Scientists are learning that people have more capacity for lifelong learning and brain development than they ever thought. Of course, each person has a unique genetic endowment. People may start with different temperaments and different aptitudes, but it is clear that experience, training, and personal effort take them the rest of the way. Robert Sternberg, the present-day guru of intelligence, writes that the major factor in whether people achieve expertise “is not some fixed prior ability, but purposeful engagement.” Or, as his forerunner Binet recognized, it’s not always the people who start out the smartest who end up the smartest.
-Mindset, The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
Carol Dweck says that the question is not just how you experience failure, but much more than that. What will you do once you failed?
If you see a business failure as an indication, “You are a failure, you don’t have what it takes,” you will be reluctant to work harder and improve next time. Leaders with a growth mindset grow from their failures. In addition, we’ve all heard the phrase, “Fail Fast” in the context of innovation. Iterating fast failures achieve the desired result faster than perfecting the solution. “Fail Fast” is a philosophy that values iterative testing and development cycles to determine whether an idea has value. This means you cannot be a successful innovation leader without overcoming failures. We all know the success stories of inventors and leaders, but all of them had gone through MANY failures before they succeeded.
-Excerpt from Innovating Through Chaos
We all know how stressful life can get, & how quickly things can get a little bit out of control! In such a situation, the first problem that many of us have is that we don’t want to take responsibility for our actions. Thus, we blame things on other people, or on the circumstances around us. After all, it’s easy to do so.
Taking the easy way out by blaming others for your actions is one of the worst negative personality traits to have. This type of personality isn’t representative of a strong person. Rather, this type of attitude reflects weakness, lack of character, and ethics.
It’s one thing to get overwhelmed and escape from your mistake once but it’s another thing to make it a habit. Therefore. take responsibility for your actions because that means you are taking responsibility for your life.
Just as an architect’s blueprint sets the parameters for what will become a building, our mental Blueprint defines the parameters of lives.
If, for example, our Blueprint includes the belief that the world is an unsafe place, we’ll be less adventurous, trusting, and calm. If we believe that money never comes our way, studies have shown that we’ll walk right past cash left on the sidewalk, not to mention other financial opportunities. We’ll thus have less money in our pocket at the end of the day.
An Excerpt from Hold that Thought: Build clarity, peace, and joy by gaining mastery over your thinking by Chana Mason.
The first part of becoming productive is to have a plan and the best plans are ones that are achievable and realistic.
First, put together a schedule that sets out a number of goals, and then under each goal break it down into manageable tasks. Be realistic but at the same time be thorough and identify what needs to be done. Include your priorities and rank the tasks by importance and if possible the time required to accomplish each of them.
-An excerpt from “Clutter free: small life changes to easily organize your home and reduce stress” by Lynn Hall.
