September 21, 2025 • 19 mins
Are you a young man feeling lost, stuck, or directionless? Or do you know someone who is? This powerful episode delivers the hard-hitting truth about what it takes to build an extraordinary life in today's challenging world.
Drawing from his own journey from facing life in prison to creating massive success, Sean Crane breaks down the four essential pillars every young man between 15-22 needs to develop: mindset, habits, skills, and relationships. With raw honesty and zero sugarcoating, Sean explains why so many young men today feel adrift and precisely what they need to do about it.
"Nobody can live your life and create your results. Nobody's going to do it but you," Sean emphasizes, challenging listeners to stop drifting like "a leaf in the breeze" and start intentionally building strength – mental, physical, and spiritual. You'll discover why purpose doesn't come from comfort but emerges through adversity, and why the activities filling your days are either building you up or breaking you down.
The conversation dives deep into practical strategies for developing unshakable self-belief, establishing daily habits that build competence and confidence, and cultivating the specific skills that create extraordinary opportunities. Sean shares his prison cell revelation about how consistent small wins compound into massive life transformation, and why the people you surround yourself with will either elevate or diminish your potential.
Whether you're navigating your own path or supporting a young person who needs guidance, this episode delivers actionable wisdom on breaking free from mediocrity and building an unstoppable mindset. Listen now and discover how to transform uncertainty into clarity and hesitation into purposeful action.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Once you get older, you got to recognize nobody can
live your life and create yourresults.
Nobody's going to do it but you.
You have to become a version ofyourself that can go out in the
world and achieve the thingsyou want to achieve.
Purpose doesn't just come bysitting around doing nothing.
Purpose is something that youfind oftentimes going through
life's adversity.
(00:20):
Welcome back to another episodeof the Unstoppable Mindset
Podcast.
I'm your host, sean Crane, andI'm grateful to be here today
with you guys.
It's been a couple weeks sinceI sat down and recorded a
podcast.
The world's been crazy lately.
(00:42):
Last week Charlie Kirk wasassassinated.
There's so much polarizingenergy in our nation right now
and it's really got people shookup.
So today I've thought well, I'mgoing to address a lot of
things, but the first thing Iwant to talk about is what I
would do if I was a young personand my best advice for men
between the age of 15 and 22 whoare feeling lost, stuck or just
(01:03):
lacking direction in theirlives.
You know, sometimes people comeup and go.
What would you tell youryounger self?
What would you tell youryounger self?
Well, if I think about myyounger self at the age of 15,.
What I would tell that personis you're going to have to go
through a lot of challenges anda lot of adversity to figure out
your path in this life.
Don't shy away from thosemoments.
Lean into them and grow throughthem every step of the way.
(01:25):
And that's what I would tellyoung men in our country right
now Don't numb yourself, don'tcheck out right.
Stay present and grow strongerthrough the adversity that
you're all facing, becausethat's what's going to shape and
mold you into a better person.
But really, for young people,young men, I'm speaking to you.
If you have a son at home, ifyou have a family member, if you
know a young man that's lackingdirection or purpose in his
(01:46):
life, I want you to share thismessage with him.
The most important thing as ayoung man that you need to focus
on developing is strength,mental strength, physical
strength and spiritual strength.
Because here's the truth whenyou're a little boy, when you're
a kid, when you're anadolescent, you got your parents
to lean on.
You got your parents to lean on.
(02:09):
You got your school teachers.
You got people in society thatare going to look after you.
Once you get older, you got torecognize nobody can live your
life and create your results.
Nobody's going to do it but you.
You have to become a version ofyourself that can go out in the
world and achieve the thingsyou want to achieve.
You see, a lot of young mendon't have inner strength, they
don't have mental strength, theydon't have the core belief in
themselves that's going to allowthem to go off and achieve life
(02:29):
the way they want to live it,and they get lost and they start
blowing like a leaf in thebreeze and they just lose their
purpose or focus in their life.
So today I want to bringattention to how you young men
can build that strength that I'mdescribing in a way that's
going to give you clarity, focusand purpose in your life.
(02:51):
Purpose doesn't just come bysitting around doing nothing.
Purpose is something that youfind oftentimes going through
life's challenges and life'sadversity.
Now, when I was a little kidmaybe a lot of you guys listen
to this can relate when you're alittle kid, you have more
certainty than ever at times.
You know what you want, youknow who you want to be and it
feels possible.
But then what happens is youstart going through life and you
start to become moreself-conscious.
(03:11):
You start comparing yourself toothers.
Maybe you go through some hardtimes, you have a couple failed
attempts at things and nowsuddenly you lack confidence and
belief in yourself.
At least, this is what happenedto me as a young child.
I wanted to be a professionalbaseball player.
I love life, I love sports, butI went through some heartaches
and hardships at home with myparents and all of a sudden I
went from somebody who hadcertainties to someone who had
(03:34):
no certainty and no direction,and I had to go through a lot of
adversity and a lot ofchallenges in my life and make a
lot of mistakes to finally getclear on who I wanted to be.
