Mark: Alright Michelle, lightning round. I give you a book title, you give me your brutally honest, five-second review based on the title alone. Ready? Michelle: Oh, I was born ready. Let's do it. Mark: The book is… You Can Win. Michelle: You Can Win. Okay. My review is: "Peak 1990s boardroom poster." It just screams shoulder pads, motivational slogans, and the belief that you can achieve anything if you just visualize a slightly bigger yacht. Mark: (Laughs) That is… painfully accurate for the era. And you're not wrong, that's the vibe. But what's fascinating about this book, You Can Win by Shiv Khera, is that the author’s own story is the complete opposite of that slick, corporate image. Michelle: Oh? Do tell. He didn't just inherit a motivational poster company? Mark: Far from it. Khera came from a business family in India that lost everything. He ended up in North America working as a car washer and a life insurance agent, facing failure after failure. This book wasn't written from a penthouse office; it was forged in the experience of hitting rock bottom and having to figure out what actually works. Michelle: Okay, now I'm interested. A "You Can Win" guide from someone who has actually lost is a much more compelling story. It’s less about the yacht and more about just getting the car to start. Mark: Exactly. And his core argument is that winning starts in a place most of us completely ignore. He claims that a staggering 85% of your success in any job comes down to just one thing. Michelle: Let me guess. A really firm handshake? Mark: Close. It's your attitude. Michelle: Attitude. Right. That feels both incredibly simple and impossibly vague. What does that even mean in practice?

Mark: Well, that's the journey Khera takes us on. He argues that before you can even think about goals or strategies, you have to understand your own inner architecture. He tells this wonderful little story to kick things off. Picture a man selling balloons at a fair. Michelle: I'm picturing it. And I want a pretzel. Go on. Mark: Business is slow. So, every now and then, to attract a crowd of kids, he releases a helium-filled balloon into the air. He sends up a red one, then a yellow one, then a blue one. They all soar. But a little boy comes up to him, tugs on his jacket, and asks a question while pointing to a balloon the man hasn't released yet. He asks, "Mister, if you let the black balloon go, will it fly too?" Michelle: Oh, that's a heavy question from a little kid. Mark: It is. And the balloon seller just kneels down, smiles, and gives this perfect answer. He says, "Son, it's not the color of the balloon. It's what's inside that makes it go up." Michelle: Wow. Okay, that's a beautiful metaphor. I'll give him that. But let's get real. What is the 'helium' for people? Is it just blind optimism? Because I know plenty of optimists who are still very much on the ground, helium not included. Mark: That is the perfect question, and it's exactly where Khera goes next. The helium isn't just "thinking positive." It's a combination of your deep-seated self-esteem and your subconscious conditioning. He argues most of us are like a full-grown elephant tied to a plastic chair. Michelle: I feel like that most Mondays. What's the story there? Mark: It's about how elephants are trained. When an elephant is a baby, they tie it to a huge, immovable tree with a thick, heavy chain. The baby elephant pulls and tugs for days, trying to break free, but it can't. It's too weak. Eventually, it learns a powerful lesson: "When I feel this rope on my leg, I am powerless." It internalizes this belief. Michelle: I think I see where this is going. Mark: Exactly. So when that elephant is a massive, powerful adult that could literally uproot the entire tree, the trainers can tie it to a flimsy little stake with a thin rope. The elephant has the physical power to walk away without even noticing, but it doesn't. The moment it feels that familiar tug on its leg, the belief it learned as a baby kicks in: "I can't break this." It's not the rope holding it back; it's the programming in its mind. Michelle: That's incredible. So Khera was basically talking about limiting beliefs before it became a viral self-help trend. We're all walking around with these invisible ropes tied to our past failures or what someone told us we couldn't do. Mark: Precisely. And this is why he says attitude is 85% of the game. Your skills, your intelligence, your hard work—that's the elephant's strength. But if your attitude, your core belief system, tells you that you're tied down, you'll never even try to use that strength. This is why he says we need to look for the gold, not the dirt. Michelle: Looking for the gold? Another metaphor? Mark: A great one. He tells the story of Andrew Carnegie, the steel magnate. Someone asked him how he managed people so well. Carnegie said dealing with people is like digging for gold. To find one ounce of gold, you have to move tons of dirt. But you don't go into the mine looking for dirt; you go in looking for the gold. Michelle: So in people, you focus on their strengths, not their flaws. And in situations, you look for the opportunity, not the problem. Mark: You got it. He tells this other story about David and Goliath. Everyone else looked at the giant Goliath and said, "He's too big to hit!" But David, with a different attitude, looked at him and said, "He's too big to miss." Same giant, different perspective. That's the inner architecture. It’s about consciously choosing to look for the gold, to see the giant as a target, not a threat, and to recognize the flimsy ropes that are holding you back. Michelle: Okay, that makes sense. It’s not about ignoring reality or pretending problems don't exist. It's about where you choose to focus your energy and attention. You can focus on the rope, or you can focus on the freedom just one step away. Mark: And once you've fixed that inner architecture, Khera argues the way you build your life in the real world is just as counter-intuitive. It’s not about what you can take; it’s about what you give.

