Vishen Lakhiani's Blog

What transactional leadership gets right and wrong about motivating people

Think about Andy Sachs walking into Miranda Priestly’s office in The Devil Wears Prada. Every detail is dictated, every mistake punished, and every success rewarded only if it meets Miranda’s exacting standards.

That’s transactional leadership in action.

Sure, it might sound rigid, but it’s one of the most common styles you’ll find in workplaces around the world. And understanding how it works (and when it could work) could change the way you lead.

What is transactional leadership?

T...

Jobbing your love & the business you’re meant to build

Maybe you should stop listening to some people. Seriously.

Because one of the biggest problems I see with people who dream of being entrepreneurs is this:

Early ideas that are brilliant get killed way too fast because they’re judged through the lens of a business model and not through the lens of originality.

And if you’ve ever had an idea that lit you up, but you killed it because someone told you it wasn’t “practical,” you know exactly what I mean.

Here’s a list of bad advice I got...

The 7 biggest hurdles entrepreneurs face—and how to break through them

Entrepreneurship is often sold as freedom.

But for most founders—especially in the early or growth stages—it doesn’t feel like freedom.
It feels like friction.

We surveyed hundreds of entrepreneurs inside the Mindvalley community, across industries and revenue levels—from early-stage solopreneurs to 7-figure founders scaling to their next level.

And what we found was loud and clear:

The biggest blocks to scale aren’t strategy or tools.
They’re misaligned mindset, unclear offers, lack o...

5 interpersonal communication moves to win friends and influence people

There are a lot of ways we, as humans, communicate. For instance, the kind where we talk to ourselves in our heads while brushing our teeth. Or the kind where one voice reaches millions of minds through a TV broadcast or newspaper headline. Or even the kind that lives in likes, comments, and stories scrolling by on our phones.

Then, there’s one where we share words, gestures, and emotions with another. That is called interpersonal communication.

It’s one of the most important, yet overlook...

Try these 7 yoga mudras for instant calm and lasting energy

Everything in existence pulses with energy… even the space between your fingers.

For thousands of years, spiritual seekers have harnessed this life force through yoga mudras, hand gestures so subtle that they’re like visual poetry. Yet, so powerful are they that they are said to shape moods and mythologies.

No wonder every status of the Buddha on Earth would display a mudra, while dancers in India still use them to depict ancient stories on stage.

Amidst all the modern noise you face, d...

My dinner with Paul McKenna: The hidden thermostat of wealth

The other night, I had dinner with Paul McKenna—world-renowned hypnotist, bestselling author, and now the creator of a brand-new Mindvalley audio called Hypnotic Trance for Wealth.

We weren’t in a studio. No cameras. Just a dinner table conversation. But what Paul shared that evening has been running through my head ever since. And I think it might rewire how you see money and abundance, too.

From Think and Grow Rich to hypnotic wealth

You’ve probably heard of Think and Grow Rich. It’s ...

45 Jim Kwik quotes about the “limitless” in you

There are some words that hit you deep.

Like Ferris Beuller’s “Life moves pretty fast” quote or “This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” from Casablanca. They’re unassuming at first, for sure, but how many times have you heard them being uttered over the years? Tons.

Jim Kwik quotes are right up there. Extracted from his Limitless book, his stage talks, and his Superbrain program on Mindvalley, his words hold the power to resonate deeply and offer a real shift in how you think, le...

Fair Trade USA founder Paul Rice on how your shopping habits can change the world

Walk down the aisle of your local grocer, and you’ll find choices upon choices of coffee beans, chocolate bars, and bananas stacked high.

But where is your money really going to? The conglomerates? Or to the very people who planted and harvested the products?

That’s the wake-up call Paul Rice, the founder and CEO of Fair Trade USA, has been sounding for decades: your choices travel farther than you think.

I think many of us feel like we don’t have power to impact these big global probl...

3 questions you need to answer to grow your business

At MVU Amsterdam, on stage, I asked the audience three simple questions about their journey as entrepreneurs. 

And the answers that came back were powerful.

I want to share the questions and some of the answers with you today. 

See if you relate.

Question 1: What’s the most important thing you need to learn to grow your business?

“Marketing / social media / sales.”

“How to differentiate myself.”

“Get over perfectionism and motivate myself to start doing instead of planning a...

Heart Sutra: How a one-page mantra can unlock a lifetime of wisdom

You know that moment when the room goes quiet, but your mind won’t follow? And your body feels so wired for action even though it needs rest?

Maybe you’ve just watched the news, and you can’t stop thinking about the latest war-related updates. Or maybe the source of your unrest is closer to home: a conflict at work, a fight with someone you love, or bills piling up higher than you can handle.

In these moments, when breathwork or your go-to meditation track won’t work… there’s a chance that...