This is the first thing is likeyour core identity about who
you want to be, that authentic,truest, best version of yourself
.
That's the person that you gotto hold on to through life's ups
and downs.
(03:58):
But then there's a couple ofthings, a handful of things,
that you need to focus ondeveloping within yourself so
that you can evolve into theperson that can achieve your
goals and dreams in life.
The first thing is your mindset.
For those of you listeningright now, your mindset is the
way that you think, it's yourbeliefs and it's the perception
in which you see the world.
Now, the way that you talk toyourself, your self-talk, the
way you're thinking on a dailybasis, is going to affect every
(04:20):
aspect of your life.
When I'm coaching men andbusiness owners and people that
want to achieve the ultimatelife, the first thing that I
focus on is their dailyself-talk.
Is the way that you're talkingto yourself building you up.
Is it giving you hope for thefuture?
Is it helping you to see allthe opportunities around you, or
are you berating yourself?
Are you getting down onyourself?
Are you negative about yourcircumstances?
(04:40):
Are you looking at life withthe glass half empty?
If that's you right now, youneed to wake up and recognize
that your self-talk is going toaffect every part of your life.
When you have a thought thataffects your emotional state,
that emotional state is going toaffect your actions or the way
that you do things.
If you're negative andpessimistic in your self-talk,
you're going to be half-assingstuff in your life.
You're more likely to be rudeor just negative or just blase
(05:03):
right Around other people inconversations and in everyday
life.
Is that the person you thinkthat's going to create greatness
?
No, it's not, and you see, whenyou have negative self-talk or
your self-talk is just notoptimized, it's going to also
affect your perception.
So this is the first thing.
When I think of mindset, right,I think of you being able to
discern the way you think andchallenge any thoughts that
(05:25):
don't serve you.
From this moment going forward,every time you have a negative
thought or a thought that's nothopeful or optimistic, you need
to challenge it right then andthere and ask yourself why am I
thinking negatively?
Why am I pessimistic?
Why don't I believe this ispossible?
Why am I looking at thesituation through this lens?
Your self-talk is going todictate every aspect of your
(05:45):
life and how you show up on adaily basis.
This is the first thing thatyou got to get clear on, because
that leads into the next thingI want to bring to your
attention.
It's your habits and dailyactions.
Okay, so so your mindset is alot of things.
It's your beliefs, it's yourself-talk, it's your perception,
but there's also something elsethat's very important, that's
intertwined with your mindsetand just your overall identity,
(06:06):
and that's your sense ofself-worth and competence.
Okay, this could also bedescribed as esteem or
confidence.
When you believe in yourself,you're more likely to go after
what you want.
Okay, and so your habits is thesecond thing that I want you to
focus on each and every day.
Number one's mindset.
Number two is your habits.
What are you doing every day tobuild yourself up?
So, for young men I think aboutkids all over the country right
(06:29):
now who are glued to their cellphones they're playing video
games all day long You're notgoing to build a strong sense of
competence and confidence to goout into the world and crush it
and achieve your goals sittingbehind a computer desk playing
video games all day long.
That's for little kids.
But at some point you got to beable to let that go or minimize
the amount of time you'replaying video games, because in
(06:50):
the real world that doesn'tequate to skills that can really
produce results.
Okay, so, as a young manbetween the age of 15 and 25,
the number one way to developthe mindset that I alluded to a
little bit ago, so you can havethat optimistic self-talk and
you can develop confidence inyourself, is by doing things
every day that build you up andmake you proud of who you are.
This is one of the mostimportant things in life, if not
(07:12):
the most important thing todevelop certainty in your
ability and develop confidenceto go after what you truly want.
I want to share with you guys aquick little story, okay, if you
don't know where I come from.
What I went through at 23, Iwas facing life in prison.
I was stuck in a six bite cellall day long.
I couldn't leave, and Iremember I just recognized that
I had to do something to helppass the time, something to help
(07:33):
me to make sense of mysituation, something to help me
to do something constructive andpositive in that cell.
And so I started doing ahandful of things every day that
, at the end of the day, made mefeel proud of the way I lived
that day.
Right, it didn't really matterwhat I was doing.
It was how I was doing it tothe best of my ability and the
fact that I was doing everythingin my power just to make that
day count.
All I could do was read, writeand work out.
(07:55):
And I started doing thosethings every single day.
I'd read a book, I'd writeletters home and I would work
out, and I would do those things.
And I didn't know what certainwords meant.
I started looking them up in alittle pocket dictionary I had
and I started making a vocablist and I started studying that
list every day.
That's how bad.
I wanted to improve my letters.
(08:17):
When I wrote them home tofamily members, I would work on
my penmanship, I'd work on mygrammar and my spelling and I
would perfect that letter backhome.
And then when I'd work out,same thing, I would work out to
exhaustion.
I'd work out so I couldn't doanother push-up, and every
(08:37):
push-up I did, every burpee,every squat, everything I did in
that cell had to be done to thebest of my ability.
