Resilience & Mental Toughness for entrepreneurs

“You know, we move, journal, breathe, meditate to tone mental muscles, which are presence, courage, gratitude, confidence, and resilience. And within each mental muscle, there are different skills that you can cultivate and exercise in order to build that strength.”

Building Mental Muscles™ with Olivia Bowser · 11:05 · listen →

“Even a successful entrepreneur has failed 1 billion times and been rejected 1 trillion times. Like, I have been rejected way more times than I have been accepted. I have failed way more times than I've been successful. At this point, I'm like almost immune to it, at least for the smaller ones.”

Building Mental Muscles™ with Olivia Bowser · 27:28 · listen →

“So it's like focusing on the end goal, you know, it's focusing on what matters and why you're doing it is really important for resilience. And then just being flexible, you know, things may not come to fruition in the exact way that you had imagined, but it doesn't mean that whatever you accomplish isn't a success.”

Building Mental Muscles™ with Olivia Bowser · 28:35 · listen →

“Because hard choices then are happening when discomfort happens, some self-control happens, and we are more aligned with the long-term vision for ourselves and wait for the reward. It's really hard to do it, hard to save money, let's say, and put the money into retirement and wait and have that vision and connection all the time to the future.”

How to Build Self-Discipline with Jerzy Gregorek · 0:31 · listen →

“Definitely, the goal that helps with hard choices has to be really the big goal. We want big things. And even if they take 5 years, they can help us with those hard choices now and develop this microprogressive system to get there.”

How to Build Self-Discipline with Jerzy Gregorek · 18:45 · listen →

“The Stoics were essentially focused on this basic question that you cannot control what happens to you in your life, but you can control how you react to it. And in this age of social media and technological kind of overkill in terms of information, I think we're all struggling to figure out how to make sense of our lives and how to create control where we can.”

Stoicism: Timeless Lessons for Modern Entrepreneurs with ... · 1:50 · listen →

“Get up, brush yourself off and take a step. Mark Aurelius has this quote that well-being is realized by small steps, but it is no small thing. In other words, small steps are not a small thing. Small steps are how you get moving forward.”

Stoicism: Timeless Lessons for Modern Entrepreneurs with ... · 19:57 · listen →

“Marcus Aurelius's quote around that is interesting. He said, you know, the impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way. So what stands in the way becomes the way because it's actually the impediment is what's going to move you forward when you're able to overcome it.”

Stoicism: Timeless Lessons for Modern Entrepreneurs with ... · 28:20 · listen →

“my slave owner can take my freedom and can maim me physically, can put me to hard labor, but cannot take my mind or my spirit or my desire. And that those things are uniquely mine. They belong to me. They cannot be taken by anybody.”

Stoicism: Timeless Lessons for Modern Entrepreneurs with ... · 23:28 · listen →

“So the answer then is compartmentalization, and that's the shoeboxes. So the more compartmentalized these problems are, the less overwhelming they become. So I got this problem. That by itself is not overwhelming. And I got this problem. That by itself is not overwhelming. It's only when I let them all merge together that I get into trouble. So what I say to people that are overwhelmed, don't lump, compartmentalize, use your shoeboxes.”

Embracing Realistic Optimism with Dr. Gary Sprouse, MD · 34:04 · listen →

“So humans love hormetic stress is what makes us human. Going all the way back anthropologically, we would have went through times of not a whole lot of food and times of probably a surplus of food and sometimes too hot and too cold. And the thing at its root function that really allowed us to survive was being able to adapt to those stressors.”

How to Reset Your Nervous System for Peak Performance wit... · 23:27 · listen →

“3 minutes of deep breathing, strong, and you have to focus on it a bit, it can't be very passive, followed by a maximal voluntary breath hold increased circulating human growth hormone in the blood by up to 550% a half hour after that was done.”

How to Reset Your Nervous System for Peak Performance wit... · 37:45 · listen →

“High-performance states, you don't want everybody around the board table just in this relaxed state. You want them present, aware, accessing all their faculties. That's what coherence provides, is that presence.”

Leading with Heart: The Science of Coherence and Emotiona... · 20:37 · listen →

“Fight or flight is for we're in danger. Like, fight or flight is tiger chasing me and I'm gonna die. Like, that's what fight or flight is for. Fight or flight is not for everyday living. And that's why we're seeing the high amounts of anxiety.”

From Survival to Strength: Healing, Resilience & the Powe... · 16:46 · listen →

“My favorite regimen because it's very easy and simple, I have 2 of them that I use in my practice, is the 5-5-7 breathing. And, that's in for 5, hold for 5, out for 7, 3 times, 3 times a day is how I usually start people.”

