How to fix your self-image:
Close your eyes. Become aware of the sensations in your body. Focus on how it feels to breathe slower. Do this as you slowly relax every muscle in your body. Head to toe.
Within five minutes you'll notice a tingling sensation in your palms while you relax.
Once that sensation arrives, you will be able to visually go within yourself to create permanent changes in the subconscious: transforming who you believe yourself to be.
Now for the next few minutes, allow yourself to mentally recall a time where you won. The first time you felt truly loved. A risk you took that paid off. The first time you realized you were capable of more than you thought.
Experience the scene fully.
You might notice warm feelings in your chest as you replay these memories.
This is the good part.
Fly to the future and imagine the greatest version of you. Notice how ASSERTIVE they stand. Notice how they appear. Sense their confidence.
They've overcome the things that keep you up at night. They've built what you've only imagined. They live life knowing exactly who they are.
Allow the image to become bigger, brighter...
Time will slow as your subconscious examines every detail.
Now imagine how it would feel if this was you right now. Picture yourself in their shoes. Can you feel it?
Linger there for five minutes.
You find yourself softly smiling knowing this is the happiest and most relaxed you have felt in a long time.
Lie there for a while. Enjoy this moment. Know that you can return here whenever you wish, exactly to this place, where you feel exactly as you do now.
All you have to do is close your eyes and imagine yourself back here. You feel rejuvenated by that thought.
Open your eyes and interact with the world from this state.
Believe it or not this is what you are eventually supposed to feel every single day. You will begin to notice that all the things you want to be are already within.
Few take the time to practice this.
Do this daily and you begin to rewire your mind. Change your beliefs. Think, act, and become the person you've seen glimpses of throughout your life.
This is Self-Hypnosis.
This is Psycho-Cybernetics.
This is how you do it.
—Cogito Ergo Sum
My conversation with Tobi Lütke (@tobi), co-founder and CEO of Shopify.
0:00 Companies as Social Technology
5:27 The Value of Reading Books: Cheat Codes for Life
7:28 Post-IPO Crisis: Cosplaying as a CEO
7:54 Competition vs Rivalry: The Power of Healthy Competition
16:02 COVID as a Turning Point: Rebuilding the Executive Team
18:21 Hiring Founders: Building a Team of High-Agency People
26:49 Shopify OS: Engineering the Company from First Principles
36:48 Compensation Innovation: Giving Employees Full Agency
40:41 The Psychology of Identity and Affirmations
48:43 Differentiation Over Perfection: Making It Your Own
50:31 Context Podcast: Documenting Decision-Making
1:26:36 The IPO Decision: Going Against Silicon Valley Orthodoxy
1:35:08 Building a Company Worth Working For
1:41:50 Hiring for Spikiness: Finding Non-Conformists
1:48:28 Office Design Philosophy: Creating Space for Excellence
1:58:54 Video Games as Business Training: StarCraft Lessons
2:07:06 AI Revolution: 2026 and Beyond
2:11:44 Focus on Craft: The Unquantifiable Elements of Excellence
2:21:08 Survivorship Bias: The Importance of Entrepreneurial Exposure
2:23:22 Closing
Includes paid partnerships.