacts are ambitious, positive, and supportive, you're going to rise up. If they're negative, complacent, cynical, they're gonna pull you down. So do an audit on who and what you're letting into your head. Sometimes you might need to set boundaries with naysayers. Uh, you might need to actively seek out mentors or people who inspire you. And here's something incredible. One study found that if you simply tell a friend about a goal you're working on, your chance of achieving it jumps to 65%. And if you set up regular check-ins with that friend, it shoots to 95%. That's how powerful support and accountability are. Use that to your advantage. Find an accountability partner, join a mastermind group, or just ask a friend to keep you honest. And remember, support isn't only from people you know personally. Borrowed belief is real. You can draw strength from other stories and mentorship until you build enough of it on your own. In the early days, I borrowed belief from my mom's encouragement. Later, I borrowed it from people like Oprah Winfrey. I'd read about how she overcame extreme poverty and unimaginable challenges, and And yet look what she built. Her story proved to me what's possible. I filled my environment with voices and examples that pushed me forward. Books, videos like this, virtual mentors. They can all be part of your support system. Borrow belief from your environment until you build it yourself. That's how you get through the early stages. So curate your world. Follow people who inspire you. Cut out the content that depresses you. Share your dreams with those who will cheer you on and hold you accountable. When you surround yourself with positivity and belief, you'll have the motivation and the courage to keep going when things get tough. Step number 5: Embrace failure and adapt for the long game. The final step is to treat your life design as an ongoing process. No plan will be perfect, and that's okay. You need to embrace failure as feedback and stay consistent for the long haul. When things go go wrong, and trust me, they will, don't see it as proof that you can't do it. See it as part of the process of becoming who you're meant to be. Thomas Edison famously said about inventing the light bulb, I haven't failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. That's the mindset you need. In psychology, this is called a growth mindset, the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort and learning. People with this mindset thrive on challenges and persist through their setbacks. They understand that failure is not permanent, it's just a stepping stone. So keep that perspective. Every setback is teaching you something. Now, I'm not just preaching here, I try to live this. When I started my YouTube channel, it took me 5 years to crack 2,000 subscribers. 5 years of pouring my heart into videos, experimenting, failing, feeling like nothing was working. Most people would have quit, but I kept adjusting and improving instead. In the next 5 years, that 2,000 grew to 1.3 million. Today, this channel has over 4 million subscribers, and it only happened because I stayed in the game. Years of struggle and self-doubt set the stage for an overnight success that was a decade in the making. There was also a time my team and I got all of our camera gear stolen the night before a major shoot. We woke up with nothing, thousands of dollars of equipment gone. We could have seen it as a sign to pack it in. Instead, we chose to adapt. We rented new gear, we showed up anyway, and filmed. And you know what happened? The interview recorded turned out to be one of our best, and the experience taught me to have faith and that great things come to me. I learned that even when a branch breaks under you, you can rely on your wings. A bird on a branch isn't afraid of it breaking because its trust is in its own wings. Even if the plan fails, you can figure it out. The belief has to be in yourself, not just the Plan. Designing the life you want is a journey, not a one-time project. You will stumble, you will make mistakes. Good, that means you're moving. Learn from every misstep and keep going. Iterate, adjust your course, but never abandon your vision. The only way you lose for sure is if you give up. As long as you keep getting back up, you're still moving towards your dream. Pick one step from today and execute on it within the next 24 hours, even if it's money. Do it. Your future self is watching, and today you get to make them proud. Remember, you don't have to have it all figured out. You just need to take the next step in faith, and then the next. You are sabotaging your own business without even realizing it. Do you feel like you're working hard but not getting results? It's time to find out if you're making one of the 5 huge mistakes that self-taught entrepreneurs often make. Stick around because fixing And even just one of these could change your business forever. Mistake number 1: trying to do it all yourself and not asking for help. You might be thinking self-taught means you have to figure out everything on your own. And this is a huge mistake. No one can do everything alone. When you try to be the lone wolf, you miss out on other people's experience and insight. It's hard to see the forest among the trees, as they say. A mentor advisor can often spot the solution to a problem that has you stumped. Even the greatest Most entrepreneurs have coaches, mentors, support networks. Here's some proof. A survey from the UPS Store found 70% of small businesses that receive mentoring survive more than 5 years, which is double the survival rate of businesses with no mentors. In the same survey, 88% of business owners with a mentor said that having one was invaluable. Another study found that one-third of successful entrepreneurs had a mentor or support group versus only 14% of entrepreneurs who failed. So the evidence and all the data I hope that it's clear going it alone is actually hurting you. So what should you do instead? Ask for help. Find someone who's been where you are and learn from them. This could be a mentor, a business coach, or even a peer group of fellow entrepreneurs. You'll make decisions with more confidence and avoid pitfalls others have already learned from. Remember, being self-taught doesn't mean refusing guidance. It means you take charge of your own learning. The smartest entrepreneurs are always learning from others. As the saying goes, If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. So drop the ego, reach out, and build your dream with others. You'll get further faster with a little help. Mistake number 2: winging it without a clear plan. Running a business without a plan is like going on a road trip without a map. You might be busy driving, but you have no idea if you're headed in the right direction. Many self-taught entrepreneurs make the mistake of just winging it. They dive into work each day just reacting to whatever happens without a clear strategy or goals. Figure it out as you go can only take you so far. The result is you waste time and money, you chase shiny objects, or you stall out because you don't know what your next step should be. Here is why a plan matters. Entrepreneurs who plan are far more likely to succeed. Research shows that writing a business plan significantly increases your chances of success. One review found that entrepreneurs with a formal plan were twice as likely to successfully grow grow their business and secure funding. Another study found that entrepreneurs with business plans are 260% more likely to actually launch their company and 30% more likely to grow it. But despite these benefits, only about a third of business owners ever actually finish a business plan. So don't let that be you. Even writing down your goals makes you 42% more likely to achieve them. That's a simple step that pays off in a big way. It doesn't have to be a giant plan. Having a plan doesn't mean you can't adapt be lean. It means you set clear goals and a basic roadmap for how to reach them. You can always update the plan as you learn, but start with something. Define your target customer, uh, figure out your product or service, your pricing, and how you're going to actually market your thing and deliver value. Set milestones for the next 6 months and year. This gives you a sense of direction each day. You'll know what success looks like and how to measure it. Without a plan, anything can distract you. With a plan, you can wake up each morning knowing the top 1 or 2 things you need to focus on today. You become proactive instead of reactive. So take some time to map out your business. It doesn't have to be a 50-page document. Don't stress out. Don't overanalyze. Even a 1-page plan or bullet point list of goals is better than nothing. You'll be amazed at how much clarity you get by writing things down. So stop winging it and start planning it. Your future self will thank you when your business stays on track and starts hitting its targets. Mistake number 3: lacking discipline and consistency in your habits. Freedom is one reason you became an entrepreneur, right? No boss, no time clock. But here's the trap: without discipline, that freedom can destroy your business. Self-taught entrepreneurs often treat their business like a hobby instead of a job. They work on it when they feel motivated and slack off when they don't, or they get caught