From Survival to Strength: Healing, Resilience & the Powe... · 24:30 · listen →

“There's one study that was published in Harvard Business Review where they found that about 1 in 4 entrepreneurs show signs of moderate to large burnout.”

Understanding Entrepreneurial Wellbeing with Johan Wiklund · 8:06 · listen →

“The thing is that as an entrepreneur, you don't have that, right? So it's like, if you don't know what your boundaries are, if you don't know what your limits are, then it's really, really hard.”

Understanding Entrepreneurial Wellbeing with Johan Wiklund · 10:03 · listen →

“You have a vulnerability to, for example, stress. You have a vulnerability to being attracted to drugs and things like that. And it's important to be aware of this. And it's also because of this that self-care is so, so important for the neurodiverse entrepreneurs.”

Understanding Entrepreneurial Wellbeing with Johan Wiklund · 22:36 · listen →

“It was so stressful that I had an autoimmune disease kind of sitting somewhere in my body, and it brought it out. And it's called pemphigus vulgaris, which sounds more like a Harry Potter curse than a disease. It's this thing that if I had gotten 50 years ago, John, I would have died from it.”

The Rise of AI Employees, Bootstrapping to Exit & Pragmat... · 25:02 · listen →

“Balance to me means 50/50. Like you're trying to weigh this kind of teeter-totter of like 50% work, 50% family. It's never that. It's never gonna be that, right? Sometimes it's 100% work, 0% family. Sometimes 100% family and 0% work.”

The Rise of AI Employees, Bootstrapping to Exit & Pragmat... · 20:18 · listen →

“I've always stuck by the phrase of you'll flush it. That play's over. I'm gonna flush it. I gotta move on to the next thing. And I think that's such an important aspect of life and business and being resilient is like, how do you keep pressing forward?”

Mindset, Resilience, and Elite Performance from the NFL t... · 16:18 · listen →

“I'm so thankful that I was able to have that mindset, jump in headfirst into the CFL game, embrace it, because had I not done that, I probably would've never got that chance to go start those games. I would've never had success in the CFL. I never would've made it to the NFL.”

Mindset, Resilience, and Elite Performance from the NFL t... · 0:00 · listen →

“I read this book, Psycho-Cybernetics. That was the book I read before my fourth year. I just had this like kind of— I revived my career. It was because of that book. And the whole essence of the book was like talking about reworking the self-image you have for yourself and how like you can only do as much as your self-image allows you to do.”

NFL's Maema Njongmeta on Visualization & Mindset · 29:53 · listen →

“As long as it's not the knockout punch and there's still time on the clock and there's still breath in my lungs and there's still this and there's— it's like, it's truly like— It's never too late. Like, it's really just never too late.”

NFL's Maema Njongmeta on Visualization & Mindset · 31:24 · listen →

“Can I be more resilient through joy, through the things that enlighten me and light me up and also light up other people? And that's what the whole premise is about. And you know what I found out? Because I'm a big nerd, there's facts that having more joy in your life leads you to success.”

The Joyful Leader with Nicole Van Valen · 11:12 · listen →

“And so, yes, there's nothing wrong with vacations. And there's nothing wrong with checking off boxes and all of the external things. And those will make you happy for a moment until when is that next thing? But joy, joy is eternal. Joy is constant. It is what lives within.”

The Power of Joy: Finding Light Through Adversity with Sh... · 10:58 · listen →

“So when you expect what I call the decline aging mindset, which has a beautiful acronym of DAMN, when you think, damn, I'm getting older, everything's going to be worse. I'm going to be less relevant. I'm going to be less quick. I'm going to be less effective. I'm going to be less attractive. When you believe that, that is really— that comes to pass.”

Joyspan Over Lifespan: Aging Better with Dr. Kerry Burnight · 15:00 · listen →

“Our behaviors and our thoughts are actually a response to our nervous system state. So if my nervous system, if my body is going into this state of stress or anxiety, and I'm feeling all that activation... that's going to impact how I'm thinking about a situation and therefore how I'm behaving in a situation.”

Your Body Keeps the Score With Chelsea Horton · 3:15 · listen →

“Versus if I have this narrative that I am unblockable, I am comfortable in space, I am a seatbelt in coverage, I'm hard to deal with, I'm— I cause problems for the offense, I'm one step ahead of everyone. Like, you just tell these things to yourself.”

NFL's Maema Njongmeta on Visualization & Mindset · 0:06

“Now, like, wanting it more doesn't actually make you better. It's all the other stuff. Like, are you staying consistently focused on the right goals? Are you working on the right goals? Are you efficiently using your time and your energy?”

