Fall Seven Times, Stand Up Eight: The Mindset That Rebuilt My Life
There’s an old Japanese proverb that says:
“Fall seven times, stand up eight.”
It sounds simple. Almost too simple.
But sometimes the simplest truths are the ones we fight the hardest to accept.
Most people hear that quote and picture grit, toughness, the unstoppable underdog who keeps getting back up. But I’ve learned firsthand that standing back up is not automatic.
It’s not instinct.
It’s not a reflex.
It’s a choice.
And for a long time, I didn’t understand that either.
When Life Knocks You Flat
When I first learned that my kidneys were failing, it felt like the ground vanished beneath me. One moment I was just Mark — a husband, a dad, a guy trying to get his life together. The next, I was a patient. A statistic. Another story in the transplant waiting list.
That wasn’t the first fall and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
Fear knocked me down.
Uncertainty knocked me down.
The waiting and not knowing knocked me down… harder than anything else could.
And here’s the thing people don’t talk about enough:
When you're on the floor, it’s frighteningly easy to stay there.
Because when life beats you up, your mind starts whispering things like:
“This is too much.”
“You’re not strong enough.”
“Why even try?”
“People like you don’t come back from this.”
Those thoughts feel real. They feel heavy. They feel like truth.
But they’re not truth.
They’re the echo of a mindset that hasn’t yet learned its own power.
Standing Up Is a Choice — But Only If You Know You Have One
When people say “just get back up,” they forget one important piece:
Many people don’t realize they can.
They fall victim to circumstances because no one ever taught them that resilience is a muscle, not a personality trait. No one told them that falling isn’t failure. Staying down is.
Before my transplant, before I ever ran a marathon, before I wrote The Overcomer’s Journey, I had to confront this truth in a brutally honest way:
I was waiting for someone else to save me. Someone else to fix it. Someone else to change my story. But that’s not how life works.
When I finally understood that standing back up was my responsibility and my decision, everything shifted. Not instantly but powerfully.
The Comeback Is the Choice
My transplant was a miracle — one I’ll be forever grateful for.
But my comeback? My transformation? That wasn’t a miracle.
That was a decision.
A decision to stand up when it was easier to stay down.
A decision to train when my body felt fragile.
A decision to run a marathon when the world said, “slow down.”
A decision to rewrite the story that circumstance tried to hand me.
People say, “You defied the odds.”
But the truth is, I chose to stop letting the odds define me.
That’s what “stand up eight” really means. Not that you’re unbreakable… but that you’re unwilling to stay broken.
Most People Don’t Need Motivation — They Need Permission
And that’s why Maselli Mindset exists. Not to preach at you.
Not to tell you how to live your life.
But to remind you of something you may have forgotten:
You are stronger than you believe.
You are more capable than you’ve ever been told.
And the power to rise again and again already lives inside you.
Sometimes you just need someone to shine a light on it.
That’s why I wrote The Overcomer’s Journey.
Not as a book about my comeback, but as a blueprint for yours.
Because the truth is this:
We all fall.
We all break.
We all hit the floor at some point in our lives.
But your story is not written in the falling.
It’s written in the rising.
You Become Stronger Every Time You Stand
Every comeback builds muscle.
Every rise builds identity.
Every choice to stand up reinforces the truth:
You are becoming the strongest version of yourself not despite the falls, but because of them.
So, if you're in a season where you feel knocked down… If life has hit you harder than you expected… If you're staring at the ceiling wondering how you got here…
Remember the proverb:
Fall seven times, stand up eight.
And remember what it means:
You don’t need a perfect mindset.
You don’t need to feel ready.
You don’t need certainty.
You just need the courage to rise one more time.
That’s how Overcomers are made.
That’s how Maselli Mindset was born.
And that’s how your next chapter begins.
The Power of Going Silent
Sometimes silence isn’t quitting — it’s recalibration.
For the past few weeks, I’ve gone quiet on social media. No videos, no posts, no updates.
And if I’m being honest, part of that silence came from doubt.
When you pour your heart into something — a book, a mission, a message — and the traction doesn’t come as fast as you hoped, it’s easy to question if what you’re doing even matters.
I felt it. That quiet frustration that whispers, “Maybe it’s not working. Maybe people have moved on.”
But I’ve learned something from years of setbacks, recoveries, and “start again” moments: GROWTH OFTEN HAPPENS IN THE SILENCE.
When the noise fades, reflection begins.
When the spotlight dims, your focus sharpens.
And when you stop performing for everyone else, you can start preparing for what’s next.
These past few weeks weren’t a retreat — they were a reset.
A chance to evaluate where I’m going, realign with my purpose, and remind myself that this journey isn’t about viral moments — it’s about real transformation.
In The Overcomer’s Journey, I wrote about how failure and adversity forge our strength. Sometimes, that “failure” isn’t external, it’s internal. It’s the feeling of not being enough, of not progressing fast enough, of wondering if your story still matters.
But that doubt? It’s part of the process. It’s the resistance that builds resilience.