in procrastination and busywork instead of the hard tasks that actually matter. Inconsistent effort effort leads to inconsistent results. The reality is successful entrepreneurship takes a lot of hard work and consistent habits. It's not a 4-hour workweek fantasy. In fact, most business owners work longer hours than employees. One study found 33% of small business owners work over 50 hours per week, and 25% work more than 60 hours. Many even put in the time on weekends and vacations. Why? Because when you're building something of your own, you get You get out what you put in. If you only put in half-hearted effort, don't be surprised when you get half-hearted results. But it's not just about the raw hours. It's about habits and consistency. Research from Duke University found that over 40% of our daily actions are governed by habit, not conscious decision. That means nearly half of what you do each day is just on autopilot. If you develop good habits like dedicating 2 hours every morning to high-priority work work or making those sales calls daily, it will carry you through even when your motivation is low. On the flip side, if you fall into bad habits, sleeping in, scrolling social media, reacting to emails all day, your business will suffer. You won't even realize how much time is slipping away because habits run silently in the background. So to avoid this mistake, treat your business like a serious commitment. Set a schedule for yourself. You don't need a a 60-hour grind if that's not realistic for you, but do decide on consistent work times and stick to them. For example, you might commit to working on your business from 8 AM to 1 PM every weekday before any other activities. Create a routine. Maybe you review your goals each morning, you tackle the hardest task first, right? Eat that frog. You dedicate certain days to specific needs. Mondays are for marketing, Tuesday is for your product development, etc. Also, eliminate the distractions when you're working. Turn off your notifications, notifications. Let your friends and family know that those hours are secret. Being your own boss means you must boss yourself around. No one else will do it. Consistency beats intensity. It's better to move the ball forward every single day with solid habits than to work in erratic bursts of inspiration. Those small daily actions will compound over time, and that consistency builds trust with your customers and momentum in your growth. So set up habits that make you productive by by default. Make success your daily routine. When discipline becomes a habit, your business will start to run like a well-oiled machine, and you will start to reap the rewards. Mistake number 4: ignoring your market and customers, building something no one wants. This mistake is a silent killer— pouring your heart into a product or service without checking if anyone actually needs it. Self-taught entrepreneurs can fall in love with idea and assume, if I build it, people will come, right? They spend months or years developing a business in a bubble—no market research, no customer feedback—only to launch to the sound of crickets. It's devastating, and it's common. Building something nobody wants is one of the top reasons that new businesses fail. So don't just take my word for it. Research by CB Insights found that no market need is is the number one reason startups fail. In fact, one report showed that 8 of the top 12 reasons startups fail are related to poor product-market fit. Basically, making something that nobody wants. Think about that. The majority of failures happen not because the founders weren't smart or they didn't work hard, but because they didn't solve a real problem for customers. Another analysis found that 34% of startup failures failures were due to a poor product-market fit, and 22% failed from not having the right marketing plan. If no one wants your product, even the best marketing won't save you. The market is the ultimate judge. If you ignore it, you're running on hope, you're not running on reality. So to avoid this mistake, put your customer at the center from day one. Don't be afraid to get out there and talk to people who might have the problem you're trying to solve. And it could be as simple as having conversations with your target audience or doing quick surveys. Ask them about their biggest problems and needs in the area that you want to help them serve. Listen more than you talk. Don't lead the witness by pitching your idea too soon. Just learn what they truly care about. And as you gather these insights, be ready to pivot or to tweak your idea to better solve the real pain points that you discover. This is not meant to be a blow to your ego. It's how you craft something something people actually want to buy. Also, try to test your idea early and cheaply. If you have a product concept, creating a rough prototype or even a sketch and get feedback on it. If it's a service, try a small pilot program or consult with a few potential clients. The goal is to validate that your solution resonates with people. Are people saying, I need this, or when can I have it, or are they lukewarm? Early feedback is gold. It's far better to learn and adjust in the beginning than to spend all your money on a full launch that then flops. Remember, feedback isn't criticism, it's direction. It guides you to shape your business into something that will work. At the end of the day, your business exists to serve customers, to solve a problem, to bring value. When you align what you offer with what people genuinely need and value, you create that win-win relationship. Customers get something they love, and you get a growing, profitable business. So fall in love with the customer, not just your product. Do your homework on your market. Stay curious, ask questions, and never assume that you know it all. The more that you listen and adapt, the less likely you are to build something useless. Solve a real problem and you'll never have to worry about finding customers. They will come to you. Mistake number 5: being afraid of failure and giving up too soon. Entrepreneurship is tough, and not every attempt will succeed, but the biggest mistake self-taught entrepreneurs make here is taking failure too personally and giving up when things go wrong. You might hit a roadblock. A product launch fails, a client backs out, the revenue isn't coming in as fast as you hope, and you think, I'm just not cut out for this. So you quit. That is the only guaranteed way to fail permanently. The truth is, failure is not the end unless you stop trying. Every successful entrepreneur has faced setbacks. The difference is they learn from them and they keep going. I love the mindset that failure is feedback. In fact, every failure teaches you something valuable. It does. It shows what not to do or how to do it better the next time. Failure is only failure if you don't learn from it. If you treat each failure as a lesson, you actually haven't failed at all. You have grown. It's like getting feedback from the market or from life on how to improve. And guess what? Everybody fails on their path to success. This isn't just a nice saying, it's reality. The road to success is paved with trial and error. The most legendary business leaders, inventors, Inventors, creators, they all had flops and outright disasters before figuring it out. They succeeded because they didn't quit after those failures. There's a famous quote: I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. That's Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, humorously reminding us that every no gets us closer to a yes. Success usually takes longer than we want to believe. Too many people just give up in year 1 or 2, just when things might have started to click if they had persisted a bit more. So how do you embrace failure in a healthy way? First, expect it. This doesn't mean you're aiming to fail, but don't be shocked when something doesn't work. It's just part of the process. Adjust your mindset to see failure as a teacher, not as a verdict on your ability and that you suck. When something goes wrong, take a step back and ask, why did this happen? What can I learn from this? How can I adjust and come back better? Maybe your marketing message was off. Maybe you targeted the wrong audience. Maybe you simply need more patience for your strategy to actually play out. Use that insight to pivot and refine your approach. And then you try again. And keep in mind that resilience, it's like a muscle. Every time that you get over some setback, you start to build that muscle. You get a little bit tougher and smarter. And over time, you become more and more unstoppable because no failure can break you. You always find a way to adapt. This is crucial for self-taught entrepreneurs because you're learning as you go. Not everything will be perfect on your first try. Give yourself permission to fail and learn in public. It's better to launch imperfectly and then iterate and improve than to hold back because you are afraid. And most importantly, don't quit on your dream just because it's harder than you thought. If you truly believe in what you're doing, then keep pushing. You might be closer to a breakthrough through than you think. Remember that every overnight success story has a hidden chapter of years of effort and setback. So keep going even when it's tough. Perseverance is