Book Summary: The Code of the Extraordinary Mind by Vishen Lakhiani

Vishen Lakhiani is considered one of the most influential and successful gurus in the personal development industry. Starting with meditation and selling its courses, he went on to found Mindvalley, an education company that publishes products and courses on self-growth with over 200 employees.

In 2016, through the inspiration by Richard Branson, Vishen wrote and published the book, The Code of the Extraordinary Mind and he shares his ideas, insights, and unorthodox blueprints to achieve greater success in life. The book has reached #10 on the New York Times Bestseller List and is a very popular title in the personal growth industry.

This book provides a 10-step system for success and to break-free from your limited mind. Vishen has spent over 200 hours interviewing extraordinary people and compiled all the wisdom into this book.

According to Vishen, there is a code or a set of principles and strategies that you can learn and apply to create a breakthrough and live an extraordinary life. This is what he says, “Just as a programmer can program a computer to do specific tasks by understanding its code, you can program your life and the world around you to improve, enhance the way you live and the experiences you have in this lifetime. But first, you have to see this code. And that’s where this book comes in.”

Through his own experiences and the insights from other extraordinary people like Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, and Elon Musk, Vishen believes that the human brain can be hacked like computer software.

However, in order to do that, you need to know the code. And this book is about the 10 laws you need to break the code and achieve extraordinary results in life.

Part 1: Living in the Culturescape: How You Were Shaped by the World around You

In the first part of the book, Vishen talks about how you were shaped by the world around you since the day you were born. The culturescape refers to the cumulative beliefs, rules, and norms that define how we think we should live.

The first section consists of two laws, they are:

Law 1: Transcend the Culturescape

Vishen writes that the world is exactly like how we perceived it. Many people are living their lives according to the culture, their surrounding, and often follow the regulations or rules that have been laid down by other people, not themselves. And you need to step outside your perceived world to recognize the relative truths that can be changed.

Law 2: Question the Brules

According to Vishen, a Brule means a nonsense rule. For instance, most people have been conditioned that in order to be happy and successful, they have to work hard, get good grades in school, build a happy family, and save for retirement. Vishen says that this is a Brule because this is not true. He then goes on to explain how Brules come around, how to identify them and get rid of them.

Part 2: The Awakening: The Power to Choose Your Version of the World

The second part of this book is dedicated to the awakening of your mind and to create a new reality that you desire in life. Once you understand that the culture does not define you and how to ignore the Brules that stop you, it is time to learn how to build your own models of reality.

Law 3: Practice Consciousness Engineering

Vishen says that conscious engineering is about upgrading the operating system for your brain. He gives the example that most people upgrade and keep their electronic gadgets like their computer system and phones up-to-date, but they do not do the same for their beliefs system and habits. And this chapter is all about replacing your inner system with a better future.

There are two types of conscious engineering involved. The first is the hardware, which is your models of reality or beliefs. And the second part is your software, which consists of your systems for living or your habits.

Law 4: Rewrite Your Models of Reality

In this chapter, you will learn how to replace the disempowering beliefs that are dragging you with healthier, supportive, and more empowering ones. You can find plenty of examples in this chapter where Vishen also shares his own experiences and events that transformed his models of reality. When your beliefs changed, the results you get in life will change as well. Vishen shares how he transformed from an employee working for Microsoft to starting his own business, which is Mindvalley. He also shares his relationships and his views on religions.

Law 5: Upgrade Your Systems for Living

Your systems for living are your habits and practices in life. They are what you do each and every single day that shape your life. And successful people are always striving to do and perform better every day.

In the book, Vishen shares the 3-step method how you can effectively upgrade your systems for living. The first step is the discovery process where you find out new methodology, blueprints, and techniques through books, courses, and from other people. The second step is the refresh rate, which is how often you upgrade your system. And the third step is about measurement. You can never tell if a system is working for you until you measure it.

Part 3: Recoding Yourself: Transforming Your Inner World

The third part of this book is what Vishen called “recoding yourself”, where you discover what makes you happy in life and find out your ultimate vision and goals. There are three laws dedicated to this part.

Law 6: Bending Reality

This is one of the most interesting chapters in the book. Vishen shares his journey from how he worked as an employee to building his own business, Mindvalley. He discovered a simple switch that transformed his life and business altogether. The idea behind bending reality is quite simple; you do not have to peg your happiness to your goals. Instead, choose to focus on the present and be happy right now.

