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 early on. If I had listened, I would have lost hundreds of millions in revenue:
- “You’re selling meditation CDs online? That’s not a real business. That’s a hobby.” — from a well-meaning aunt.
- “That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard.” — on my festival idea, from an investor I met at Summit Series in 2010. If I’d listened we would not have A-Fest, Future Human or Mindvalley U, festivals that attract thousands and are now in their 15th year.
- “That will never scale.” — from an early Twitter investor in Silicon Valley. The business in question Mindvalley Mastery, is now at $30M in revenue in year 3 and grew 60% year on year.
If I had listened to any of these people, Mindvalley wouldn’t exist.
Because business isn’t just about logic.
It’s about heart. It’s about Intuition. It’s about Passion.
And nobody knows this about you better than YOU.
And to show you why, let me tell you a story about a man with a weird passion for fonts.
The daydreamer at Reed College
This young man was the son of a Syrian father and adopted American parents.
He enrolled in Reed College, a small liberal arts school in Portland, Oregon.
But he struggled.
He couldn’t focus on classes. He was restless. A daydreamer.
Except for one subject.
One class completely grabbed his attention: calligraphy.
He became obsessed with fonts. The curves. The flow. The way letters could feel elegant or clumsy, depending on a single stroke.
His friends thought it was strange. Useless.
But to him, it was art.
Years later, he and a buddy started a small personal computer company.
Nothing unusual. There were 20 other computer companies in the late 1970s.
But their machine was different.
It came with fonts. Beautiful fonts.
An obsession that came directly from his calligraphy class.
That “useless” hobby became one of the defining features of the product.
And this wasn’t his only edge.
He had three:
- Design. He cared deeply about beauty and elegance.
- Storytelling. He could inspire people with vision.
- Consumer tech. He had an intuitive feel for what ordinary people wanted.
The fusion of those three passions created Apple. That font-obsessed man was Steve Jobs.
And years later, Apple became the world’s first trillion-dollar company.
Now imagine if someone had told him: “Nobody cares about fonts. Just build a computer.”
Apple wouldn’t be Apple.
The magic of your dots
Steve Jobs famously said: “You cannot connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backward.”
So the question is: what are your dots?
What were those passions, weird obsessions, little sparks that lit you up?
Those may be the signposts for the business you were meant to build.
Your dots may have magic in them.
Connecting my own dots
When I look back at my life, I see them clearly.
- I loved meditation. So in 2002, when the e-commerce boom hit, I built my first website around meditation CDs. People told me there wasn’t much money in it. I told them I didn’t care. I wanted to do what I loved. Boy, were they wrong. Meditation blew up in the 2010s. Today, the Mindvalley app alone is a $100M revenue business.
- I loved festivals, music, and travel. So I created A-Fest. Critics said it was a terrible idea. Today, it’s in its 13th year and has expanded into Future Human in Dubai and Mindvalley University.
- I loved books. So I wrote one. That first book, The Code of the Extraordinary Mind, hit #1 globally on Amazon.
- I loved dabbling in AI. So I started an AI training company. That evolved into Mindvalley Mastery, which crossed $30M revenue in its third year.
These weren’t logical career moves.
They were dots.
And when I fused them together, I built not just one business—but an ecosystem of businesses.
What are YOUR dots?
What are those weird passions, quirks, obsessions, hobbies that you love but others find weird?
There might be GOLD in them.
Here are the five principles that guided me. I hope you find these useful too.
1. Don’t quit your day job (yet). Build on the side.
Quitting too early is the fastest way to anxiety.
Because now you’re not creating. You’re panicking about rent.
I stayed at my job.
As hard as it was, when I came home, I gave myself a rule:
- 90 minutes every night to teach myself the skills I needed. I learned PHP coding. Built checkout flows. JavaScript. Everything by hand.
- Six hours every weekend were sacred building time.
Six months later, my first website went live.
One year later, it covered my expenses.
Only then did I quit.
