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How We Learned to Stop Chasing Outcomes and Finally Found Real Abundance
These affirmations transformed our anxious hustle into a practice of peace.
(Spoiler: It’s all about where you place your focus).
For years, we wore our ability to hustle as a badge of honor. Acquired clients, finished projects, record years — each achievement was a momentary dopamine hit that quickly faded, leaving only the relentless hum of the next goal, the next milestone.
We were successful by external standards, but internally, we felt a quiet disillusionment. The outcomes we’d sacrificed so much for never provided the lasting happiness we’d been promised.
If you’ve ever reached a goal and felt a surprising emptiness, you’re not alone. You’ve likely been playing a game where the rules are rigged. The rule is: Your worth and happiness are determined by the outcome.
We discovered a single, powerful mantra that changed the rules of the game entirely. It’s the core of a set of affirmations we created that have since resonated with many on our platform:
“I detach from outcomes. I focus on inputs.”
This isn’t a call to apathy. It’s the ultimate power move. It’s about shifting your entire energy from being a passive passenger waiting for a result to becoming the conscious architect of your daily experience. This is the hustler’s antidote.
Here’s how we break down this philosophy into actionable inputs, affirmations to write by hand in your journal or say out loud to yourself, each one an antidote to a specific pain of the outcome-driven life.
Antidote to Scarcity & Burnout: The Input of Nurturing Your Inner State
The old model tells us abundance comes from the next raise, the next sale, the next personal best. This creates a constant state of lack. The new model starts within — with inner wholeness.
“My abundance comes from within me.” This affirmation roots your sense of wealth in an unshakable internal foundation, not external validation.
“I keep my vibrations high.” Your energy is your greatest currency. This is the commitment to choosing thoughts, media, and environments that uplift you.
“I invest time for my healing and rest.” This was our hardest lesson. We had to reframe rest not as laziness, but as a non-negotiable input for sustained creativity and energy. Without it, you are a battery running on empty.
The Shift: You are no longer draining yourself to get a result. You are filling yourself as the primary practice, and results become a natural byproduct.
Antidote to Meaningless Work: The Input of Creating Value & Purifying Intentions
When you’re fixated on a outcome — a dollar figure, a title, whatever — your work can become a transactional means to an end. This often drains the joy from it. The input-focused mindset shifts the intention behind the action.
“I create immense value for others.” Focus purely on this. Make this your only metric for a day’s work. Did I create value? As an intention, this is entirely within your control.
“I purify negative karma through visualizing white light.” This is a profound tool. Before a meeting or after a conflict, visualize a white light dissolving any transactional, manipulative, or anxious energy. Set a pure intention of helping others be successful.
“I am generous to others.” Generosity is the practice of believing in infinite abundance. It reinforces that there is enough to share, right now and always.
The Shift: Your work becomes a practice of giving, not getting. This is how you find flow and meaning in the process itself.
Antidote to Overwhelm & Clutter: The Input of Strategic Focus
Outcome-thinking is chaotic. It has you chasing a hundred different tactics for your desired results. Input-thinking is calm and strategic. It’s about identifying the few things that truly matter to you and focusing on them with relentless consistency.
“I let go of all clutter; physical, digital, and mental.” Clutter has many reasons; one of them is the physical manifestation of outcome anxiety. Letting it go is a radical act of trust in your ability to handle the present.
“I destroy all doubt, negativity, self-criticism, and complaining.” These are the mental weeds that choke the seeds of your efforts. You must actively weed your garden every single day.
“I focus on effort and consistency.” These are the only inputs you ever need to worry about. Did I put in the focused effort? Did I show up consistently? If yes, the day was a success, regardless of the external result.
The Shift: You move from reactive chaos to proactive clarity. Your energy is concentrated, not dissipated.
Antidote to Anxiety: The Input of Visualization & Presence
Anxiety lives in the future — in the terrifying gap between where you are and an uncertain outcome you’re attached to. The solution isn’t to stop looking forward, but to do it differently.
“I visualize myself as already having, being, and doing all I want.” This is not magical thinking. It’s neural programming. It’s giving your subconscious mind a blueprint to work from, making the desired future feel familiar and attainable. It’s the joyful feeling of the outcome, now.
“I visualize peace. I am at peace. I create peace and abundance.” You can’t hustle your way to peace. You have to invoke it. This practice actively generates the inner state you wish to see reflected in your outer world.
The Shift: You stop anxiously waiting for peace and abundance and start actively generating them in your inner world, right now.
Detaching from outcomes and mastering your inputs is the most profound work you can do. It transforms your life from a desperate chase into a purposeful, joyful, and aligned creation.
This is the work we are dedicated to at Simple and Aligned.
We created a visual meditation on these exact affirmations. Watch the TikTok video here to feel the power of this practice.
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How We Found Out That Our Voice Matters Despite Survivorship Bias
…Even When Survivorship Bias Says We’re Just Another Statistic
Photo by Said Bensghir on Unsplash
Disclosure: This article links book titles to their Amazon.com listings using affiliate links. If you choose to click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.
The first chapter of Rolf Dobelli’s The Art of Thinking Clearly hit us like a bucket of cold water — because it was right.
Somewhat shocked, Cristof had just put the book down, feeling a despairing sense of deflation. “I expected this to be motivational,” he said. “Instead, it starts with survivorship bias. It just tells us that for every superstar, there are thousands of unseen failures.”
He wasn’t wrong. Dobelli’s opening argument is a sobering one: we see the billion-dollar startups, the viral TikToks, and the Nobel laureates precisely because they survived. They are the statistical outliers. The millions who tried and failed? They vanish from the spotlight, creating a distorted map of reality where success seems not only common but almost inevitable. It’s a cognitive illusion that sets us up for disappointment.
