#94 Restoring Faith in the Malleable Mind

ByLukas
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It only takes one new habit to restore faith in the malleable mind.

“I’ve never been good at languages. Until I learned my first foreign language. If I can do that… what else is possible?”

“I’ve never been good at public speaking. Until I gave my first speech, and then my second, and then my twentieth. If I can do that… What else is possible?”

“I always give up on projects before I bring them to completion. Until I completed one project. Then another. Then another. If I can do that… What else is possible?“

If something I thought I could never do becomes possible, cracks start to appear in my limiting beliefs.

It’s not just about the habits. It’s about the belief that you can change your habits, trust in your ability to complete projects and stick to your routine.

And the only way to build that is through taking small daily actions that are votes for who you want to be (and what you want to achieve).

Again: it only takes one new daily action to start restoring your belief in the malleable mind.

Start with one. Then discover what else is possible.

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#231 When everything is urgent

ByLukas

When everything is urgent, how do we know what to do first?

One solution is adding more nuance:

What’s the most urgent?

What’s the most important?

Breathing is urgent.

A crying child is urgent.

A toilet visit can be urgent.

Sending that email out tonight right before bed instead of tomorrow, maybe not so much?

Here’s the important question:

If you’re going to prioritize the urgent matters anyway, why stress yourself out by calling everything urgent in the first place?

Making everything urgent devalues truly urgent matters.

Because when everything is urgent, nothing is urgent anymore.

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#34 Where else?

ByLukas

Regularly asking “Where else?” is one of the simplest ways to become more creative and generate innovative insights.

Not only does this allow you to connect new insights with existing knowledge and experience, but it also invites you to imagine new use cases.

  • “Where else have I seen this (or something similar) before?”
  • “Where else does this apply (to my current knowledge)?”
  • “Where else might this apply (in contexts where I haven’t discovered it yet)?”

Examples

Harvard Medical School professor Herbert Benson suggests the neurotransmitter NO (Nitric Oxide) may be the catalyst for breakthroughs and “aha moments.”
Where else have I seen this before? -> Pranayama/Yogic Breathing: Nasal breathing (and humming “om”) can increase nitric oxide production fifteen-fold. Humming your way to epiphanies might be worth a try.

Learning a language by grouping words instead of reducing it to words and grammar. Where else does this apply? -> Conversation Based Chunking; learning series of digits by grouping them together;… See: chunking concept in cognitive psychology

Uber made it possible for people to share/rent out their car.
Where else might this apply? -> How about sharing/renting out your home? That’s how AirBnB was born.

You don’t have to look elsewhere.
See what’s already there, then ask…
Where else?

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#192 Your desired identity

ByLukas

Who you are and what you do consistently always coincide. After all, your repeated actions create your identity.

But who you want to be and what you consistently do don’t usually coincide. Otherwise, you would already have become who you want to be.

You want to be a writer, but you’re not consistently writing? Writing consistently will bridge the gap between your current and desired identity.

You want to be a guitar player, but you’re not consistently playing the guitar? Practicing daily will bridge the gap between your current and desired identity.

Could you make your actions coincide with your desired identity?

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#23 For all the languages I’ve learned

ByLukas

For all the languages I’ve learned
trying in vain to put the inner and outer world into words
closely but not completely capturing the essence
I now realize the biggest insights reveal themselves
where words are worthless and feelings reign
where they are felt and lived, embodied,
refusing to be rationalized, categorized
or undergo the violent limitations of our words.

Maybe language learning is more about admitting that some languages are lived, not learned.

That some insights are felt, not expressed.

That sometimes words create distance from what we experience deep down, instead of offering the clarity we seek.

Accepting that may well be the biggest challenge of all.

There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.

Rumi

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