Michelle: Alright, I'm with you on the inner work. Fix the mindset, cut the imaginary ropes. But the 'giving, not taking' part sounds a little... idealistic for the real world. How does that square with ambition and, you know, paying the bills? Mark: It sounds idealistic, I know. But Khera's point is that lasting success is a consequence, not a goal in itself. He has this beautiful phrase: "Life is an echo... and a boomerang." What you send out, comes back. And he tells one of the most incredible true stories I've ever heard to prove it. Michelle: This had better be good. Mark: It is. Many years ago, two students at Stanford University were struggling to pay their tuition. They were completely broke. They decided to host a piano recital to raise money. They reached out to a world-famous pianist of the time, Ignacy Paderewski, and offered him a guaranteed fee of $2,000 for a concert. Michelle: That's a huge risk for two broke students. Mark: A massive risk. And it didn't pay off. They promoted the concert tirelessly, but they only managed to gross $1,600. They were devastated. After the show, they went to Paderewski, explained the situation, gave him the $1,600 they'd made, and handed him a promissory note for the remaining $400, promising to pay it back as soon as they could. Michelle: Oh, that's gut-wrenching. I'm cringing for them. Mark: But Paderewski does something amazing. He looks at the two young men, tears up the promissory note, and hands the $1,600 back to them. He says, "Take your expenses out of this. Then, each of you keep 10% of what's left for your hard work. Just give me whatever remains." He essentially saved them from financial ruin. Michelle: Wow. That's an incredible act of generosity. A true class act. Mark: But the story doesn't end there. This is where the boomerang comes in. Years go by. World War I devastates Europe. Paderewski, the pianist, is now the Prime Minister of a war-torn and starving Poland. He desperately needs food to save his people. He reaches out to the U.S. Food and Relief Bureau. The head of the bureau, a man named Herbert Hoover, responds immediately and ships tons of food, saving countless Polish lives. Michelle: The future U.S. President, Herbert Hoover? Mark: The very same. After the crisis is over, Paderewski travels to Paris to thank Hoover in person. He says, "Mr. Hoover, I want to thank you for saving my people." And Hoover replies, "That's all right, Mr. Prime Minister. Besides, you don't remember it, but you helped me once when I was a student in college and I was in trouble." Michelle: No. You're kidding me. Herbert Hoover was one of the two students. Mark: He was one of the two students. Paderewski's act of kindness, sent out years earlier, came back as a boomerang to save his entire country. Michelle: That's... that's one of the best stories I've ever heard. It gives me chills. But okay, skeptic's hat back on. That's a one-in-a-million story. Does that principle really work in the cutthroat business world today? It sounds lovely, but is it naive? Mark: It's a fair question. Khera would say we're confusing two different things: selfishness and self-interest. Selfishness is win-lose: for me to win, you have to lose. That's destructive. But healthy self-interest is win-win: I want to succeed, and I want you to succeed too. He explains this with another great parable. Michelle: I'm a sucker for a good parable. Mark: A man dies and gets a tour of the afterlife. First, he's shown hell. It's a grand banquet hall filled with incredible food. But the people are miserable and starving. He sees why: everyone has four-foot-long forks and knives strapped to their hands, so they can't get the food to their own mouths. It's torture. Michelle: I see. The feast is right there, but they can't access it. Mark: Then he's taken to heaven. And it's the exact same setup. Same hall, same food, same four-foot-long utensils. But here, everyone is happy, laughing, and well-fed. The difference? In heaven, they were feeding each other from across the table. Michelle: Ah. Same tools, same situation, but a different approach. Cooperation versus selfishness. Mark: Exactly. Khera's point is that the "Action Blueprint" of a winner is to always look for a way to feed the person across from you. Build trust. Be dependable. Practice honesty. Because in the long run, that's how everyone, including you, gets to eat. It's not about being a martyr; it's about understanding that the most effective way to serve your own self-interest is to serve others.

Michelle: So when you put it all together, it’s a really powerful one-two punch. First, you have to fix your own 'inner architecture'—the helium in your balloon. You have to believe you can fly. Mark: Right. You have to untie yourself from those imaginary ropes of self-doubt and negative conditioning. Michelle: And then, once you're ready to act, the strategy isn't to go out and grab everything you can. It's to operate like a boomerang, putting good things out into the world—trust, value, help—with the faith that it will come back to you. Mark: Exactly. Success isn't a hunt; it's a harvest. You don't go out and capture it. You cultivate the conditions within yourself and in your relationships, and success grows as a natural result. The book's title is You Can Win, but the secret is that you win by helping others win too. Michelle: That's a much more profound message than the one I got from the title. So for anyone listening who feels like their balloon is firmly on the ground right now, what's the one thing Khera says to do, today, to start generating some helium? Mark: He gives a few simple, practical steps, but one of the most powerful is to change the very first thing you do each day. He says to start your day with something positive. Before you check your email, before you look at the news, read or listen to something uplifting and inspiring for just a few minutes. Michelle: Like a podcast, perhaps? Mark: (Laughs) Like a podcast, for instance. It’s about changing your mental input. Remember GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out. If you start your day with positivity, you're programming your subconscious for a better flight path. Michelle: I love that. It’s a small, manageable action that anyone can take. It’s not "change your whole life," it's "change the first five minutes of your day." And maybe that's the real lesson here. Winning isn't one giant leap; it's a series of small, positive steps, taken consistently. Mark: That's the core of it. And that's a game anyone can play. Michelle: I love that. And for our listeners, we'd love to hear your own "boomerang" stories. Have you ever had an act of kindness or generosity come back to you in an unexpected way? Share your stories with us on our social channels. We'd be thrilled to read them. Mark: This is Aibrary, signing off.