For years, in every speech I’ve given and every book I’ve written, I’ve been whispering a single philosophy to you: Be mindful in every moment and build the best version of yourself.

So, why am I emphasizing “second by second” in particular? Because this approach actually means being mindful of your life. It means being aware of the moment you’re in, appreciating its value, and using that moment consciously to create the person you want to be and the life you want to live.

When I say you should make the most of every moment, I don’t mean you should work nonstop like a robot, striving endlessly. I mean you should appreciate the value of every moment. Because sometimes the best way to use a moment is to work like crazy. But sometimes it’s hugging your child, sometimes it’s holding the hand of the person you love, and sometimes it’s mustering the courage to take that first step. And sometimes it’s doing nothing at all—just pausing to appreciate the beauty of the life you’re living. That’s what it means to live in the moment.

Exiting Autopilot

We must stop living our lives on autopilot and simply watching as the days slip by. We must stay awake and present in our own lives. Because you cannot consciously manage a moment you are not aware of. But the moment you become aware—right at that very second—you can make a choice. And every conscious choice you make creates a newer, more evolved version of yourself.

Please don’t forget this: Becoming the best version of yourself doesn’t mean simply becoming a more successful, more disciplined, or higher-earning person—not at all! Not at all. The ideal person I’m talking about is someone who appreciates the value of life. It’s someone who knows how to love and laugh. It’s someone who creates and grows, but doesn’t forget to live while striving to grow. It’s the person who works when necessary, pauses when necessary, rests when necessary, and sometimes can simply look up at the sky and say, “What a beautiful life I’m living.”

The Equation Is Actually Very Simple

So, why are we doing all this? Why are we constantly striving to develop our minds and ourselves? To live that beautiful life we envision.

The equation is actually that simple: More conscious choices lead to better days, and when those better days come together, the amazing life you’ve always dreamed of takes shape. Maybe right now, at this very moment, you can’t change your whole life all at once. That’s perfectly normal. But you can make a conscious choice right now—and sometimes, even a small choice can change the entire course of your life.

Be mindful of this very moment you’re in right now, appreciate its value, and ask yourself this question: “What would the best version of me be doing right now?” Answer that question and do it immediately. Because you won’t create your life on some distant day in the future; you’re creating it right now, second by second.

A person’s biggest problem isn’t a lack of knowledge—it’s their way of thinking. Think about it: two different people are looking at the same situation. One sees an obstacle; the other sees an opportunity. They hear the same sentence. One gives up; the other gets motivated and takes action. The outside world is the same, but their inner worlds are different. And when their inner worlds change, so do the decisions they make.

I’ve been reflecting on the human mind for about 40 years. For 40 years, I’ve been developing various mental frameworks. I test them out in my own life, and I share the successful ones with my friends, those around me, and others. Over the years, I have compiled some of this work into books. I have also registered some of it as intellectual property. And at the heart of all this work, there was really just one question: Can a person consciously change their way of thinking, or can they change their subconscious programming? If they can achieve this, will their decisions change? Will their life change?

Am I Really Making the Most of My Potential?

Perhaps we’ve been asking the wrong question our whole lives: “How can I increase my capacity?” But maybe the right question is: “Am I really making the most of my capacity?” The two are not the same. Think about it: we all have the same amount of time. We all have 24 hours in a day. Yet some people are able to achieve completely different results within those same 24 hours. Why?

We humans spend our entire lives trying to develop our brains. We read more books and pursue more education. We gather more information, but we almost never ask ourselves a much more important question: Does the system that uses this information actually work properly? In other words, if we need something, can we retrieve the right information from it, or does that information automatically come to us?

Imagine a library. There are books in that library, and it’s like being able to find the book you’re looking for right away. Everything is in its proper place, and the person organizing it can find what they’re looking for immediately. You can buy the world’s most powerful computer, but if you install the wrong software on it, you’ll never see that computer’s true power. The human mind is a bit like that. I’ve never believed that our brains are weak.

