Hi there.
My name is Phil Janecic and I am the founder of Mind of Steel. Since 2014, I’ve been teaching people how to build mental strength and helping people like you understand their own mind better.
Mind of Steel is a personal philosophy that I developed as a combination of various ideas, psychological research, and real-life experience. The essence of it is this: no matter what happens to you, find a way to push through and come out stronger on the other side.
Everything on this website is trying to push you toward that goal. Whether it’s understanding our psychology and biases, learning how to improve social skills and communicate better, or deal with our fears and anxiety — every little step you take is shaping your mind into a Mind of Steel.
Some of my core values are:
- Tell the truth, even when it hurts.
- Show empathy, because everybody struggles with something.
- Be courageous and stand up for what is right.
Mind of Steel isn’t your usual self-improvement website. It’s not your parents telling you “everything is going to be okay” or “you’re perfect the way you are“. I don’t want to feed into your delusions or listen to your self-pity.
I’m not her to comfort you, but to help you overcome problems.
Your life sucks? Everybody is against you? Nothing is going your way? Good. I want to tell you what to do about it. I’m that friend who is going to give you the brutal truth and tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.
History of Mind of Steel
When I was 18 I realized I don’t really like the person I am: weak, insecure, and scared of everything. This pissed me off so much that I decided to do everything in my power to learn how to become better and stronger.
A few years later, some friends noticed my change and asked me to help them out. So I did. I gave them advice, coached them, and everybody kept telling me: “You should write a blog or something.”
At first, I thought it was a stupid idea. Who reads blogs anyway? But then I decided to give it a shot. Turns out, a lot of people read blogs.
Now it’s almost a decade later and my writing has reached hundreds of thousands people from all over the globe. Almost everything I have ever created is published for free, with the exception of a few books that deal with certain issues in-depth and help me support this site.
My attitude has also evolved over the years. The more I learn and the more experiences I have, the more I realize just how much of a gray area life is. That’s why I strive for balance between empathy (understand people’s struggles) and whining (“boo hoo nobody has it worst than me”).
Why should you listen to my advice?
The truth is, nothing on this website is particularly ground-breaking or something you can’t find somewhere else. What is different, though, is the way that information is presented.
I mean, most people don’t spend their time learning psychology or reading scientific studies. Besides, objective data is only part of the equation; the other part is raw, personal experience. And that’s something you can’t learn — it has to be experienced.
The anxiety. The fear. The struggle. Failures, successes and everything in between.
I know how much it sucks to feel weak and helpless. Many people will probably not even understand what you’re going through. But I do. I’ve been through all of this. Hell, I’m still going through all of this.
Most of the things I share are fuck-ups: bad decisions I made and lessons I learned from them.
I am not a “guru”. I am not the guy who has all the answers and everything figured out. I’m just a guy who’s always trying to be better, learn a lot, and share advice I believe will help you live a better life.
If you’re still here, it means I haven’t scared you off. So take a look at my articles and find something you like. You can also join my newsletter where I personally send you useful lessons every week.
You can also connect with me on social media:
Stay strong,
Phil