Even mindset coaches, authors, and speakers need to be reminded:
You don’t lose progress when you pause… you sharpen it.
The regrouping phase is where the next version of you is forged; stronger, clearer, hungrier.
And as I come back into rhythm, I’m more certain than ever that this mission, helping people overcome, rise, and rewrite their story, matters more than any metric.
If you’ve been feeling stuck, stagnant, or unseen lately; don’t confuse silence with surrender.
You might just be in your regroup season.
Because sometimes, the quietest moments set up the loudest comebacks.
Stay tuned — the next chapter of this journey is just getting started.
Keep going, Overcomers.
Run Towards the Storm
Most people spend their lives running away from storms.
They see dark clouds forming, feel the wind shift, and immediately look for shelter.
But overcomers… We run toward them.
Not because we enjoy pain or chaos, but because we understand something simple and true: life will always throw obstacles in your path, and the only way through is forward.
That’s what the Spartan event taught me.
A Spartan race isn’t just about strength or endurance. It’s a living, breathing metaphor for life.
You start the day with a clear objective: the finish line. You think you know the plan; how you’ll pace yourself, what you’ll face, when to push. But then life (or in this case, the course) throws something unexpected at you: a wall you didn’t see coming, a rope you can’t quite climb, a sandbag that feels heavier than it should.
That’s life.
No one tells you where the obstacles will appear or how many there will be. They just appear, one after another, and you either find a way through, over, or around them.
And when you fail an obstacle? You don’t get to skip it. You pay the penalty: burpees, push-ups, more work.
But that’s the beauty of it. Because the penalty isn’t punishment. It’s preparation.
Every time you fail and keep going, you’re teaching yourself that effort is never wasted. The work you do in the penalty zone makes you stronger for the next obstacle waiting up ahead.
That’s how life works, too.
Signing up for a Spartan event is, in many ways, choosing to go into the storm.
You know it’s going to hurt. You know you’ll face moments where your body and mind both scream to stop. And yet you choose it anyway.
That’s what makes it powerful.
When you voluntarily step into discomfort, you take control of your growth. You’re no longer waiting for challenges to find you, you’re seeking them out on your terms.
That’s the essence of the Maselli Mindset.
Not waiting for the right time, the perfect weather, or the easy path but deliberately walking into difficulty to build the person capable of thriving on the other side.
Each obstacle in a Spartan event tests something different; grip strength, balance, endurance, coordination, patience.
Some you’ll master easily. Others will expose your weaknesses. And that’s the point. The obstacles aren’t there to stop you; they’re there to show you where to grow.
Every failure gives you data. Every penalty gives you progress.
The same is true in life. When something goes wrong, when you miss a goal, lose momentum, or fall short, that’s not a dead end. It’s feedback.
Failure is a mirror, not a verdict.
Running toward the storm doesn’t mean loving the struggle. It means understanding that struggle creates strength. Each obstacle you face, each moment you push when it would be easier to quit, builds a version of you that can handle more.
You don’t find confidence by winning easily.
You build it by surviving what was meant to break you.
That’s what The Overcomer’s Journey is really about: transforming pain into power, setback into strategy, and endurance into identity.
When you cross the finish line of a Spartan race, you realize something important:
It’s not about the medal. It’s about who you became mile by mile, obstacle by obstacle.
And life works the same way.
You don’t finish one storm and enter calm forever. You finish one, and a new one waits somewhere ahead. But each time, you’re better equipped, mentally tougher, emotionally steadier, physically stronger.
That’s the reward for running toward the storm: you stop fearing life’s unpredictability because you’ve already faced it head-on.
Life will always present new obstacles, unexpected challenges, heartbreaks, failures, and detours. You can’t control when they come, but you can control what you do next.
So, when the storm forms, don’t look for shelter.
Tighten your shoes.
Take a breath.
And run toward it.
Because every obstacle you overcome prepares you for the next one; in racing, in life, and in who you’re becoming.
“The goal isn’t to avoid the storm — it’s to become the kind of person who thrives in it.”
⚡ Run toward the storm. That’s where overcomers are made.
👉 Learn how to build unshakable resilience in The Overcomer’s Journey — available now at masellimindset.com
Quitting is Addictive
Most people don’t realize this — but quitting feels good.
Not forever. Just long enough to make you believe it’s harmless.
It starts small.
You skip one workout.
You tell yourself you’ll make it up tomorrow.
Then tomorrow becomes next week, and next week becomes “I’ll start again Monday.”
And before you know it, quitting isn’t an accident anymore.
It’s a pattern.
We think of quitting as some big, dramatic moment: the resignation letter, the breakup, the surrender. But most of us quit in smaller, quieter ways long before those moments ever arrive.
You quit every time you hit snooze instead of showing up.
You quit every time you eat what you promised you wouldn’t.
You quit when you stop chasing the goal that once lit your soul on fire because it got uncomfortable.
And every time you give in, you reinforce a neural pattern that says, “It’s okay to stop when it gets hard.”
That’s the addiction: the short-term relief of giving up. The brain rewards it with comfort. The body learns it. And before you know it, quitting becomes your default.
