mindset Archives - Christian Lautenschleger

Is anyone an expert? Do we use that term too liberally?

February 2nd, 2017christian0 Comments

“[An expert is] having, involving, or displaying special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience.” -Expert definition, courtesy of Webster. Who is an expert? Is anyone an expert? The more we learn about something, the more we learn we don’t know. Everything is a lifelong lesson, we can take crash courses and become obsessed with voracious energy, but at what point do we become an expert? Or do we ever really reach that status. The media loves to label people as “experts”, probably because they need to call them something, the lazy way out. An expert generally is someone …

Teachers teach because they can’t?

January 27th, 2017christian0 Comments

Teachers teach, because they can’t. Right? Or maybe teachers teach because they want to help others and share their experience and knowledge? I had something pop into my mind: maybe teachers can do, but want to help other humans because teaching fits their personality. Recently, I read Give and Take — which is a phenomenal book I highly recommend — and learned in depth about “givers” and “takers”. It’s one of those epiphanies that we kind of already knew about, but all the dots are connected when someone spells it out for us. Some people have the “givers” personality. Givers …

Practice: How we get to Carnegie Hall

January 21st, 2017christian0 Comments

How do we get to Carnegie Hall? Practice. (That’s a fun one to ask to see the reactions of people’s faces, ha.) Most humans have comparable talent levels. We may have different physical attributes, but we’re mostly together mentally to reach comparable achievements. The difference comes in how we’re raised, social community, and our mindset — we have to want it. To reach the upper echelons, we nearly have to dedicate our lives to it, such as playing at Carnegie Hall. Sure, there are prodigies that reach the pinnacle, but there are also people who practiced their way to the …

How often do we read books that change our lives?

January 12th, 2017christian0 Comments

give and take book christian lautenschleger

When’s the last time you’ve read a book that’s changed your mindset and outlook? We may read books all of the time, and they may be “good”, but how often are they ones that change us? How often do we read books that open our minds to something we haven’t known – or even considered – before opening the cover. I just started reading Give and Take (thanks, Prime shipping!). It’s absolutely captivating. I’ve heard of Gary V’s “Jab, jab, right hook” metaphor, but GaT takes it to an academic level that really brings it home. There are three types of …

Failing: Why Stigmatized?

January 11th, 2017christian0 Comments

pink atlantic sunrise failing christian lautenschleger

Want to know who doesn’t fail? People who don’t want to try anything new. People who don’t leave their comfort zone. People who live with regret. Failing quintessentially divides people into two camps: Are we willing to try something, that may better ourselves and those around us; or do we want to play it safe, stay in our bubble, and never take a chance? I’m not sure when “failing” became a thing. It sounds like some sort of American paradox: the people who moved America failed over and over, yet we expect perfection that prevents people from even trying because …

Our Subconscious: everything becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy

January 10th, 2017christian0 Comments

I’ve heard people bitch about “that’s just a self-fulling prophecy.” One such person was a college roommate. He’d complain about something becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy while he’d watch sci-fi movies all day at his desk. Instead of doing something for himself, he’d passive-aggressively project. His subconscious already decided that he couldn’t do it. Once we convince ourselves we can’t do something, it’s hard to reverse it. Everything we do becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. People who have convinced themselves that they can break down walls, barriers, or ceilings are the same people who achieve whatever they want because they’ve already convinced …

What’s the worst thing that could happen?

January 7th, 2017christian0 Comments

What holds us back? The person who holds us back the most is ourselves. What’s the worst thing that could happen? Our minds are genetically-engineered to be risk-averse. We’d rather not lose than gain. We also regret not doing things than actually taking the change and doing things. Go figure. No wonder relationships “are complicated”. Let’s get this out of the way first. The worst thing that could happen to us is die. How often do we do something that might actually kill someone? Outside of driving, which – knock on wood – rarely results in someone dying, how often …

Minimalism — Less is more in our lives

January 4th, 2017christian0 Comments

It seems almost counterintuitive to be an American and want less. Especially after Christmas. Minimalism seems like a weird, counterculture lifestyle when more people can be materialistic as ever. But why do we actually want more stuff? Because we fell into love from advertisements? We want what other people have? Or because we’re buying stuff to fill some sort of need want? I almost by accident discovered minimalism a few months ago. I think I found it while browsing TED talks on YouTube. It got my attention. Why have stuff we don’t need? (And by stuff I mean things that …

Positive or negative: you are who we thought you were

December 29th, 2016christian0 Comments

positive water glass christian lautenschleger

We have two outlooks of life: positive and negative. Or if you’d rather, the glass’s half-empty or half-full. We can be one of the other. We can’t possess them simultaneously. The outlook we have in life is infectious, not only for ourselves but to others. More than likely, you are who we thought you were. Humans are social creatures. The worst thing we can do is isolate ourselves from others. We tend to want to associate and spend time with like minded people: The Law of Attraction. We are the average of the five people with whom you spend most …