That’s how Mindvalley started: slowly, but safely.
2. Master one skill—then fuse it with what you love
Here’s a secret no one tells you: the fastest way to build a career around your love is to marry your passion with a craft.
I call them two types of passions:
- Craft-Passions: skills you can master through practice (like sales, design, Facebook ads, Instagram ads, humorous video ads, comedy, vibe coding, or AI prompt engineering).
- Cause-Passions: the ideas and movements that light up your soul (like meditation, health, education, or sustainability).
Your real leverage comes when you fuse the two.
For me, sales was a Craft-Passion. I didn’t “love” it at first, but I loved mastering it. I studied it, practiced it, read every book I could.
Meditation was my Cause-Passion.
When I fused them—sales + meditation—I created copy so compelling for meditation CDs that I became the top affiliate in the world for the company I was reselling for.
Eventually, that led to Mindvalley.
That’s the breakthrough: I wasn’t just into meditation. I was into the alchemy of passions—turning Craft into Cause.
3. Redefine success beyond money
The Mindvalley model of entrepreneurship has always been about balance. And the data now fully supports it.
Shawn Achor, in The Happiness Advantage, shows that:
- Doctors are 19% more accurate in their diagnoses when they’re happy.
- Optimistic salespeople close deals 55% more effectively.
Happiness isn’t a side effect of success. Happiness drives success.
Hard work is hustle porn.
It works if you’re 20, living on Red Bull and ramen.
But for adults? It’s incomplete.
Humans need joy. Meaning. Connection.
So when you’re building your business, set boundaries:
- Maybe you stop work at 7:30 p.m. so you can have dinner with your family.
- Maybe you block 4:00–5:30 p.m. every day for exercise.
- Maybe your first task every morning isn’t email—it’s meditation.
These boundaries don’t slow you down.
They fuel you.
4. Question the rules
In my book The Code of the Extraordinary Mind, I introduced the idea of Brules—bullshit rules.
Here’s the thing: humans create rules to feel safe. Passed from father to son, mother to daughter.
But the world changes fast.
And old rules often don’t apply anymore.
What rules might you still be following?
- “You need a steady paycheck before you try anything.”
- “Don’t start unless you have investors.”
- “Stick to one career your whole life.”
- “Keep your ideas realistic.”
Each one sounds safe.
Each one kills originality.
That’s why extraordinary entrepreneurs question the rules.
And torch the Brules.
5. Build identity, not just goals
Most people set goals like:
- “I want to start a business.”
- “I want to make X amount.”
But goals without identity are fragile. They collapse under stress.
The real breakthrough comes when you adopt an identity:
- I am an entrepreneur.
- I am a creator.
- I am a teacher.
James Clear, in Atomic Habits, writes that identity is the deepest driver of behavior. When you embody the identity, the actions follow naturally.
When I started identifying as a teacher—even before Mindvalley existed—I began to notice opportunities to teach everywhere. That identity pulled me forward.
So don’t just set goals. Ask: Who am I becoming?
Because the universe responds not to what you want, but to who you are.
This (and a lot more) is exactly what we’ll dive into at the Entrepreneurship Summit.
Your next step: Join the Mindvalley Entrepreneurship Summit (free)
We’ll torch Brules. Explore your dots. Learn how to fuse Craft-Passions with Cause-Passions.
And you’ll hear from some of the world’s greatest teachers in entrepreneurship, storytelling, influence, and business building.
- Naveen Jain – How to design a $10M vision so clear it pulls you forward like gravity.
- Shade Zahrai – How to eliminate limiting beliefs that quietly sabotage your growth.
- Sara Al Madani – Turning your love into your career (without burning out).
- Kim Perell – The Execution Factor: how to move from ideas to results faster than anyone else.
- Dave Asprey – How to build a brand so unforgettable it practically markets itself.
- Daniel Priestly – Proven business models that actually work (and which ones to avoid).
- Sonia Ricotti – Million-dollar funnels (yes, the exact strategies that generate revenue while you sleep).