In the book, he shares a great quote from Alan Watts that explains bending reality, “I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.”

Vishen calls the state where you live and enjoy the present moment as “bending reality”. When you do what you love and are passionate about it, ideas flow to you, you attract the right people and opportunities, and things just fall right in place.

Law 7: Live in Blissipline

The word, “blissipline” is the combination of two words, bliss, and discipline. Vishen says that blissipline is the discipline of daily bliss, where you experience the state of being happy in the present moment. Most people find it difficult to stay happy because they tell themselves that they will be happy when they reach the new profit target, when they get married, when they have a new car, a new house, etc.

This phenomenon is also called the “forward gap,” where you look into the future and use the future to decide your happiness now. And Vishen suggests you follow the “reverse gap”, where you look back into your life and appreciate how far you have come. Chasing the forward gap is like chasing the horizon, where you put your happiness to the future, which is a never-ending chase.

In this law, Vishen also shares two powerful methods how you can achieve blissipline through forgiveness and gratitude. He shows great examples that happened in his real-life of how forgiveness and being grateful have remarkably impacted his life.

Law 8: Create a Vision for Your Future

While you need to chase the reverse gap and never tie your happiness to your goals, you also need to have an exciting future to look forward to. This law is about creating your heartfelt goals and vision that will give you the “forward momentum” and pull you forward.

In this chapter, Vishen goes on to explain the difference between the end goals and the means goals. Plus, he says that most people treat the goal setting technique wrongly and he suggests his readers follow the 3 questions in the book to come up with experience goals. Besides that, Vishen also talks about the 12 types of end goals people should set in their lives.

Part 4: Becoming Extraordinary: Changing the World

This is the final part of the book. This entire section is about how to go from creating your own rules and master your inner self to influencing others and changing the world. When you have reached this point, you have truly become extraordinary. This is not about just mastering your inner and outer self, but it is also about pushing humanity forward and making a positive dent in the universe.

Law 9: Be Unfuckwithable

Unfuckwithable means when you are truly at peace and in touch with yourself that no matter what others say or do, they will never bother you or influence you. You have simply become at peace in your own world.

And this is exactly the state that you need to achieve extraordinary results in life. When you become unfuckwithable, you are not afraid to dream, to take bold actions, to do something out of the norm, and to also to fail. Vishen says that this law is important because all the extraordinary people who have accomplished outstanding success in life are able to do so without the influence of others. They act on their own accord.

There are two components of being unfuckwithable. The first is to have self-fueled goals, where you have complete control over your goals and no object or person can take them away from you. The second component is to realize that you are enough.

Law 10: Embrace Your Quest

According to Vishen, when you have reached the final phase of becoming extraordinary, you are ready to serve your higher calling or quest. And this law is all about contributing to mankind and leaving your legacy. If you practiced all the previous laws, your quest will come to you automatically. And all you need to do is to listen, take action, and accept your quest in life.

You will discover that your journey is filled with two types of life growth. The first is called the kensho, the growth by pain, and the second is satori, the growth by awakening. And you need both to reach the highest level of success. Vishen then relates his life journey to how kensho and satori have shaped his life.

When you are not sure what to do, just take any baby step and listen to how life respond. When you take even the smallest step, the universe will lead and guide you somewhere, but you must be willing to listen and follow.

Appendix: Tools for Your Journey

At the end of The Code of Extraordinary Mind, Vishen includes the tools that you need on your journey to self-discovery. One of the most profound tools he shares is the Six-Phase meditation. This is where you can put everything that you have learned from the book into one daily habit. And the Six-Phase is a transcendent practice that Vishen created and used daily.

In the Six-Phase meditation, you will go through the first phase that is called connection, where you connect with yourself where you focus on your consciousness. The second phase is called Gratitude and this is where you focus your thoughts on things that you are truly grateful for. The third phase is Forgiveness and you put your mind to anyone you have had a conflict with. The fourth phase is Visualizing where you envision the perfect future that you desire. And phase five is Daily Intention that you focus on your current moment. And finally, the sixth phase is called Blessing, where you call on any higher power you believe in and ask for luck, support, help, energy, and more.

Towards the end of the book, Vishen offers how you can also learn from through online experience. You can download the Mindvalley app and discover even more ways to learn and connect with him and his team to go deeper into the journey to extraordinary.