In a very short period of time,I felt so much esteem, so much
self-love and gratitude andpride swell up inside of me
because of the attention todetails giving to those
endeavors, and I was doing itconsistently.
And this is something I seemissing on the youth.
Nowadays, in 2025, young peoplearen't doing things every day
that build up their sense ofconfidence and competence in
(08:57):
themselves.
So, if you're a young person,this is why getting involved in
sports is so important.
This is why going to the gymand working out, doing things
every day that challengeyourself, okay, what are your
habits, what are your dailyroutines as a young person, if
you want to get an edge on therest of the world and you want
to build yourself up intosomebody who could achieve
anything they want.
It comes down to your dailyhabits.
(09:20):
The habits that I'd recommendthat you start partaking in are
reading right, working out andalso spending time around other
like-minded people.
Okay, we're going to get intorelationships in a little bit,
but your routines and yourhabits.
That becomes who you are.
So I want you to look at yourlife right now and ask yourself
what am I doing each and everyday that's building me into a
better person?
(09:40):
Am I maximizing my days?
Am I making each and every daycount?
Now, as a young person, youwant to be able to have some fun
.
You got to get out there andexperience life right.
That life experience is goingto teach you more than anything.
You're going to make mistakes.
You're going to do things youregret.
That's okay.
That's part of being young, butit doesn't mean each and every
day you can't be buildingyourself up by stacking these
small wins every day.
(10:00):
Pick a book to read right, picka gym to start going to Get a
workout partner.
Set some short-term goals whenit comes to your health, your
fitness, things that areimportant to you.
Those daily habits are going togrow and blossom later on in
life into a belief system, intoa track record of being someone
(10:21):
that can get results andbecoming someone who says when
they say they're going to dosomething, they do it.
And this is one of the mostimportant things is like.
If you can have thatconsistency in the way you live,
demonstrating through yourdaily actions that you're
somebody that's going after life, you're improving yourself.
Your subconscious mind startsto grab hold of that as a core
belief of somebody who's winningin life, someone who's going
(10:42):
out and getting results, andthis is going to carry over to
the bigger moments in life.
Now that brings me to the thirdthing that all young people need
to focus on, especially youngmen, is developing skill sets.
What skill sets are youdeveloping right now that are
going to help you to make moneylater on in life, to be valuable
in the workforce or to startyour own business, to go out and
create a life that you trulywant?
(11:03):
Right?
Skill sets are so important.
Right now.
You're seeing a lot of youngpeople that go to college and
they get out of college and theydon't really have a great
career path.
They don't get selected forthis job that pays them a lot of
money, with a lot of benefits.
If anything, they're going andlooking for these mediocre jobs
and it's like how does that makesense?
You need to sit back and lookat what are wealthy people doing
(11:23):
.
What are these business owners,these content creators maybe
it's people on social media youlook up to.
Maybe it's an entrepreneur youlook up to.
Start studying them and askingyourself like, what skill sets
have they developed in order toget to that level in life?
And this is something that allyoung people should be doing is
studying individuals that arefurther ahead than them, who
have the success they want, andasking yourself like how can I
(11:46):
become like that in your own way?
Right, something that you'repassionate about?
Maybe you want to be aphotographer, right?
Maybe you're an artist.
Maybe you want to do coachingonline, or be a content creator,
or a speaker, or a businessowner, an entrepreneur in some
various degrees, right,investing real estate?
There's so many differentoptions out there.
So if you guys are on socialmedia, make sure that you're
(12:08):
using social media to observewhat other people are doing, so
you can start to recognize whatare the skills that I need to
develop.
Okay, what are the skills thatI need to develop to become
valuable?
Honestly, one of the mostvaluable skill sets you can
develop.
There's two of them that standout to me right now.
Number one is the ability tospeak and articulate a message
that's meaningful, withconviction, with emotion, with
(12:30):
passion, in a way that getspeople's attention.
Okay, that's a skill set thatyou can utilize in so many
different ways.
Whether you're just trying topick up a girl and maybe it's
your future wife and ask her ona date, whether it's some
business partners and some guysyou're talking to about an idea
you have, whether it's contentcreation on social media, you
know, the ability to articulateyourself with confidence and
(12:51):
clarity is a superpower.
It's such a valuable skill set.
The second one that I'mthinking about is what I'm doing
right now, and that's sharing amessage online.
If you guys learn how to usesocial media to your advantage
and not be consumers but becreators somebody who's putting
out, you know, valuableinformation, someone who's
building connections orrelationships online and someone
who's using social media toalso observe what other people
(13:12):
are doing you start to developthese different skill sets right
that now are going to bevaluable for you over time.
So for you, young people, Iwant you to think about that
like the traditional route ofgoing to college and just
getting a nine to five.
That's going to lead to just amediocre life at best.
But if you want to live anultimate life, it requires you
to become more right, itrequires you to excel and thrive
(13:34):
.
How do you do that?
