234. The Entrepreneur's Guide to Mindset Mastery w/ Marina Morgan

Marina Morgan, a business psychologist from Silicon Valley with roots in the Soviet space program, shares insights on entrepreneurial mindset, neurophysiology, and resilience in today's rapidly changing business landscape.

• Understanding how your physiological condition impacts business decision-making
• The power of maintaining low expectations while pursuing ambitious goals
• How to separate market analysis from emotional comparison with competitors
• Why entrepreneurial identity can become limiting as businesses scale
• The neurophysiological connection between enjoyment and effective decision-making
• Practical strategies for maintaining resilience through proper sleep, nutrition, and stress management
• How AI integration is changing our relationship with professional identity
• The importance of making decisions based on enjoyment rather than strict logic

Connect with Marina at themorganimpact.com for a free strategic clarity session where she can help analyze your current position and desired outcomes while suggesting paths you might not have considered before.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Mindset Cafe
• 8:56 Marina's Journey from Soviet Union to Silicon Valley
• 17:26 Culture Shock and Immigration Mindset
• 23:37 The Power of Low Expectations
• 29:48 Breaking Free from Comparison Mindset
• 35:59 Neurophysiology and Entrepreneurial Success
• 42:15 Building Resilience as a Business Owner

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Yeah, it's Mindset Cafe. We all about that mindset. Gotta stay focused. Now go settle for the last. It's all in your head how you think you manifest. So get ready to rise, cause we about to be the best. Gotta switch it up. Gotta break the old habits. Get your mind right, turn your dreams into habits. No negative vibes, only positive thoughts. What is up, guys? What is up?

Speaker 1: 0:22

Welcome to another episode of the Mindset Cafe podcast. It's your boy, devin, and today we have a special guest. She is an entrepreneurial wizard, she is a business psychologist, she is a coach, she is a speaker, she is a lot of things. But I want her to be able to dive into a lot of those things and really dive into the mindset of entrepreneurs, of everyday people, as we start to go into it. But you know, I want to welcome Marina Morgan to the show. She is, like I said, a psychology. She's had an organization. She's had an organizational psychology agency in Silicon Valley, organizational psychology agency in Silicon Valley. She's had an incredible journey from Russia where she's dedicated over 15 years in leading transformational changes in different businesses, different organizations, ranging from startups to global corporations. So, honestly, without further ado, I want to welcome you onto the show. Marina, thank you so much for taking the time.

Speaker 2: 1:21

Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited.

Speaker 1: 1:25

So I always like to start with, you know, a little bit of background, right, and what I mean background is like what was your childhood like and how did that lead you to the path that you've, you know, kind of taken?

Speaker 2: 1:37

So I don't want to be, you know some long storytelling about it. Let's focus on some moments that probably will explain our listeners how I became those person that I am right now. So I was born in Soviet Union the country that not exist, as you can guess right now and it a little bit shifted my mindset, but it was some kind of traditional when I was a little girl, when your parents pretty young, when they decided to become a parents, and you mostly spending a time with your grandparents because it was some kind of social organization in the period. So I was born in the family from both sides fathers and mothers. There were the people from the space industry, and my grandpa and grandma from father's side and my grandpa from mother's side. They worked in the same organization and my grandpa from mother's side. They worked in the same organization and my grandpa was the person who created the first rocket engine that you know, put humanity to the space. And that's why my childhood were deeply connected uh, not with some kind of fairy tales or something that you can imagine, but with the stories about the space, about the physics, about the absolutely different interests and things, and my mom and my grandma from her side I mean her mom they were doctors.

Speaker 2: 2:49

So I think this mindset that was combined in my family when, from one hand, you were thinking about something very global, something very innovative, and this innovative mindset, just sometimes I'm thinking about my grandpa. He was just 29 years old and he was a guy from a small village in Ukraine. And just look at him. He was just 29 years old and at that moment it was the first time when he managed to go to the space and he influenced for that. And sometimes, in a difficult moment, I'm thinking about his experience and think, oh my God, this is something in my blood that needs, you know, to provide my ambitions. So, from another hand, as I told you, my mom and my grandma they were doctors and I think that things that I'm doing right now, this is really a combination of some global system, but they're human oriented, and I think that's why I had an experience working with pretty big companies and I feel really free in it. I mean, scale is something that's the synonymous of my personality, but this human-oriented and focusing on the result that you can provide to the client this is my priority as well.

