This document discusses mindset and how to overcome failure through abundance thinking. It provides 6 tips for being more successful: 1) noticing opportunities rather than limitations, 2) maintaining neutrality in challenging situations, 3) priming your attitude through self-care, 4) practicing self-compassion during difficulties, 5) showing generosity towards others, and 6) cultivating gratitude for past successes. The overall message is that changing your mindset from one of scarcity to abundance can help you better handle failure, perform at your highest level, and ultimately find greater success in life, love and work.

1. I don’t often fail,
but when I do…

3. Failure is a mindset.
And how to fix it.
Stefan Fountain
Techsylvania 2016

4. Failure mindset is
driven by scarcity
thinking

6. You have to suffer to be
successful.
True / False?

7. Building something is hard,
you have to be at your best.
Most of the time.

8. Performance is tied to
your attitude.

9. That is…

10. Abundance thinking.

11. Viadeo Amsterdam Intro | Les Arcs | January 18th, 2012
The next 20 minutes…
‣ A short history of a startup
‣ 6 tips to stay sane.

12. Viadeo Amsterdam Intro | Les Arcs | January 18th, 2012
The next 20 minutes…
‣ A short history of a startup
‣ 6 tips to be more successful.

13. Viadeo Amsterdam Intro | Les Arcs | January 18th, 2012
The next 20 minutes…
‣ A short history of a startup
‣ 6 tips to win

14. Viadeo Amsterdam Intro | Les Arcs | January 18th, 2012
The next 20 minutes…
‣ A short history of a startup
‣ 6 tips to win (in life, love, and work)

15. But first a little
warning…

16. Comfy
Extreme
pain
and
Disaster
Number of slides
Pain
20
116

17. This is not me

18. I’m just a human

19. It wasn’t always this way..

20. Back in 2006

23. My goal:
change the world!

24. .com

25. o

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28. ?
2007
==
London
BETA
2008/2009

31. ?
2007
==
London
BETA
2010

32. Tears of JOY!!
You made me so happy I am on the verge of tears!!! I have been
whining about how absurd it is that Google can't manage syncing...
THANK GOD I FOUND SOOCIAL !!!
Rock on with your bad selves.

33. ?
2007
==
London
BETA
Mountain View, CA
Hamburg, DE
2011

34. It was a win.

35. …I even bought a boat!

37. however…
I hadn’t changed the world.

38. It felt like a failure

40. Lessons learned
Looking back now… what could I have done
differently?

41. In short:
my attitude sucked.

42. I wasn’t ready for success:
I cared too much about
what others thought.

43. I was reactive…

44. I suffered…

45. Scarcity-driven attitude

46. There is always an
abundance of options.
Quote me on that.

47. Viadeo Amsterdam Intro | Les Arcs | January 18th, 2012
— Katia Verresen
(researcher and executive coach).
‣ You’re not going to build a billion dollar
business on a string of bad days.
‣ It has to be a sequence of your very best
days
‣ Your performance is tied 100% to your
attitude.

48. How do you switch to
abundance thinking?

49. Reactive Pro-active
Actor Director
?
Tactics / actions
Diagnose

50. Point of view
Scarcity
You’re the victim,
a bully,
or simply
checked out.
Abundance
You’re in the
driver seat.

51. Source:Verresen

52. Source:Verresen

53. 6 tips to win.
In life, love and work.

54. 1. Noticing

55. We’re wired not to
notice.When you’re
focussed you miss
thing.

57. Take the time and
energy to pause and
look around.

58. Viadeo Amsterdam Intro | Les Arcs | January 18th, 2012
‣ If I were to experience this situation differently,
what might I notice?
‣ What are my choices here? (Note: this is not
questioning whether you have choices, but rather
acknowledging that you definitely do.)
‣ If I were to perceive something useful here, what
would it be?
‣ If this seemingly impossible task actually is
possible, what’s my next logical move?
‣ What’s going right in this situation?
‣ I wonder what it would be like to… (fill in an
action that seems to exist outside the scope of
possibility.)

59. Helps you let go of
limiting beliefs and
made-up boundaries.

62. 2. Neutrality

63. The world is
not fair or unfair.
It just is.

64. “If I was neutral what
would I notice
differently?”

65. Neutrality also
acknowledges that
reality is a mess.

66. Write down the
opposing opinions and
let them be heard.

67. 3. Priming

68. Your attitude dictates
what you can see.

69. Your attitude dictates
your altitude.

70. Sleeping well,
eating well,
exercise.

71. Humor
Napping at work,
Memories (pictures)
Soundtracks
Movement
Find a talking partner
Find a quiet spot

73. You should do 10 minutes
of meditation each day,
unless you’re busy then
you should do 20.

75. 4. Self-compassion

77. Life is difficult.
If we can deal with this
one simple fact, life
becomes much easier.

78. 1.
Admit the pain

79. 2.
It’s a shared human
condition

80. 3.
Do something kind for
yourself

82. More compassion
=
greater grit

83. 5. Generosity

84. Know your currency
You have so much more to give than you might think.

85. intro’s
attention
presence
kindness
knowledge
access to resources

86. Find people you can give to.
And they will give to you.

87. BTW:
This will also help
you find mentors.

88. And your mentors will
learn from your generosity.

89. Lastly, appreciation is a
form of generosity.

90. How many times did you
see someone’s performance
change in a snap
because their boss told
them:‘Good job’?

93. 6. Gratitude

95. We tend to forget our wins.

96. The human brain operates
in feedback loops.

97. “Once I get that funding, it
will be okay.”

98. “Once we hire that person,
it will be okay.”

99. And on and on.

100. But it’s never enough.

101. And that’s what gratitude
fixes.

102. My journal of wins:

103. There will always be fires…

105. But that’s exactly when you
need these habits most.

106. When you’re suffering, you
are not at your best.

107. And you want to be at your best.

108. Right?

109. Know that it’s hard.

110. You’re going to be the first to do
something.

111. Remember why you’re doing it.

112. The first
person to go
through the
wall, is the one
with blood on
his face.

113. Remember why you’re doing it…
And you’re going to be proud of that blood.

115. Thank you!
Let’s go and win.
You should follow me on twitter: @spif