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Two Words to Help You Do Amazing New Things!

Last week, we took our 10 year old, Matthew, to view a secondary school that he might go to. When we saw a beautifully drawn picture of a human hand done by one of the art students, Matthew declared, "I couldn't do that" and, feeling inadequate, immediately left the room.

Instead of seeing his possibility, he saw his inability. He completely missed the exciting point that this was a place where he could learn to do things like that!

When marvelling at the skill of another (e.g. in singing, drawing, dancing, writing, or technology), have you ever made the mistake of thinking, "I could never do that"?

Stanford Psychologist Carol Dweck noticed the difference between a "fixed mindset" and a "growth mindset". Now people may vary in their innate abilities and potential, but which of these mindsets they choose can have a huge impact.

People with a fixed mindset assume their capabilities are already set. They therefore place a limit on themselves and will miss opportunities.

Those with a growth mindset recognise that application and experience enables them to achieve more in life. And so they usually do!

Hey ... Love Your Body!

I sat waiting for my client in reception ... and in agony. Right then I would have not hesitated to write a cheque for £1000 to be rid of the pain...

I suddenly remembered hearing Robert Kiyosaki telling a story about having a medical in La Jolla, California many years ago.

The doctor said to him, "Take care of your body, young man". When Robert asked why, the doctor replied, "Because I treat some of the richest people on the planet and what some of them want more than anything in the world is a night of sleep without pain."

Be Aware of the Arena

Last weekend, my youngest son had his 10th birthday. He said he had a great weekend, except for one thing...

The "good" things included receiving some great presents, opening his own bank account with £1000 contribution from his grandparents, having a friend over to stay, playing football and on the X-box, and on Sunday, going go-karting and visiting friends. Oh, and his favourite team (Liverpool) beat Manchester United!

From Bad to Good

Last week I missed my train to London for the first time ever. There were a few useful reminders that came out of the experience.

Reminder 1: Don't be too quick to judge and criticise others.
Especially when I need to clean up my own act! As we were all rushing to get out the door, Jane said she would need to drive Matthew to school (normally a 5 minute walk from our house). I started telling her that if they'd gotten up 5 minutes earlier, that wouldn't have been necessary. I missed my train by 20 seconds, so if I'd gotten up 30 seconds earlier ...

Reminder 2. Sometimes we only really learn from the pain, not just the warning of it.