in business is mindset. So that first 100k is proof of concept. Does this idea work? Do the people I'm targeting want to buy the thing that I'm selling? Well? Mindset for me, the way that I define it, the way that I see it, is really steeped in personal development. So what am I doing to grow and expand my mind? What am I doing for myself that allows me to ask better questions? How can I grow so that I can see things in a different perspective? How can I find the limiting beliefs that I don't even realize I have now the more that I've gotten into the deep end of personal development, the more I realize that I have the ability to own everything in my life. So I don't get to control what happens around me, but I do get to control how I respond to that thing. So if I'm reacting to something that sort of right away, right off the bat, reaction, without thought. It kind of highlights an area that I need to work on. So for me specifically, I'm going to share some kind of personal stuff here. The question that I ask is, how can I manage the stress and anxiety that I feel when I've not planned for a certain set of circumstances. Now, for what comes up for me, like stress and anxiety, when there's chaos, when there's not something that planned, that might be different than you, you might thrive in chaos. You might thrive in spontaneity. And so keep in mind that what I'm sharing is my personal experience as someone who really values stability and security. Okay, again, it may be different for you, but I spend a lot of time living in the future and planning for different possibilities. So what would I do if we fell into recession. What would I do? What actions would I take if our revenue hit this level? What actions would I take if our revenue hit that level? How would I handle another pandemic? God forbid. So I like to have multiple backup plans as well as milestones where action needs to be taken. And those that have been in my world for a while, or if you've worked with me closely, you know that I typically have at least three backup plans. It's a coping mechanism for my own personal entrepreneurial journey. I systemize everything. I plan far in advance, which limits uncertainty. Now I am by no means saying that this is the right thing to do. I'm also not saying that it's the healthiest way to live your life. Trust me, I've had many conversations with my therapist around the fact that I don't like feeling in chaos, but I also know that I am strong, I am resilient, I am resourceful, and I know that I can handle anything thrown my way. Especially when I have the time to formulate a plan. So there's this great quote from Mark Twain, and it says, I've lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened. So anyone that's ever experienced anxiety, you know that that is you feel that in your soul, I certainly do. You know it's it's not a great thing to worry about the future. But again, this is just I'm sharing my personal experience, which actually feels a little bit vulnerable. But I want you to understand my path and my personal journey and also share with you the things that have worked for me in terms of personal development and really strengthening my mindset. Okay, so let's go ahead and get into it. So first things, first, diet, exercise and sleep. These are the basic basic but so many of us underestimate the level of impact that these three things have on our performance, the impact that they have on our ability to think clearly and make strategic decisions. So I'm not someone who loves working out. I tend to have these ebbs and flows where I'll be super consistent for months and then I'll drop off again. For example, like the first half of last year, I did really well. I was consistently working out for three to four times a week. The days that I didn't work out, I was getting 10k steps in, and so I was feeling really, really good. Then it was summer, the kids were home from school, we had some travel, and I just got out of my normal routine, and since then, I have not been able to get back into it as consistently as I had before. It is a goal of mine, and I hope by the time that you guys are listening to this episode, I am back on the workout wagon. I know I will be. I have no doubt I will. My real challenge will be, can I stay on it when my routine shifts now I want to be healthy, I want to take care of my body, but honestly, the greatest change I see when I work out consistently is in my mind. So I'm more balanced, I'm more clear headed. I'm in a better mood, and I have more energy. I don't snap at my kids as much as much far, far less like you're just able to handle pressure in a different way. So it's unbelievable, the change that simply taking care of yourself with good food, restorative sleep and consistent exercise will have now the next thing that I recommend is to find a good therapist. So many of the beliefs that we have formed, around money, around worth, around people pleasing, these were things that happened when we were kids. So even if the logical part of our mind seems to have processed things from our childhood, our subconscious mind may still be holding on to them, and this is where EMDR comes in. So EMDR stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. So I'm going to read a little paragraph from an article, and we'll link this article up in the show notes, so you can explore more about it as well, but it says some of the studies show that 84 to 90% of single trauma victims no longer have post traumatic stress disorder after only 390 minute sessions. Another study funded by the HMO Kaiser Permanente found that 100% of single trauma victims and 77% of multiple trauma victims were no longer diagnosed with PTSD after only 650 minute sessions. In another study, 77% of combat veterans were free of PTSD in 12 sessions. There's been so much research on EMDR therapy that it's now recognized as an effective form of treatment for trauma and other disturbing experiences by organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association, the World Health Organization, and the Department of Defense. Now I know that you might be thinking, Daniela, I don't have PTSD, but the point of this therapy is to move things from the subconscious mind into the conscious mind so that it can be processed. So the beliefs that we have that are holding us back that we might not even be aware of, that's what we're trying to work through now, oftentimes those beliefs are around money and worth, two very important things to have a handle on. As an entrepreneur. So whether you do EMDR or talk therapy or some other type of therapy, I believe it's beneficial for everyone, and today, more than ever, there is really less of a stigma attached to it. So the important thing is that you find a therapist that you trust. You connect with. Okay. Next up for me has been really deepening my spirituality, and for me that means listening to the Joel Osteen podcast. He is a mega church Texas preacher who is honestly the last person that I thought I would connect with. But I absolutely love his podcast, and I have been listening to him for years. So he combines faith with mindset, and every single time that I turn on his podcast, I feel like the message of the day was especially for me, connecting spiritually can be walking in nature. It can be meditating. It doesn't have to be connected to a certain faith. It's really about connecting to something greater than you, finding out what makes you feel a sense of awe, wonder and gratitude and for each person that is going to be different, and that's totally fine. The point is that you figure out what works for you and commit to it. And last but not least, I ensure that I am reading a mindset book at least every two to three books. Okay, so what does that mean? So I'm a pretty big consumer of books. I actually don't read them. That does not work for me in this season of life, but I am eternally grateful who for whoever created audible. So in addition to running my company, I'm also a full time chauffeur for my kids, as I'm sure many of you can relate. So I have entered that season of life where I'm in the car for hours a day, going to and from school and to after activities and all of that. So instead of sitting in silence in the car or listening to music, I'm listening to books. That's, you know, when I'm not talking to my kids, right? So there's the drive there, and then the drive with the kids. But when I'm in the car by myself, I'm always listening to books or to some type of podcast. Okay, so depending on the length of the book and also how many podcasts I'm listening to in between, I would say that I get through somewhere between two to four books per month. Now, one of the books that I recently finished was can't hurt me by David Goggins. He's a Navy SEAL. He's an ultra marathon runner, whole lot of other accomplishments, and he also had a really challenging and abusive upbringing. And his book is really about the power of your mind and how he accomplished all of these things through developing a strong mindset. So he's got a lot of stories in there. Really, really great book. And I especially, I'll say one thing, I loved listening to it on Audible, because they would do the chapters he has his ghost writer was actually interviewing him in between the chapters, so you got kind of this expanded version of some of the stories he was telling. So it was really a benefit to listen to the book rather than actually reading it. Also, a few books ago, I read Grit by Angela Duckworth, great mindset book, as well as I'm selecting what it is that I want to consume that particular month, I'll have a business book, a mindset book. Every once in a while, I'll have historical fiction or a biography. Shout out to green lights by Matthew McConaughey. That was a great book that I listened to earlier in the year. Really enjoyed it. But I guess the point that I am trying to make is to be intentional about what we are consuming.