Your brain is wired for survival, not success. It loves predictability and comfort and most of all safety. When you choose to stop, whether it’s skipping the gym, delaying the hard conversation, or bailing on your goals, it releases dopamine, the same feel-good chemical that rewards progress.
Here’s the catch: that same hit rewires your brain to associate avoidance with reward.
You’re literally teaching yourself that quitting feels good. That’s why quitting is addictive.
It’s not weakness; it’s brain chemistry.
The first time you quit, you feel guilt. The second time, you feel justification. The third time, you feel nothing. That’s when it becomes dangerous. Because now quitting has moved from decision to identity.
You start calling it “taking a break.” You start convincing yourself you’re being realistic. And soon, mediocrity disguises itself as balance.
But deep down, you know that you could’ve kept going or had one more rep, one more mile, one more try left in you, but you just didn’t take it.
The only way to break the addiction is to build a stronger one: an addiction to keeping promises to yourself.
That’s what I discovered as I wrote The Overcomer’s Journey.
I Learned that commitment is a muscle and that every time you choose discipline over comfort, you strengthen it. Every time you finish the thing you said you’d do, even when it’s inconvenient, you reinforce a new identity, one that says, “I’m not the kind of person who stops.”
And it’s not about being perfect. It’s about being aware. Every small decision either feeds the quitter or the overcomer in you.
Start noticing your patterns:
When do you back off?
When do you justify the easy way out?
Where are you negotiating your potential?
Then decide to quit quitting.
Every person who’s ever achieved greatness has wanted to quit. The difference is they didn’t. They pushed through the whisper that said “stop” long enough to hear the other voice that says, “keep going.”
Because real power comes from doing the thing you don’t feel like doing. You do it over and over until the discipline becomes who you are… That’s when quitting loses its grip.
If quitting is addictive, so is progress.
The more you show up, the more your brain craves showing up.
The more you follow through, the more your mind expects you to.
So, the next time you’re tempted to quit, remember:
You’re not just skipping one thing: you’re shaping who you become.
“Every time you quit, you train yourself to surrender. Every time you finish, you train yourself to win.”
👉 This is what I mean by quitting quitting.
Learn how to break the pattern and rebuild your identity in The Overcomer’s Journey — available now at masellimindset.com
When Life Doesn’t Ask Permission
There’s a moment in everyone’s life when the ground shifts beneath your feet.
Sometimes it’s a diagnosis.
Sometimes it’s the phone call you never saw coming.
And sometimes it’s the quiet realization that the version of life you imagined no longer exists.
Mine came when I was admitted to the hospital. The doctor held my hand as she told me I had the same kidney disease that had ravaged my family. They were few but those few words changed everything.
Suddenly, my world was turned upside down. The safe little life I had built was rattled. The thing is, Life didn’t ask for my permission… it just happened.
And in that moment, I realized something: you can’t control what happens, but you can always control how you respond.
Most people spend their lives waiting for things to be fair. Guess what, life isn’t always fair. Life isn’t here to serve you and put things on a nice silver plate for you to take. Hot tip: You can’t wait for life to be fair or for everything to be sitting on a tee for you. You have to make it happen if you want to change.
Fairness keeps us comfortable.
Growth demands discomfort.
Life will throw challenges that don’t make sense. You’ll face storms you didn’t cause, fights you didn’t start, and pain you didn’t deserve. And while you can’t choose the timing, the challenge, or the outcome, you can always choose who you become through it.
That’s the pivot point. It’s the moment when victims become victors.
When the diagnosis came, I had two options: surrender to fear or take control of what I could.
I chose to build. I built discipline. I built structure. I built a mindset strong enough to carry a weakened body.
Each day became a small act of rebellion against my circumstance. I chose to have a different outcome, I chose to take action.
Because that’s the truth most people miss—you don’t have to ask life for permission to change.
You just start moving.
This became the foundation for my book The Overcomer’s Journey.
The idea that you can rebuild from any setback isn’t just motivational, it’s practical. There’s a framework for it:
Accept Reality – Not with defeat, but with awareness. You can’t change what you won’t face.
Take Ownership – Stop waiting for rescue. No one’s coming. You are the rescue.
Create Momentum – Small daily actions compound faster than any burst of inspiration.
Build Identity – You’re not “trying” anymore; you are the person who does hard things.
This framework carried me from hospital bed to marathon finish line in 346 days. Not because I was superhuman, but because I stopped waiting for permission.
You can try to avoid discomfort, but it finds you eventually.
You can wait for motivation, but it fades quickly.
You can wish for peace, but it’s built through battle.
Life doesn’t ask for your consent; it demands your response.
When life doesn’t ask permission, neither should you.
You don’t owe the world an apology for your comeback. You owe yourself the chance to live it.
“You can’t control the storm that finds you. But you can control whether you drown or learn to swim through it.”
If you’re ready to learn how to swim through life’s storms and take back control of your story, dive deeper in The Overcomer’s Journey.
👉 Available now on My Book Tab.