going to be your superpower as an entrepreneur. Use it. The beautiful thing about mistakes is that they don't define you, they educate you. Now we've covered the 5 huge mistakes to avoid. You have the power to course correct. Ask for help when you need it. Plan your path so you're not drifting aimlessly. Build rock-solid habits that drive you forward every day. Obsess over your customers and make sure you're giving them real value. And above all, don't let fear of failure stop you. Every entrepreneur's journey is a work in progress. You're gonna have ups and downs, victories and defeats. That is normal. What matters is that you stay in the game and keep going. Learn from every misstep and keep moving. Success is not reserved for only the geniuses or the lucky ones. It's the ones to keep improving and keep going. So you've chosen a challenging path being an entrepreneur, but it's also a rewarding one. You have a vision inside you and the world needs to see it. So take this video as your wake-up call and hopefully your pep talk. It's time to double down on your growth, correct the mistakes if you've been making them, and you'll see the difference in your business and in yourself. You already have everything it takes to win. Now go out there and make it happen. And remember, the only way you truly fail is if stop trying. Law number 1: Money follows value. Money isn't random. It's the reward for solving problems. Wealth is built not on what just excites you, but on what you create that serves others. The more value you deliver, the more dollars will chase you. It's that simple. Think of entrepreneurs like Elon Musk or Sara Blakely. They got rich by fixing pain points for millions. You want money? Stop chasing cash and start chasing problems to solve. When you help enough people get what they want, you'll get what you want. That's a law of the universe. Law number 2: Adopt a wealth mindset, not a lottery mindset. Getting rich starts in your head. If deep down you believe money is evil or not for people like me, you'll unconsciously push it away. Newsflash: Luck won't save you. 70% of lotto winners blow it, and a third end up bankrupt because they didn't change their mindset. Self-made millionaires, on the other hand, Think differently. They believe they deserve success and can learn whatever skills wealth requires. So the excuses like, I'm not smart enough, I came from nothing, and replace that with, why not me? Train yourself to see money as a positive force, a tool you can master. Your mind is your biggest asset or liability. Choose to make it an asset. Law number 3: Purpose over profit, but money in your top 5. Money itself isn't the end goal. Freedom, impact, and purpose are. I always say making money is great. It has to be in your top 5. It just can't be number 1. If you chase only dollars, you'll burn out or compromise your values. Instead, chase a mission and use money as motivation. Think of companies like Patagonia or Tesla—mission-driven, but they still prioritize revenue to fund that mission. Here's the balance: care more about your impact than your income, but respect money enough to plan for. Money in your top 5 means you price your product right, you monetize your skills, you track your revenue because you know profit powers your purpose. When your why is strong, the money follows. And when the money comes, you push it back into your why. That's how world-changing businesses and lives are built. Law number 4: Pay yourself first. The first bill you pay each month should be to yourself. Before rent, before groceries, invest in your future. Siphon a chunk of every paycheck check into savings or investments immediately. This habit needs to become a non-negotiable. Why? Because wealth doesn't come from what you make. It comes from what you keep and grow. It's the classic millionaire habit. Nearly half of self-made millionaires save 20% or more of their income from day one. That requires discipline and delayed gratification, skipping some short-term treats so future you can win. Psychology proves this. The famed marshmallow test showed that kids who delayed gratification ended up more successful in life. The same goes for money. So automate your savings. Treat it like a tax that you owe yourself. If you can't pay yourself, you'll always be paying someone else. Law number 5: live below your means. I know this sounds basic, but it's amazing how many people ignore it. Don't spend all you earn, and definitely don't spend more than you earn. Hello, credit cards. The The rich stay rich by living like they're broke. The broke stay broke by acting rich. Studies of millionaires show they're frugal. 64% live in modest homes, 55% buy used cars, nearly all of them vacation cheaply, and 84% refuse to gamble with their money. They aren't clipping coupons for fun. They just know that every dollar wasted is a dollar that can't work for them. So yes, reward yourself occasionally, but don't inflate your lifestyle with your income. Grow into your wealth. Don't blow it. As your earnings climb, keep your expenses in check. This creates a gap, the golden gap that you can invest to generate real wealth. Law number 6: Avoid bad debt. Leverage the good debt. There are two kinds of people: those who pay interest and those who earn interest. To get rich, you want to be the second kind. Credit card balances, payday loans, buying a Ferrari on finance— that's bad debt. It will chain you down. The average credit card interest will eat your future alive. So here's your rule: never borrow to buy depreciating crap. Use debt only when it's a tool to acquire an asset that pays you back. In simple terms, an asset puts money in your pocket. A liability takes money out of your pocket. Your home, for example, can be a liability if it's draining cash. Meanwhile, a rental property or business loan can be good debt if managed well because they generate income. The rich strategically use other people's money to multiply their wealth, but they respect the risks and have a plan to pay it off. Be very real with yourself. If the thing you want to buy won't earn or save you money, don't go into debt for it. Law number 7: Let compound interest work. Start investing now. Time is your greatest ally or your worst enemy in building wealth. Every day you delay investing is cash left on the table. Why? Compound interest. The snowball effect of money earning on top of itself. Albert Einstein supposedly called compound interest the 8th wonder of the world. He who understands it earns it. He who doesn't pays it. So here's a quick example. If you invest $1,000 at 10%, you'll earn $100 a year. Not bad. But if you reinvest that $100 next year, you earn 10% on $1,100, not just $1,000. That's $110. And now you have $1,210. Keep rolling that over. And in 10 years, that $1,000 $1,000 turns into nearly $2,600 without adding a penny, all from reinvesting and compounding. Start earning and it's like planting an orchard instead of a single tree. Don't wait for enough money to invest. Even $50 a month invested now beats $500 a month started 10 years later. Small seeds become giant oaks, but you must plant them now. Law number 8: Create multiple streams of income. One stream of income is one point of failure. If that stream dries up— job loss, one client leaves, industry shifts, your financial life sinks. The wealthy know this, so they build boats with multiple engines. It's often said the average millionaire has 7 streams of income. And while your number may vary, the idea is diversification. It could be a side hustle, investments, rental incomes, royalties, a second business, you name it. In one study, 65% of millionaires had at least 3 income streams, and nearly a third had 5 or more. So start with one strong income. This is where where most people get it wrong when they're thinking have multiple streams of income. You don't have 7 all from the beginning because then you will be— you will diversify your energy out of any real wealth. So you start with one strong income, master it, and then add another. Each new stream is a layer of security and a force multiplier for your wealth. Importantly, build active income, so business, career, and passive incomes, which is investments and assets. Do them together. Don't rely on a single paycheck or a single customer. Spread your bets and create income while you sleep. Law number 9: Make money while you sleep. That's passive income. If you earn only money when you're personally working, you'll never escape the grind. You need income that doesn't require your constant presence. Warren Buffett said it best: If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die. And that's not hyperbole. That's, that's a reality. Passive income can come from investments like stocks, index funds that pay dividends, dividends, rental properties, or from systems that you create, a business that runs without you or online products or royalties from a product. It usually takes hard work upfront to set up these passive streams. So don't think it's free money, but once they're running, they free up your time. Even having a little extra cash trickle in every month gives you breathing room. So imagine waking up to find you earned $100 overnight. Now imagine $1,000 or $10,000. The goal is to decouple your time time from your money. Start building something today that pays you tomorrow, next week, next year. That's real financial freedom. Law number 10: Never stop learning. The moment you think you know it all, your bank account will prove you wrong. The wealthy are students of wealth, constantly reading, attending seminars, picking up new skills. 