Automatic Thinking Habits

People often repeat the same mistakes not because of a lack of knowledge, but because of their automatic thought patterns. They experience a failure, and immediately the same thought pops into their head: “I can’t do it.” An opportunity arises, and the same thought pops into their head: “What if I fail?” They meet a new person, and the same phrase pops into their head: “I wonder if they’ll accept me?” Notice how the situations change, but the mind’s response remains the same. Are we really thinking freely? Or are we mostly living out thought patterns that have been repeated countless times before? Or are we acting under the influence of programs embedded in our brains?

Perhaps what we really need to change are the thought patterns that our brains automatically repeat. Because people don’t live the same life simply because they’re unable to make new decisions. They live the same life because they try to make new decisions using old thought patterns. Here lies a very important distinction. I have never bought into claims that we can tap into a larger portion of the human brain. My focus was entirely different: “Can a person learn to use the mental potential they already possess more consciously?” That power lies within us. What matters is using that power correctly. The things that change our lives aren’t sudden bursts of inspiration; they’re the thought patterns we repeat every day.

A person with a “I don’t care” attitude is a desirable partner, just as they are in many other aspects of life. Life isn’t always a bed of roses. Life isn’t a flat plain. It isn’t a straight path—there are trails, hills, and narrow paths. Everyone wants the person they set out on this journey with to be someone who can find solutions when problems arise. Such a person is always preferred.

Expectations and the Struggle for Change

A person who says, “It doesn’t matter to me,” is, in every sense of the word, a solution-oriented person. People from different worlds cannot sustain a relationship. Sometimes people enter into a relationship with the intention of changing their partner. A relentless struggle then begins between them and the partner who resists change. Of course, if a person wants to change, they do so only for themselves.

Cultural differences, in particular, are among the hardest things to overcome. A relationship can become agonizing because various problems remain unresolved and the couple refuses to change. In such cases, people can no longer stay together due to severe incompatibility. The relationship may reach a point of no return.

Realistic Acceptance

Sometimes it’s not the relationships that hit a wall—it’s the people. They don’t want to do anything for each other. They don’t usually do anything for the relationship, either. They might say, “Let it break where it’s already frayed.” In situations like this, it might be worth considering a breakup before losing even more of the respect between you. “I can live without you, and we can both move on to new people if necessary. But at least we won’t lose our respect for each other. We may not lose our love, but we can end our relationship within this framework of respect”—saying this might be better than staying in a bad relationship.

A character in “I don’t care” mode is aware of situations that have reached a dead end. They can move on with their life, comforted by the knowledge that they’ve done everything they could. Some couples stay together even though they can’t get along. They continue their troubled relationships simply out of fear of being alone. But a person in “I don’t care” mode won’t stay in an unhappy relationship. They have no tolerance for unhappiness. A person in “I don’t care” mode accepts the relationship just as they accept the breakup. They don’t fall into depression when the relationship ends.

Because you know that life will go on no matter what. You need to know this, be aware of it, and convey that feeling to yourself and the other person. To ensure that a breakup is just as successful as the relationship itself, you must never lose respect. When your relationship ends in a way that is for the good and benefit of both parties, no one gets hurt.

Living in fear of rejection is one of the biggest barriers to personal growth. Ideas are the most important thing in the world. Contrary to what many people think, it is far more important than money. We live in an age where great companies can be founded with a brilliant idea and very little money. There are incredible examples of this in the digital world. Drawing on these examples, we must learn not to hold back our own ideas. We shouldn’t be afraid to share our ideas.

Apps that don’t own a single hotel, restaurant, or mode of transportation but have managed to integrate all the hotels, restaurants, and taxis in the world into their own transportation network stem from these brilliant ideas. When many people first hear about such unconventional ideas, they object, saying, “Is that even possible?” and insist it won’t work. We, too, out of fear and anxiety of rejection, dismiss our own ideas as “silly” and build a wall around ourselves from the very beginning. But sometimes, things that seem silly at first actually lead to success.

We'll Break Down Prejudices!

