American Checklist™

While some mindsets around the world encourage being average, the United States is a country that encourages individuals to be exceptional. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young talk about why this is the case and how the country was made for entrepreneurs.  Exceptional impact: If you take responsibility for yourself, distinguish yourself, and use ingenuity to do it, the impact of that outs...

From the start, the U.S. has been a country of ingenious people. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young talk about how America supports ingenuity, and how ingenuity benefits the American people. Necessary ingenuity: Early immigrants to what became the U.S. were forced to be ingenious because they were doing new things in a new way and in a new territory. Raising productivity: Ingenuity, like...

It's not the pursuit of happiness, but the actual creation of happiness, that leads to happy Americans. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young discuss why gratitude and an understanding of the marketplace are necessary in order for your efforts to be worthwhile. As healthy as you are happy: The body follows the brain in the sense that if you're unhappy, that will translate into physical ailm...

Individualism is a characteristic of the American way, and it's a key part of an entrepreneurial mindset. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young talk about the importance of maintaining your individualism in the face of temptations to join the collective. Disorderly leeway: Because the United States gives so much leeway to individuals to pursue their own path, there isn't the kind of orderli...

There has never been a state-imposed belief system in the U.S., but many Americans feel they have a personal relationship with a higher power. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young talk about how a personal belief in God gives Americans increasing purposeful energy. Purposeful energy: Your personal belief in God gives you increasing purposeful energy. 80% believe: Something like 80% of Amer...

There's nothing inherently wrong with loving to come out on top. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young talk about how your winning doesn't mean that someone else is losing—and why losing doesn't have to be a bad thing. How you win: The winning mindset is that you love coming out on top and coming out ahead in new ways. Might as well : Oftentimes, you've obligated yourself to show up and per...

Many Americans see opportunities even in failure. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young discuss how Americans are disrespected if they don't have personal growth as a goal and rewarded if they make something bigger out of what they've been given. Growth is central: Central to American culture is that growth is a goal, growth is a result, growth is a measurement, and growth is a capability....

Most of America's biggest successes have been the result of teamwork turning ideas into practical reality. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young give examples of this, and present the theory that the model for teamwork was built into the American way right from the beginning.   Comparing to the ideal: People who hate America are always comparing America to their ideal of America. They're no...

"Exceptional" can be an inflammatory word when people mistake it for arrogance, but in reality, it's the way Americans accurately see themselves and their country. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young give examples of exceptionalism, including increasing, widespread prosperity in a growing population.   Power to the people: America is the first country that built a government based on all...

It's the clever thinking of individuals that allows others to do things in an entirely new way. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young discuss how this is something that America has represented for people since its founding, and why it's caused some people to hate the U.S.   Selling the future: Instead of doing my research first, I get the cheque first. Then when the cheque comes in, I'm on...

You can't have individualism without freedom, and you can't have freedom without individualism. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young discuss the benefits of taking complete responsibility for everything that happens to you in your life.   Resonant mindsets: Americans will relate to other countries that have resonant mindsets. It was in defense of mindsets that they came to the aid of count...

Dan Sullivan and Mark Young explain how America is the entrepreneurial country and the aspirational country, the difference between a philosophical American and a geographical American, and their plans to explore the American mindsets in this podcast series.   Entrepreneurial America: America is the entrepreneurial country. If you look at the founding documents and the experience of the country's...