Speaker 2: 4:01

So it was a typical childhood I mean kindergarten, school, university. But when I was in university, you know, at that moment we didn't know a lot about how you can develop some commercial organization. Because just imagine, uh, 10 years ago, soviet union hold up and it was absolutely non-capitalistic society, and uh I, I decided to create some uh paper I mean my diploma about how to manage the organization through the managing of organizational culture, and that influence for my mindset as well. Uh, when I was I think it was second year in university I started my first business. It was washing the windows business and next, after that, we started to provide some secret service. You know the moment then some person come into your shop, come into your company and just pretended to be a client and after that you can really understand what's going on right now in the connection with your salespeople and your clients.

Speaker 2: 5:12

And since then I started to provide some resultive solutions for the organization. And then, after university and till this moment, I combined in the cooperative career with my entrepreneurial experience. I worked in a TMT industry. My career was in a TMT industry. That just means technologies, media and telecom, and that's why I moved to Silicon Valley. It was the logical next step of my professional and personal development, because I was pretty bounded with the technological industry and I decided that here I prefer to continue developing my own business and to be totally focused on my entrepreneurial journey.

Speaker 1: 6:00

No, that's awesome. So I mean, what was that point? Did your parents leave Russia and you know, you guys came here, or did you leave here to go to the universities, or what was that transition?

Speaker 2: 6:15

Honestly so. My parents unfortunately passed away, also as well as my grandparents, and right now in Russia, I have only my sister and my nephew. I mean, that's part of my family, and also part of my family is in Ukraine right now in Russia, I have only my sister and my nephew. I mean, that's part of my family, and also part of my family is in Ukraine right now. I moved here when I was 35 years old and at that moment, I was in a pretty good position in the biggest technological company in the country, but I felt that I don't I can't find new ambitious goal for myself. I mean, inside the country and as well as I worked in technological industry. We really worked a lot with the huge companies here in Silicon Valley. It was the great period of the kind political relationship that I worked before all the stuff that we have right now, and a lot of my employees, a lot of my friends, worked in Russia and then moved to Silicon Valley and we developed some common project here and this was pretty logical next step for me.

Speaker 2: 7:16

I visited Silicon Valley for the first time in my life in 2021. I mean in person, not online or something like that and I really felt something like you know that I belong to this place, or something like that, and I decided that I need to come here and just try to do something here. So I came back, announced in my company that you know, guys, I decided to quit. That was pretty surprised, because I was really in a good position. Everything was simple. I had a brilliant network and I can choose any trajectory that I can even imagine. But I decided to challenge myself because it's something pretty, you know, as you understood, it is something in my blood, uh and uh, that's how I come here. I just bought one-way ticket and decided that I fix it somehow. So that's it. That's the story that's.

Speaker 1: 8:01

I mean that's crazy, because to me the the mindset you have to have to obviously you're like this is my place. I really resonate with this. It's challenging. I see the opportunity, but the mindset to buy a one-way ticket and to essentially go from not just a city or a state and move somewhere else a foreign country is, you know, when people tell me that they've done that, it kind of blows our mind because it how, like, what were? What was going through your mind once you arrived and you know you're like okay, well, now we're here, was a huge cultural shock. Was that where you used to it from like the trip? You know what was that like?

Speaker 2: 8:41

uh, it's a really good question because I think that my experience is the same thing with that most companies and people facing that you need to change something specifically if you need to innovate your company, your processes, and I was pretty familiar with their change management and as well as working with the people in different companies as a head of talent development, with the people in different companies as a head of talent development, and I really know how our brain works, how you can organize the top performance of your team, of yourself. I was pretty prepared I mean from my mindset stuff and my neurophysiological aspect because it's pretty simple when you have healthy mind and healthy nervous system, you will provide healthy solution. You will make some healthy choices, the best that is available for you right now. And the opposite thing is, when you're nervous, you're pretty stressed, depressed. Even if you're in perfect circumstances, it's pretty difficult to see these perfect opportunities because it's not connected with something that you feel inside.

Speaker 2: 9:42

I can say it was shocked because, as I told you, we worked a lot with the Silicon Valley and also I had experience in the movie industry.

Speaker 2: 9:50

That's why I had a lot of connections with Los Angeles since the early moments of my career.

Speaker 2: 9:56

But most things that impressed me here they were pretty positive and you know I moved before the war started I mean Russia-Ukraine war and when it happened, a lot of my friends, my co-workers, my clients, they started to move to another countries and comparing my experience with there, I can say that my experience was really brilliant because United States is pretty supportive I mean if we compare with Europe or something like that because it's oriented to immigration process and immigration culture and a lot of people here they came to this country one day, probably several generations before, but this is something in the core of this culture.