Bill Gates is the richest man in the world. He believed in himself and his ideas, and he reached this position thanks to the programs he wrote years ago. So we won’t hold back—we’ll break through these prejudices. We shouldn’t live in fear of being rejected because of our ideas. Smart people value ideas. Smart managers prefer people who offer new ideas and even encourage their employees to work in this direction and generate ideas. The concept of brainstorming is a thinking method developed for such situations. To create something new or come up with a solution, all ideas that come to mind are brought to the table, and the most suitable one is selected from among them.

Brainstorming and Mental Freedom

During this process, no one considers whether the ideas put forward are absurd. The goal is simply to put an idea out there. Sometimes even the most absurd-seeming idea can point the way to a solution. In fact, sometimes new ideas emerge from the ones that are put forward, leading to significant results. Not every idea you suggest will be accepted. It’s better than saying, “It won’t be accepted anyway.” What if an idea that seems completely absurd to you is actually exactly what’s needed…

Writing mantras is a matter of discipline and habit. In fact, isn’t success exactly that? Look at the life stories of successful people: they are constantly exploring, ceaselessly improving themselves, and their concentration and motivation are always high. That’s why success for them isn’t a momentary leap but a way of life characterized by continuity. This is precisely why we need to make writing mantras a permanent habit in our lives.

Miracles That Begin From Day One

One of the questions many people wonder about is when a mantra will begin to take effect. Let me be clear: The process actually begins on the very first day you write down the mantra. Based on my observations, the time it takes for a mantra to show tangible results can vary from person to person. While miracles may begin to happen as early as the very next day for some people, for others, it may take a few days, a few weeks, or even a few months before we observe positive results.

Are You Aware of the Changes Around You?

When you start writing mantras, you might not notice the change taking place within you at first. However, the people around you will immediately sense this positive transformation in your character. They’ll even point it out—saying, “Something’s different about you”—without you even asking. If you experience a moment like this, ask them this question: “Is it good or bad?”

The answer you’ll get will definitely be this: “You’ve become calmer. You’ve become more positive. Your self-confidence has grown. You’re listening to us more and paying more attention to us.”

The Subconscious Mind's Adaptation Process

Of course, life experiences and the foundation built up over time play a significant role in this transformation. Think of someone who is always negative, pessimistic, and fixated on worst-case scenarios. The mantras we write are not a magic wand. It’s not as if you can simply write a few lines and expect everything to turn around in a day or two. If your mind and subconscious have spent years getting used to seeing the worst in everything and attracting negativity, you’ll need a period of adjustment to attract positivity into your life and get used to this new reality.

Some see results in 2–3 days, others in a few weeks; but at the end of a 3–4-week process, lasting changes in your life, behavior, character, and relationships are bound to begin. We have witnessed time and again how someone who has been unemployed for months is called in for job interviews one after another within a few days, how cars that couldn’t be sold are finally sold, and how barriers to communication within families are broken down in a single day.

Strengthen Your Mental Muscles

The most critical point to keep in mind here is consistency: You must keep writing the mantra. Think of it like bodybuilding. If you don’t work out regularly, your muscle growth stops and you begin to lose muscle. Personal development is no different from muscle development. If you stop writing the mantras for a few months, your brain will quickly revert to its old negative habits and patterns.

That’s why writing mantras shouldn’t be a passing fad—it should be an ongoing discipline that nourishes your mind every day.

When we see the heights some people have reached in life, we ask ourselves: “How did they get to this point? How did this person become the best in the world in their field?”

Nothing happens by chance; successful people are those who have been programmed for success from the moment they were born. Now you might ask, “How?” Of course, genetic makeup and the physical and mental foundation inherited from one’s family can be exceptional. But that doesn’t mean every such combination will be highly successful. The real issue here is being able to write a success story. In other words, this isn’t just the story of a talented person who happened to emerge, shine, and succeed by chance.

