In this YouTube video, Nick Hutchison reviews Lisa Blackshaw’s book Rise and Thrive: Quotes to Start Your Day for a Positive Mindset. He describes reading the entire book in one sitting, noting its momentum‑driven format that makes it hard to put down. Hutchison recounts meeting Blackshaw on Zoom, highlighting her passion for personal development and the book’s focus on short, motivational quotes paired with reflections. He shares personal anecdotes about using quote cards in college and emphasizes the importance of “bookending” the day—controlling both morning and evening routines to influence the rest of the day. Hutchison quotes Blackshaw’s description of the book as a guide for implementing quotes, building habits, eradicating bad habits, and thriving daily. He presents several favorite quotes from the book (Rumi on self‑change, a reading‑stress‑reduction statistic from the University of Sussex, Matt Cameron on positivity, Larry King on listening) and explains their relevance. The review concludes with a recommendation to keep the book by the bedside, read it repeatedly, and use its sub‑categories for targeted inspiration, inviting viewers to comment or ask questions.
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If you're someone that struggles with morning motivation, like it's just tough to get out of the bed and you've got a negative mindset about your morning, I would highly recommend reading this book, Rise and Thrive: Quotes to Start Your Day for a Positive Mindset by Lisa Blackshaw. I just finished reading this book. I was planning on reading it over a couple of weeks, but I actually read it in one sitting because there's momentum within this book. You can feel it as you're reading. You don't want to put it down, and the quotes are so positive and motivational. They do stop and make you think, but then you want to get to the next one and the next one. So I really enjoyed this reading experience. I had a chance to meet with Lisa on Zoom a couple of weeks ago, and you could just tell she loves the personal development space. It's helped her so much, she wants to share some of her favorite quotes and formats for creating successful routines, and she did so with this book. So like I said, it's pretty easy to get through. There's not a ton of text on each page, just motivational quotes and reflections. I really enjoyed this. Back when I was in college, I actually used to take a pen and a note card and write down all the motivational quotes that I would read in the books that I was reading right when I was starting my journey, and I created a quote wall. That's how much they meant to me. And also, my morning routine is extremely important. I like the idea of bookending your day. Lisa mentions it very briefly in here, and that's the idea that if you can control the morning and you can control the evening, Then you have a much better chance at controlling everything in between. But if you have a lack of control in the morning, then you fall right into the whirlwind. If you have a lack of control in the evening, the chances that your morning routine are successful are a lot lower. The last thought you have before you go to bed is normally the first one you have when you wake up. So you want a very strong routine in both places. I want to read a little bit about the purpose of the book from Lisa's perspective so you can see why she wrote it. She says, quote, this book is more than just a compilation of positive and uplifting quotes. It is a guide on how to implement them and find your path to success. Learn how to optimize your routine, create good habits, eradicate bad habits, make beneficial lifestyle choices, set your goals, and thrive each and every day. And then she goes on to say that A good quote serves many purposes, and the use of motivational ones when you first wake up can set your mind on the right path for the day. Quotes help us point— I love this part— quotes help us put our own opinions and emotions into perspective, allowing us to channel the words of others or to interpret a message from within. I find that happening a lot when I'm reading. My vocabulary has expanded because I'm able to articulate things that I've felt or things that I've thought about but had a hard time putting into words much more efficiently when I'm able to view it through the lens of another person. So that's been really important for me. And then I wanted, uh, in today's review just to give you a preview of some of the quotes. Like, I did this— I circled and kind of outlined a lot of my favorite ones. There are tons of them as I go through, so I'll just kind of flip through and we'll see what pops up. This first one says Quote, yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. That's by Rumi. That quote makes me think of the Stoic idea of amor fati, which is actually a Nietzsche quote, but that Latin phrase translates to a love of fate. And remember that you can't control external circumstances. You can only control what's within your sphere of influence, your reaction to those external circumstances, when you stop allowing yourself to be thrown for a loop emotionally by the outside world and you just start changing yourself, like Rumi says, life gets better. So that's a cool one. Oh, I like this too. There was a note here I just randomly flipped to it, um, but I circled this one a thousand times because it has to do with reading. So Lisa says, quote, reading has been proven to reduce stress. Our best days cannot and will not start off by rushing around and feeling anxious. We want to stimulate our minds when the morning breaks. According to MindLab International at the University of Sussex, reading for just 6 minutes can reduce stress by 68%. So if you're feeling rushed, adding reading into your morning routine is really important. So let's read this quote: Live life to the fullest and focus on the positive. Matt Cameron. I like that one. There's just so many in here that I circled. Quote, I remind myself every morning nothing I say this day will teach me anything, so if I'm going to learn, I must do it by listening. Larry King. Remember, God gave all of us 2 ears and only one mouth for a reason. I love saying that line, especially recently. I think it's important we need to show up and listen, be open to other people's opinions, sort of respect what they have to say. There's just so many amazing quotes in here that I circled. I won't spoil any more of them. What I will do is encourage you to grab a copy of this book if you're somebody who's looking for more positivity, who's looking for more structure in their morning routine. This is a book that you can keep by your bedside and just kind of read as you want to refresh it. It was written to read multiple times. That's what Lisa says. So you can kind of keep going through it, keep reading these quotes and looking for inspiration. They're broken down into different subcategories, so If you're looking for inspiration on a specific part of your morning routine, then you can check it out that way as well. Comment down below, let me know if you have any other great resources just like this, if you've read the book, or if you have any questions for me. I'd be happy to answer anything that you've got. So go read something and have a wonderful, motivated morning. All right, bye everybody.