- Ajit Nawalkha – Frameworks that can add instant money to your business.
- Miki Agrawal – The art of soft power: how to win influence without hard-selling.
And I’ll share about revenue models Mindvalley used to scale past $100M (and how you can adapt them).
Key Highlights of what you will learn at the summit for free:
- How to create offers so compelling, people line up to buy
- How to find the dots you’ve been ignoring—and fuse them into your business edge.
- How to stop killing ideas too early by forcing them through business-model thinking.
- How to design boundaries so your business fuels your life instead of draining it.
- How to scale passion into profit without losing joy.
- How to win deals without losing your relationships
And so much more..
It’s 100% free. It could be the most important 3 days of time you invest this year.
Reserve your free spot now
Waiting to build from your passions? This is it.
See you at the summit,
Vishen
PS: I just shared a post about this idea of “Jobbing Your Love” and connecting your dots. Follow me on Instagram to see it.
I’d also love to hear from you directly:
What resonated most for you in today’s newsletter?
Which of these 5 principles are you ready to apply right now?
Scroll down and leave a comment below.
We read every comment — and your words may inspire someone in our community who needed to hear your story today.
22 Responses
Thanks Vishen,
I loved your newsletter. What resonated the most with me are the “dots” you come back to over the newsletter. Realizing how self-awarness is so key to our life going in the right direction. So yes do whatever it takes to be self-aware: Analysis, Meditation, creative conversation with yourself or inspiring people… Thank you
Thank you, I ‘ve read your email and the part about setting boundaries seems to resonate with me the most. Will go find out about your book “The Code of the Extraordinary Mind” Thank you.
C’est comme si ce mail avait été écrit pour moi.
Faire vivre sa passion et en même temps être utile.
Ne pas écouter les autres, ils tuent nos rêves
Great advice for men (as in most cases) but it’s not working when you are a mother. There is no extra time to carve out of a 24hours day of work and taking are of the family.
“Finish work at 7:30 so you can have dinner with your family…. 6 hours at work at the weekend.. ” is advise from a perspective that relies on the work of a mother to prepare the food .. to be there for the kids even on weekends when “he is absent” building “his dream”
Build identity not goals – stands out to me. I’m currently putting in place lifestyle activities that will support the licensed attorney entrepreneur I am becoming.
Thank for your wisdom.
A number of things resonated with me, but in particular was marry a passion with a craft, and connect the dots. This is just what I needed to hear today – thank you.
mergulhar nas paixões primárias, transformá-las em negócios prósperos e felizes me levou à reconsiderar tudo que pensei para após a aposentadoria.
Hi Vishen, I read every word of your newsletters, and in the sea of potential reading hitting my inbox, yours feels like you’re speaking directly to me. Perhaps it’s the cadence your writing style takes on – the simple, easy-to-read singular sentences, each with it’s own idea, spaced out to pull your eyes down and down the page. When I get to the bottom, I always smile. I’m never disappointed. On the contrary, I’m always so glad I read it.
Regarding your newsletter today with the description of the dots, craft passions, and cause passions – It was a beautiful framework that helped me sort out some thoughts and goals I have. Thank you always for the inspiration you give to me and so many.
I love the idea of bringing craft and passion together. In my own journey, I’ve leaned more into passion and can now see where the craft is still missing. But there’s a big question on my mind: all the multi-millionaires I know — whether personally or through the media — seem to be well above average in intelligence. So I sometimes doubt that everyone can truly reach that level. To build a high-end business, you also need a certain kind of sharpness and strategic thinking, not just passion.
I completed my MSc in Thanatology last year. It’s a relatively new field with many applications but little recognition. I still often struggle with depression and self-doubt, feeling scattered and uncertain about how to explain my work or where to focus. Even though I published my research in the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, I often feel like “the over-educated crazy old lady on a strange spiritual path.”
Meditation helps me quiet that negative self-talk and stay grounded, but your words gave me another perspective. Once I embraced the identity of transpersonal thanatologist, my goals began to feel less abstract and more aligned.