The Secret: Focusing on Just One Thing

If you want to be successful, focus on being the best at what you do. Be the best at just one thing! Your goal must be clear and specific. Then we’ll work hard every day to reach the standard we’ve set for ourselves. The secret is to focus on one thing. Just one thing.

In life, nothing happens on its own unless you plan for it. There used to be exceptions in the world—people who stood out solely because of their raw talent. It was normal for such people to succeed back then, but today, a comprehensive plan is required to succeed. These days, talent alone is no longer a determining factor.

A Comprehensive Program for Success

So what exactly is this comprehensive program?

Hard Work and Discipline: What is the secret of the people who are the best in their field today? It’s their hard work. You have to be incredibly hardworking. The most disciplined people are the most successful.

Nutrition and Lifestyle: You must live your life like an athlete, like a top-level professional. It is essential to exercise every muscle in your body and every part of your mind, and to pay the utmost attention to your nutrition.

Subconscious Programming: The key here is to program your brain to focus on something—to be the best. To program yourself to be the best and to live like that. Subconscious programming involves using mantras and meditation to focus your mind on your goal.

Sleep Quality: Sleep is like a phone’s battery. If you don’t charge it with a good, high-quality cable, your phone won’t be fully charged in the morning and will let you down during the day. But when you get a good night’s sleep—a deep, restful sleep—your energy levels will be at their peak throughout the day. That’s because overnight, you’ve allowed your body to replenish its energy reserves and reset itself.

To perform at the highest level, you need to live a highly disciplined life. The most disciplined people are the most successful. When you set your mind on being the best and apply that discipline to every moment of your life, success becomes an inevitable outcome.

At night, you close your eyes. Your connection to the world is severed, and for hours you enter a different state of consciousness, and in the morning you open your eyes again. Every sleep is like a small ending, and every awakening is like a small rebirth. Every morning, life gives you a chance to start over. But you don’t start from scratch. Yesterday’s experiences, your past experiences—they’re with you; yesterday’s memories—they’re with you; what you learned yesterday—it’s with you; and what you started yesterday—it’s with you, too.

And I think one of life’s greatest opportunities lies right here. You don’t have to repeat yesterday’s life or yesterday’s mistakes today. Let’s say you put something off yesterday—you don’t have to put it off today. You made the wrong decision yesterday—you don’t have to make the same decision today. If you hurt someone yesterday, you don’t have to act the same way today. If you were afraid yesterday, you might still be afraid today. But this time, you can take action despite your fear. Because today, you have something you didn’t have yesterday: one more day of experience.

The Future Is Not Something That's Already Set in Stone

That’s exactly what we mean by growth. It’s not about waking up one morning and becoming a completely different person. It’s about using what you’ve learned from the previous version of yourself to refine today’s version just a little more. The reward in our lives is making better decisions, building stronger relationships, having a healthier body, achieving greater success in our careers, cultivating a more peaceful mind, living a more fulfilling life, and ultimately, creating a more magnificent future. Because the future isn’t something that’s simply handed to us one day.

Live each day as if it were a lifetime. The moment you wake up in the morning, imagine you’ve just been born. A brand-new life lies ahead of you, and you’ll live that life until you close your eyes at night. Now think: if today were a short lifetime for you, how would you spend it? Would you still waste your hours on meaningless things? Would you constantly put off the things you need to do? Would you put off telling the person you love what you want to say until tomorrow again? Would you postpone that small step you need to take toward your dream until another day? I think this perspective holds tremendous power.

Living Each Day Mindfully

Because one of the greatest mistakes people make is living as if they had an infinite amount of time ahead of them. “I’ll do it later,” “I’ll start tomorrow,” “I’ll fix it sometime,” “I’ll take care of it later.” But when you start living each day as if it were your whole life, the power of the word “later” fades.

