Gorilla Mindset by Mike Cernovich Review:

Mike Cernovich opens his book on with some hard-hitting words. If you know anything about Mike Cernovich is that he is a hard-hitting dude. I first learned about Mike Cernovich from a post over at This Dad Does on his 10 things he learned from the book. The moment I read all that he had learned I knew I had to pick the book up. I dropped whatever I was reading at the time and got to work the next day of devouring it in its entirety. What you will be reading next is what I learned and my take on this excellent Mindset book.

I am assuming if you found this review then you know who Mike Cernovich is so I won’t go into much detail. He is the author of Gorilla Mindset, Maga Mindset, and his own blog Danger and Play. He also has a podcast and is an active member of Periscope. Mike is also a lawyer and documentary film producer.

Gorilla Mindset opens up with Mike laying out his game plan. You need to stop looking outside of yourself for answers. Too often we look to others to blame – our parents, our friends, and our life situations. The book starts with calling you out on your bullshit and straps you into Mikes reality. It’s going to be an eye-opening journey.

When are you going to get serious?

The quote above hit home for me. It was a quote from Mikes father to him when he was younger. I wasn’t that many pages into the book and I already had to question myself. My entire life I read all the blogs and books looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I will tell you this – you can read all the books and blogs your heart can desire. If you don’t implement anything from them then nothing will ever happen. It is about taking action and when I read that quote I knew I was going to have some of my own realities to face.

When was I going to get serious about creating a brand? Losing weight? Improve my relationships? Be a happier and more fulfilled person? My mind was ready to take the advice Mike was about to give me.

If you talked to your friends like you talk to yourself, you wouldn’t have any friends

Mike comes out swinging in Chapter 1 with the statement above. I never in my life thought about self-talk. How many times have I talked to myself like shit? Thousands of times each day. To be honest most of my self-talk is negative. My mind is full of bullshit about my weight, my job, and my relationships. Never mind the everyday stress of bills and daily regimens that need to get done.

I decided that I would stop with the negative self-talk and start treating it like I would a close friend. Ate like shit? Do not worry bro you got this next time. Too tired for the gym? You’ll kill it even harder tomorrow.

I decided to change the conversation I had with myself and noticed that it made the days easier. If I was having a shit day just tell yourself an easy mantra like This too shall pass.

Am I choosing, in this moment, to be the type of person I want to become?

Every single day is full of moments. Life is a moment by fucking moment journey. I needed to be choosing the right path every single second of the day. This is my daily mantra. Anytime I slip I ask myself this question to recenter myself and get my priorities back in alignment.

I don’t want to be a hateful person to people in my life – I want to be zen and in the moment – I want to unleash the person I know I want to be but do not give myself permission to.

The chapter taught me to smile more. It will bring you out of your funk. Try keeping your pissed off mood when you are smiling all the time.

The chapter taught me to stop making absolute statements. Instead of saying You’re a fat fuck say Why am I overweight and what will I do in this moment to change that?

Framing:

Chapter 2 is all about framing. No, I am not talking about what you do to a picture to hang up on your wall. I am talking about reframing your mind to align yourself with the person you want to become.

Embrace the Suck

Mike teaches us in this Chapter to reframe our issues and embrace the suck. Life is going to be painful. Life is not going to go how we want it at all times. When we come to times of pain we need to reframe the issue and realize this is how we grow. This is how we grow into the person we want to become.

How many times have we been at work and the smallest thing irritates the fuck out of us? Reframe the issue. Instead of saying Why this sucks say This too shall pass and after I will be a stronger more resourceful person. 

The Suck is always going to rear its ugly head. The best defense we have is to always be reframing to the positive so we can learn and grow. Mike goes into more detail in the book and it was one of my favorite chapters.

Mindset Is A Moment:

The next chapter Mike Cernovich goes into getting into the moment. I have read all the big books from Eckhart Tolle and others about presence. Mike puts it into something that is a lot more applicable to everyone to use in their daily lives.

To be honest, that’s why Gorilla Mindset is one of my favorite books. Mikes advice is IMMEDIATELY applicable and its all in real time. Its exercises and habits that you can perform to get into the state you want to be in. Most books are vague. They tell you where you want to go but never give you specifics to get there. The Gorilla Mindset holds your hand and shows you EXACTLY what Mike does.

Anyways back to getting into the moment. Mike Cernovich gives great tips on getting into the moment. Tips such as listening to house music or noticing where in your body you are feeling your emotions. He also lays out 10 great rules to pay more attention to life which will make you present to the moment.

