The Daily Practice That Has Changed My Life & Income (1 Change Most People Ignore)
Summary
TLDRThis video challenges creatives to break free from a fixed mindset and scarcity mentality, urging them to embrace new possibilities and value their work higher. Through personal anecdotes, the speaker shares his journey from earning $30 an hour to $30,000 for a 45-minute talk, attributing success not to privilege but to curiosity, persistence, and mindset shifts. He emphasizes that skills and hard work are essential, but mindset and belief systems are what truly determine one's potential to thrive. The key message is to act boldly and embrace the unknown for growth.
Takeaways
- 💡 Your mindset limits your potential; thinking in a finite, scarcity-based way keeps you from achieving more.
- 🐜 Like fleas in a jar, we can condition ourselves to not push beyond limits we once encountered.
- 🧠 You manifest your reality: believing you're not worth $50,000 for a project means you won't seek out or connect with those who value your work that highly.
- 🎓 Success comes from curiosity, willingness to work hard, and constantly challenging your limitations.
- 💰 You control your earning potential by challenging what people are willing to pay you and increasing your rate over time.
- 🇺🇸 Being in an environment like America, where opportunities are accessible, can enable you to change your financial and social standing.
- 🏋️ Skill and deliberate practice are essential, but true transformation comes from changing your mindset and positioning yourself differently in the market.
- 🎤 Chris moved from earning $30 an hour to $30,000 for a speaking engagement by building experience, improving communication, and shifting his belief system.
- 🧗 Progress requires letting go of limiting beliefs and the baggage of past experiences to open yourself up to new opportunities.
- 📈 To grow, you must embrace failure, risk, and being uncomfortable, as these are essential for breaking through to the next level of success.
Q & A
What is the main mindset issue the speaker is addressing in the video?
-The speaker addresses the fixed mindset problem, where designers or creatives limit themselves by believing they are not capable or deserving of higher-paying opportunities, like receiving $50,000 for their work. He encourages shifting to a growth mindset, believing in the possibility of greater success.
How does the speaker relate the story of fleas to mindset limitations?
-The speaker uses the flea story as a metaphor for how people limit themselves. Just as fleas stop jumping higher after repeatedly hitting a lid, people limit their potential when they believe they can't go beyond a certain point, even when those restrictions are removed.
What personal experience does the speaker share to illustrate overcoming self-imposed limits?
-The speaker shares his journey from earning $30 an hour to eventually being paid $30,000 for a 45-minute talk. He highlights how he consistently challenged the limits of what he thought people would pay him by increasing his rates over time.
Why does the speaker believe mindset is crucial to success?
-The speaker emphasizes that mindset is fundamental because beliefs shape actions. If someone believes they are worth more, they will take steps to position themselves for higher-paying opportunities. Without changing this mindset, success remains limited.
How does the speaker respond to people who doubt their ability to earn higher rates?
-The speaker argues that self-doubt and limiting beliefs are the main reasons why people don’t earn higher rates. He emphasizes that it’s not about the market but about one’s willingness to challenge those beliefs and take actions that align with higher expectations.
What advice does the speaker give for creatives looking to break their limiting beliefs?
-The speaker advises creatives to question their current belief system, assess whether it's serving them, and be open to radically different ideas. He stresses that they need to change their operating system by being willing to take risks and challenge their assumptions.
What role does skill and deliberate practice play according to the speaker?
-The speaker acknowledges that skill and deliberate practice are crucial, especially the first 10,000 hours of mastering one’s craft. However, he emphasizes that after mastering the craft, the key to financial growth lies in changing one’s mindset and approach to marketing, communication, and value perception.
How does the speaker view the importance of risk and failure in achieving success?
-The speaker sees risk and failure as essential components of growth. He highlights that fear of failure or humiliation is the price of entry for progress. Without risking failure, creatives won’t be able to explore new opportunities or achieve higher success.
What personal background does the speaker share to counter claims of privilege?
-The speaker shares that he immigrated to the U.S. as a poor refugee who didn’t speak English and worked his way through lower socioeconomic strata. He explains that his success is due to his mindset and hard work, not privilege or a silver spoon upbringing.
