Written By: Tim Windsor

In the orbit of your life, just like for our planet – your tilt matters: How you posture your heart and mind — your tilt — what you lean into dramatically influences your personal and professional outcomes. And if you’re leaning in the wrong direction or not leaning at all, you will falter, fall and fail.

The Earth’s 23.5-degree axial tilt is life-giving and life-producing. It’s the reason photosynthesis occurs at such a rate. It makes our planet breathable, liveable, and fertile. Without that tilt, we wouldn’t have the dynamic seasons we depend on for growth nor the oxygen production that sustains life. So, what does that mean for you? It means that your tilt, the angle at which you approach your challenges, your passions, and your work will define the life you lead. Tilt in the wrong direction, and you’re depriving yourself of growth. Tilt into the right things, and you create a fertile ground for success.

Oxygenating Your Evolution

This isn’t just a philosophical musing; it’s backed by science. Research from Stanford University shows that people who lean into a “growth mindset”—believing they can develop their abilities—are far more successful than those who assume their skills are static. Your tilt, mindset, and inclination to grow and change are the most critical choices you will ever make. In sales, leadership, business, and personal life, leaning into a growth mindset has been statistically linked to higher achievement, more significant innovation, and increased job satisfaction.

Think about it: leaning into growth doesn’t just benefit you—it oxygenates your entire environment. Like photosynthesis on a planetary scale, your tilt into growth sends ripples of energy, enthusiasm, and possibilities to those you interact with.

But here’s where it gets even more provocative—most people aren’t leaning into anything meaningful at all. They’re stuck. In fact, they’re tilting into complacency and limiting beliefs. And that tilt, whether they acknowledge it or not, is suffocating their potential, starving their opportunities to catch their breath and get more oxygen to run faster and further.

You Are Leaning, BUT into What?

Not all tilts are equal. Just as the Earth’s specific tilt gives us seasons and sustains life, your tilt must be toward something that fuels growth. Ask yourself these blunt questions: What are you leaning into right now? Are you tilting toward generosity, grace, and growth, or are you leaning into negativity, laziness, and lethargy?

Psychological studies have proven that your orientation and the direction you lean directly impact your success. Harvard Business Review reports that high-performance individuals often attribute their success to intentionally leaning into challenges rather than avoiding them. In other words, successful people tilt toward discomfort—toward the tough, unglamorous work that makes or breaks them.

In sales, leadership, or any competitive field, you must tilt hard into uncommodified strategies and authentic connections. Lean into the grind but also into rest when necessary. There’s no half-tilting your way into greatness. You either lean into magnificence or into mediocrity.

The Cost of Leaning the Wrong Direction

Failure to tilt into the right things can destroy your potential, your business, and your relationships. It’s a slow, slithering disaster, much like what scientists’ call “secular stagnation” in economics. Secular stagnation occurs when economies fail to grow, not because of one dramatic event but, in my opinion because they don’t tilt hard enough into innovation and investment. Failure to lean into the right behaviours, mindsets, and strategies in your life leads to a personal and professional version of secular stagnation—where you slowly lose relevance, effectiveness, and energy without even realizing it.

In your personal life, think about your relationships. How often do we lean into resentment, petty arguments, or self-centeredness instead of leaning into clear and candid communication, generosity, and empathy? The same principle applies: how you tilt determines positive and productive oxygen flow in your relationships. It determines whether those connections are suffocating or thriving.

The Sustaining Satisfaction of Our Tilt

Neuroscience tells us that leaning into positive behaviours and mindsets rewires our brains. Research published in the Journal of Positive Psychology shows that leaning into positive behaviors like gratitude, generosity, and resilience activates the brain’s reward systems, making it easier for those behaviors to become habits.

Moreover, studies in behavioural economics highlight the impact of “leaning into” pro-social behaviours—like generosity—on both individual well-being and organizational success. Research from the University of Zurich shows that generous individuals have significantly higher levels of personal and professional happiness and satisfaction. Companies that cultivate a culture of generosity see improved employee engagement, lower turnover rates, and higher levels of innovation.

We Empower and Enable Our Lean with Questions NOT Answers

Those who lean into notable and noteworthy levels of positive personal and professional greatness and graciousness do so by the quality of their questions, not the quantity of their answers. Here are a few questions to empower and enable you to tilt harder towards an impact and effect that will leave an indelibly positive mark on yourself and others.

1.     Are you leaning into growth or stagnation? Are you actively seeking ways to improve, learn, and evolve, or are you coasting along, hoping that things will get better on their own?

2.     Are you leaning into positive behaviors? Behaviors like gratitude, generosity, and resilience create psychological and emotional oxygen. They foster environments where success can thrive.

3.     Are you tilting toward discomfort? Growth is uncomfortable. It requires leaning into challenges, mistakes, and the hard work of self-improvement. You’re not tilting in the right direction if you’re too comfortable.

Your Tilt Really Does Matter

The tilt of your life—what you lean into every day—In my opinion, is the most critical factor determining your success or failure. If you’re not consciously tilting into the things that grow you, you’re either stagnating or leaning into your demise. The Earth’s tilt ensures seasons, growth, and life; your tilt determines whether you experience seasons of abundance for yourself and others or choke and die.

So, what are you going to tilt into? Will you lean into the behaviours, mindsets, and strategies that oxygenate your life and others, or will you suffocate in your comfort zone? The choice is yours—but make no mistake, your tilt matters.