Well, first of all, it's yourmindset.
Over time, that mindsetdevelops, with the right habits,
into someone who has unlimitedbelief and confidence in
themselves.
But then you have to learn todevelop the right skill sets.
And again, if you study peopleor get mentors and spend time
around people who are older thanyou, where you can learn from
(13:54):
them, you can ask them questions, you'll start to understand
what are those skill sets youneed to develop right and, like
I said, there's a lot of themthe ability to speak
articulately, the ability to usesocial media and leverage
social media.
What else?
What other skill sets?
Maybe understanding personalfinance, if you're somebody that
wants to learn about or getinto, investing down the road,
(14:15):
socializing just in general, andbeing an outgoing, curious,
open person.
That's a skill set.
They call it soft skills.
Right, how personable you are,how good you are in social
settings.
This is really important becauseI'm thinking right now well,
what if you want to get intoreal estate?
Uh, what if you want to do?
You know, something that'srelated to building
relationships.
It's your ability to get aroundpeople and and have that
(14:38):
open-minded uh, kind of likegregarious mannerisms that's
going to get people wanting todo business with you.
It's going to help them to seeyou as somebody who is an action
taker, someone who's hungry,someone who wants more out of
life and, honestly, older people, mentors, even family members
they're more likely to supportyou if they see that in you.
But that brings me to my lastpoint.
(14:59):
Number four is yourrelationships.
Your relationships areeverything.
Now, for young people, the firstthing you should be thinking
about is who am I spending mytime with every day?
Like, who am I listening to?
Who am I talking with?
If you're around a bunch ofguys that are not going anywhere
in life and they're notambitious and they're not driven
and they're just fricking,smoking weed and looking to
party on the weekend and theydon't have goals, are those the
(15:21):
people you think are reallygoing to help and push you to
excel in life.
Here's a secret, man you knowyou can still be successful and
have friends that are bums andnot ambitious, like.
I became successful in prisonaround a bunch of really bad
people.
I didn't let them influence me,but most people are influenced
by others.
So you got to look at thepeople you spend your time with
(15:42):
and go.
Are these the best people tospend my time with?
Are these friends oracquaintances really pushing me
to be a better person every day,or they're more likely to keep
me stuck, like the people thatyou spend your time with are so
important?
What I'd recommend is make surethat you're having conversations
of substance, of meaning.
I know that you're young I'mtalking to young people, 15 to
(16:03):
25, but this is a conversation Ialways have with my son Mason,
who's 15 right now.
I always tell him like hey,make sure you're around A
players, make sure you're aroundkids that are good, kids that
are driven, that are motivated,that have manners, that have
self-respect, because it's goingto rub off on you and then,
later on, if you see those kidsstriving to be great in their
(16:23):
lives, doing things that aremeaningful, going after their
goals, it's going to get youthinking about your life and how
you're living and as you getolder, one of the most important
things that all young peoplecan seek to have in their life
is a mentor.
So let's go back to how,previously, I was talking about
skill sets.
If you want to get into realestate, cause you think that's a
great opportunity to make money, do something that you're
(16:44):
excited to do help people.
Whatever the reasons are, I'dhighly recommend getting a
mentor that's already doing realestate.
Let's say you want to createcontent online and you have
these messages you want to putout.
You like editing videos.
You just love the social mediaspace and putting out good
content.
You want to grow a following?
I'd highly recommend hiring orworking with someone or
(17:04):
shadowing someone who's alreadydoing that.
There's people in all walks oflife right now that are doing
what you want to do or have donewhat you want to do.
That you can learn from soquickly, and one of the best
ways to expedite your growth andresults is get around them, ask
them questions, pick theirbrains, take notes and then
apply what they teach you, andsometimes you got to pay for
(17:25):
these mentors.
It'll be one of the bestinvestments you ever make in
your life you save up money, youborrow money, whatever it takes
, but then you get a lifetime ofeducation from this person,
right?
You get life-changing ideas anda life-changing opportunity to
pick their brain and work withthem to see what works and what
doesn't, and this is how youcould separate yourself from
(17:45):
most people in life.
You guys, this is the stuffthat I've done.
This is the stuff that I teachother people.
You have to have the rightmindset, be a free thinker.
Believe in the impossible,because it's all freaking
possible.
Do things every day that moldand shape your, your mindset and
your self.
Talk to be someone who'soptimistic and positive.
Right the daily habits that youpartake in, as long as you're
(18:08):
consistent in them.
One of two things is going tohappen they're either going to
be the right habits that buildyou up into a better version of
yourself, or they're going to bethe wrong habits that turn you
into a lesser version ofyourself.
Make sure the way you'respending your time every day is
building you up into a betterperson and it's instilling
belief and confidence inyourself and your ability.
Number three skill sets are soimportant.
(18:28):
Think of all the skill sets youneed to develop in your life to
become successful, whateverthat looks like for you.
