Billionaire Says He Uses Affirmations

We like to pretend that business is pure logic. Then you look at what elite operators actually do behind closed doors.

Tobi Lütke is living proof that the most analytical operators on the planet secretly rely on mental mechanics that sound like ‘manifestation’ fluff. Until you look closer.

The Shopify co-founder and CEO (who’s about as data-driven as they come) uses affirmations.

Not as wishful thinking, but as literal software updates for the brain.

Here’s his exact framing:

"If you tell yourself or write down something about yourself 100 times, it writes into the neurofrontal cortex at such a deep level that your brain will start reconciling you to that. It just works."

Tobi used this to shift his own psychology.

He was terrified of public speaking.

So, for one week, he sat down daily for 10 minutes and wrote a single sentence over and over: "I love public speaking."

Seven days later, the fear was gone.

As he puts it: "It's not like a placebo. You actively change your neurofrontal cortex in the moment."

The takeaway for builders is simple: Your brain doesn’t care about objective reality.

It only cares about the narrative you rehearse the most.

Identity isn't fixed. It's something you code.

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Billionaire Says He Uses Affirmations