Speaker 2: 10:47

I mean to attract the passionate, resultative, ambitious person and that's why I think the United States was pretty welcoming. I can say that Silicon Valley is their specific place because it's highly, highly, highly competitive and we're joking sometimes that Silicon Valley, silicon valley, is the hollywood to the intelligence people, the best of the best, coming here. And if you want to be somebody, I mean if you want to be resultative, if you want to find the clients, if you want to work with them, you really need to be the best. And it was pretty challenging. But from the cultural aspect I can say that something surprised me, just because I was pretty familiar with that during all my career.

Speaker 1: 11:27

No, I agree. I mean, I think that having the right mindset is important and everything that you said. The one thing that kind of sticks out to me too is that we could have the right mindset in theory, like we know how to tell other people we can give the best advice. But it almost comes down to that like Solomon's paradox, where we can give the best advice.

Speaker 2: 11:45

But it almost comes down to that like solomon's paradox, where we can give the best advice but sometimes it's hard to take our own advice uh yeah you're right, you know, uh, I think that the best, um, best thing that was pretty supportive for me at the period, and I think that it will be pretty supportive for all the people who want to change something in their life or in their companies is that you should have very low expectation and trying to be open-minded like a child. You know, one of the focus of my interests right now is developing the framework that, measuring their readiness teams and companies for AI integration. Readiness teams and companies for AI integration and we right now, pretty attentively, you know, studying all the research that exists at that moment about this topic and we can see the huge correlation between the effectiveness of AI integration and expectation. I mean, when team have a high expectation, the results of integration pretty low, and then we don't a high expectation, the results of integration pretty low, and then we don't have high expectation, the result much more better. If comparing it and I think it's, you know, it's a great advice for any change.

Speaker 2: 12:54

As I told and I tried not to compare because, of course, something much better and easier when in your native country, when everything is organized, you know how to I don't know what is the best hairdresser where you can buy those bread, that taste of that you like, and you just, you just need really pretty, um pretty dramatically fast develop. You know, your brain, uh and um, rising up new brain that will be part of this society, this culture, these circumstances. And this is stressful, I know it, and that's why, you know, I try to prepare myself as best as I can through the physiological aspect, because this is the most important part of it, and through the psychological aspects.

Speaker 1: 13:36

I try to be open-minded as I can just not judgment, no comparison, just oh great, it's working like this here, fantastic, cool, I know it now and my experience was pretty positive, as I told I, I agree, like the, when you set expectations, you almost are setting yourself up for disappointment, right, because there's a lot of things in this, not just from business, but anything in life, like, for example, let's say, I tell you we're going to go to a restaurant and I tell you this is the best r Russian food out here in the Silicon Valley, and I'm, and I keep selling it, I keep selling it, and all of a sudden you have it and you're like this is not that good. I was, I was picturing a home cooked meal back home and this is, you know, this is like McDonald's, right. And so I think that can happen a lot of times in life. When you set your expectations so high, you're setting yourself up to kind of be disappointed or let down that it's not this huge granular thing, it's, but it does, it's still super beneficial, versus just being open-minded. You know, having that, that readiness to see what it's capable of, but not expecting it to to take all of the workload off of you.

Speaker 1: 14:43

I think that is a huge aspect of it. And I think another thing you mentioned was comparison, which, especially in the tech industry, I would assume you know, just like any business industry, where it's like your competitors are moving at a certain rate and just because they're growing and you're not doesn't necessarily mean that's not going to happen for you or they hit a certain milestone before you do. If you constantly compare yourself to them, then you're kind of taking your eye off the ball and the things that you need to do to essentially align with their competitiveness, if that makes sense.

Speaker 2: 15:17

Absolutely. You know most of the people, most of my clients. When I try to explain them this idea, they not agree with me. And the argument is that high expectation is my way to, you know, for motivation, to motivate myself to do the best, but it doesn't mean that you should do nothing or something like that. I mean, I don't have any expectation. Let's just chill, chill, go with the flow.

Speaker 2: 15:41

This is also a way of living, but it's non-entrepreneurial, to be honest. Because if you want to be successful, if you want to, you know, step on the ground, your business in a competitive market. To step on the ground to business in a competitive market, you should compare what are you doing with this thing that exists right now in the market. But the thing that I'm speaking here is more about any emotions around it. I mean, you should analyze, you should compare the data, you should understand what's going on, but it shouldn't really frustrate you. Okay, facts is that my competitors do something like this. Facts is that people around me are probably more successful than I am. So what? You just know it. You know that this is the circumstances, in that you're trying to develop something that you want to develop and, again, it's not only for entrepreneurs, it's relevant for all the people.