Like I said, I shared a couplea bit, a little bit ago, that
have helped me in my career theability to speak, the ability to
put out content on social mediaand to share a powerful message
that moves and motivates peopleto change for the better.
Right and lastly, number four,mentorship.
(18:49):
Mentors are going to help youto grow faster, to get to where
you want to go quicker, tomitigate mistakes, to learn
faster, and mentors are going tobe some of the most valuable
people that you come across inyour life.
Make sure you choose themwisely.
Pick somebody who has theresults that you want, someone
who's older than you and someonewho has a track record of
success.
Get around them right.
(19:09):
Minimize the toxic people, thenegative people in your life.
Get away from the knuckleheads.
If you do those four things I'mtelling you, young guys, right
now, you'll be at an advantagegoing into your future.
Once you get older, you got to recognize nobody can
live your life and create yourresults.
Nobody's going to do it but you.
You have to become a version ofyourself that can go out in the
world and achieve the thingsyou want to achieve.
Purpose doesn't just come bysitting around doing nothing.
Purpose is something that youfind oftentimes going through
life's adversity.
(00:20):
Welcome back to another episodeof the Unstoppable Mindset
Podcast.
I'm your host, sean Crane, andI'm grateful to be here today
with you guys.
It's been a couple weeks sinceI sat down and recorded a
podcast.
The world's been crazy lately.
(00:42):
Last week Charlie Kirk wasassassinated.
There's so much polarizingenergy in our nation right now
and it's really got people shookup.
So today I've thought well, I'mgoing to address a lot of
things, but the first thing Iwant to talk about is what I
would do if I was a young personand my best advice for men
between the age of 15 and 22 whoare feeling lost, stuck or just
(01:03):
lacking direction in theirlives.
You know, sometimes people comeup and go.
What would you tell youryounger self?
What would you tell youryounger self?
Well, if I think about myyounger self at the age of 15,.
What I would tell that personis you're going to have to go
through a lot of challenges anda lot of adversity to figure out
your path in this life.
Don't shy away from thosemoments.
Lean into them and grow throughthem every step of the way.
(01:25):
And that's what I would tellyoung men in our country right
now Don't numb yourself, don'tcheck out right.
Stay present and grow strongerthrough the adversity that
you're all facing, becausethat's what's going to shape and
mold you into a better person.
But really, for young people,young men, I'm speaking to you.
If you have a son at home, ifyou have a family member, if you
know a young man that's lackingdirection or purpose in his
(01:46):
life, I want you to share thismessage with him.
The most important thing as ayoung man that you need to focus
on developing is strength,mental strength, physical
strength and spiritual strength.
Because here's the truth whenyou're a little boy, when you're
a kid, when you're anadolescent, you got your parents
to lean on.
You got your parents to lean on.
(02:09):
You got your school teachers.
You got people in society thatare going to look after you.
Once you get older, you got torecognize nobody can live your
life and create your results.
Nobody's going to do it but you.
You have to become a version ofyourself that can go out in the
world and achieve the thingsyou want to achieve.
You see, a lot of young mendon't have inner strength, they
don't have mental strength, theydon't have the core belief in
themselves that's going to allowthem to go off and achieve life
(02:29):
the way they want to live it,and they get lost and they start
blowing like a leaf in thebreeze and they just lose their
purpose or focus in their life.
So today I want to bringattention to how you young men
can build that strength that I'mdescribing in a way that's
going to give you clarity, focusand purpose in your life.
(02:51):
Purpose doesn't just come bysitting around doing nothing.
Purpose is something that youfind oftentimes going through
life's challenges and life'sadversity.
Now, when I was a little kidmaybe a lot of you guys listen
to this can relate when you're alittle kid, you have more
certainty than ever at times.
You know what you want, youknow who you want to be and it
feels possible.
But then what happens is youstart going through life and you
start to become moreself-conscious.
(03:11):
You start comparing yourself toothers.
Maybe you go through some hardtimes, you have a couple failed
attempts at things and nowsuddenly you lack confidence and
belief in yourself.
At least, this is what happenedto me as a young child.
I wanted to be a professionalbaseball player.
I love life, I love sports, butI went through some heartaches
and hardships at home with myparents and all of a sudden I
went from somebody who hadcertainties to someone who had
(03:34):
no certainty and no direction,and I had to go through a lot of
adversity and a lot ofchallenges in my life and make a
lot of mistakes to finally getclear on who I wanted to be.
This is the first thing is likeyour core identity about who
you want to be, that authentic,truest, best version of yourself
.
That's the person that you gotto hold on to through life's ups
and downs.
(03:58):
But then there's a couple ofthings, a handful of things,
that you need to focus ondeveloping within yourself so
that you can evolve into theperson that can achieve your
goals and dreams in life.
The first thing is your mindset.
For those of you listeningright now, your mindset is the
way that you think, it's yourbeliefs and it's the perception
in which you see the world.
Now, the way that you talk toyourself, your self-talk, the
way you're thinking on a dailybasis, is going to affect every
(04:20):
aspect of your life.