88% of rich people devote at least 30 minutes a day to learning through reading. They read biographies, business books, industry news, not gossip, not junk. They treat their mind as a million-dollar asset that compounds just like money. If you want to get rich, adopt a growth mindset. Invest in courses, find mentors, seek feedback. My core philosophy is believe. Believe that you can learn and improve. And I try to live this. In the early days, I studied Bill Gates and other successful people to model their strategies. And that learning led directly to my big breakthrough. Through. So ask yourself daily, what can I learn today that will make me more valuable tomorrow? Every new skill or insight is money in the bank, just a bank you can't see yet. Stay curious and humble. The more you learn, the more you earn. Law number 11: Your network is your net worth. You can't do it alone and you shouldn't try. The people you surround yourself with will make or break your success. Jim Rohn famously said, you are the average of the 5 people people you spend the most time with? So take a look around. If your 5 closest friends are broke, negative, and complacent, guess where you're headed. Successful people consciously build success circles. They hang out with other winners. One study found the rich intentionally seek optimistic, goal-oriented peers. Why? Because environment matters. Conversations with high achievers will spark ideas, opportunities, and higher standards in you. On the other side, toxic, pessimistic people will drag you down to their level. This doesn't mean cut off loved ones. It means spend time strategically. Find mentors who've achieved what you want. Join entrepreneur groups, mastermind calls, online communities of goal-getters. Upgrade your network and you'll upgrade your net worth. It's practically automatic. Remember, birds of a feather flock to the bank together. Law number 12: Number 12, don't do it alone, ask for help and mentorship. So pride and secrecy keep people poor. I learned this the hard way. In my startup days, I was making $300 a month and was too embarrassed to tell anyone how much I was struggling. I thought I had to fake success or go solo and it nearly broke me. The truth is successful people ask for help all the time. They hire coaches, they seek mentors, they gather teams of advisors. Ego can be expensive. If you're too proud to admit what you don't know, you will cap your growth. In fact, 82% of small businesses fail due to cash flow problems, often because the founder didn't seek financial advice or delegate when they should have. So don't let that be you. Find someone who has been where you want to go and learn from them. And if you're in a crisis, reach out instead of suffering in silence. Don't do it alone because you'll probably fail. You'll quit along the way because it's too devastating lonely. The right help at the right time can save your business and your sanity. Success is a team sport, so play it that way. Law number 13: Reinvest your profits. So when money does start coming in, it's tempting to celebrate. I made it! Let's spend! But the wealthy think differently. They plow money back into growth. Warren Buffett insists on this. When you first make money, you may be tempted to spend it. Don't. Instead, reinvest the profits. Whether it's profits from your business or returns from stocks box, feed it back into your wealth machine. This is how small ventures become empires. I did this with my first company. When we landed our first deal, I didn't go buy a car. I poured it into scaling the business, which later allowed me to sell and truly cash in. Reinvesting is how Buffett turned a pinball machine side hustle into a stock portfolio. Each round of profits bought more assets, which produced even more profit. It's a cycle: earn, invest, earn more. On the flip side, if you spend all you make, you kill the compound growth and go go back to zero. So celebrate your wins, yes, but then put that money back to work. Delay the gratification a little longer and watch your wealth snowball. Law number 14: Take calculated risks and embrace failure. No risk, no reward. It's a cliché, but it's true. Getting rich will require you to step out of your comfort zone. So start that business, invest in that property, pitch that big client, even when there's no guarantee of success. In fact, you will screw up along the way, and that is That's okay. 63% of millionaires admit they took risks and failed at least once in business. But here's the difference. They didn't see failure as the end. It was just data. They learned and kept moving. As the saying goes, winners are not afraid of losing, but losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success. And that was one of the hardest lessons for me. I was afraid to look stupid, to ask dumb questions, to lose money. On a strategy that might not work. But every failure— eating beans for lunch for years, failed product launches, interviews at Tank— that taught me something that eventually led to a huge win. So don't be reckless. Do your homework and take calculated risks. But when you feel fear, don't let it stop you. Often that fear is a sign that you're on the right track. Bet on yourself. And if you fall, get back up smarter. Law number 15: Be patient. Wealth takes time. We live in a world of instant gratification, but building real wealth is a long game. Too many people try one thing for 6 months, don't become millionaires, and then quit or jump on to the next fad. Don't fall for the get-rich-quick trap. The truth is most millionaires get rich slowly. In one study, 80% of millionaires were over 50. It took them decades of consistent effort to hit 7 figures. Saver investors took an average of 32 years to reach millionaire status. Status. Even fast-track entrepreneurs took 12 years on average. The media loves to highlight the 22-year-old crypto billionaires, but that's the exception, not the rule. Embrace the process. Commit to the long haul. This doesn't mean it has to take 30 years for you. The timeline can accelerate with smart decisions, but it won't happen overnight. Set longer-term goals and keep grinding. Remember, compound interest needs time to work its magic. That's law number 7. Each year you persist, your knowledge, your network, and your assets compound too. Patience isn't just a virtue in wealth building, it's a strategic advantage. Law number 16: Leverage. Multiply yourself through others. Here's a harsh truth: you will never get truly wealthy trading only your own time and effort. There are only 24 hours in a day and only one of you. The rich scale up by leveraging other people's time, their talent, their resources. That means hiring, delegating, automating, building a team and systems that make money even when you're not personally doing the work. So I learned this in running my YouTube channel. Channel. For years, I was in front of the camera, I was behind the camera, I was doing everything myself, and I was hesitant to spend money on help. I grew up without a ton of money, and maybe I was too cheap at first, but once I hired my first part-time editor, boom, I went from one video a week to one a day, which then brought in more money. Leverage. Similarly, in business, the moment I started bringing in partners and employees who are smarter than me in their areas, our growth started to explode. According to research, over 80% of millionaires rely on a team of smart people— attorneys, accountants, advisors— to help achieve their vision. So ask yourself, what tasks or expertise can you leverage from others to scale up? It could be as simple as hiring a virtual assistant for $10 an hour to free you up to make $100 an hour, or partnering with someone who has skills or contacts that you lack. Yes, it can cost money to hire good people, but not hiring when you need to is far costlier. Build your dream team. Law number 17: Take action. Speed beats perfection. The money goes to those who do, not those who wait. One thing I see holding entrepreneurs back is analysis paralysis. They plan and polish and procrastinate and opportunities pass them by. The wealthy have a bias for action. They do the best research they can, then pull the trigger. Jeff Bezos calls it the bias for action and credits much of Amazon's success to it. Warren Buffett calls unnecessary waiting thumbsucking and pushes himself to make decisions swiftly when he has enough facts. The point is, you can't steer a parked car. You have to start moving. Want to invest in stocks? Open the account and put in a small amount today. Learn as you go. Have a business idea? Launch a simple version of it right now, even if it's not perfect. You will refine through real-world feedback. Money loves speed. Not reckless, stupid speed, but the momentum that comes from decisive action. Action precedes clarity. So the law is do it before you feel 100% ready. An average plan executed today beats a perfect plan never executed. Start, stumble, learn, adjust, but start. Law number 18: Know your numbers. Track your money. You wouldn't drive a car blindfolded, right? So don't drive your finances that way too. Ignorance is extremely