Speaker 2: 16:25

We should, of course, analyze information outside, but this is just information. It shouldn't be frustrating or something like that. And then you understand a little bit about the neurophysiology or physiology at all. You understand that we are not the same. I mean we're not started with the same circumstances, with the same base and probably some person that much more successful than you, much more resultative it is not because you are worse than this person is best. Probably it's because this person has other genetics, another experience in growing up. I mean, for example, I know Russian language because this is my native language and it's pretty challenging for the English speakers. You know to speak on this language, but it doesn't mean that I'm better or worse. It just means that I was born in these circumstances. I didn't choose it, I didn't take an effort, you know to have this experience and it's really good advice to compare yourself with yourself, but in comparing yourself or your business or your results with competitors, just to keep in mind this data and this.

Speaker 1: 17:25

Yeah, no, I agree, like there is a place for competitiveness in comparison. When you're analyzing, you know almost like KPIs, and you're analyzing data, right, it makes sense because you can also see where you can improve and so forth. But I like how you said, and what I meant originally was like the emotional tie to it. Right, but also knowing that the information is just information Like this isn't to get you frustrated. It's also not to get you happy or excited. This is just information. Right, information like this isn't to get you frustrated. It's also not to get you happy or excited. If this is just information, right, you got to be able to yeah, you got to be able to separate your emotions from the facts and use that to essentially continue to pivot or adjust so you can keep that growth pattern going yeah, yeah, you're absolutely right.

Speaker 2: 18:07

And, um, you know, sometimes it can be pretty difficult for all the people because it sounds very easy, for example, don't have any expectation.

Speaker 2: 18:14

It sounds perfect and, honestly, through my experience, it's the best way to feel happiness during your life. I mean, don't expect something, just enjoy what you have and do what your best can do at the moment. But in reality, the expectation is our way to control something and to feel that we keep this control. Also, a lot of us had an experience, you know, rising up in our families this expectation, for example, if you want to be a good boy, if you want to be a good boy, if you want to be a great citizen, if you want to be a good person, you should this, this, this and this. And that's why this expectation is not only some you know awful thing, it is also something that nah pretty illusion of you know, of clarity and explaining what's going on to yourself.

Speaker 2: 19:01

And that's why it's pretty difficult for a lot of people just to avoid it. And even then, you are already successful in avoiding this expectation from I don't know outside life people around you. The most difficult thing is set the expectation from yourself because don't know outside life people around you. The most difficult thing is set the expectation from yourself, because this is the most challenging things. And speaking about this personal attachment, for the comparison for the competitors that we discussed, you know my experience shows that most business owners, they pretty strongly identify themselves with their business and that's why it's becoming emotional. I mean, if competitors do something better than I, it becomes a pretty person. From the one hand, it's really some kind of fuel in this engine that you know, drive you to say everyone, I'm the best, I'm the best and I will show it to you. But again, different research as well as my experience demonstrate that those people who really can reduce this attachment and this identifying themselves with the business, in the long distance they become much more resultative and successful.

Speaker 1: 20:11

And why do you think that is Because I mean and believe me, I completely get what you mean Like you know, a lot of entrepreneurs, especially during the startup phase, like your identity, is the business right and even so, much more like, so people can understand, like professional athletes, their whole identity is I'm a professional athlete until they retire. And then what am I right? So the people that can separate themselves and their identity essentially from you know the business. Why do you think they can, you know, continue to grow and see more success than someone that can't?

Speaker 2: 20:47

um, you know, um, there is no one answer here. Um, I think most of us read something, a great article and book, that named Founders Dilemma. Then, at the beginning, your identity and your high passion to your startup or to your business it's really, as I told, the fuel and the engine that you know help you to keep it and do again and again, even when you're not successful. And all of us know the statistics that you know only one company from 10 survive for one year in this number rising down year by year. But there is a moment when you should be more, not more less, emotional, and it's pretty difficult. Specifically, as I told you, there are a lot of different reasons, but let me probably discuss with you a couple of the most common.

Speaker 2: 21:45

The first thing in my job, it's much more easy to work with the middle managers and with the people who is right now only on their way to success. I mean, they already have some kind of results, they probably have some stable business model and they just go into scale Instead of the business who already have C-level positions or they are a business owner of a huge company. Why? Because if you use some pattern of your behavior and it brings you to this successful point. It's pretty difficult to change it because you really, you know, deeply, feel this correlation within the way how I communicate, the way how I think, the way how I act with these results.

