[MTM] Ready for today’s treasure hunt?

March 11, 2025 | Issue Archive

Videos | Speaking | Blog | Course | Book

Your Mindset is the Map. Where’s It Taking You?

Hey Reader,

Ever feel like your days are just happening to you? Like you’re reacting more than leading?

My five-year-old stepdaughter, AJ, has been reminding me of something powerful here recently.

On the way to school last week, I asked her, “What’s something fun you’re looking forward to today?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

I reframed it: “So it’s an adventure?”

“No,” she said. “An adventure is looking for treasure.”

Ahhh...

We were talking about the same thing. My version of treasure was just a little more abstract than her vision of gemstones and gold.

Every day, we get to decide: Are we just going through the motions, or are we on a treasure hunt?

The treasure? The moment of connection. The unexpected win. The lesson that makes us stronger.

And yes, like any great adventure, there are “bad guys” and “booby traps” too—the stress, the setbacks, the tough conversations. But even those don’t have to derail us.

This morning, a few days after our initial conversation, AJ brought it up on her own. “Did you find any treasures yet?”

I said yes, and she said she did too. Before I could share mine, she shared that hers was when all of our animals came to greet her as she arrived downstairs this morning.

She gets it. She’s looking for treasure every day.

How about you?


⚠️ THIS ENDS NOW ⚠️

Identify one habit, belief, or behavior that’s no longer serving you—and let it go.

  • End the habit of waiting for something good to happen to you.
  • Let go of the idea that challenges = failure. Every adventure has obstacles.
  • Quit assuming joy is somewhere else and start seeing what’s right in front of you.

🌟 THIS MOMENT MATTERS 🌟

One simple, actionable step to take to create a ripple effect of change in your life

  • Decide: What’s the treasure you’re looking for today?
  • Reframe: When a challenge pops up, remind yourself—it’s just a booby trap. There’s always treasure on the other side of a booby trap!
  • Track: At the end of the day, list three treasures you found.

Your mindset is the map. Where’s it taking you today?

Go find your treasure.

Up we go—

P.S. If you haven’t already, add shawn@shawnellis.com to your contacts to ensure important updates and messages like this reach your primary inbox.


175 S Sandusky St, Suite 221, Delaware, OH 43015
Unsubscribe · Preferences

What if the breakthrough you’re looking for begins with an ending?

I’m Shawn Ellis—keynote speaker, creator of Radical Adaptability™, and a student of one question: Why do smart people who know what needs to change still get stuck? For more than 25 years, I’ve had a front-row seat to some of the world’s leading thinking on leadership, performance, and change. I’ve also learned firsthand that knowing what to do and actually doing it are two very different things. Here, I explore that gap—and the endings that help us close it. You’ll get practical ideas on change, leadership, courage, adaptability, and the human patterns that keep us holding on when it’s time to move forward. Because the new beginning you want may be on the other side of an ending you haven’t chosen yet.