When I'm coaching men andbusiness owners and people that
want to achieve the ultimatelife, the first thing that I
focus on is their dailyself-talk.
Is the way that you're talkingto yourself building you up.
Is it giving you hope for thefuture?
Is it helping you to see allthe opportunities around you, or
are you berating yourself?
Are you getting down onyourself?
Are you negative about yourcircumstances?
(04:40):
Are you looking at life withthe glass half empty?
If that's you right now, youneed to wake up and recognize
that your self-talk is going toaffect every part of your life.
When you have a thought thataffects your emotional state,
that emotional state is going toaffect your actions or the way
that you do things.
If you're negative andpessimistic in your self-talk,
you're going to be half-assingstuff in your life.
You're more likely to be rudeor just negative or just blase
(05:03):
right Around other people inconversations and in everyday
life.
Is that the person you thinkthat's going to create greatness
?
No, it's not, and you see, whenyou have negative self-talk or
your self-talk is just notoptimized, it's going to also
affect your perception.
So this is the first thing.
When I think of mindset, right,I think of you being able to
discern the way you think andchallenge any thoughts that
(05:25):
don't serve you.
From this moment going forward,every time you have a negative
thought or a thought that's nothopeful or optimistic, you need
to challenge it right then andthere and ask yourself why am I
thinking negatively?
Why am I pessimistic?
Why don't I believe this ispossible?
Why am I looking at thesituation through this lens?
Your self-talk is going todictate every aspect of your
(05:45):
life and how you show up on adaily basis.
This is the first thing thatyou got to get clear on, because
that leads into the next thingI want to bring to your
attention.
It's your habits and dailyactions.
Okay, so so your mindset is alot of things.
It's your beliefs, it's yourself-talk, it's your perception,
but there's also something elsethat's very important, that's
intertwined with your mindsetand just your overall identity,
(06:06):
and that's your sense ofself-worth and competence.
Okay, this could also bedescribed as esteem or
confidence.
When you believe in yourself,you're more likely to go after
what you want.
Okay, and so your habits is thesecond thing that I want you to
focus on each and every day.
Number one's mindset.
Number two is your habits.
What are you doing every day tobuild yourself up?
So, for young men I think aboutkids all over the country right
(06:29):
now who are glued to their cellphones they're playing video
games all day long You're notgoing to build a strong sense of
competence and confidence to goout into the world and crush it
and achieve your goals sittingbehind a computer desk playing
video games all day long.
That's for little kids.
But at some point you got to beable to let that go or minimize
the amount of time you'replaying video games, because in
(06:50):
the real world that doesn'tequate to skills that can really
produce results.
Okay, so, as a young manbetween the age of 15 and 25,
the number one way to developthe mindset that I alluded to a
little bit ago, so you can havethat optimistic self-talk and
you can develop confidence inyourself, is by doing things
every day that build you up andmake you proud of who you are.
This is one of the mostimportant things in life, if not
(07:12):
the most important thing todevelop certainty in your
ability and develop confidenceto go after what you truly want.
I want to share with you guys aquick little story, okay, if you
don't know where I come from.
What I went through at 23, Iwas facing life in prison.
I was stuck in a six bite cellall day long.
I couldn't leave, and Iremember I just recognized that
I had to do something to helppass the time, something to help
(07:33):
me to make sense of mysituation, something to help me
to do something constructive andpositive in that cell.
And so I started doing ahandful of things every day that
, at the end of the day, made mefeel proud of the way I lived
that day.
Right, it didn't really matterwhat I was doing.
It was how I was doing it tothe best of my ability and the
fact that I was doing everythingin my power just to make that
day count.
All I could do was read, writeand work out.
(07:55):
And I started doing thosethings every single day.
I'd read a book, I'd writeletters home and I would work
out, and I would do those things.
And I didn't know what certainwords meant.
I started looking them up in alittle pocket dictionary I had
and I started making a vocablist and I started studying that
list every day.
That's how bad.
I wanted to improve my letters.
(08:17):
When I wrote them home tofamily members, I would work on
my penmanship, I'd work on mygrammar and my spelling and I
would perfect that letter backhome.
And then when I'd work out,same thing, I would work out to
exhaustion.
I'd work out so I couldn't doanother push-up, and every
(08:37):
push-up I did, every burpee,every squat, everything I did in
that cell had to be done to thebest of my ability.
In a very short period of time,I felt so much esteem, so much
self-love and gratitude andpride swell up inside of me
because of the attention todetails giving to those
endeavors, and I was doing itconsistently.
And this is something I seemissing on the youth.
Nowadays, in 2025, young peoplearen't doing things every day
that build up their sense ofconfidence and competence in
(08:57):
themselves.
So, if you're a young person,this is why getting involved in
sports is so important.
This is why going to the gymand working out, doing things
every day that challengeyourself, okay, what are your
habits, what are your dailyroutines as a young person, if
you want to get an edge on therest of the world and you want
to build yourself up intosomebody who could achieve
anything they want.