This doesn’t mean you should rush around all day without taking a break. On the contrary, if you’re going to rest, really rest. If you’re playing with your child, really play with them. If you’re eating with someone you love, be fully present. If you’re working, really work. If you’re living, really live. Because it’s not about cramming as much as possible into a single day. It’s about living that day mindfully. And when night falls, ask yourself just one question: Is the “me” of today a little more developed than the “me” who woke up this morning? If the answer is yes, then that day wasn’t wasted. Then go to sleep and be reborn the next morning. Start over, but never start as the same person. Because if you do this for a year, when you look back, you might see a completely different person standing before you. And if you do this for years, you won’t just create the most amazing version of yourself; you’ll also begin to create the most amazing life for yourself.

In today’s world, where financial stability can be easily disrupted, many people find themselves trapped in a credit card quagmire. Finding oneself in this situation is a very human experience, and it’s important to recognize that it is not unsolvable. However, what really matters is setting aside regret, focusing on how to escape this financial dead end, and seeking realistic solutions. Many people, quite understandably, seek an answer to the question, “Can I solve this problem immediately with an aggressive financial strategy?” It’s important to realize that no chronic financial crisis ends instantly, as if by magic. A lasting solution comes not from knee-jerk reactions, but from taking conscious and focused steps every single moment.

We Can Solve It by Staying Focused

Time flies, and every moment we experience holds a new opportunity. Of course, we can’t solve these problems with a magic wand in a single second. However, if we live every moment, every minute of our day with this awareness, we can solve all our problems. Look, it’s not just about credit cards; we’ll solve our weight issues, our communication problems, our financial problems—we’ll solve everything. We’ll also work on our personal growth. To solve our financial problems, we need to focus on the issue. We can’t solve this in a day, a minute, a few hours, or even a week.

Don't Be Afraid to Make Radical Decisions

Solution number one: You have a car, you have credit card debt. If buying a car will pay off that credit card debt, don’t think twice—buy the car and pay off the debt. Why? Because, after all, a car is a problem that can be solved. You can take a taxi, a minibus, a bus, or use public transportation to get around, or you can ride with a friend. If your home isn’t too far away, you can walk there and back. A solution will be found—it’s not the end of the world.

Personally, I sold my car many times back when I was younger, about 20 years ago. Here’s a suggestion for you—something I did myself. I didn’t have a car, and it wasn’t a problem at all, but right now I do have one. So what happened? The important thing is to solve your problems. You’re paying interest on this debt every month, and it’s growing. Instead of owning a car, be a debt-free person. You can always buy another one later. Pay off your debts; clear them. Take out a loan to buy a car—it’s that simple. You’ll just have one loan to pay off, and you won’t be hit with such aggressive interest rates like on a credit card. So here’s the first solution: If you can sell your car, sell it. Sell it outright—don’t think twice.

Second: If you own a property, sell it too. Look, I’m being very clear here. Because at the end of the day, you’ll live in a house and pay rent, but you won’t have to endure this ordeal, this psychological pressure, and this stress for months on end. Peace of mind is more important than anything else.

Family Support and Sharing

Let’s say these aren’t there—neither of them is. Third: Mom, Dad, your elders… Sit down with your family and explain the problem. Say, “I’ve gotten myself into this mess.” I think families—your spouse’s family, your own family, and so on—can support you. Tell your family, “I have this problem—can we find a solution as a family?” Maybe everyone will chip in a little, and your problem will be solved. You could, for example, borrow from them in dollars and pay it back little by little over the course of a year; after all, it’s within the family. That’s another solution.

Stress is a force that permeates every aspect of our lives and drains our minds. So, how can we cope with this greatest problem of the modern age and program our subconscious minds correctly? In this article, we discuss the most effective method for eliminating stress.

One of the most frequently asked questions is about stress management. Think of stress as a kind of poison inside a person—it seeps in drop by drop, just like what they call “Chinese torture.” That stress is the primary factor behind every problem in your blood vessels, your heart, and the cells throughout your body. Ninety percent of today’s illnesses stem from stress. Of course, nutrition and the deterioration of food quality are important factors, but believe me, the psychological aspect is crucial.

