Edition #2

Hi All!

Here is your weekly serving of practical guidance and inspiration to ensure you live your life with purpose. Feel free to forward this along to friends and family. Enjoy!

I wanted to give a quick shout to the 23 amazing individuals who have joined us since last week. Thanks for being here and welcome to the Never Idle team!

Read Time: 5 Minutes

Master Your Mindset

Fixed vs Growth Mindset

What do Michael Jordan, J.K. Rowling, and Thomas Edison have in common?

They all demonstrated the power of a growth mindset to achieve remarkable success. MJ cultivated immense discipline to hone his athletic ability. Rowling never gave up even when she was writing Harry Potter on the back of napkins. Edison loved ‘failures’ and embraced them as learning opportunities to develop the lightbulb, among other inventions.

No matter what you think about yourself in comparison to these greats, I am about to show you that you can cultivate a mindset that can shape the trajectory of your entire life.

American psychologist Carol Dweck coined the concept of fixed v growth mindsets in her 2006 book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.”

So what exactly do these terms mean?

Individuals who possess a growth mindset believe that intelligence, skills, and talents can be developed and enhanced through effort.

On the other hand, someone with a fixed mindset views those same traits as fundamentally static and unchangeable over time.

Consider this definition of mindset: “A mindset is a series of self-perceptions or beliefs people hold about themselves. These determine behavior, outlook, and mental attitude.”

This definition holds an exciting truth! ANYONE can change from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset if they CHOOSE to.

You can change your beliefs. You can change your self-perceptions. These changes can lead to improvements in your behavior.

So what type of mindset do you encompass right now? Are you someone who:

• Believes your traits are static and can’t be changed

• Thinks success is pre-determined and reliant on luck

• Avoids challenges or gives up easily in the face of obstacles

• Threatened by others’ success and see yourself as inadequate

• Fears failure and views past failures as a reflection of your self-worth

If you answered yes to any of these, you are currently demonstrating a fixed mindset. But don’t worry — remember — this can be changed. You can develop a growth mindset! And even if you answered no, keep in mind a growth mindset needs to constantly be nurtured to develop to its fullest potential.

How do you develop or nurture a growth mindset? You reframe the way you think about things. You have to believe in yourself rather than self-sabotage.

Made a mistake? Accept it.

Think ‘learning opportunity’ rather than ‘failure.’

Received criticism or feedback? Embrace it rather than get defensive.

Think ‘not yet’ rather than ‘never.’

Understand diligence beats out talent.

Value progress over results.

If any of this sounds hard, it's because it is. But you cannot achieve greatness with a fixed mindset. You must cultivate a growth mindset to become a top performer.

What if Jordan had given up when he was cut from his high school basketball team?

What if Rowling had decided, ‘I’d better get a stable job’ rather than chasing her writing dream?

What if Edison had buckled under the pressure of 1000 failures?

If you want to be great, you have to think like the greats. This starts with a growth mindset.

So the next time you think to yourself ‘I’m a terrible writer,’ ‘I’ll never learn how to code,’ ‘I’ll never be successful at X.’

STOP yourself! You’re wrong! You can change and improve your skills. You just need to shift your thinking.

Hone Your Habits

Identity Not Outcome

What was the last outcome you achieved that you were proud of? Really think about it.

How did you achieve it? Did it randomly come about? Was it exactly what you thought it would be?

Odds are your answers are something like this:

• What outcome are you proud of? Outcome X

• How did you achieve it? Through consistent effort over time

• Did it randomly come about? No

• Was it exactly what you thought it would be? Not exactly

You see, outcomes are the results. They are one blip in time. You are a person living moment to moment. You don’t reach an outcome and freeze in time. You are constantly moving, growing, evolving.

You also do not have full control over outcomes.

This is why it’s a waste of time to focus on the outcome itself. Instead, you need to focus on your identity. Something you can control. Who do you want to be week to week, day to day, moment to moment? Internalize the type of person you want to be and choose to be that person right now:

• You are not someone who dreams of singing, you’re a singer.

• You are not someone who aspires to cook, you’re a chef.

• You are not someone who wishes to draw, you’re an artist.

• You are not someone who hopes to teach, you’re a teacher.

Now your identity drives your actions, your behaviors, your habits — and your actions will take care of the results. The outcomes.

Habits are powerful tools to achieve great results. But you can’t just mindlessly develop trendy habits. They need a purpose. When your habits are built around the foundation of your identity, they become purpose driven.

Fortify your identity to achieve the progress you seek. Stay consistent and the outcomes will happen naturally.

Words of Wisdom

You can complement this weekly newsletter with short reminders, ideas, and thoughts about personal development by following me on Twitter.

Thanks for reading! And always remember…

Slow and steady. Never Idle.

Until next week,

Austin Sargent