Speaker 2: 22:27

But sometimes you need to dramatically change your mindset if you want to scale or if you want to grow up in your career.

Speaker 2: 22:36

And speaking about, for example, about the technological industry, this is the main obstacle when pretty fantastic senior engineers or even the head of technology in the company want to make a next step and become, for example, a board member, become a leader.

Speaker 2: 22:54

And I have a lot of cases like this Because you have a habit to rely on your professional hard skills and at that moment you need to pivot it and change your minds into the soft skills, for example, to become a charismatic leader, to be more professional, managing people and you are not programming at all, because you just need to manage the people and do those things that you don't really did during your, that you didn't do during all your career path.

Speaker 2: 23:22

And the same thing is here your mindset, your way of thinking, your network already brought you to this pretty good result. But if you want to change something, if you want to pivot, you really need to forget about your success and try to be some kind of another person, and that's why a lot of people decided to, you know, to stay on this stage. I mean, for example, pretty good and big enough companies, but it's difficult for them to do this next step because you need to be just another person. And it's difficult for them to do this next step because you need to be just another person and it's not for everyone.

Speaker 1: 23:54

No, I mean, it's definitely not for everyone. Like that is, that is the name of the game, I mean and and that's okay, Right, you know, first and foremost, like it's not meant to be for everyone, just like I'm not meant to be an NBA star, Right, you know it's not meant for everyone. But knowing it and stuff like one of the reasons for entrepreneurship I think it's not for everyone is the chaos, the stress, the, you know, uncertainty, and I know one of the things that you know, you've talked about, you know, outside of this, was how to manage or how to essentially balance the chaos and you know, understanding the clarity. Can you kind of dive into that as an individual or as an entrepreneur?

Speaker 2: 24:40

Absolutely so, as somebody who's pretty deep in all this AI stuff that's happening and why I'm using it like an, an example, because this is the most dramatic uncertainty. It's uncertainly, as I told, as we told, uh, as we discussed and uh, the speed of the change is pretty. You know, it's incredible. It's incredible we didn't have, we didn't have experience like this in all the history of economy and humanity. I mean, uh, change that happening right now with the speed that happened in all the industries at the same time, because we had a different experience with the integration of innovation during the last 100 years, but things that we're facing right now is absolutely new for all of us. So and give me just a second to think about it from the side so, clarity, the first thing that you need to accept that there will no any stability in the future at all in those way, how you understand the stability. The other thing is that you should understand that I mean everyone that there is no something like strategy in those things that we really think about. The strategy, I mean not any company is successful, hugest, the biggest one in the world right now. They're not planning strategically for one year or five years and we are changing right now, these models. So this is the first thing that you really need to understand that these circumstances that are typical for entrepreneurs, they're becoming typical for all of us and this is one of my services that I provided the strategic clarity session. And the first thing that you need to understand is that your physiological condition and your mindset is the base for this clarity in this chaos. That our new normal I can say that it's new normal, it's just our normal, that our new normal I can say that it's new normal, it's just our normal Because, as I told you, when you have a healthy mind, when you have a healthy body, healthy nervous system from the one hand, and, from another hand, you have some kind of the open mind mindset that we discussed a little bit earlier. It's relevant right now, not only for the businessman, it's relevant for all of us. If you are not expecting something and if you're not identifying yourself with the role, everything will be okay. And only in this base, only if you have this base, you are able to see all the picture and all the opportunities that life can provide for you right now. And the thing here, as I mentioned, that this expectation, this identifying it's something that helps us just not to feel stress, because this is the illusion of control. For example, when I identify myself like I'm a business psychologist, it explains everything, including for me, because more than 15 years, when I'm saying something about myself, I say oh I I. You know, when I say something about myself, I say oh I.

Speaker 2: 27:58

The people facing right now with is that this AI thing it's really make our personality not so valuable as in the past. What I want to say here it's something like relationship between consciousness and unconsciousness, because you're sitting with your open eye, whatever tool you're using, and you are given the request and you get an answer. And as fast as this technology is developing, it's more and more irrelevant who specifically asked this question, and I mean all you detailed personality, uh, that you really have a huge involvement with. It's really becoming more and more irrelevant and this is really stressful because my personality, my understanding of myself it's the main thing that I know about this world. But truth is, if we will look to the person for the neurophysiological side, mean that we have. I'll try to be not very boring here. Please interrupt me if I will be pretty boring.