It comes down to your dailyhabits.
(09:20):
The habits that I'd recommendthat you start partaking in are
reading right, working out andalso spending time around other
like-minded people.
Okay, we're going to get intorelationships in a little bit,
but your routines and yourhabits.
That becomes who you are.
So I want you to look at yourlife right now and ask yourself
what am I doing each and everyday that's building me into a
better person?
(09:40):
Am I maximizing my days?
Am I making each and every daycount?
Now, as a young person, youwant to be able to have some fun
.
You got to get out there andexperience life right.
That life experience is goingto teach you more than anything.
You're going to make mistakes.
You're going to do things youregret.
That's okay.
That's part of being young, butit doesn't mean each and every
day you can't be buildingyourself up by stacking these
small wins every day.
(10:00):
Pick a book to read right, picka gym to start going to Get a
workout partner.
Set some short-term goals whenit comes to your health, your
fitness, things that areimportant to you.
Those daily habits are going togrow and blossom later on in
life into a belief system, intoa track record of being someone
(10:21):
that can get results andbecoming someone who says when
they say they're going to dosomething, they do it.
And this is one of the mostimportant things is like.
If you can have thatconsistency in the way you live,
demonstrating through yourdaily actions that you're
somebody that's going after life, you're improving yourself.
Your subconscious mind startsto grab hold of that as a core
belief of somebody who's winningin life, someone who's going
(10:42):
out and getting results, andthis is going to carry over to
the bigger moments in life.
Now that brings me to the thirdthing that all young people need
to focus on, especially youngmen, is developing skill sets.
What skill sets are youdeveloping right now that are
going to help you to make moneylater on in life, to be valuable
in the workforce or to startyour own business, to go out and
create a life that you trulywant?
(11:03):
Right?
Skill sets are so important.
Right now.
You're seeing a lot of youngpeople that go to college and
they get out of college and theydon't really have a great
career path.
They don't get selected forthis job that pays them a lot of
money, with a lot of benefits.
If anything, they're going andlooking for these mediocre jobs
and it's like how does that makesense?
You need to sit back and lookat what are wealthy people doing
(11:23):
.
What are these business owners,these content creators maybe
it's people on social media youlook up to.
Maybe it's an entrepreneur youlook up to.
Start studying them and askingyourself like, what skill sets
have they developed in order toget to that level in life?
And this is something that allyoung people should be doing is
studying individuals that arefurther ahead than them, who
have the success they want, andasking yourself like how can I
(11:46):
become like that in your own way?
Right, something that you'repassionate about?
Maybe you want to be aphotographer, right?
Maybe you're an artist.
Maybe you want to do coachingonline, or be a content creator,
or a speaker, or a businessowner, an entrepreneur in some
various degrees, right,investing real estate?
There's so many differentoptions out there.
So if you guys are on socialmedia, make sure that you're
(12:08):
using social media to observewhat other people are doing, so
you can start to recognize whatare the skills that I need to
develop.
Okay, what are the skills thatI need to develop to become
valuable?
Honestly, one of the mostvaluable skill sets you can
develop.
There's two of them that standout to me right now.
Number one is the ability tospeak and articulate a message
that's meaningful, withconviction, with emotion, with
(12:30):
passion, in a way that getspeople's attention.
Okay, that's a skill set thatyou can utilize in so many
different ways.
Whether you're just trying topick up a girl and maybe it's
your future wife and ask her ona date, whether it's some
business partners and some guysyou're talking to about an idea
you have, whether it's contentcreation on social media, you
know, the ability to articulateyourself with confidence and
(12:51):
clarity is a superpower.
It's such a valuable skill set.
The second one that I'mthinking about is what I'm doing
right now, and that's sharing amessage online.
If you guys learn how to usesocial media to your advantage
and not be consumers but becreators somebody who's putting
out, you know, valuableinformation, someone who's
building connections orrelationships online and someone
who's using social media toalso observe what other people
(13:12):
are doing you start to developthese different skill sets right
that now are going to bevaluable for you over time.
So for you, young people, Iwant you to think about that
like the traditional route ofgoing to college and just
getting a nine to five.
That's going to lead to just amediocre life at best.
But if you want to live anultimate life, it requires you
to become more right, itrequires you to excel and thrive
(13:34):
.
How do you do that?
Well, first of all, it's yourmindset.
Over time, that mindsetdevelops, with the right habits,
into someone who has unlimitedbelief and confidence in
themselves.
But then you have to learn todevelop the right skill sets.
And again, if you study peopleor get mentors and spend time
around people who are older thanyou, where you can learn from
(13:54):
them, you can ask them questions, you'll start to understand
what are those skill sets youneed to develop right and, like
I said, there's a lot of themthe ability to speak
articulately, the ability to usesocial media and leverage
social media.
What else?
What other skill sets?
Maybe understanding personalfinance, if you're somebody that
wants to learn about or getinto, investing down the road,
(14:15):
socializing just in general, andbeing an outgoing, curious,
open person.