expensive. Wealthy people are keenly aware of their numbers. They know their their expenses, their profit margins, their tax liabilities, the investment returns, at least the key figures at all times. You need to become the CFO of your own life. You make a budget, update it regularly, and review where your money is going. You can use apps or spreadsheets, chalk on a board, whatever works for you, but track it. If you're an entrepreneur, this is even more critical because poor cash flow management kills 82% of small businesses. When I started, I used Microsoft Money software to track my my business finances, and my early accounting was a total disaster until I learned how to prioritize it. And once I did, I found ways to save on taxes and get unexpected refunds that boosted my cash flow. That's the reward for paying attention. The law here is what gets measured gets managed. When you track, you naturally start optimizing. You spot wasteful spending, you find opportunities to save or invest, and you avoid nasty surprises. So open those bank statements, know your credit score, door. Set a weekly date with your money. Yes, I'm serious. Your bank account should never be a mystery. Law number 19: Give and you shall receive. This might sound more spiritual, but it's hard-nosed success strategy too. Generosity breeds prosperity. The wealthiest people I know are givers. They donate to charities, they mentor others, they create opportunities for the people that are around them. Why? Because what you put out into the world comes back to you multiplied. Zig Ziglar said it best: You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want. And it's true. When you operate from a mindset of service and generosity, you build an army of allies. People open doors for you. Clients refer to you. Your reputation starts to shine. Even on a practical level, generosity expands your network and skills. So volunteer in an organization and meet influential people. Mentor someone, and you often learn from the teaching. Also, give Giving keeps you humble and hungry. It reminds you that wealth has a purpose to improve lives, including your own. And here's a little secret. Giving money away can actually make you feel wealthier. It breaks the fear that money is scarce. Of course, be smart. Don't give beyond your means, but make generosity a line item in your life. It could be money or time or knowledge. Nearly 3 of 4 millionaires in a study volunteered at least 5 hours a month, and many actively mentored others. Others. Coincidence? I don't think so. The more you give, the more you grow. It's a law. And law number 20: stay humble and stay hungry. Money is a moving target. The game doesn't end when you hit some magic number. To not only get rich but to stay rich, you must keep your ego in check and your drive alive. Success can be a sedative. The moment you think, I've made it, you start to slip. Remember Bill Gates's warning: success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose. So don't fall for that The greats, the, the Buffetts, the Oprahs, they never stop learning. They never stop pushing. They act like beginners even when they are masters. For me, the belief game never ends. Despite all the subscribers and the business, I still wake up as a student. I still want to get better every day. So celebrate your wins, yes, but stay curious and grounded. Keep setting the next goal, setting the next challenge, and importantly, stay grateful. Humility also means recognizing the role that others have played played, and some luck in your success. It keeps you from doing something dumb and losing it all out of arrogance. The hungry, humble entrepreneur will run circles around the complacent one who's resting on his laurels. Money has a way of disappearing from those who take it for granted. So no matter how well you're doing, adhere to these laws. Keep growing, keep giving, and keep believing. A quick final thought: you've just learned 20 laws, but knowledge alone won't change life. Action will. Pick one law today and start living it. Maybe it's setting up that savings account. Maybe it's calling that mentor. Maybe it's finally launching that product. Remember, every big success is just an accumulation of small, consistent wins. You showing up for this, absorbing these strategies, that already sets you apart from the masses who are still looking for easy answers. And so I want to acknowledge you for, for being here right now and investing in yourself. Now get out there and do the work. Apply these laws. Cause and build the wealth and life that you deserve. You want to know the secret to staying positive every single day as an entrepreneur? In a world full of setbacks, competition, and stress, it's easy to get dragged down. But guess what? Your success in business hinges on your mindset. Many of the world's top business leaders say that optimism is the key to their achievements, and science backs it up. When your brain is in a positive state, it is 31% more productive than when it's negative or stressed. That means you think clearer, work smarter, and even close more sales. Shawn Anchor found you're 37% better at sales when you're positive. Staying positive is not just feel-good fluff, it's a practical business strategy. So let me ask you this question: do you ever feel like the daily challenges of building a business are sucking the positivity out of you? If so, this video is for you. Today I'll break down how to stay positive every day in the exact ways entrepreneurs need. I'll cover your mindset, mindset, your habits, your environment, and how to push through failures with optimism. Each section will give you actionable tips to boost your mood and resilience. We'll bring in research, stats, and quotes from entrepreneurs and experts to prove why these strategies work. No boring lecture here. This is about you, your business, and your life. So let's dive in and get you ready to attack each day with the positivity and belief in yourself. Mindset is everything. Henry Ford famously said, whether you think you can or you can't, you're right. What you believe about yourself and your situation shapes your reality. As an entrepreneur, your attitude determines your altitude. If you believe this problem will sink me, it likely will. But if you believe I'll find the way through, you open up possibilities. Positive thinking isn't about wearing rose-colored glasses or ignoring reality. It's about focusing on solutions and opportunities instead of problems. Research by psychologist Barbara Fredrickson at UNC found that people who think positively actually process more new information and connect the dots more easily. In other words, a positive mindset literally makes you a better problem solver. Think about that. When you stay optimistic, you're able to see creative solutions that pessimists miss. This is crucial when you're faced with complex business challenges. Your mind is open, resourceful, and ready to innovate. On the flip side, a negative mindset can cloud your judgment. According to the book Understanding the Entrepreneurial Mind, an entrepreneur in a negative mood often makes poor decisions for their venture. You don't want negativity steering the ship of your business. Instead, cultivate optimism. Believe that challenges can be overcome. This doesn't mean being delusional. It means choosing a can-do attitude. As the saying goes, impossible itself means I'm possible. One way to strengthen your mindset is to adopt what Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck calls a growth mindset. With a growth mindset, you understand that failures aren't failures, they're lessons. You see challenges as chances to grow, not as roadblocks. People with this mindset embrace challenges and persist through obstacles, viewing failures as learning opportunities. Imagine approaching each setback in your business and asking, 'What can I learn from this?' instead of getting discouraged. That shift in perspective keeps you positive and moving forward. You stop seeing a lost client or a weak sales quarter as the end of the world and start seeing it as valuable information for improvement. Talk to yourself, not just listen. We all have an inner voice. If that voice is saying, 'I'm not good enough,' or 'This will never work,' it's going to drag you down. You must watch what you say to yourself. Catch negative self-talk and flip it. As entrepreneur Dan Gallagher put it, engaging in positive self-talk can help you naturally embrace a more positive mindset over time. Start telling yourself what you're doing right and what you will achieve. This isn't cheesy, it's science-backed. Psychologists have found that positive affirmations and optimistic thinking patterns can rewire your brain over time to be more positive and resilient. Remember that classic Napoleon Hill quote from Think and Grow Rich? Whatever the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve. Belief is powerful. If you can conceive of a bold vision for your business and truly believe you can make it happen, you've set the mental stage for success. Your positive mindset will drive your actions. Every great entrepreneur, from Steve Jobs to Sara Blakely, started with belief. They face the same fears and doubts, but they decided to believe in a positive outcome. You can make that same decision every day. So here are some actual mindset Start each day with a