One of those goals is Path for Men (Peace, Awareness, Truth & Healing), a project I began a year and a half ago to create support for male survivors of sexual trauma—a group often overlooked and hesitant to speak openly. I hit many dead ends along the way, but yesterday I finally published the website. For now, I’m letting it incubate as a foundational step while I seek an ethical review process (and funding) to guide my research. Sometimes those goals feel daunting—especially when much of my correspondence goes unanswered—but persistence matters.
The timing of your message couldn’t have been better. It reminded me that the path I’m on does make sense, even if others don’t fully understand it. I may be that “crazy old lady” who talks about consciousness, trauma, and death, but I see the beauty and growth that surround them.
Thank you for the validation and the push—it was exactly what I needed, right when I needed it.
Thanks man. This is a very timely and insightful talk. I appreciate you.
Connecting the dots was the most striking thing to me.
3 Making success about more than money.
Jim/Colombia @gtmoBlue
What I would like to say is….. Thank you for an awe inspiring email. From beginning to end it held my attention. I felt it, It resonated with me, touched my soul ….. Im gonna give it a try and just maybe …. Thank you Vishen and the whole team.
Have had many concepts to redesign the architectural paint industry. I’m now working on my fourth patent application. I was granted application number 18 1 2 0 3 9 1, for a paint making kit. I can produce an ounce of color from a gallon of blank paint. The other applications basically controlled the entire consumer experience from the top down and the bottom up. Have been rejected for 23 years on my ideas. I never needed shark tank or any investors to tell me what to do. It basically will own the consumer experience from first choosing color to purchase. Currently working on historichomecolors.us, it’s my passion. I am a master house painter for more than 40 years. I just received your email and while reading through it, the information was a boost to my spirit. Thank you so much. Peace
This was incredibly inspiring! I love how the author emphasizes following your passions and unique obsessions to build a fulfilling business. The practical tips on balancing success with happiness and questioning old rules are especially valuable.
I don’t quit my day job yet until i built on the side.
I am working, now, on my new identity of a wealthy woman weathout any debts. I practice meditation and mindfullness. My faith is getting stronger every day. Why not me?
Vishen,
I’m not sure how your email ended up in my inbox, but your mention about connecting the dots caught my attention, and the content that followed is truly transformational. I am a firm believer in divine intervention. I am going to try to cut and paste “my story” in this response, and hopefully it fits. I hope you will find it interesting. I am gifted with the ability to connect the dots, and I have a passion that is beyond belief. A great friend and a person who has much to benefit from my success, which is a success for humanity, says I cannot be successful because what I am trying to do is akin to trying to boil the ocean. I firmly disagree. There must be a way because the status quo is grossly unacceptable. Here is my story:
The non-profit NobelEdge movement features a bold, scalable initiative called CASPER², designed to halt the unrelenting rise of diabetes complications, especially in the world’s underserved communities. Before I ask for your support, let me briefly share why I am uniquely prepared to lead this cause—and why I will earn your trust.
My Background
I hold a BS in Industrial Technology from the University of Wisconsin–Platteville (1971) with a focus on metallurgy. I am not a medical practitioner. What I offer is over 40 years of experience connecting the dots across diverse industries, disciplines, and cultures—and utilizing that skill to bring innovative, life-changing ideas to life.
30 Years at Oscar Mayer, General Foods, Phillip Morris, and Kraft Foods
I began my career as an Industrial Engineer with Oscar Mayer in Madison, Wisconsin in early 1972. The most formative event of my 30-year career with one employer, in what would become Fortune 50 Kraft Foods, began in 1975 when I took my first domestic airline flights, sight unseen, to work as an Expat at Oscar Mayer subsidiary Venezolana Empacadora C.A. in Caracas, Venezuela. My assignment lasted 10 years, during which I reported directly to the President and was responsible for Engineering, Strategic Planning, Product Development, and was the liaison to OM for Quality Assurance. After repatriating in 1985, my highly unusual, boots-on-the-ground experience in multiple functional silos had prepared me for an incredible journey over the next two decades, spanning roles across six different functional silos.