That's a skill set.
They call it soft skills.
Right, how personable you are,how good you are in social
settings.
This is really important becauseI'm thinking right now well,
what if you want to get intoreal estate?
Uh, what if you want to do?
You know, something that'srelated to building
relationships.
It's your ability to get aroundpeople and and have that
(14:38):
open-minded uh, kind of likegregarious mannerisms that's
going to get people wanting todo business with you.
It's going to help them to seeyou as somebody who is an action
taker, someone who's hungry,someone who wants more out of
life and, honestly, older people, mentors, even family members
they're more likely to supportyou if they see that in you.
But that brings me to my lastpoint.
(14:59):
Number four is yourrelationships.
Your relationships areeverything.
Now, for young people, the firstthing you should be thinking
about is who am I spending mytime with every day?
Like, who am I listening to?
Who am I talking with?
If you're around a bunch ofguys that are not going anywhere
in life and they're notambitious and they're not driven
and they're just fricking,smoking weed and looking to
party on the weekend and theydon't have goals, are those the
(15:21):
people you think are reallygoing to help and push you to
excel in life.
Here's a secret, man you knowyou can still be successful and
have friends that are bums andnot ambitious, like.
I became successful in prisonaround a bunch of really bad
people.
I didn't let them influence me,but most people are influenced
by others.
So you got to look at thepeople you spend your time with
(15:42):
and go.
Are these the best people tospend my time with?
Are these friends oracquaintances really pushing me
to be a better person every day,or they're more likely to keep
me stuck, like the people thatyou spend your time with are so
important?
What I'd recommend is make surethat you're having conversations
of substance, of meaning.
I know that you're young I'mtalking to young people, 15 to
(16:03):
25, but this is a conversation Ialways have with my son Mason,
who's 15 right now.
I always tell him like hey,make sure you're around A
players, make sure you're aroundkids that are good, kids that
are driven, that are motivated,that have manners, that have
self-respect, because it's goingto rub off on you and then,
later on, if you see those kidsstriving to be great in their
(16:23):
lives, doing things that aremeaningful, going after their
goals, it's going to get youthinking about your life and how
you're living and as you getolder, one of the most important
things that all young peoplecan seek to have in their life
is a mentor.
So let's go back to how,previously, I was talking about
skill sets.
If you want to get into realestate, cause you think that's a
great opportunity to make money, do something that you're
(16:44):
excited to do help people.
Whatever the reasons are, I'dhighly recommend getting a
mentor that's already doing realestate.
Let's say you want to createcontent online and you have
these messages you want to putout.
You like editing videos.
You just love the social mediaspace and putting out good
content.
You want to grow a following?
I'd highly recommend hiring orworking with someone or
(17:04):
shadowing someone who's alreadydoing that.
There's people in all walks oflife right now that are doing
what you want to do or have donewhat you want to do.
That you can learn from soquickly, and one of the best
ways to expedite your growth andresults is get around them, ask
them questions, pick theirbrains, take notes and then
apply what they teach you, andsometimes you got to pay for
(17:25):
these mentors.
It'll be one of the bestinvestments you ever make in
your life you save up money, youborrow money, whatever it takes
, but then you get a lifetime ofeducation from this person,
right?
You get life-changing ideas anda life-changing opportunity to
pick their brain and work withthem to see what works and what
doesn't, and this is how youcould separate yourself from
(17:45):
most people in life.
You guys, this is the stuffthat I've done.
This is the stuff that I teachother people.
You have to have the rightmindset, be a free thinker.
Believe in the impossible,because it's all freaking
possible.
Do things every day that moldand shape your, your mindset and
your self.
Talk to be someone who'soptimistic and positive.
Right the daily habits that youpartake in, as long as you're
(18:08):
consistent in them.
One of two things is going tohappen they're either going to
be the right habits that buildyou up into a better version of
yourself, or they're going to bethe wrong habits that turn you
into a lesser version ofyourself.
Make sure the way you'respending your time every day is
building you up into a betterperson and it's instilling
belief and confidence inyourself and your ability.
Number three skill sets are soimportant.
(18:28):
Think of all the skill sets youneed to develop in your life to
become successful, whateverthat looks like for you.
Like I said, I shared a couplea bit, a little bit ago, that
have helped me in my career theability to speak, the ability to
put out content on social mediaand to share a powerful message
that moves and motivates peopleto change for the better.
Right and lastly, number four,mentorship.
(18:49):
Mentors are going to help youto grow faster, to get to where
you want to go quicker, tomitigate mistakes, to learn
faster, and mentors are going tobe some of the most valuable
people that you come across inyour life.
Make sure you choose themwisely.
Pick somebody who has theresults that you want, someone
who's older than you and someonewho has a track record of
success.
Get around them right.
(19:09):
Minimize the toxic people, thenegative people in your life.
Get away from the knuckleheads.
If you do those four things I'mtelling you, young guys, right
now, you'll be at an advantagegoing into your future.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.