30 Mindset Shifts to Rewrite Your Story in 2025

Time is limited

There’s one simple reason why people put off important life changes and big ideas. There’s no deadline. Or at least, there is no perceived deadline. In reality, life hands everyone a deadline. You just don’t know when yours is. Don’t wait for death to start living life.

Anti-goals

If you’re not sure what your passions, dreams, or life goals are, flip the script. What is your absolute disaster life? Mine looks like this. Being trapped in an uncreative 9 to 5 working on something boring and unhelpful to people. Wasting time in meetings. Never getting to see my friends. Write out your worst case scenarios, and suddenly you’ll find a lot of motivation.

Think in forever games

Forget ”Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” What can you see yourself doing forever? Focus on what gets you obsessed. On learning, creativity, and building value. Understand your why. Find your forever games so you never have to quit.

Inputs not outputs

Success is not about results. Results are unpredictable. What is predictable is what you put in. Taylor Swift has released over 200 songs, and has written hundreds more over 2 decades. Michael Phelps swam 6 hours almost every single day for 16 years to win his 23 gold medals. It’s literally impossible not to swim faster if you train like Michael Phelps. What are you putting into your system to actually get something out of it? It’s about inputs, not outputs.

Think outside the box

If you’re feeling a little stuck, lost, or boxed in in life, all you need is a perspective shift. If you aren’t already living your dream life, your dream life exists outside of the things you know. Your current view is just a tiny dot in an infinite circle of opportunities. Change your environment, meet new people, experience new things. Get outside of your box so you can think outside the box.

Do something imperfect on purpose

Before this 30-day challenge, my fancy camera was stopping me from posting consistently. I kept feeling like I needed to set everything up perfectly to make a video, when all I really needed to do was post. So I switched to my phone instead. It’s easier, more portable, and for now, gets the job done. Do something imperfect on purpose and embrace the mess. Done beats imaginary perfect every single time.

Start before you are ready

You don’t learn how to walk by waiting to feel ready. You learn by moving your legs and trying. The same goes for everything else in life. Airbnb’s first website is unrecognizable today. Google started in a garage. Be prepared to mess up, fail, and change directions. That’s part of the process. The only way to feel ready is to start before you are.

Show your work

How do you expect people to know what you’re capable of, if you don’t show them? Earlier this year, I started writing online for fun. One of my articles blew up and 74 strangers commented relating to what I wrote. It’s actually a lot easier to attract opportunities than chase them. Write something and put it online, film a video for fun, tell a friend what you worked on today. Worst case, it's not that good and nobody cares. Best case, it is good and somebody does.

Consistency is inconsistent

Most people think consistency means hitting a 100 every single day. When in reality, this is what consistency actually looks like. Life throws you flaming curveballs, things come up, living is inherently inconsistent. A 50/50 one day is still 100% effort. Work with your capacity levels and realize that your best day will not happen every day. Showing up at 50% or even 5% is better than not showing up at all.

Begin again

I have ADHD and love chasing shiny new objects. To work with my brain, I reframe my life so I never have to “finish” anything. Every morning, I begin again. Press a mental reset button, let go of any stress or anxiety from the day before, and pretend you’re starting a new project. Every day, you have a choice. You can either move forward with the stress of the past, or without it. Your task list will look the same either way.

Treat mental health like physical health

At least 1 in 12 people in the US is currently depressed, even more are anxious or otherwise mentally unwell. What’s up? It hit me—we’re approaching mindset all wrong. It’s just like physical health. We don’t wait until we’re injured to start working out. So why do we wait until we’re burning out or depressed to work on our mindset? It’s not just about going to therapy in an emergency, it’s about building resilience before you need it.

You’re not actually “behind”

Society has lied to you. Life isn’t a race. Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, took 18 years to actually get rich. Vera Wang started her fashion career at age 40. She’s now worth over $650 million. The average age of successful startup founder is 45 years old. You don’t have to start a huge company or make millions to be successful. But, you are exactly where you need to be, in the context of your life. Be patient, and move at your own unique pace.

You’re allowed to change your mind

When making big life decisions, like what major to pick, what job offer to take, what opportunity to pursue—it’s easy to feel like it’ll determine THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. But, life is kind of long, and you don’t know what you don’t know. You can always pivot, try something new, move a new place, meet new people. And no decision is ever 100% wrong, because it’ll inform your next one. Change your mind, change your direction, change your story.

Less is more

The key to doing more is actually to care about less. In the last few months, I tried doing a lot of new things. Writing, dancing, building a photography portfolio, Youtube, Instagram, traveling, and more. You very quickly realize, the more you add, the less you can actually do well. You can only do one thing at a time anyways. Instead of adding more, what can you put on your NOT to do list?

Start at step 0

I have a YouTube channel, this account, and a newsletter. How did I get here? Well, I wrote one word. And then another. And another. That’s it. Stop overcomplicating it and take step 0. Open up Google Chrome, get your butt up off the couch, type a single word. Forget about the perfect end result, all you need right now is to take one step closer to your goal.