positive intention. For example, tell yourself, today we'll have challenges, but I will find the good and make progress. Reframe challenges as problems to solve rather than dead ends. Ask, how can I make this work? Instead of saying, this won't work. Use empowering language. Replace I can't or I'm not sure with I can learn or I will figure it out. Remember, your words shape your mindset. Carry a quote that inspires you. It might be Ford's quote or another that pumps you up. When negativity hits, read it and reset your mind. By mastering your mindset, you lay an unshakable foundation for positivity. Optimism is a choice, and you make it daily. And as an entrepreneur, choosing optimism gives you a massive advantage. You'll approach your business with confidence, creativity, and persistence, no matter what comes your way. Okay, so now that we've got your mindset geared towards positivity, let's talk about what you do every every day because your daily habits either fuel or drain your positive energy. Your daily habits are the small steps that create your big success. How do you start your day? How do you handle stress? These little choices determine whether you stay positive or slip into negativity. There's a saying, your day is your life in miniature. If you win the day, you win at life. So let's make sure your days are set up for positivity with the right habits and routines. Let's start with some morning routine magic. Mornings set the tone. If you roll out of bed and immediately drown in emails or problems, you're inviting stress. Instead, craft a morning routine that feeds your positivity. As friend of the channel Hal Elrod wrote in The Miracle Morning, how you wake up each day and your morning routine, or lack thereof, dramatically affects your levels of success in every area of your life. Think about that. A A focused, positive morning leads to a focused, positive day. So what can you do each morning? Start with gratitude. Before you grab your phone, take a moment to acknowledge 3 things you're grateful for. It could be something as simple as having a warm cup of coffee, the support of a friend, or the opportunity to chase your dream today. This habit literally trains your brain to look for the good. Research shows that regular grateful thinking can increase happiness by up to 25%. 25%. Imagine feeling 25% happier just by doing a quick gratitude exercise. That's a huge return on investment for a practice that takes only a couple of minutes. Not only that, but studies found people who kept a gratitude journal for just a few weeks slept better and had more energy. As an entrepreneur, don't you need better sleep and more energy? Gratitude is a free fuel for positivity and performance. Next, consider a morning affirmation or intention. This might feel awkward at first, but it works. For example, say, "I am resourceful and I can handle anything that comes today," or whatever positive identity you want to reinforce. Look in the mirror and speak encouragement to yourself. It sets a powerful tone. If affirmations aren't your style, try reading a few pages of a positive book or an inspiring biography each morning. Feed your mind something uplifting before the world's noise creeps in. Move your body, even a little. Exercise is one of the best habits for staying positive. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins, those feel-good hormones that naturally boost your mood. You don't have to hit the gym for 2 hours. Even a brisk walk can work wonders. In fact, research at Stanford University found that walking boosted people's positive mindset and improved problem solving. Just a 15 to 20 minute walk in the morning or during a midday break can clear your head and refresh your outlook. Some of my best ideas and solutions to the problems that had me frustrated came while walking outside. It's like giving your brain a positivity reset. Another simple but powerful habit is music. Create a playlist of songs that make you feel energized, happy, and unstoppable. Play it in the morning or whenever you feel a slump coming on. Neuroscience tells us that music we enjoy causes a release of dopamine, a pleasure chemical, and even lowers levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. Think about the last time A great song came on, your feet started tapping, maybe you smiled or sang along, and for those 3 or 4 minutes you felt on top of the world. Use that. Keep your positivity playlist ready. Instead of stewing in stress, play a track that fires you up. Mindfulness and breaks are habits too. Working nonstop until you crash is a recipe for burnout and negativity. Instead, build short positive breaks into your day. Maybe you do a 5-minute meditation or breathing exercise after a tough meeting breathing to center yourself. Maybe you step outside to get some fresh air and literally clear your mind. These micro habits prevent stress from accumulating. They're like pressure release valves that keep your mood stable. Remember, staying positive doesn't mean you never get frustrated or tired. It means you have ways to bounce back and recharge quickly. Let's not forget about kindness as a habit. Yes, being kind is a habit that boosts positivity for you and for others. When you perform a small act kindness, like helping a colleague with a task or sending a thank you email to a supplier, you get a rush of feel-good hormones. Psychologists note that altruistic acts release oxytocin, endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin— the cocktail of happy chemicals. You're basically dosing yourself with positivity by doing good. So challenge yourself every day. Do one small good thing for someone without expecting anything in return. It could be as simple as complimenting someone on a great the idea, or listening attentively when someone really needs to vent. These habits create a positive feedback loop. The more positivity you put out, the more comes back to you. So let's summarize these key habits. Start your day with gratitude and positive input. Those could be affirmations or reading. Move your body—walk, exercise—to boost your mood and creativity. Take short mindful breaks to reset your stress. Use music to lift your spirits instantly. And practice daily and kindness. These habits might sound simple, but consistency is key. Doing them every day builds an upward spiral of positivity, and over time you'll notice you're more upbeat, more resilient, and more motivated because you've trained yourself to focus on the positive. The best part? These habits are 100% in your control. You can't control the economy, you can't control the client's response, you can't control random setbacks, but you can control your routine and how you spend time. Make positivity a routine. Just like brushing your teeth protects your dental health, these habits protect your mental and emotional health as an entrepreneur. They keep you strong for the long journey. We've covered how you can work on yourself, but what about the people and places around you? The environment you immerse yourself in can make or break your positivity. Let's talk about that next. They say you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. This famous Jim Rohn quote holds a lot of truth, especially for entrepreneurs. Your environment, the people you talk to, the content you consume, the workspace you're in directly impacts your mindset and your motivation. If you're surrounded by naysayers and negative energy, staying positive will feel like swimming upstream. On the other hand, if you build a bubble of positivity around you, it becomes so much easier to maintain an optimistic outlook each day. So let's start with people. Take a moment and think about the individuals you interact with most in your business and personal life. Do they uplift you or drag you down? Are they encouragers or complainers? Be honest, because sometimes we keep people around out of habit, not realizing their negativity is poisoning our mindset. Positivity and negativity are both contagious. In a company setting, just one toxic person can kill the positive mood of the whole team. As research in organizational behavior has shown. But the good news is that positivity is just as infectious. When you spend time with optimistic, solution-oriented, enthusiastic people, you catch those vibes. You start to see the world like they do, full of opportunities instead of obstacles. So choose your circle wisely. Seek out other entrepreneurs or mentors who encourage you and challenge you to grow. Join a mastermind. Like Evan Carmichael in my group, or an online community of business builders who focus on possibilities, not just problems. If you have doubters in your life who constantly tell you that your dreams are impossible, limit your exposure to those voices. You don't have to cut anyone out completely if that's not feasible, but you can set boundaries. So for example, maybe you have a friend who always complains about everything. You might decide not to discuss your business aspirations conversations with that person, or spend a bit less time engaging in their rant sessions. Protect your mental space. It's precious. If you have a team or employees, be the source of positivity for them. Create an environment at work where optimism thrives. As a leader, your attitude is incredibly infectious. Entrepreneur Derek Capo advises that businesses should encourage open