Speaker 2: 29:04

So our brain developed in urinary life through the neuroplasticity process, when we are just a small child, one month old, we are developing and created two million new neuro connections per second. In my age, for example, this is something like 60,000 per second new connections. I mean, all of us are able to become whatever person you want in any moment of our life and this dynamic that was relevant, for example, in my past, when you are just growing up, graduated to go to university. After that you find job, you work in this job for I don't know 20 years, then you retirement. Or, for example, you're from family business and your grandpa, your great-grandfather was I, I don't know who, for example, make some honey, I don't know, and it was much more easier.

Speaker 2: 30:01

And right now, when you really understand that you need to focus on your neurophysiology and your open mind mindset, you will see these opportunities. And this is a very important part, just to begin, and when you just started to think about yourself like about entrepreneur or business owner of successful business, you're just thinking about yourself like I'm a person. Everything can change, I can change, I can become somebody else at the next step and I will choose those way. That just will be more resultative for me, even if I need to change my business, even if I need to change my job, my country, my career, whatever it is, you're looking for the best circumstances that's relevant for you and that help you to achieve those goals that are really important for you. And when we're working with clients right now, for example, in strategic planning for their companies we are not, you know, building this, as I told you, tough strategy for five years we're focusing on the main goal, on the main KPI that's important for the company right now. And then, with the board members and business owners, we're looking for absolutely different opportunities include their insane, unexpected just to find several new ways to achieve these goals.

Speaker 2: 31:12

And absolutely the same thing working for the person. I mean, if you were just work somewhere you shouldn't think about, you should think like okay, in the next five years, I want to have, not five years, it's irrelevant to plan for five years in the next year. I want, for example, to have this, this and this. I want to feel in this way. I want to have time for taking care of both myself, both my family. I want to do something that will be useful and relevant for the people around me, for my clients, for my customers. Uh and uh. Let's see how I can do it using all the opportunities that life is providing for for me right now. I don't know, it seems it was long answer, and if I didn't answer for a question, please ask something no, no, you did, you did.

Speaker 1: 32:07

And I think all that to say, too, is like there has to be a an aspect of resilience. Right Cause, understanding it all and in even having a game plan mapped out and having all the keys to the, the, the puzzle you know, laid out, it's like you still have to have an aspect of resilience. Can you kind of dive into, like how resilience you know needs to be there, how you cultivate resilience, especially when you're leading a team? I mean, I think that's one of the biggest things entrepreneurs struggle with. They come in and everything is in chaos, so they become chaos. Right, and understanding that it takes time, like you have to weather the storms. What, what in your experience has, have you done with clients or customers, you know, to help them build resilience? You know, if you do think it, you know holds weight okay, several things here.

Speaker 2: 33:03

The first thing um, all the business owners should understand that they are the source of the resilience for their team and for their business. I mean for the psychological aspect, uh and um, or you and your co-founders uh, if, for example, you have a co-founders and uh, you can't expect that your people will be. You know the source of the calmness for you because a lot of things depend on you and your condition in your business, and this is the reality approved by a huge ton of research and also I really found this a long time ago, pretty impressive research. It was published in January 2025 that approved that business owner or leader are able to change the biochemistry of the employers. I mean through the words and emotions that you put in this words, and you should really understand it. That if, if you were, for example, choose the way to manage in the stressful stress with the stressful approach, probably not very good and it not really influenced good for the resilience. So, um, if some tips, if you want to provide some tips, first step um, your, your health. This is pretty important. You're like a business owner. This is your responsibility to take care about you like a main resource. Uh and uh, I can. I can share. I don't know if we're able to share somewhere.

Speaker 2: 34:30

I have the guide for entrepreneurs. That includes the medical test you should regularly go through in your regular checkup because these nutritions they influence for your condition and for your decision-making. It's like vitamin D, some list of that. Not so much Because, for example, if you don't have enough I don't know vitamin D in your body or ferritin, you will not feel comfortable and calm Because your body will turn on the survival regime and it will influence for your decision making. So another thing is you should sleep enough, or probably, if you are not able to do it, I mean six, seven, eight hours you should have a good deep sleep phase, because this is the time when you have rest and we are learning new things and we are developing our adaptability. When we sleep, it works like you have new experience and today all of us have a lot of new experience every day and you are integrated when you sleep.

Speaker 2: 35:34

And if you don't sleep enough or you are not integrating this experience, and what does that mean? What is the stress at all? Stress is some kind of the balance between what we're able to do right now and new things that we need to do. Stress is a way to learn some new things and if, uh, new information and new skills that you know circumstances requiring from you requires from you, uh is here and you're here. It's really felt like stress, but if you are integrated, day by day, day by day, you're rising up. Things that easy, easy for you right now.