The 10 rules are great and make this chapter another favorite of mine.

I don’t remember to do all them all the time but they are all great tools to use in your daily life.

I am going to take an active approach to managing my state

State is something we all strive to get into. It is what makes us feel unstifled and in the moment. State provides those good emotions that we crave to have.

The chapter shows us that State is something that we choose. We can choose to be in a shitty state or change our habits to get into a good one. Mike shows us habits to apply like all other chapters.

One of my favorites was when he tells you to remember a time when you were super happy. A vacation, a wild night out, or a relaxing time. I do these tactics myself and I must say it puts a smile on your face and gets you into a better state.

The thing about the book is that it builds and builds until you reach the end. Every chapter has concepts that are building blocks for the next one. Until you reach the end and you have Mikes entire arsenal at your disposal.

What you focus on is what you feel:

We learn all about focus in this chapter which builds upon framing. We learn to use our self-talk from Chapter 1 to let ourselves know what we are focusing on. Our focus needs to be on the things that are important to us. Things that are directing us more towards the person we want to be.

Staying in the moment at all times, maintaining good posture, and focus on good dieting. These are just a sample of great tips Mike Cernovich gets into in this chapter.

The Focus chapter is one where all the concepts come together to form the whole of Gorilla Mindset. It shows how to put it all together to benefit you the most and get to where you want to be.

The next chapters help you dial in your day to day habits. They are more everyday morning routines and everyday habits to live a fuller life. The morning wake up routine is extensive. It provides a step by step process to get right into the right state as soon as we get out of bed.

No matter how you feel before going to the gym, you will always feel better afterward

The quote above is one of the truest statements made in Gorilla Mindset. How many times is it Monday? You’ve been out all night on the weekends partying or boozing til all hours of the night? When you get out of work you immediately rush home and say No gym for me today. Well, that’s pure bullshit. No matter how tired or worn out you are from the weekend you will ALWAYS feel better after hitting up the gym. Not only does it get you ready to conquer your week, it gets out all that bullshit you built up over the weekend.

I won’t lie I find it hard as fuck sometimes to get to the gym. A few times sitting in my car outside for 15 minutes and then saying Fuck it and leave. Now when I get there I say to myself the quote above and it changes my focus (See how it how builds?) to get my ass out of the car and go in. The good thing, at least for me, is that I know once I am in there and pick up the first weight I am not leaving I am finished.

Mike Cernovich shows us lots of tips on bettering our Health and Fitness. Just as other chapters it is IMMEDIATELY applicable. He also has some great recommendations for supplements which I use to this day.

I am a content creator:

The chapter that got me off my ass and onto starting my own blog, the Money chapter! We all need money to survive. It’s something that we all must get to live the life that we want. Whether that be a dead end 9-5 or being an entrepreneur, we all need money.

The tips Mike Cernovich gives in this chapter are things like not buying status. Or when you receive a raise still use the same amount from before you got the raise. He teaches us how to go about saving and how to maintain our spending habits.

The best part of this chapter though is without a doubt the mindset shift. He tells you to become a creator instead of a consumer. We buy products all the time. We make decisions whether we like them or not, we recommend them to our friends and family. Why not let the world know what your thoughts on items are? Why not recommend products that have helped you to the entire world? This way you are helping people out and are also getting your creativity out in the world.

The chapter hit me hard. It got me thinking and into starting this blog. I want to be doing productive things in my life. Other than sitting around watching TV or playing video games. The thing is I can still do those things. But now I will either stream it live on Twitch or immediately recommend it if it is something I enjoyed. Now I am creating content for others and getting my thoughts down for everyone to use. I recommend following this chapter and taking what Mike says to heart. He has proven himself that you can get somewhere by helping people. I feel that everyone should have some sort of outlet to get their thoughts recorded blog or otherwise.

Conclusion:

The book ends with Mike Cernovich giving us a glimpse into his perfect day. The cool thing it’s not some crazy day partying on yachts or living it up in mansions. Mike Cernovich shows us that he is a simple dude with a hunger for success. I love how Mike ended the book and I am anticipating his next one.

The Gorilla Mindset is a book everyone should read. It has something in it for everyone and I believe anyone could walk away with value from reading it. I look forward to Maga Mindset and future products from Mike Cernovich.

Thanks, Mike for the best book on Mindset.

Let me know in the comments below if you read Gorilla Mindset and your thoughts on it.

Also, let me know if you would like for me to review any other products out there.

 

Get your Copy here!