Our initial reaction was a mix of recognition and resistance. Yes, rationally, we knew this was true. But emotionally, it felt like a dream being deferred. If the odds are so stacked against us, why even try?
Immediately, Sophia developed the antidote; because here’s what Dobelli’s clinical explanation didn’t say — and what became our most valuable aha moment: Survivorship bias isn’t a stop sign; it’s a reality check that forces you to define success on your own terms. And in doing so, we discovered two new truths:
That your voice matters more than any statistic.
That the goal is never to arrive but to be on the journey.
The Realization: Finding Freedom in the ‘Bulky Middle’
Stuck between the depressing weight of the data and the burning desire to create, we had a breakthrough. We realized that survivorship bias forces a false binary: you’re either a spectacular success or a total failure. This is the narrative that crushes dreams.
The truth is, there is a vast, vibrant, and fulfilling space between these two extremes. We call it the “Bulky Middle.”
This is where most meaningful work and life actually happen. It’s the landscape of the respected local business owner, the therapist with a full roster of clients, the artist who sells enough prints to fund their next project, and the creator with a dedicated, albeit not massive, following. They may not be on the cover of Forbes, but they are profitable, growing, and making a real impact.
Our own journey with Simple and Aligned is rooted in this middle. We asked ourselves: Is our value solely determined by a subscriber count to be chased? Or is it measured by the one comment that says, “just what I needed to hear today” or “your video helped me decide to get this book and it already changed my life”?
The latter, every time. Success isn’t just about the destination; it’s about the meaning you create along the way; it’s about doing it despite all doubts and giving it your all, whether the project makes it all the way to the stars, “only” the moon, or ends up plunging into the ocean.
In essence, success is about the person you become. The “Bulky Middle” isn’t a consolation prize; it’s the secret haven where authenticity, sustainability, and genuine connection thrive.
Why Your Voice Always Matters (Even in a “Crowded” Niche)
This realization dismantles the other classic trap of survivorship bias: the idea that if something has already been done, there’s no room for you.
We are huge fans of money mindset coach Denise Duffield-Thomas (see if she inspires you too in Chill and Prosper). One of her most powerful teachings is that no niche is too crowded because no one has your unique perspective, your voice, or your story. You’re not there to replace the giants;
you’re there to contribute to the conversation.
Think of it like a potluck dinner. Just because someone already brought a fantastic lasagna doesn’t mean your homemade salad isn’t needed, wanted, and valuable. The table is richer and more nourishing with both.
The survivorship bias would have you only see the lasagna that got the most compliments. It ignores the dozens of other dishes that were equally essential to the potluck’s success.
Your voice is that essential dish. You have a unique combination of experiences, insights, and ways of explaining things that will resonate with a specific group of people — your people. They will find you precisely because you are you, not a copy of someone else.
Practical Tools to Silence Survivorship Bias and Find Your Confidence
Understanding the theory is one thing. Quieting the voice that whispers “the odds are against you” (or something much meaner…) is another. Here are three practical tools we use to think clearly and stay aligned.
Tool 1: The 1% Rule
Stop trying to be 100% as good as the superstar in your field. It’s paralyzing. Instead, focus on being 1% better for your specific audience today.
Ask questions like:
Did you explain a concept more clearly?
Did you create a more engaging thumbnail?
Did you connect with one follower in the comments?
That’s a win. These tiny, consistent improvements compound into undeniable expertise and growth over time. (Remember the life-changing 1% method of Atomic Habits?)
Tool 2: Being Radically Open-Minded
Normalize the struggle. We keep learning, not only from others, but also from our “failures” — the video that flopped, the idea that didn’t get the views it deserved, the collab outreach that fell through.
This didn’t come easy, especially to Cristof. He nowadays admits quite openly that he wasn’t really coachable until he read about radical open-mindedness in Principles by his investment management idol, Ray Dalio.
This practice does two things: it proves that every “overnight success” has a similar list of learning lessons hidden away, and it reframes failure from a mark of shame into a tuition fee for your education.
Tool 3: Micro-Validation
Chase micro-validations, not just macro-virality. Did your post help one person? Did you receive a thoughtful DM? Did you finally implement a system you’d been avoiding? Celebrate it! These small wins are the true fuel for the long haul. They are proof that you are making a difference, right now, regardless of the size of your platform.
The Joy of Showing Up (As You Are)
In the end, survivorship bias is a tool for clarity, not a prediction of your future. It clears away the noise of unrealistic expectations so you can hear your own calling more clearly.
We create not because we are guaranteed to “make it,” but because creating is who we are. The act itself — the process of reading, synthesizing, and sharing nuggets of wisdom — is fulfilling. The aligned action is the reward. Any external success that follows is a beautiful byproduct.
Rolf Dobelli’s The Art of Thinking Clearly gave us the jolt we needed to shed our illusions and build a sturdier, more resilient dream. One that isn’t based on becoming an outlier, but on becoming the most authentic versions of ourselves, serving our audience in the unique way only we can.
Ready to see (and read) beyond the survivorship bias and think more clearly about your own goals? You can grab your copy of the bestseller The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli here.
We’d love to hear from you: What’s one area of your life where you’ve felt the pressure of survivorship bias? How do you plan to redefine success there? Let us know in the comments below!
And if you prefer to watch our raw, initial conversation about this book, you can check out our video here:
https://www.tiktok.com/@simpleandaligned/video/7539951821926780191
Ready for more mindset shifts that quiet the noise? Start your day grounded and confident with our free newsletter — your source for daily affirmations and our ever-growing collection of resources for an aligned life.