All Episodes

July 10, 2025 11 mins

In this Shortcast edition, John Jantsch, author of The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur, draws wisdom from great American writers like Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, and William Wells Brown to explore three essential traits for thriving in life and business: perseverance, perspective, and resilience. Rather than chasing productivity hacks, John invites us to dig deeper—into reflection, discomfort, and slow growth.

In this Shortcast, we explore:

  • Perseverance Through Practice: Inspired by Thoreau, John explains why repeated effort—like walking a mountain trail—is not wasted energy but the very process that builds mastery and meaning.
  • The Danger of Indestructible Contentment: Borrowing from Twain, John challenges the idea of being too comfortable, encouraging us to embrace discomfort as a path to perspective and growth.
  • Redefining Resilience: With a reading from William Wells Brown, John reframes procrastination not as laziness, but as strategic patience born of experience—knowing when to act, and when to wait.
  • Growth Beyond Hustle: John reminds us that true self-reliance isn’t about grinding harder—it’s about trusting yourself, honoring the process, and staying open to what life is teaching you through repetition and challenge.


This episode is a refreshing reset—a deeper look at what it really takes to keep going, stay grounded, and lead with presence.

Find more ⁠Shortcasts like this one on Blinkist here⁠

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

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

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.

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.