communication and give everyone a voice. When people feel heard and valued, they become more engaged and positive. Celebrate wins openly, no matter how small. If an employee hits a goal or comes up with a creative idea, recognize it. CEO Monty Deer of Kizik suggests giving every team member a chance to share something they're proud of. It builds camaraderie and spreads positivity in the culture. The idea is to foster a supportive environment where positive vibes are the norm. When your workplace runs on positivity, not only will you feel better coming into work, but productivity and creativity will improve for everyone. In fact, management expert Rosabeth Moth Kanter built an entire theory around this. Encouraging a positive outlook on teams boosts morale and productivity and even reduces resistance to change. A positive culture isn't just nice to have. It gives your business an edge. Now, physical environment. Your surroundings at work or home have a subtle but real effect on your mood. Is your workspace cluttered, dark, or depressing? Depressing, or is it bright, inspiring, and organized? You don't need a fancy office to be positive, but do what you can to make your environment lift you up. Open the blinds and let natural light in. Studies show sunlight can improve mood and energy. Even Richard Branson highlights this, saying that a well-designed workplace with plenty of sunlight is one of the basics for keeping your team and yourself engaged and motivated. Put up a few images or quotes in your office that inspire inspire you. Maybe a vision board of your goals, or photos of your family, or role models that remind you why you do what you do. These visual cues can refocus you on positivity when stress strikes. Also consider the information diet you feed your brain. We live in an information age with news and social media 24/7. While it's important to stay informed, a constant stream of negative news can sour your mood without you even realizing it. If you find yourself doomscrolling or reading headlines that make you anxious first thing in the morning, stop. Try curating your content. Follow social media accounts that post motivational or educational content rather than pessimistic rants. Maybe listen to a podcast of entrepreneurs sharing success stories, or watch one of my Believe videos daily to get a hit of positivity. Shameless plug, but it works. The idea is to surround yourself with positivity in all forms—people, places, and media. So let's talk about some action steps for your environment and your Circle. Audit your circle. List the 5 people you interact with most. Note who leaves you feeling uplifted versus drained, and make a plan to spend more time, even virtually, with the uplifters and less time with the drainers. Next, connect with like minds. Join a local entrepreneur meetup or online forum like a Facebook group for startups, a coworking space community. Share wins and challenges with the people who support you and build you up. Next, optimize your workspace. Clean up clutter. Add one or two personal touches that make you a smile, your favorite quote on the wall, a plant on your desk. Ensure you have light and, if possible, some fresh air. Next, positive inputs. For one week, consciously consume positive content each day, whether it's a chapter of a self-improvement book, a motivational YouTube video, or simply music that elevates you. Notice the difference in your mood. Next, lead with positivity. If you have a team, start meetings by sharing a quick win or shout out to someone. Encourage solutions-focused discussions. Be the boss who says, "I believe in you guys, we can figure this out," instead of spreading panic. Your team's energy will mirror yours. By cultivating a positive environment and surrounding yourself with enthusiastic people, you create a safety net for your positivity. Even when you have an off day, your environment will catch you and lift you back up. You won't have to fight negativity alone because you've built an ecosystem that actually reinforces optimism. In entrepreneurship, where the journey can be lonely or intense, that support is invaluable. Now, even with the best mindset habits and environment, life will throw punches, especially in business. Things go wrong, deals fall through, products fail, you make mistakes. The difference maker is in how you respond. So let's talk about turning those failures and setbacks into fuel for even more positivity. Entrepreneurship is often described as a roller coaster. Ups and downs are guaranteed. You might be crushing it one month and then hit by a crisis the next. So how do you stay positive through the inevitable failures, mistakes, and hurdles? The answer is in one word: resilience. Resilience is your ability to bounce back, to keep going with enthusiasm after every setback. And positivity is both the fuel for resilience resilience and the result of resilience. It's a cycle. Being positive makes you more resilient, and being resilient keeps you more positive through the hard times. Let's get one thing clear: failure is not the opposite of success. It's part of success. Nearly every successful entrepreneur has failed, usually many times. As one article put it, few entrepreneurs make it big with their first idea or business venture. There are often many failures and mistakes behind a prosperous business. The winners aren't those who never fail. They're those who never quit. They maintain optimism that eventually they'll figure it out. Winston Churchill captured this brilliantly in a famous quote: Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. Think about that. Do you have the ability to fail again and again and still not lose heart? You can cultivate that ability, and it starts with how you interpret failure. Reframe frame failure as feedback. Instead of saying, I failed, I'm no good, tell yourself, I tried something and got results I didn't want. Now I have information to adjust. Remember our growth mindset from earlier? In that mindset, failure is just data, a lesson in what doesn't work. One of my favorite examples is Thomas Edison. When developing the light bulb, Edison famously said, I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. That is the epitome of positivity in the face of failure. Year. He literally saw each failed experiment as a step forward because it meant one less wrong way to try. Adopt that approach in your business. If a product launch flops or an investor says no, you haven't failed. You've gained priceless knowledge about what doesn't work, which means you're closer to figuring out what will work. Let's get real with a legendary entrepreneur comeback story. Steve Jobs. You probably know that Steve Jobs got fired from Apple, the company that he co- he founded. Can you imagine pouring your heart into building a company only to get booted out in a very public way? It could have broken him. But Jobs later reflected on that experience and said, "I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me." Why would he say that? Because being ousted forced him to start fresh. He started NeXT and Pixar after that to innovate without the pressure. And it led to one of the most creative periods of his life. Eventually, Apple even bought NeXT and brought him back as CEO. His setback was actually a setup for later success. Jobs also gave this advice: Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. You will get hit with metaphorical bricks. A deal falls apart at the last minute. A key employee quits. A pandemic shuts down your business. It can feel devastating, but don't lose faith. Stay positive that there is a way through. Often that brick to the face contains a lesson or pushes you to make a change that leads to growth. Another inspiring story of positive resilience is Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx. She's a billionaire now, but in her journey she faced tons of rejection and of course made many mistakes while developing her product. Sara has a unique perspective on failure thanks to her upbringing. She says, my dad encouraged us to fail. Growing up, he'd ask at the dinner table, table, what did you fail at today? If we had nothing, he'd be disappointed. That changed her mindset early on to realize failure is not the outcome, failure is not trying. And because of that, she was never afraid to try new ideas or take risks in business. She wasn't scared of hearing no because she didn't view a no as a permanent defeat. Failure became about not trying instead of the outcome itself. Can you imagine how unstoppable you become with that mindset if you decide the only true failure is not giving your all or not attempting your dream, then any other setback is just a temporary hiccup. You'll stay positive because you'll always be proud that you're in the arena learning and moving forward rather than standing on the sidelines too scared to try. Science confirms that positivity and resilience are linked. A study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that resilient people use positive emotions emotions to bounce back from negative experiences. They actually harness optimism as a tool to recover. The study described resilient individuals as having optimistic, zestful, and energetic approaches to life, being curious and open to new experiences, and characterized by high positive emotionality. So in plain language, resilient folks tend to be