My 3 Favorite Books For A Positive Mindset | Tips from Ramit Sethi

In the comments below. Look at that thing. Tonight we got something good, but we have something even better because I'm going to be talking about my three favorite books on positive mindset. My next question for you is, on a scale of 1 to 10, how do you feel today? This is a question I asked my team about a week after we all were in the middle of coronavirus. And I asked them and on average, the number had gone down 2. So I say on average, my team usually rates about 7 to 8. Numbers were 5 to 6. It was a very marked difference. How are you guys feeling? After a few weeks, that number had gone back up. And what I want to talk about tonight is a positive mindset, specifically three books and what they have meant to me, what I took away from them. So we're going to talk about that. We have a bunch of questions that came in via Instagram. Question questions about how has positive mindset affected my income? How do you do it if you have negative people around you? So we're talking about all those things. Prepare your questions or not. I've already got amazing questions thanks to Cass. Cass heard my rant yesterday about the horrible questions that the IWT community has been submitting. Cass, what'd you do to get these good questions tonight?

We asked like three hours ago to submit the questions, so I think that helped. And also via Instagram, not a survey.

Very proud, Cass. And also thankful that we have good.

Yeah, we got some good questions.

All right. So my first book that I would like to recommend that was awesome is a book called Playing Big by Tara Moore. None of these authors know that I'm about to plug their book, but I really love these books. So I found out about this book by stumbling across an article on GOOP of all places. Okay. Now usually I don't read quack sites, but this article was amazing. And it was an excerpt from the book or a Q and A by the author. I was like, damn, this is good. Bought the book immediately. As you recall, I have something called Ramit's Book Buying Rule. If I see a book that even remotely looks interesting, buy it. Never question it, never hesitate, never equivocate. Just buy it. And I finally got around to reading it and I loved it. So first off, a few things that stood out to me. Tara does an amazing job at helping us identify the stories that we tell ourselves. What are some of the stories that you tell yourself? Could it be I'm not good at making money? I'm not a morning person. I'm not the kind of person who can lose weight. What else are some stories that we tell ourselves?

I can't earn more money, I can't earn more. I can't start a business.

I can't find love. Yep, that's a really common one. I'm not good at public speaking. Mm, you're probably not if you say that, but you can become good. Alright, So I love this concept of narratives and the stories we tell ourselves. I used to say I'm a skinny Indian guy and I realized in my mid-20s that was just a story I was telling myself and that really opened my eyes to all the things I could possibly change. So she talks about that. She really talks about the concept of playing small. And I want to spend a second on this and then I'm going to talk about how it's related to positivity. How many of us have played small at one point or another in our lives and how many of us maybe are playing small right now? What do I mean by playing small? I mean that we are not going for truly what we want. Because what would people think if I fail? We are telling ourselves, I need a credential. Before I can do that, I need to read more. I need to figure it out how many people here doing that? Lots. We're playing small because if we actually articulate out loud what we want, people might laugh, we might not get it, and worst of all, we will come back and be in the same place and what will people think? So we play small. And Tara just really profoundly illustrates this and she talks about, you know, I need to take another 10 classes, I need a PhD and I thought, wow, she really nailed that concept of playing small. And of course the book is called Playing Big. So it's really about being confident, even if you don't necessarily have the skills yet. It's saying, this is what I want to achieve now let me make a plan to get it. And I just love that concept. One other thing, she talks about a future version of yourself. How many of us have ever thought about what we want ourselves to be like in 10 years? I didn't, but I think it's a powerful concept. And if you think what you know, if you even spend the time right now to write down a half page of what are you? What do you do? What do you look like? Where do you live? Who comes to you for advice? Where do you eat dinner on a Friday night? Write that down. And you might be surprised because often we have these lofty goals for I've run a marathon. I'VE done this. I donate to charity. But then you ask yourself, what am I doing today to possibly be moving towards that? And she really has this beautiful concept of. I think she calls it a future mentor of asking yourself, who do you want to be? And then starting to work towards it. Playing Big is written for women, but I found it immensely useful. And I think that everyone, man or woman, would read this and find it incredibly useful. And also, I recommended this cast to you. Can you talk about your experience with this book?

Yeah, I thought it was amazing. And I read the book. I really like the part about the inner critic and the inner mentor. And she says in the book not to, like, feel bad when your inner critic comes up, but just to, like, recognize it and embrace it and, like, move on from it. Which I thought was really powerful because I think a lot of people just feel bad when it comes up. Those feelings come up. So, yeah, I thought the book was awesome. And then she actually has an online course that I enrolled in after, which was great too.

