The Code of the Extraordinary Mind: 10 Unconventional Laws to Redefine Your Life and Succeed On Your Own Terms

by Vishen Lakhiani

Have you noticed how uncomfortable it can be to really look someone in the eye for an extended period of time? Turns out it’s uncomfortable because it bri...

Start by focusing on one eye. Once your gaze is fixed on that eye, repeat to yourself (aloud...

“What I Love about Myself”

The next time you feel an apparent urge to lose your cool, or you feel judged, insulted, or hurt by a loved one, remember to be present.

draw your mind to any color, texture, or object you see in front of you. And then go deep with your observation. You might observe the color of the table and the patterns of the wood before you. Or the odors you smell and sounds you hear. For some reason, this act causes a sudden drop in anxiety and other negative feelings. To amplify the effect, focus on your breathing, too.

Focus on the rising and falling of your breath for ten seconds whenever you feel tense, rushed, or distracted.

The thread for me is my breath. Returning to it during the day, hundreds of times when I get stressed, when I get worried, when judgments come up, has been an incredible gift—and it’s available to all of us.

If you sit on the couch all day and do nothing, it is precisely because you don’t think you’re enough. You’re afraid. You’re afraid of failure. You’re afraid of rejection. You’re afraid that those things will be proof positive that you indeed are not enough. So you do nothing.

if you believe that you’re enough, that’s when you take action. That’s when you go out and try something new. That’s when you apply for that job you really want. That’s when you ask for that raise. Because you’re enough. And even if you fail, you won’t take rejection personally because it’s not you—you ARE enough—so it must be your methods or your approach or skill or whatever—and because you know you’re enough, you know you can then improve those methods and skills and your approaches and then try again.

Knowing we are ENOUGH gives us the courage to do MORE, do BETTER, do our BEST.

When you learn how to fill the holes within, and you no longer need outside validation to know you are enough and when you set end goals that come from your deepest feelings about living a meaningful life, you have graduated to the next level in recoding yourself and moving forward on your path toward the extraordinary.

The problem with most people is that their problems aren’t big enough.

Kensho is growth by pain. Satori is growth by awakening.

Kensho is a gradual process that often happens through the tribulations of life.

Kensho is the universe giving you tough love.

You go through some kind of pain or difficulty through which you learn different ways to feel, think, and be.

kensho is our soul’s way of calling on us to grow.

It could be that our problems are nothing more than a friendly universe whispering in our ear as we hike through life: “Hey, you’re on the wrong path. Check out the view from this angle.”

Behind every problem, there’s a question trying to ask itself. Behind every question, there’s an answer trying to reveal itself. Behind every answer, there’s an action trying to take place. And behind every action, there’s a way of life trying to be born. That new way of life trying to be born is your calling. And who knows how this calling might influence the world and those around you?

the universe comes calling—and your job is to listen.

Michael…knew that if he didn’t take action, if he didn’t lead with creation, that nature would look for someone else. It’s like nature is just trying to create all the time, and it’s looking for people who are awake. It’s looking for people who are willing to raise their hands and bring something from the unmanifest into the manifest. And I don’t think that it’s choosy about who it is. It’s like, “Well, if you don’t do it, then fine. I’ll choose this other person.”

the more we create, the more of nature’s support we get.

when a mission needs to manifest, the universe (or, as she calls it, nature) may knock on your door and bless you with that intuition. But it’s up to you to jump on it. If you don’t, the universe will move on to the next person. The universe doesn’t care who’s going to change the world. It just wants someone who’ll seize the idea and run with it.

“I believe inspiration will always try its best to work with you—but if you’re not ready or available, it may indeed choose to leave you and to search for a different human collaborator.”

here’s the insight that makes me smile. If it’s true that the universe does come calling and has chosen you for its grand new design, whatever that is, then it means that just like every great hero in legend, film, or the best computer games, you are literally the Chosen One for your particular quest. Remember. You. Are. The. Chosen. One.

Extraordinary people feel a unique connectedness and kinship to all life.

Extraordinary people are open to intuitive insights they attain through this connection.

Extraordinary people allow their intuition to lead them to a vision th...

As extraordinary people serve this calling, the universe bles...

models of reality do not have to be scientifically true. You can take on a model as a philosophy if it empowers you.)

The truly extraordinary have reverence for humanity as a whole.

Happiness is the fuel for intuition. When you’re stressed or fearful, you shut intuition down.

Thanks to intuition, when you set end goals, you don’t necessarily need to know HOW to attain them.

Don’t worry about the HOW. Start with the WHAT and the WHY.

When you know what you want to bring forth in the world and WHY you want it, choose it. Then take whatever action intuition guides you toward taking.

When we meditate, our brain frequencies slow down to what is known as the alpha level. This is the brain wave state associated with intuition.

A mission provides the fuel that keeps us going.

Without a mission, work is a four-letter word. With a mission, work dissolves.

many mission-oriented workers say, their job stops being work and becomes something that adds to the quality of their lif...

traditional goals don’t motivate you; instead, you’re pulled by bigger visi...

When you are living under a goal-oriented model, you are PUSHED; you need motivation. [But] when you are living your purpose, you are now PULLED by a vision.

the calling to serve is strong. It drives you. It lights a fire under your ass to move.

In the old paradigm of goals, you needed motivation to go after your goals. A whole industry of motivational tools has been born to support such efforts. But motivation is only needed when you’re chasing a Brule—a means goal. When you chase end goals, especially end goals related to your calling, you no longer need to be “motivated.” Instead, you are PULLED by your vision.

Failure is often nothing more than good luck in disguise: the destruction of an old way of life so you can create the next grand vision of yourself.

When you finally get on the right track, pointed toward that mission that life chose you for, just like the chosen one of countless films, you start to find huge reservoirs of untapped power and support coming your way.

Extraordinary minds are motivated by a quest or calling—a drive to create some positive change in the world.