036 | Change your mindset
Renewal #36 • Your words and the way you think about yourself have greater powers than you realize.
Hello friends,
In this week’s post, I’m reflecting on mindset change.
I have always been keen on inflicting limits for myself: I couldn’t draw or play music because I didn’t have an innate talent for it. Compared to other people, how could I ever be creative enough? Ironically, I associated having confidence and ambitions with pretentiousness and cockiness, so I never built either of these.
But, as Angela Duckworth brilliantly wonders:
“Why do we assume that it is our talent, rather than our effort, that will decide where we end up in the very long run?”
You are the writer of your own story and the way you think and talk about yourself greatly influences what you can achieve.
Build an invincible mindset
If you want to be a writer, just be one. Write every day. Think about writing and define yourself as someone whose identity is to write. If you do, no one will ever dare to tell you you are not.
Same thing when it comes to playing music, taking pictures, being an entrepreneur, or a developer. None of these skills will ever be easy to obtain, but only if you make it part of your identity, part of your mindset, only then you will have the strength to face any challenge.
You are who you say you are and what you repeatedly do. Be gritty.
In “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance”, Angela Duckworth describes Grit as:
"The mindset that they’re always going to succeed, that they’ve got something to prove. They’re resilient, they’re not going to let setbacks hold them back. They’re not going to be deterred, you know, by challenges and hurdles and things. … It’s that attitude—we really refer to it as grit."
— Angela Duckworth
🌿 Today, I’m changing my mindset and I’m inviting you to do the same. I’m choosing to believe in my ability to change the world. And you?
Quick Note: If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can subscribe right here:
— What I loved this week
Here's what I've been loving this week:
📱 One app I'm loving: Anki • I’m currently preparing “my system” for the upcoming semester and finally decided to give a try to the spaced-repetition/active-recall app. I have tried Brainscape, Quizlet, and many others, but Anki is without a doubt the master. I’m already sensing that this app will be very useful for me this year.
📖 One book I'm loving: Grit by Angela Duckworth where a lot of the lessons for this newsletter come from. I learned and found a lot of motivation the first time I read this book and it is definitely on my re-read list for this year.
🍿 One movie I’m loving: It’s not a new movie or anything but this week I’ve been loving Avatar. I didn’t remember it enough from the first time I watched it but rewatching it today makes me realize how much of a satire it is on our current world and its history.
✏️ Some posts & videos I’ve learned from:
📰 Learn in public, it’s great! | by Yath Prem
📰 Scott Belsky’s Elephant List | by Dan Shipper
📰 How To Remember Anything Forever-ish | by Nick Case
🎥 How to maximize opportunity and success | by Ali Abdaal
🎥 7 habits of highly successful students | by Mariana’s Study Corner
🎙 Goals Web | by The Inforium
📰 Why Asians Aren’t Drowning in Debt (But North Americans Are) | by Roxine
🎙 Encontrar tu pasión | Adriana Coines (Minimalistamente)
🗣 Quote of the week: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
— Victor E. Frankl
— What I created for you this week
Here is what I’ve created for you and around the web lately.
On changing mindset
We often underestimate how much a small change, in our mindset can have a tremendous effect on our life. But what you say and what you think about yourself matters. You are who you say you are.
Why you should think about what you prioritize
What are you working on? If you have ever wanted to make progress in a project but failed to find the time, Here's why you should think about what you prioritize.