Bolder Stories | Paul on the Henry Ford Mindset Shift

Paul shares one of his favorite quotes from Henry Ford and why mindset is often the starting point of everything you build.

A lot of people decide they can’t do something before they’ve even tried. They focus on what they lack, whether it’s time, money, or the right circumstances, and that belief alone becomes the reason they stay stuck.

In this mini episode of Bolder Stories, Paul explains why you may be much closer to your goals than you think. Instead of chasing a distant and overwhelming version of success, it’s about breaking things down into smaller, realistic steps and moving forward one decision at a time.

Because sometimes, the gap between where you are and where you want to be isn’t as big as it seems.

And in the end, it comes back to a simple truth. Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.

Transcript

The Quote That Frames Everything

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You know, my favorite quote of all time from Henry Ford: whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. It's crazy to me how many people convince themselves that they can't do something before they've ever even tried. They'll have excuses in their mind of for whatever reason, like, oh, I'd like to do that, but I can't do it. I don't have the time or I don't have the money or something. Instead of if they shifted their mindset to believing they can and doing everything they can to do it, then they'll accomplish it. And so it really comes down to you're right, if you tell yourself you can't do it, you're not going to. But if you tell yourself you can, be amazed at what you can accomplish. And I think a lot of people are closer to their dreams than they even can realize. And the story I'll tell, I remember when I was at my old job, I worked at Fidelity, we were at a corporate off-site where you know you go to dinner and you have all the drinks, and so it's social and you're having a good time. And one of the women there came up with a super fun question, which was great for the table to talk about. And it was basically, what's your number? Okay, so we're all employed, working full-time, making good income. And the question is, what's your number? How much money do you have to have to just walk away? That was the question. And so we all start throwing these numbers out. This was years ago, and it was a little surprising of how big the people's numbers were. Oh, for it's basically like, what's the fuck you money, right? Like that's the question. Uh sorry to curse, but that we all know that phrase. And that was the question we're going around the table. And people are like, oh, I need 15 million, I need 10 million, oh, I need 50 million. And that doesn't sound achievable at all. And the reason I say you're closer to your dreams than you think you are, is we think we need way more than we actually do. And the reality is, yeah, if you never want to work again in your life and you want to lay on the beach in the Caribbean every day of your life for the next 60 years, you probably need 10 or 20 million dollars. But I don't think that's what most people would really need or want to walk away. And so imagine you're in a corporate job, you're not happy, you're not enjoying what you're doing. Yeah, you don't need to go from that to laying on the beach in the Caribbean every single day. Yeah, you would need$20 million or whatever it is. What if you just wanted to change careers? What if you had the dream of being a college professor? Let's say that's your dream. And right now you're working in corporate America and you're making six figures or whatever it is, you're closer to that than you think because if you tell yourself that's what I want to do, in this example, I want to be a college professor. Tell yourself you can do it. Believe you can do it. Well, great. How do I get there? Maybe you start adjunct teaching once a week to get the skills. It's not going to cost you any money. It's actually going to bring in a little bit extra money. Do that for a year. Then you might take up a second class, do that for another year. Then you're saving that extra money. And then you have to ask yourself, okay, what's the number now for me to go full-time on that? Oh, I might need an extra$10,000,$20,000,$50,000. All of a sudden, that's your number. Like to get to your dream of being a college professor, you need to figure out how to go from where you're not happy to where you will be happy. But it doesn't mean you have to have this massive number to never work again in your life. You may just be in a position, you want to change careers. You want to do something different, maybe whatever it is. I'm just talking career, but you're closer to your dreams than you think. You just need to take a step back and think of the micro steps to get you there instead of the entire journey and just take one step to get there at a time is the key. So it all comes back to that closing it out. Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. That's really what it comes down to.