Highlights from this period:
• Designing a $30M processing plant in Venezuela.
• Leading Engineering Services for two Oscar Mayer Prepared Foods Division plants.
• Leading Operations for the Oscar Mayer Zappetites™ Microwave Meals Division
• Leading R&D for nine Kraft Canada business categories and serving on the Leadership Team
• Attaining the status of Kraft Technology Principal and serving on 3 Global R&D Core Team
• Inventing Fat-Free Miracle Whip and Mayonnaise for Kraft Canada
• Driving cross-border integration for Kraft Canada and U.S. R&D
• Managing Contract Manufacturing for:
– Kraft Foods 7-11 Commissaries
– Kraft Foods Meals & Enhancers
– Kraft Cheese & Dairy
– Kraft Food Service
– Kraft Pizza Division
• Managing ingredient procurement contracting for the above divisions with a yearly spend of $200 million
• Serving on over 30 combined Brand Teams for Oscar Mayer
• Supporting Diversity as a Director of the Kraft Foods Hispanic Employee Council,
15 Years of Health Innovation & Diabetes Complication Prevention
I do not have diabetes, but I am an amputee. After taking early retirement from Kraft in 2002, I led the development of an RX-Gold award-winning pharmaceutical promotion for Takeda Pharmaceutical and their diabetes drug, Actos. I became a student of diabetes, joined the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE), and participated in their Specialty Practice Groups for the physically and visually impaired to understand unmet needs for potential future promotional creative. I also contributed to the Dr. William M Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine at Rosalind Franklin University in Chicago, and the Center for Lower Extremity Amputation Research (CLEAR), in a similar capacity. I formed QE Consulting in 2004 and became an FDA spec developer and a supplier of proprietary medical devices for 10 years.
From Chicago to Mexico: A New Chapter, A Renewed Purpose
In 2017, I retired to Mexico to escape the Chicago winters. But retirement didn’t last. I became a Director at the Tepehua Community Center in an indigent Indigenous community and joined Rotary in 2018. It was here that I saw—up close—the harsh realities of healthcare inequity, not just in Latin America, but also back home in North America and Canada. Diabetes is everywhere. And those trying to help are admirable—but fragmented, siloed, and reactive. We’re losing the battle because we treat complications instead of preventing them, and there is no movement to change that.
The Solution: Sustainable Prevention. The Platform: CASPER²
The solution is sustainable prevention of diabetes complications. The platform to deliver it is CASPER²—a revolutionary concept that enables a global network of partnerships, volunteers, and charitable funders to extend the reach of conventional healthcare and empower underserved communities to achieve self-care in diabetes complication prevention.
Why am I uniquely qualified to lead a program like CASPER², and why isn’t anybody else doing it?
From the moment that I was blessed to lead multiple functions in Venezuela, without getting into trouble for stepping on another function lead’s turf, and learned to do that effectively by leveraging win/win relationships with suppliers and those I worked with, I was given the gift of being able to connect the dots between each function’s needs. This was reinforced time and again over two decades as I seamlessly transitioned between functional silos and diverse company cultures. I see what empowered me as highly unusual, particularly in large corporations, where it is most common for professionals to work within their core competencies and corresponding functional silos throughout the entirety of their careers.
Why will I earn your trust?
For beginners, I am not selling anything. I am collaborating with the various business and professional platforms that partner to make CASPER² a possibility.
What I have not discussed is the critical role of charitable organizations in providing volunteer resources, funding, and organizational protocols that make CASPER² possible. I am a Rotarian, and among the many incredible things Rotary represents, the most important thing to me personally is the 4-Way Test that every Rotary Club and every Rotarian recites at the beginning of each meeting. It goes as follows, and it guides me in all I do:
The Rotary 4-Way Test
1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
CASPER² is not an institution. It’s a collaborative movement of platform partnerships. It’s still in its early stages, and right now, “we” means me, a handful of excellent collaborators, and hopefully, you.