The brain is responsible for 90 percent of the illnesses in our bodies. The brain also generates stress, and we are the ones who impose that stress on our own brains. Does feeling stressed while doing a task help us work faster? No. On the contrary, we panic more and make more mistakes. Does being stressed make our work easier or help us get the job done? Absolutely not. Being stressed offers you no benefit whatsoever. On the contrary, it makes you sick, doubles the time it takes to complete a task, lowers the quality of your work, and poisons you from within.

Focusing on the Key to the Solution

What is generally the biggest problem with personal development experts around the world? They say, “Be mindful, live in the moment, be like this, be like that.” But in practice, how can I solve my problems? When you ask them to give you a method—a key—90 percent of these books don’t provide one. They say, “Walk through the door,” but the door is locked.

I’ll give you the key: All problems stem from the brain. Errors in both your old and new mental programming cause you stress and prevent you from succeeding. Therefore, what you need to do is change your subconscious mental programming. The best, most effective, and most efficient way to do this is through mantras. It’s a direct, definitive, and proven method. This is the shortest path.

Mantra Practice and the “It Doesn’t Matter to Me” Philosophy

So how are we going to solve this problem? Write down as many mantras as you can every morning and evening. You’ll see that the stress disappears. Dwelling on things causes stress. My third book, *It Doesn’t Matter to Me*, is designed to help you stop dwelling on problems. Dwelling on things doesn’t make them any easier. I’m not saying you should be indifferent, but don’t stress out—don’t dwell on things.

I’ll say it again: the secret lies in changing your subconscious programs. And the most important factor in changing your subconscious programs is the mantra.

Most of the time, when we can’t get out of bed in the morning, when our energy suddenly drains during the day, or when we constantly feel exhausted, we immediately look for the culprit outside ourselves. We hide behind physical excuses like, “I didn’t sleep much last night,” “Work has been really hectic lately,” “The change in weather is affecting me,” or “I’m not getting enough vitamins.” However, in my research on human biology, the nervous system, and psychology, I’ve found that fatigue doesn’t always stem from lack of sleep or overworking the body. True fatigue is mental, and its source runs much deeper.

Sometimes, when your brain and nervous system remain “on high alert” for a long time, you feel constantly exhausted. Without realizing it, you turn your mind into what is essentially an invisible battlefield. Your body may be sitting in a comfortable chair, but your mind is fighting on the front lines. So, what exactly does this state of “being on high alert”—which drains the nervous system so much and gnaws at a person from the inside out—really mean?

The Desire for Control

One of the biggest misconceptions of modern life is the idea that we can control everything. Constantly thinking about everything, trying to predict what will happen in the future, striving to please everyone, or constantly monitoring yourself wears down your mind without you even realizing it. Even if you’re not aware of it, that massive computer running in the background—your brain—constantly generates a sense of threat. As questions like “What if things don’t go as planned?”, “What if I make a mistake?”, or “What if people think badly of me?” swirl through your mind, your primitive brain assumes there’s a battle for survival raging in the outside world.

This situation is like pressing the gas pedal all the way down in a car with the parking brake fully engaged. The car doesn’t move a single millimeter; from the outside, it looks like it’s standing still, but inside, the engine is burning, consuming an enormous amount of energy, and wearing itself out. This is the hidden force behind why you feel completely drained—like a sack of potatoes—even when you’ve done nothing all evening, and why you suffer from that persistent, chronic fatigue that just won’t go away. Your brain and nervous system are constantly on high alert, operating under the command that “we’re in danger.”

Calming the Nervous System

Society teaches us that when we’re tired, we should go to sleep. But think about how many times you’ve slept for 8 or 9 hours and still woken up from a feather-soft bed feeling as heavy as a rock and exhausted. Why? Because rest isn’t just about sleeping. Even if you put your body to sleep, if the battle in your mind isn’t over, you’ll remain on high alert—even in your dreams.

Sometimes your mind also needs to receive the message, “You’re safe now.” True rest begins with that powerful “safety” signal sent to your mind before your muscles even relax. Unless you whisper to your brain that it’s safe, even the most comfortable bed in the world won’t relieve your mental fatigue.