Go do the thing

For the overthinkers. Reading about the thing isn’t doing the thing, hearing how other people did it isn’t doing the thing, avoiding the thing isn’t doing the thing. The only thing that’s doing the thing is DOING THE THING. There is only one solution to all of your problems, and it’s to act. Stop thinking and just go do the thing.

Stop waiting for “someday”

Before last year, I kept saying “someday” I would drive my car across the country, or “someday” move to a different city, or “someday” create content online. Spoiler alert, I didn’t do any of these things for years, until I did ALL of them in a few months. Someday is just an excuse. We all make excuses because we’re afraid of uncertainty and what other people will think. But, if you don’t make someday happen, who will? Take charge of your life and actually make “someday” a real day.

Stop trying to fit in

Name one successful person who got there by fitting in. Right, there isn’t one. Growing up, all we do is try to fit in, when the real opportunities lie where we stand out. Different perspectives are interesting. Embrace all the things that make you weird, authentic, and unique, and the right people will find you. Nobody else is like you so why would you try to be someone else?

Play the freeze game

If you have anxiety and or ADHD like me, you’re probably frequently overwhelmed. When your brain is spiraling with a thousand different thoughts, just freeze. Challenge yourself to stare at the wall for 10 minutes and not move. At minute 1, you won’t think it’s working. By minute 5, you’ll realize it’s not life or death. And, you can do one thing at a time. You’re probably going to waste 10 minutes spiraling anyways, so might as well do it on purpose. Sometimes, you have to slow down to go fast.

Stop trying to do everything yourself

The most important skill I learned in tech is how to ask for help. Every successful CEO, celebrity, even your local doctor’s office has a team. What do you do best and how can you spend more time doing those things? Ask a friend for help. Use AI to draft your emails. Order food if you suck at cooking. Everyone has 24 hours in a day. Your results aren’t measured by how stressed you are, they’re measured by how much value you create.

If something scares you, try it

If something feels scary, uncomfortable, or mildly embarrassing, you’re on the right track. Nothing great has ever come from safe and predictable. A huge presentation, a big move, making your crazy idea real. In the beginning, it’s not about confidence, it’s about courage. Sprint directly into the things that scare you. Look back, and realize they weren’t so scary after all.

Minimize regret

When making big life decisions, don’t think about what’s most comfortable or exciting. At 80 years old, which choice would you regret NOT taking? Stress, fear, comfort, are all temporary feelings. But the regret of never trying is forever. When making decisions, the right choice is always to minimize regret.

Default no

I used to default say yes to things unless I didn’t have time. The truth is, every yes to someone else is a no to yourself. A yes to a that random party invite means no down time. A yes to that low priority meeting means working later to actually get to focus. Before you know it, you calendar is full and you don’t have time for your real goals. Your time is the most valuable thing you have. Default no, so your yeses actually matter.

Giving up is guaranteed failure

The opposite of success isn’t actually failure. Incredibly successful people fail more times than most people even try. Harry Potter was rejected 12 times. Dyson failed at 5,126 prototypes of the bagless vacuum. With every failure comes a learning. What you do with that learning determines the trajectory of your success. The opposite of success isn’t failure, it’s giving up.

Self-care isn’t selfish

If a plane malfunctions and you pass out trying to help someone else first, now two people need help instead of just one. You might think you’re being a good friend or family member by stretching yourself thin. However, the first step to helping someone else is making sure you’re actually able to. You probably have lots of commitments to other people. But, don’t forget your commitment to yourself.

The lost art of boredom

Over a year ago, I took months off from my stressful tech job and finally had space to THINK. Within a few weeks, I gained significant clarity on where to go next, what to do next, and how to get there. The trick? Doing nothing. Everyone spends hours a day on screens and distracting themselves from what they really want. Your intuition is trying to tell you something. Don’t drown it out with noise.

Sunk costs

If you don’t love your life but you’re hesitant to change, here’s the answer. Sunk costs. People don’t like losing things, whether it’s time, energy, or their sense of identity. You've invested a lot of effort into your current life direction, and any change feels like a waste. But the real waste is waiting too long to cut your losses. Don’t let the old version of you stop you from becoming the newer, better version of you.

Anti-time management

If you feel like you never have time, it’s not about time. Four 30 minute scraps between meetings is not the same as two hours straight on a free weekend. 30 minutes of dedicated relaxation can be more effective than a whole day off. It’s not about time, it’s about energy and focus. How can you work with your brain to accomplish more in less time? More time doesn’t directly mean more results.

Motion is not progress

Just because you’re busy doesn’t mean you’re being productive. Just because you spend all your time prepping for the next step doesn’t mean you’re making it happen. Which tasks are you avoiding, which will move you closer to your goal? Prioritize the biggest, scariest, most important thing. Everything else is a distraction.

There is no “backwards”

If you feel like you’re going backwards in life, that’s a good thing. When climbing a mountain, sometimes you have to go down to go higher. You might think having to climb down means you failed, but in reality, you couldn’t see the highest peak until you climbed the smaller one. Every experience you have informs the next one. There’s no such thing as backwards because it’s actually all forwards.