What is the speaker’s ultimate goal in sharing his story and advice?
-The speaker’s goal is to empower creatives by helping them realize their potential through mindset shifts. He wants them to understand that their beliefs are the main barriers to achieving financial success and higher value for their work.
Outlines
💭 Mindset and Limiting Beliefs
The speaker challenges the limiting belief that most designers will never be offered high-paying opportunities, such as $50,000 for a project. He uses the metaphor of fleas in a jar, who stop jumping higher even after the lid is removed, to illustrate how self-imposed limitations can restrict one's potential. He emphasizes the importance of shifting from a scarcity mindset to one of openness and curiosity. The speaker shares his personal experience, starting with a dislike for sushi and later growing to love it, highlighting the need to approach life with an open mind. He encourages creatives to break free from self-limiting beliefs and explore new possibilities.
💰 Increasing Value and Breaking Through Financial Ceilings
The speaker shares his journey of increasing his freelance rates over time, starting at $30 an hour and steadily increasing it by testing what clients were willing to pay. He discusses how he progressively raised his day rate from $240 to eventually $30,000 for a 45-minute speaking engagement. This growth, he explains, came from constantly asking what he needed to do and who he needed to become to justify higher rates. He emphasizes that personal growth and skill development are key factors in reaching these financial milestones.
📈 Belief System as the Key to Growth
In this section, the speaker emphasizes that success is rooted in one's belief system. He argues that belief systems shape actions, which in turn reinforce those beliefs. To break free from financial or professional limitations, one must change their mindset and belief in what is possible. He stresses that improving one’s craft alone will only lead to incremental growth, but transforming how you position yourself and the problems you solve is what leads to significant change. Skills, while essential, must be accompanied by strong communication, marketing, and sales strategies.
🧠 Reprogramming Your Mindset
The speaker outlines the steps necessary to adopt a growth-oriented mindset. He urges the audience to first evaluate whether their current beliefs are serving them. If not, they must be willing to change their thinking, as the same mindset that created a problem cannot solve it. He explains that this process is difficult because it challenges deeply held beliefs and may seem radical or uncomfortable. However, it is essential for growth. He warns against procrastination, perfectionism, and self-doubt, which often sabotage progress. The key is to take action without waiting for perfect conditions or certainty.
🛠 Action and Risk: The Path to Success
The speaker concludes by reinforcing the importance of taking risks and acting despite uncertainty. He notes that personal growth requires the courage to step into the unknown and face potential failure or ridicule. He argues that failure is a necessary cost for achieving the desired growth. By letting go of old identities and limiting beliefs, individuals can ascend to new heights. He encourages listeners to find mentors or trusted figures who can guide them, take decisive steps toward their goals, and be prepared to invest in expertise rather than settle for mediocrity.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Mindset
💡Scarcity
💡Belief System
💡Curiosity
💡Incremental Improvements
💡Self-Limiting Beliefs
💡Perfectionism
💡Procrastination
💡Value Creation
💡Risk
Highlights
Designers should not confine themselves to a limited physical space or mindset.
The story of fleas and a jar illustrates how we can limit ourselves by learned behavior.
Changing the fixed scarcity mindset to an open one is crucial for growth.
The speaker's personal journey from disliking sushi to loving it symbolizes overcoming initial aversions.
Approaching life with curiosity and an open mind is essential.
The speaker emphasizes the importance of not letting one's past determine their future.
The belief system influences actions and results, not the other way around.
The speaker shares their personal financial journey from $30 an hour to $30,000 an hour.
The speaker's mission is to teach people how to make a living doing what they love.
Belief in one's abilities and the value they create is foundational for success.
The speaker discusses the importance of skill and deliberate practice.
Improving communication skills and understanding marketing and sales is crucial for financial success.
The speaker shares their background as a motion designer and director, working with big brands.
The speaker's true identity is as an educator, leveraging their industry experience to help others.
The speaker discusses the importance of mindset over experience in achieving success.
The speaker encourages viewers to challenge their core beliefs to achieve their goals.
The speaker shares the idea that risk and potential failure are the cost of entry for growth.
The speaker talks about the need to let go of old identities to grow and achieve more.