A funny story about that. I still remember you. That was the first course I think you had ever taken.

Yeah.

And you came to me like, do you think I should join her course? And I'm like, yeah, if you like her book, get the course.

Yeah.

I didn't even, like, we didn't even talk about how much it cost. It was just like, yes, if you find an author, you, like, find a way to get everything they have.

Yeah.

And I've done that with authors and mentors of mine where I found somebody who truly transformed my life. And I got their courses, I got all their other books. I hired them to be a consultant. But funny story about that is you had missed the deadline.

Oh, really? I don't remember this.

Yeah, you missed the deadline and you were, like, kind of down because you had gotten really pumped up. And I don't know if I suggested it or you came up with the idea on your own. Either way, you emailed her and said, I just read your book. I know I missed a deadline by a couple of days. Can I please get in? I'll pay full price and I'll catch up. And she said, okay. Oh, wow. And I still remember that. And I think that was an amazing example of playing big. Because when you play big, whether you're an entrepreneur, a 9 to 5 employee, a parent, whatever, when you have something you want, you find a way to get it.

Yeah.

And to me, that was an amazing example of you being resourceful, playing big, and saying, I'm not going to let a little deadline stop me. Yeah, I'm going to find a way. And this. Now we're going to talk about how this all relates to positivity for book number one. When I think about people who email me and they say, like, I can't afford your programs. Like, what can I do? I'm like, find a way. When I was in college and I didn't have much money, there were conferences out there. I was like, I will. I'll find a way to get there. Let me volunteer just so I can be in the room and meet people. Volunteer, get creative. Nobody's going to tell you how to do this. No one's going to turn over and say, here's like, $10,000 worth of value for free. But people love resourceful people. Now, it doesn't mean you're entitled to anything. But when I get emails and when I see my other friends who have businesses, and people are like, hey, can you help me? Like, I can't afford this, or I don't have time, and it's like, the most successful people will find a way. And books like this will show you the mindsets, but most people are looking for tactics. Ramit, tell me the script to use to get in late. I could give you all the scripts in the world. I'll do that, too. Get my programs and get my courses, and they're all there. But. Or even in the book. But the larger point is, how do you develop a mindset where you say, I want something, and I'm gonna find a way. No barrier is gonna stop me. I think, Cass, you did an amazing job with that first program.

Thank you. Oh, and by the way, everyone, she. So I'm on her mailing list. You should sign up for it. And she's hosting virtual workshops.

Oh, my God.

Like, over the past few weeks, so.

So if you have a issue where you want to become more confident or you've been playing small, sign up. Right now. I'd like to take a break to announce a couple of things. First of all, I'm not sponsored. I'm not sponsored by hot tamales, nor am I sponsored by anyone. And I've told you, there's a. About how many brands are there in the world that I would be sponsored by?

Maybe three.

Yeah, I can think of two of them. One is a retail brand. Clothing. One is a hotel brand. Oh. Two are hotel brands. One, two, three. Oh.

But four. Hold that bag up. Hot tamales.

Let's discuss why Americans hate hot tamales and have horrible taste in candy. What. What do you guys like to eat? Oh. Oh, chocolate. Give me a Snickers. Disgusting. The problem is, these are so good. I think Indian people all love these. The problem is the carbs are, like, crazy. So I basically eat four, and that's it. I don't know how many people know macros, but it's 27. 27 grams of carbs. And there's 27. That's for 16 pieces. That's a lot. I could eat this whole bag at once, though, but I'm not going to. So what have we learned today? Number one, we've learned two very important things. Number one, positive mindset. Tara Moore, thinking big. Number two, I love hot tamales. And there's too many carbs in these. And hot tamales. If you're inventing a low carb version, send me an email. I read every email.

Sponsorship number five.

What? Oh, hot tamales. I mean, seriously, if they offered to sponsor, would I. Would I actually do it? Like, okay. By the way, let me talk about my policy on sponsorships. I. I've gotten. You know, now that I'm an Instagram influencer and all this stupid stuff, I get these horrible offers. Hey, ramit, post like, 20 times on your Instagram stories. Three feed posts, and we'll send you 10 bags of popcorn. I'm like.

What?

Do you understand what's going on right now? 10. This is literally not a joke. Juice. I have a juice company. They're like, post five times, we'll give you a box of juice. Like, do you understand what these programs that we build go for? No, they don't. They're just, you know, they're bots. So that's an easy decision. I've told Cass. Cause Cass is like, oh, you know, have you considered it? I think Cass, you know, the world of parts.