36. Developing a Positive Mindset (Andrew Mangan)

Having a positive mindset is a critical part of overcoming adversity and living a happy life. Although there are challenges that seem insurmountable, history is filled with examples of individuals who never lost hope and overcame the most harrowing challenges. But what does it mean to have a positive mindset when faced with a great adversity, and how can we learn to think positively? My guest in this episode is a truly inspiring individual, who faced an unimaginable challenge with a positive mindset that he attributes to enabling him to turn obstacles into opportunities. Andrew Mangan had an accident in December 2016, at the age of 17, that injured his spinal cord and left him paralyzed from below his neck. The doctors were unable to predict if Andrew would ever recover and be able to walk again. However, Andrew was always convinced that if he worked harder and pushed further, he would one day recover. In the four short years since his accident Andrew went on to be able to walk again, he started Connecting the Resilient, a platform for spinal cord injury information, researched and wrote the book Plugged In: How mind-machine interfaces will transform the world, and is now in his second year of mechanical engineering and computer science at Stanford University. He has recently started a company that helps people apply to jobs and internships. Andrew has been working on this company, Kiter, with his older brother. Andrew attributes his ability to achieve all that he has done to his positive mindset, which we will discuss in this episode. Andrew Mangan: https://www.connectingtheresilient.com/new-blog/2017/7/7/andrew-mangan-c5 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewmangan2?lang=en Connecting the Resilient: https://www.connectingtheresilient.com/new-blog/2017/7/7/andrew-mangan-c5 Book: Plugged In: How mind-machine interfaces will transform the world https://www.amazon.ca/Plugged-Machine-Interfaces-Transform-World-ebook/dp/B07H7RJLYC Article: Severe spinal cord injury inspires student to help others https://news.wbfo.org/post/severe-spinal-cord-injury-inspires-student-help-others Kiter: www.kiter.app