Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives
By Maria Popova “If you imagine less, less will be what you undoubtedly deserve,” Debbie Millman counseled in one of the best commencement speeches ever given, urging: “Do what you love, and don’t stop until you get what you love. Work as hard as you can, imagine immensities…” Far from Pollyanna platitude, this advice actually reflects what modern psychology knows about how belief systems about our own abilities and potential fuel our behavior and predict our success. Much of that understanding stems from the work of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, synthesized in her remarkably insightful Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (public library) — an inquiry into the power of our beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, and how changing even the simplest of them can have profound impact on nearly every aspect of our lives. One of the most basic beliefs we carry about ourselves, Dweck found in her research, has to do with how we view and inhabit what we consider to be our personality.
A Year of Living Without
Or, How I Made Room for Life By Leo Babauta For the next 12 months, I’ll be conducting a personal experiment that I’m calling A Year of Living Without. It’s my way of finding out what’s truly necessary, of simplifying my life, of making room for other things. I’m testing the boundaries of my needs. So what’s the Year of Living Without? Each month, I’ll go the whole month without one thing I do every day. I’ll give up something for a month, then evaluate whether it was something I enjoyed giving up, whether it’s worth leaving it out of my life, or if I want to put it back in after the month’s over. The 12 Things I’ll Live Without Each month, I’ll try a different experiment: July: Coffee. This list might change as the year progresses and I find other things I’d rather give up, but this is what I’m planning for now. At the end of each month, I’ll decide whether I want to keep doing without that month’s Living Without item. Some things I’ve already given up: Why Am I Doing This? Q: Coffee?
Don’t Scratch the Itch
By Leo Babauta One thing I’ve learned from my weeklong bout with poison oak (read about it, including my update on a cure) … is a lot about itches. I’ve become somewhat of a minor expert on itches. I’ve learned to watch the itch and not scratch it. Now, why the hell is that useful or even noteworthy? Consider: procrastination is about scratching your itch to go do something other than hard work. Most of the bad things in your life, and your inability to change them, are about itches. So the question is, how do you avoid scratching an itch? First: You have to know the itch is there, and that you’ve been scratching it. So noticing the itch and that you’re scratching it is the first step, and it’s a doozy. Second: You have to realize the scratching is hurting you. Third: Make a commitment to not scratching. Fourth: Watch the itch but don’t scratch. This takes practice. That’s about it: notice the itch, recognize the harm, make a commitment, and watch but don’t act on the urge.
John Steinbeck on Falling in Love: A 1958 Letter
by Maria Popova “If it is right, it happens — The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.” Nobel laureate John Steinbeck (1902-1968) might be best-known as the author of East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men, but he was also a prolific letter-writer. Among his correspondence is this beautiful response to his eldest son Thom’s 1958 letter, in which the teenage boy confesses to have fallen desperately in love with a girl named Susan while at boarding school. New York November 10, 1958Dear Thom:We had your letter this morning. Complement with six tips on writing from Steinbeck. via Letters of Note Donating = Loving Bringing you (ad-free) Brain Pickings takes hundreds of hours each month. You can also become a one-time patron with a single donation in any amount: Brain Pickings has a free weekly newsletter. Share on Tumblr