The speaker encourages viewers to be brave and explore the unknown.
Transcripts
yeah this is all great but most
designers will never even be in a room
with someone that might offer $50,000
for a
[Music]
design let me respond to
this this is a mindset problem if you
confine yourself to certain physical
space and you say well there's nothing
beyond the edges of this universe that
Beyond it is monsters and Peril and and
certain death and doom and despair
you'll never Venture forth Beyond a
certain perimeter and we can understand
that there's a story of fleas that a
flea can jump X number of times it's
height and if you put fleas in a jar and
you put a lid they jump and they hit
their head they jump and they hit their
head eventually you can take the lid off
and the fleas will no longer jump beyond
the confines of the jar so it's kind of
interesting how we can learn certain
ideas and behaviors and then predestin
ourselves to never achieving more than
that so if you confine yourself to
saying I will never never get on a plane
I will never marry someone before this
age I will never be able to be in a room
where people will consider the things
that I do to be worth of x amount of
money we have to change this kind of
finite scarcity fixed mindset to being
open to anything that's possible and the
way I look at it is like there was a
time in my life I I didn't like sushi I
didn't like raw fish and I ordered a
large plate of tuna Sashimi I didn't
understand that's what I was ordering
and then I tried to eat it and I almost
wanted to get and throw up in the
bathroom now today if you ask me what is
my favorite type of food to eat I'll
tell you point blank look you right in
the eye and say sushi so the first time
you do something is guess what the first
time that you do it all you have to do
is approach life with a curious and open
mind which I think most of you would
think if I were to ask you and we bumped
into each other on the street how
open-minded are you in a scale of 1 to
10 are you going to tell me one are you
going to tell me 10 or 12 this is what I
talk about when I talk about this kind
of fixed mindset so when somebody say
most of us creatives will never be in a
room where someone has a $50,000 problem
for us to solve you are absolutely
you're
right because you manifest it into your
life you say I'm not worth this so then
you therefore you don't associate with
people that are in a position to pay you
more than $50,000 to do the work that
you do you don't seek out a peer group
who thinks like this because you feel
like they're fake there must be
something wrong you don't you don't go
to Workshop you don't read books you
don't take courses on how to do this
because you've resigned yourself to the
fact that this is not possible and I
know this idea is so offensive to so
many people that they comment with such
great vitrio saying this is not possible
I'm a scammer I'm a liar easy for you to
say this is all fake I'm not here to
prove you otherwise you can do whatever
you want you can have the life that you
want that's up to you but for me the way
I look at it is design solves problems
my job is to get into a room when
someone has a big enough problem that
they're willing to pay a certain amount
of money to make that pain go away and I
want to be there for that conversation
and I have been so I'm going to take you
on my whole Arc because I think some of
you might falsely assume easy for Chris
to say he's got a silver spoon he's got
a trust fund set up for him he's got all
the advantages set up in life I would
admit to one of them specifically and
the other are totally untrue the
greatest advantage that I have in my
life is I was raised in
America that I have to acknowledge
because here through opportunities for
anyone you can create the kind of future
that you want despite your Origins
despite your backstory because my family
and I we came to America in
1975 as poor refugees who didn't speak
the language didn't understand the
customs and the cultures English is not
my first language we move through the
lower socioeconomic strata to being I
think to the time my parents by the time
I was 18 upper middle class so I don't
know what I'm not capable of and I I
don't know what I'm capable of all I
know is just try and see what happens
and that Mantra has carried me pretty
far so when I go to Art Center I've got
a scholarship 50% scholarship I have
some loans no grants so I was able to
get a Stafford Loan and some
contribution from my parents and a
credit card and through the combination
of those four things I was able to get
myself through college with quite a bit
of debt in student loans and credit card
debt I think I had maxed out two credit
cards this is all Financial context for
everyone who's listening to this when I
was in school I did some freelance work
and I think the most I was paid was $30
an hour doing Bank brochures I didn't
let how my life began determine how it's
going to end every part of your life
there's a chapter and it's Unwritten and
you get to decide how it's going to play
out and that's entirely up to you soon
after earning $30 an hour I was thinking
this is the most I've ever made in an
hour I wonder what the limit to that is
and I'm going to try it out so for most
of you $30 time8 8 hour a day is $240