Speaker 2: 36:07

And at the end of the story, um, our stress management is not about, you know, reduce the stressful sources, because the reality look like the reality. The reality is what the reality is. We're unable to influence for it, but we are unable to take under control how we feel and what is our condition. So it's pretty important, uh, just to control and manage your sleep routine. Uh, and it will be really great to provide this information for your employers, because you can be a great role model for your employers, but you can't come to their homes and say, hey, go to bed, it's 11 o'clock already. But you should explain them why it is important, how it influence and what's the connection between their condition and your business results. And it's really working in a good way. Please trust my experience.

Speaker 2: 36:54

There are a lot of research. Again, the next thing is that you should to avoid any stressful aspects of your mindset. What's I mean here? Like comparing yourself with somebody else, like to be pretty critical to yourself. I mean you should be really clear and you should collect this data, understand this data, but you shouldn't be pretty emotional about it. And it's much more easy to do it when you have healthy nervous system and it's pretty difficult to do it when you didn't sleep enough for a long time. You are taking a lot of alcohol, you are not have healthy enough food, just because your nervous system becoming very, very reactive what's I mean? The reactive percent, for example, you have stimuli like this and you just, you know, uh, you, you're providing some reaction and, uh, if you really feel chill and good, everything can happen around you, but you just keep your way and you are on your track. So, and this is pretty important and we should understand that the way how we see the reality and the way how we see opportunities depends on our physiological condition. Our physiological condition is first, and the way how our brain explain it for us is the second part. Here I mean, if you have a lot of cortisol in your body, if I told, if, like I mentioned, you didn't sleep lot of cortisol in your body if I told, if, like I mentioned, you didn't sleep for a long time enough and you were in pretty stressful circumstances and reality becoming more and more dangerous place for you. But reality at that moment are not changing dramatically. And when you will take care about it and you will, you know, really take care about this routine you will see how reality change and you will start to see the opportunities that reality provide and it's really working in a good way.

Speaker 2: 38:36

And the last thing that I typically advise in coming clients is to cultivate the enjoyment in their life, because there is a huge correlation neurophysiologically between the endorphins that provided when we're experiencing some enjoyment and dopamine that influence for our motivation in the long distance. And what's that mean? I'm not speaking here about the hedonism like you know wild thing that you're not doing anything, just spending time watching TV show and eating some junk food. No, I'm speaking here about some very personally important aspects that, personally for you, are really enjoyable and you really should have every day five, ten minutes it doesn't matter when you enjoy something that's really relevant personally for you. I'm recommending to create a list with I don't know 40 or probably 100 different moments and things that's really personally, enjoys you, and how to understand it. You should just imagine that you're doing these things. For example, it can be everything like I do not drink in the water with the eyes from my favorite mug, or I am smiling the blossoming of the roses or I don't know.

Speaker 2: 39:54

Have a time with my friend in the bar where we spend the time since we were kids. It doesn't matter, it's very, very personal and when you're thinking about it, you feel something that psychologists name whole body. Yes, like you know, you really want it. You really want this experience. And when you have this list and you're planning um, your week, put in your schedule this five, ten minutes enjoyment every day, and also one big enjoyment per week at the I don't know concerts, going to the seaside, uh, spend the time, uh, with the friends, with family, something really big. And when you're thinking about it and you're dedicated, you focus for this five minutes, 10 minutes, one hour, only to experience how cool it is, how it's great. I really feel it, I really enjoy it. You will see the great change pretty soon With pretty simple things, for example, what I want to eat today apple, banana or some yogurt and you are making this decision through that feeling of enjoyment.

Speaker 2: 41:02

Just imagine this in your in your mouth, or, for example, what kind of t-shirt I want to wear today. It's very simple. It's very, very easy task. Just it should be black, like both of us today, or it should be white. What will enjoy me more? The difference can be very small, but if you're using this way, you are learning your system to make a choice for the enjoyment. And what's that mean? When you're making the choice for the enjoyment, it's mean that you're making the best decision that's available for you right now, in the moment. And you started to learn how your body gives you the signs for this personal best choice. And when you're learning day by day for the simple things, at one moment, then you will be in circumstances with not enough information and pretty stressful, and you will need to make the decision in this stressful, not enough information situation. You will already know the signs and probably it will influence for your choice in a really good way.