If you see yourself in this mission, let’s talk. Together, we can transform lives through preventive education and empowerment in places the healthcare system doesn’t reach.
Don “Edge” Edgerton,
Founder, NobelEdge
+1 617-318-4033
This was incredibly inspiring! I love how the author emphasizes following your passions and unique obsessions to build a fulfilling business. The practical tips on balancing success with happiness and questioning old rules are especially valuable.
Apreciado Vishen, me encantó esta publicación que recibí a mi correo; no manejo en estos momentos el idioma inglés pero lo traduje al español para leerlo de principio a fin porque no solo me inspira, sino que también conecta con el propósito de vida y la misión de mi alma, todo lo que tú personalmente y desde Mindvalley transmiten al mundo.
Uno de mis grandes sueños, anhelos y propósitos, es llegar algún día a conocerte y formar equipo contigo, pero la misión de mi alma me lleva a tener mi propia marca personal, trabajar en lo que amo hacer que es servir, aportar proactivamente a las personas, transformar vidas positivamente a través de mis conocimientos, de la sanación y es por ello que decidí hacer cambios en mi vida en todo aspecto.
Tus palabras, tus consejos en esta publicación y en lo poco que he podido hasta ahora escucharte y aprender de ti, me dan la fuerza, la convicción y certeza de que voy por el camino correcto. Tu consejo sobre seguir nuestra pasión, originalidad y dejar de escuchar a personas que no aportan, sino que por el contrario, quieren apagar tus sueños, me llena de tranquilidad y seguridad para seguir adelante en mis proyectos, en las metas que quiero ver cumplidas muy pronto en mi vida.
Me inscribí a este “Entrepreneurship Summit”; con el propósito de escuchar, aprender y empezar a poner en práctica todo lo que en este evento pueda escuchar, porque estoy convencida que hasta el más mínimo detalle puede aportar a mi vida para continuar haciendo los cambios respectivos, que me llevarán a lograr cada día una mejor versión de mí, a dar inicio a la creación de mi marca personal con la total certeza de que puedo aportar muchas cosas positivas a esta humanidad.
Gracias, gracias, gracias por tus consejos y por tomarte el tiempo de compartirlos.
This is a wonderful Newsletter. Looking back and connecting the dots, I have followed many of these principals over a long successful career. I did not follow a traditional path of conventional wisdom. People have said I was fortunate, lucky, blessed, and no doubt I was. I had many successful people with integrity around me, and for that I am grateful. The two rules in the newsletter that resonate are Redefine Success Beyond Money and Build Identity, Not Just Goals. Early in my career, I left a job that paid me very well to work 7 days a week in the office (before Internet and email). It was exciting work but left no time for my young family. I decided to find work that interested me and left me quality time to devote to my family. I interviewed for a position at a company that people told me was run by a crazy entrepreneur (I saw this characterization as a feature, not a bug). The CEO asked me two questions. The first was why would I leave the good job I had (to spend time with Family); and the second was, “if you come to work here what would you like to do”. No one had ever asked me that in an interview, so I thought for about a minute. I answered that I like to create and go on adventures. The CEO said, “great you should do that here and spend as much time with your family as you want. You will know how to balance.” I helped that CEO build four different businesses over 17 years. Then I started a new business with a group of 4 other people. We had no Brules and only one rule … “no a-holes”. That company has grown to over 50 people and they are all great to work with.
The information give me hope.
The point that resonated most with me upon reading the blog today was to build an identity, not just goals. We focus so much upon the goals and outcomes that as human beings we lose sight of what is most important and that is the person we are and who we become as a result of the growth that comes from any type of change and challenge in our lives. This resonated strongly with me and adopting and identity with firm, solid statements of what I am, stating it outright, knowing that the universe will respond to who I am rather than what I want. Such an important point of focus for me on my journey.