that's the day rate so when I started
freelancing I'm not even a year out of
school yet first started freelancing I I
tried $300 a day and they said yes then
I said if they said yes to that what
will they say no to so I kept playing
this game with Myself by increasing the
rate whenever possible any new job
opportunity any new client so it went to
$400 $450 500 650
$700 and I think I met a theoretical cap
and I didn't say to myself the most I
will ever be paid is $700 a day which is
an outrageous sum of money by the way I
want to acknowledge that I just kept
asking myself what do I have to do what
do I have to know who do I have to
become such that people would say it
would give us great pleasure to give you
this money so I want to fast forward a
bunch of bumps in the road here because
I don't want to bore you with all that
stuff but then we get to this point now
where people happily pay me
$30,000 to have me speak for 45 minutes
I've traveled all the way from $30 an
hour to quite literally $30,000 an hour
but I'm not the same person I have the
same curiosity I have the same
willingness to do the hard work and it's
built on Decades of experience personal
stories and actual examples of things
I've done to put myself in a position
where someone will pay me $30,000 to
speak for less than an hour if you're
new to this channel you don't know who I
am my name is Chris I want to introduce
myself I'm a loud introvert I have this
really big mission to teach a billion
people how to make a living doing what
they love in a previous life I was a
motion designer and director I worked on
commercials and music videos for some of
the biggest bands and brands in the
world like Coldplay like jet like Justin
timberl and worked on commercials for
Audi for Microsoft and I use this
experience to build up a financial Nest
Egg for me so such that I can pursue my
deepest passion which is education and
my true identity is an educator so I'm
here leveraging 20 plus years of working
in industry in the most competitive
market Los Angeles to help translate
some of those experiences so that you
wherever you are in your creative
Journey can apply some of the principles
that I'm talking about in creativity and
business design mindset leadership so
that you can have some of that success
that I've been so fortunate to receive
that's who I am I'm sure some of you are
sitting here thinking okay well you were
blessed fortunate whatever the word you
want to use in that the experience then
allowed me to have this mindset
and normally I'd like yeah you're
probably right but natur I think you're
totally wrong it's that I have this
mindset that the experience happens
without the mindset The Experience
doesn't happen when someone posts on the
job board at Art Center looking for
designer $30 an hour to work on Bank
brochures I tear that thing I take the
phone number I call a person I show them
my portfolio they say okay you're hired
we'll give you some work to do so the
market told me $30 an hour that's my
experience and if I left it there I
would have just stayed at $30 an hour I
might have after a year of doing this
might thought like to myself like maybe
I should charge $40 an hour but it was
my belief system My Philosophy to ask
myself I wonder what the limitation is
of what someone would pay me to do the
work that they're asking me to do so
then that allowed me to take a different
set of
actions because your belief system
determin what you're going to say and
what you say is more likely going to
indicate what you're going to do and
when you have the result of what you do
they inform or reinforce your belief
system and so we can be stuck in this
thing where we're only PID $30 an hour
and then it tells us that's the maximum
what I'm trying to tell you right now
the biggest fundamental change that
you're going to have in your life isn't
necessarily to change what you're going
to say or do but it's to start with what
you believe to be true what you believe
you're capable of
doing now I also need to say this
because people will get up in arms about
it and say well not everybody can do
what you do that is true thankfully not
everybody can do what I do not everybody
went to a four-year private Art School
University and did everything they could
to be at the top of their class to work
on their portfolio to have some Mastery
of craft most of my videos make the
assumption that you've done the work I'm
not here to sell you shortcuts I'm not
here to tell you about life hacks about
how you don't have to have any skill you
have to have skill you have to put in
your 10,000 hours of deliberate
intentional practice at working on your
craft once you've done that you'll find
out that doing another 10,000 hours of
practiceing your craft will only create
incremental improvements in your
financial well-being that after you did
after you've done that initial work the
rest of the transformation is going to
happen believe it or not in your mind
and not the craft itself about how you
position yourself about how you think of
your work and the kinds of problems
you're trying to solve improving your
communication skills understanding
things like marketing in sales how you
handle objections when they come in the
buy s cycle if you have a healthy