positive folks. They face the same storms, but they look for the rainbow sooner. They ask, okay, what's still What can I fix? What can I try next? Whereas someone without resilience might only see the wreckage and give up. So how can you build that resilience and use failure as fuel? Here are a few strategies. Let's start with detachment from outcomes. This doesn't mean not caring. It means not tying your self-worth to one specific result. If a pitch meeting goes poorly, it doesn't mean you are a failure. It means your strategy needs work, or maybe that investor wasn't the right fit. Separate the event from your identity. Identity. Tell yourself, this didn't work out, but I can learn and improve. I'm still capable and worthy. Next, learn the lesson quickly. When something goes wrong, actively look for the lesson. Write it down. For example, our marketing campaign didn't get traction. The lesson is our message didn't resonate. We need to understand our customers better. By extracting the lesson, you turn the negative into a positive springboard. No joke, start seeing failures as workshops or seminars that you didn't have to pay for. They taught you something free, albeit painfully. This mindset makes it almost exciting to analyze a failure because you're eager to find the improvement point. Next, celebrate effort and courage. If you took a risk or tried something new, give yourself credit for that regardless of outcome. Not everyone has the guts to do what entrepreneurs do. Maybe you hosted your first webinar and only 3 people showed up. You might feel like, ah, that was embarrassing, I failed. But flip it. You had the courage to host a webinar. Seminar. You stepped out of your comfort zone. That's a win in itself. Celebrate that and plan how to get 10 people the next time. Next, keep inspirational stories handy. When you hit a low, sometimes you need to remind yourself that failure is normal on the road to success. Read about how J.K. Rowling was rejected by 12 publishers, or how Elon Musk's first rockets exploded, or how Colonel Sanders was turned down hundreds of times trying to sell his chicken recipe. These are true stories of famous successes. They all had moments where most people would have quit, but they kept going. Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, was famously rejected from dozens of jobs. Even KFC wouldn't hire him. He says it well: Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine. That is the mindset you need to endure the hard and worst days, knowing that if you keep going, the sunshine will come. Lastly, cultivate a sense of humor flexibility. Sometimes the best way to stay positive is to not take things too seriously. Laugh at the absurdity of some situations. If you missend an email to a client with a silly typo, laugh it off and correct it. If your prototype literally catches on fire, take a breath and say, well, we found a way not to build it. It's not about making light of serious challenges, but about not letting challenges steal your light. So here's our resilience recap. Every entrepreneur faces failures. What will set you apart is how how quickly you get back up and how positively you come back after each fall. See failure as part of the process. It's evidence that you're pushing limits and growing. Trust that within every setback is a lesson or a key opportunity. Keep your enthusiasm through failures and you are guaranteed to eventually succeed because you won't stop until you do. So we've covered a lot— mindset, habits, environments, and resilience. You might be thinking, this is great information, Evan, but it's also a lot to take in. Don't Don't worry, let's pull it all together and send you off ready to conquer your day with positivity. Staying positive every day is a journey, not a one-time decision. It's a journey made of many small choices. The choice to feed your mind with optimism, the choice to practice habits that generate joy, the choice to surround yourself with uplifting influences, and the choice to see the silver lining in every cloud. You have the power to make those choices day in and day out. Picture your entrepreneurial journey like climbing a mountain. Mountain. There will be sunny days, there will be storms. You've now got a backpack full of tools to help you on the climb: a strong positive mindset— that's your inner compass— your daily habits that energize you— that's your supplies of food and water— you have a supportive environment— that's your climbing team and your gear— and you have the resilience to overcome obstacles— that's your rope to get past the cliffs. With these tools, no storm can stop you for long. You might hunker down during the the worst of it, but you'll never lose faith that you can reach the summit. Remember, positivity is a practice. If one day you find yourself in a funk, it's okay. It doesn't mean you failed at being positive. It just means that you're human. You had a tough day. Use the strategies that we've discussed. Maybe double down on gratitude that evening, or call a friend who always encourages you. Do something from your toolkit to reset your perspective. One bad day doesn't have to become a bad week or a bad life. As an entrepreneur, you learn to ride the waves. The highs feel amazing. Celebrate them. And the lows are temporary and filled with lessons. Embrace them. Let me leave you with one powerful thought from psychologist Martin Seligman, known for his work on optimism. Optimists tend to achieve more because they keep going. In studies, optimistic salespeople outsold their pessimistic peers significantly simply because they didn't give up after the first rejection. They believe the next call could be a yes. Carry that spirit with you. The next client will say yes. The next idea can be the breakthrough. The next day might just bring the opportunity you've been waiting for. Positivity is believing that your best days are ahead of you, not behind you. So no matter what yesterday looked like, you have the power to make today better. When you maintain that forward-looking attitude, attitude, you become unstoppable. Challenges become adventures. Critics become motivators. Uncertainty becomes a playground for your creativity. Every morning, wake up and remind yourself of your why— the reason you became an entrepreneur. Maybe it's to provide a better life for your family, to solve a problem you care deeply about, to create freedom for yourself, or to make a difference in the world. That purpose is your well of positivity. As long as you keep your why in sight, you can handle anyhow. Steve Jobs said it perfectly: if you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don't have to be pushed. The vision pulls you. So let your vision pull you through the tough times. When you stay connected to that excitement and passion, positivity flows naturally. You'll jump out of bed— maybe after a cup of coffee— ready to face the day because you know you're building something meaningful. I want you to make commitment to yourself. Choose one tip from this video and start it today. Maybe you write a gratitude list before you sleep tonight. Maybe you do a quick jog tomorrow morning, or you send a thank you message to a colleague. Take that step, and then another the next day. You'll start to feel the change. A little more pep in your step, a bit more optimism when you encounter stress, a longer fuse before you get angry, a quicker smile, a faster rebound from appointments. Those small changes will compound into a truly positive life experience. Staying positive every day isn't about never feeling negative emotions. It's about not staying stuck in them. It's about always returning to hope, to solutions, to belief in yourself. You are stronger and more capable than you know, and now you have strategies to nurture that strength and positivity consistently. In the entrepreneurial journey, mindset is your greatest asset. It, protect it, and cultivate it. And when in doubt, remember this: you've got through 100% of your bad days so far. You're still here, still standing, and still striving. That's a perfect track record of overcoming. Keep that streak going. Now go out there and build your dreams. Do it with a smile on your face, gratitude in your heart, and a fire in your belly. The world throws thunder, you bring the sunshine every single day. You have everything it what it takes to succeed, as long as you keep your head up and your attitude positive. So keep moving forward, keep learning, and keep believing in the beauty of your goals. Your positivity will become your superpower that sets you apart in a world where many give up. And remember this: the entrepreneur who can stay positive in the face of any challenge is the one who ultimately wins. That can be you. Stay strong, stay positive, and as always, believe. And congratulations, you're one video closer to who you're meant be. Believe. If you want to learn everything you need to know about money, wealth, and scaling your income, check the video right there next to me. I think you'll love it. Continue to believe, and I'll see you there. Just working harder will never make you rich. You have to be willing to work hard, but you also have to be willing to work smart. I, I, I can't stand when people say work smart, don't work hard. But to me, that's all complete crap because you have to do both. You have to do both. Who works harder?