NFL's Maema Njongmeta on Visualization & Mindset · 23:17

“You might have this occupation that tells you this is where I'm at, this is where I need to be. But don't let that ever, ever, ever get in the way of your vocation, of your purpose. And I felt like, you know, I started playing football. It was a scheme to make friends, win influence, get girls, all the things.”

NFL's Maema Njongmeta on Visualization & Mindset · 36:22

“Something about the construction, it, it just speaks to me. Like right now my goal is I want, when I'm done playing, I want to, one, I don't want to take a pay cut, which like that's a very high bar. And then 2, like, I, um, I want to be passionate about what I do, um, but I want to— I want to also make mailbox money.”

NFL's Maema Njongmeta on Visualization & Mindset · 40:23

“I believe every single human being has the beautiful power within them to transform, to come home to themselves, as I like to say. And so my role is really to provide the safety, the love, the education, and the tools that people need in order to kind of cross that bridge into self-transformation.”

Building Bridges Between Cognitive and Embodied Awareness... · 2:25

“Everything is a choice. Truly, everything is a choice to wake up, to say yes, to say no.”

Building Bridges Between Cognitive and Embodied Awareness... · 6:12

“I said, okay, well, I see the divorce and I raise you. I'm quitting the job, selling the house. I'm gonna go on this travel sabbatical and just, you know, kind of my own little Eat, Pray, Love adventure because I knew that I could handle whatever came my way.”

Building Bridges Between Cognitive and Embodied Awareness... · 14:50

“It's really hard for judgment and curiosity to coexist, 'cause if we can truly embody curiosity and say, huh, where does that pattern come from? Why do I think that? What am I afraid is going to happen? Then that's where we're really opening a door rather than judging something and closing a door.”

Building Bridges Between Cognitive and Embodied Awareness... · 16:19

“I'm not going to go into the gym on day 1 and try to lift 100 pounds off the rack. You know, I'm going to go with a 5 or 10-pound weight. And then over time, I'm going to slowly increase the amount of weight that I can lift until I get to that 100-pound weight.”

Building Bridges Between Cognitive and Embodied Awareness... · 22:30

“I also really love the one, worrying is like a rocking chair. It'll pass the time, but it won't get you anywhere.”

Building Bridges Between Cognitive and Embodied Awareness... · 34:58

“And it was interesting when we started doing classes at Liberate, the curriculum would ask people to write down like 10 things they liked about themselves, and a lot of people couldn't write down a single thing.”

Building Mental Muscles™ with Olivia Bowser · 13:53

“I think it's even harder too for younger generations with social media. Like, even if you're not being told you're not enough, you're looking at somebody else accomplish something and you're saying, oh, I couldn't have done that. There's like, it's just constant comparison, which really can create negative self-worth and negative self-talk and all of that. So stay off social media.”

Building Mental Muscles™ with Olivia Bowser · 16:27

“Imagine you want that person to have it be 80% positive or 70% positive. You have to start changing the way you talk to yourself, cuz of course you're gonna have imposter syndrome if everything you say to yourself is like, oh, you're not good enough. Oh, she's smarter than you. Oh, that outfit's better. Oh, you shouldn't be here. Oh, what are you doing? Like, of course you're not gonna feel good.”

Building Mental Muscles™ with Olivia Bowser · 20:00

“Or the other one I love is your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds.”

Building Mental Muscles™ with Olivia Bowser · 23:58

“How is this happening for me? Not to me. What is this teaching me right now? Okay, a little patience, a little calmness. So when your brain is working from a higher vibration and it's more positive and optimistic, ideas flow to you easier.”

Cultivating Positive Activity for Entrepreurship with Lor... · 12:23

“Our brains work in the opposite way... Be it first before you see it, right? So I don't mean pretend, but I mean, go to the emotion of having it now and then see what happens.”

Cultivating Positive Activity for Entrepreurship with Lor... · 16:55

“On top of my vision board, it says, this or something better... The universe says, no, no, no, this over here is gonna be amazing for you and you don't even know it yet.”

Cultivating Positive Activity for Entrepreurship with Lor... · 18:42

“I don't know if I believe in balance. I think some days it's like 80/20 and some days it's like 60/40. We had this business now for 27 years... I never had balance. Somebody something always got left.”

Cultivating Positive Activity for Entrepreurship with Lor... · 20:55

“I asked him one day how he knew so much about love, and he spelled out, I learned it from Jesus Christ.”

Cultivating Positive Activity for Entrepreurship with Lor... · 32:14

“So we have the ability to envision the future so we could say, hey, I'm gonna meet you at 2:30 and we're gonna do a podcast. Right. And we did that, you know, a couple weeks ago. So we were able to envision the future. But the side effect is then we have to worry about it.”

Embracing Realistic Optimism with Dr. Gary Sprouse, MD · 2:15