attitude about the work that you do and
the value that you create built on a
foundation of skill and deliberate
intentional practice then we should be
having this kind of dialogue and this is
who this video is for so it's your
belief system that informs how you're
going to behave it's not the other way
around if you're listening to this and
you're still here with me and you're
thinking okay if the belief system is
the thing that creates the path for you
you what does one need to do to be able
to have this kind of mindset okay
there's a there's a couple of simple
steps all right first I want you to ask
yourself is my current belief system my
identity my world view is it serving me
right now and if you're watching this
video chances are it's not serving you
right now because you're like why can't
I achieve these things so in order for
you to achieve these things you cannot
use the same operating system you can't
continue down the same path there's a
quote somewhere that says the thinking
that created the problem can't be the
thinking that solves the problem because
you created the problem you've designed
a beautiful luxurious prison for your
mind and you live in it so if you've
decided enough is enough I don't want
this thing that I keep getting then
that's the first step to say like okay
I've tried it my way for months years or
decades it's not working for me I want
to try something else you have to be
open to this thing
and the thing that you're going to hear
is going to challenge your core
fundamental beliefs it has to otherwise
it's not worth pursuing it has to be
such a radical idea it feels like a slap
in the face and it's something that
challenges your perception of reality
and the rules of life this is why so few
people are able to make the kind of
progress that they need to make in their
life to improve their standing because
they hear an idea that's foreign that
challenges their belief systems and they
systematically just reject and push away
and there's many forms that this will
take place because it's deceptive one
form will be well that will probably
work for some people but it won't work
for me you have the the exceptional rule
it'll work for everyone except for
me there's the other thing that says you
know
what I'll do this tomorrow so that's the
procrastinator speaking in your ear
saying you know what we do believe this
we believe we're capable of doing this
but today's not the day I have too much
at stake we'll we'll put this off till
tomorrow there's the third voice in your
head that's going to say well we need a
perfect plan and proof before we should
do this because we have too much to risk
this is the perfectionist voice that
tells you everything must be lined up
because the fear of failure is enough
for us to not want to take action well I
read something from Leila hosi that said
the risk of being humiliated or failure
is the cost of entry for the growth that
you seek in your life so we have to risk
failing which might seem like
humiliation and
ridicule and that's just the cost of
playing the
game and you have to surrender you have
to let go of your old identity to say
like you know what that got me here I'm
grateful for all my beliefs and my
culture my customs and my habits but now
in order for me to go and Ascend the
next Mountain I have to release myself
of some of this baggage to make myself
lighter physically spiritually mentally
so what we do is we seek people who we
trust and just need to be me seek
whoever you want who can say something
to you and say do this next
step and for us to be able to accept
that and hold it in our heart and say
okay I don't understand it I don't have
a perfect plan I believe I'm capable of
doing this I don't have any Assurance
it's going to work but I'm going to do
it just going to do it and I have
countless examples of people who
approach me up on the street at a
convention at a coffee shop say you know
Chris I didn't think it was going to
work the thing you said for us to do I
didn't think that whole double your rate
thing was going to work I didn't think
saying no or making myself less
available is going to work and I did it
you know what I sit there and I smile
like what pray
tell it worked Chris I'm like you don't
say you don't say the thing that I've
been telling you to do for the last 9
years over and over in every form that I
know how to say it in in words in role
plays on a whiteboard on a keynote
present on a prescripted talk I was
trying to say in a different way so you
can hear
me and so the only thing you need to ask
yourself
today are you ready to hear
me are you ready to cast aside your
limiting beliefs your self-doubt and
your need for perfectionism and
procrastination as defensive tools to
achieving the life that you want if
you're ready I'm here for
you and the step forward not that
complicated act in spite of any
assurances that anything's going to work
C Seas don't make great Sailors you want
to go out there and explore the world be
an Explorer you have to Brave be brave
enough to face some unknown things some
potential Peril you have to risk
something but uh as another quote if you
think I'm
expensive wait till you get the bill
from someone who doesn't know what
they're
doing
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