Speaker 1: 41:53

So the main tips is this no, I love that and I want to ask one final question and this question it could be. It's kind of open floor, right? It's the legacy wall question, right? So, on Marina's legacy wall, what is the one lesson that you've learned along your life's journey, both in and out of entrepreneurial space, that you would leave for the up and coming generations?

Speaker 2: 42:19

Oh gosh, it's pretty serious. So I think I shared with you it already that your condition is the first and your interpretation, or the reality through this condition, is the second part of it. And it's really, it was the game changer for me because, in spite I'm a professional in this field, I didn't know it because this is more neurophysiological and psychiatry stuff. So when you are building your life day by day, finding in all the days some enjoyment moment, it's impossible to come to some kind of the bad results, because this is, you know, this is like a ladder and in every step you're doing something that's pretty enjoying you and that's how you will probably find the best, the most brilliance, the most successful your personal way in this reality. So your condition is first, your interpretation of the reality is the second part and the enjoyment is the priority. That's my main lesson I love that.

Speaker 1: 43:19

I like doing this the first time, but yeah, I love that that was what you recapped, because I mean, honestly it is, it is so true, right and that your life's journey and everything that we've talked about thus far, like, if you think about that core message, like it kind of ties into everything and honestly I love that so much, so you know where can people connect with you and learn more about what you have going on.

Speaker 2: 43:42

Absolutely. Thank you for this opportunity, but if you will allow me, may I ask the same question to you?

Speaker 1: 43:47

What.

Speaker 2: 43:48

About the legacy, about your legacy.

Speaker 1: 43:52

Mine, I mean, is that you're not special, right, and and I like I, and the reason I say it that way is because I wanted to sound harsh so that people understand it right You're not special for it to work out for other people and not work out for you, right. If it's a reality, if someone else has already achieved your goals or achieving similar goals, that should be your testimonial to it is a possibility for you. You just have to be willing to weather the storms and find the resources. Sometimes you know up and down through the whole journey and come out on the other side, but if it's a reality for someone else, it could be a reality for you as well.

Speaker 2: 44:30

Fantastic, it's real. It's feeling like, pretty freely it's providing some wings because really it works for any people, it works for you, but it's really cool. So thank you. Thank you for this philosophical idea. I need to think about it a little bit, of course.

Speaker 1: 44:46

I mean honestly. I think the reason I like it is because I honestly do. I think it's the reason I like it is because I honestly do. I think it's similar to yours, right, like it it. It ties into your perception, right? It ties into perspective, right, and it ties into all the things that you've mentioned. And I think that that is such a huge aspect to realize that reality is your perception of reality. Like it's almost like when people say there's your truth, there's my truth, and then there's the truth. Like it's almost like when people say there's your truth, there's my truth, and then there's the truth. And that's how reality works, in my opinion. It's like there's your reality, there's also my reality, and then there's just reality.

Speaker 2: 45:20

Yeah, yeah, you're right, it's really cool. It's really cool. Yeah, it is also about this. You know, not be so serious about who you are right now, because it can be relevant just tomorrow, so just feel free yeah great.

Speaker 1: 45:33

Where can people connect with you?

Speaker 2: 45:35

yeah, so thank you so much for this opportunity. You can find me in my website, themorganimpactcom, and I'm providing the free strategic clarity session where we uh from different perspectives, analyzing where you are right now and where you want to be and together looking for the way for your goal. And also, through my experience here in Silicon Valley and all my life experience, I can really suggest probably some paths that you didn't think about it before and that's how you will become more clear about the opportunities for yourself. Also, I will be happy to connect in LinkedIn. Marina Morgan, san Francisco. Please join me and ask any question that you are interested in.

Speaker 1: 46:13

Awesome. Well, thank you so much. And, guys, if you guys are listening, make sure you guys share this episode with a friend and make sure you guys leave us a review. I know that's one of the things that is difficult to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the review button, but it really does help us out and it helps share the message with other people that are like you, that are trying to improve themselves. So if you do that, that'd be a great pleasure to us. Thank you so much, morgan Marina. Thank you so much for coming on the show and just dropping knowledge after knowledge. I loved it so much. Thank you again.

Speaker 2: 46:41

Thank you.

Speaker 1: 46:43

And we'll definitely connect soon. So you know, make sure you guys follow her. You know, reach out to her. You guys can find the link down in the description. You know reach out to her. You guys can find the link down in the description. If you're watching on youtube, you can find the link down in the video uh description below. So make sure you guys check her out. I'ma buy no time with the slackin'. I hustle harder. I go against the current Cause. I know my mind is rich to be collected.