I've talked and written a good deal about the power of mindset. It can be transformative.

Depending on one's frame of mind, it can be utterly transformative—in either a positive or negative manner. There are many ways to adjust one's mindset, but I've found that Carol Dweck's idea of a "growth mindset" is a powerful way to move things forward.

Do you believe you can develop your abilities (a growth mindset)? Or, do you believe your abilities are what they are and can't be further developed (a fixed mindset)?

Dweck posits that those with a fixed mindset are less likely to flourish. Certainly, we can all "get by" either way, but I'd argue that if we give in to the fixed mindset we end up on the hamster wheel of life.

Finding new strategies to enable flourishing is the key to growth. Seeking out new ways to develop creates forward momentum. That's what I want in life—to move forward.

Getting stuck in the past can be debilitating in many respects. I'm also a sucker for nostalgia, so there's a bit of a rub there, but not really. Calling upon good things from the past is a good way to get the motor started again in order to move forward.

A lot of us want great things to happen...and all at once. It's human. But it is okay to move the ball down the field, methodically.

Think Giants vs Bills in Super Bowl XXV (not that turkey of a game from the other night). Coach Bill Parcells championed patience.

The Giants offense held the ball for 40:33, negating the Bills fast-paced, no-huddle offense. The crowning jewel was the opening drive of the third quarter that consumed a Super Bowl-record 9:29 of clock. The Giants waited, and waited...and waited to get the ball into the endzone, going 75 yards in 14 plays, culminating in O.J. Anderson hitting paydirt on a 1-yard run.

Similarly, in The Waiting, the great Tom Petty croons:

The waiting is the hardest part

Every day you get one more yard

You take it on faith, you take it to the heart

The waiting is the hardest part.

Yeah, the waiting is the hardest part

We can learn great lessons from the Big Tuna or The Heartbreakers upon close study. Books too.

In the book Relentless Solution Focus by Dr. Jason Selk and Dr. Ellen Reed, they introduced me to the concept of PCT—Problem Centric Thinking.

PCT is probably the natural state of human beings. For instance, and I think it is an example they bring up, if you are getting chased by a bear, that's a problem. Serious problem.

You need to get away from that bear or else nothing else matters. There will be no future if you don't figure yourself out that situation...immediately.

However, most of our lives are not conducted in the fight-or-flight state. Nevertheless, our mind often tricks us into believing the opposite. Thus, problem centric thought.

Selk and Reed instead advocate for RSF—Relentless Solution Focus. It ties in well with the growth mindset idea brought forth by Dweck.

In my pursuit of solutions and per the recommendation of several people, I recently finished Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. The central idea behind this book is to change your mindset and instead of asking "how do I do this?" or "how can I do this?" to the question of "who can do this for me?"

There are so many things I am able to do, but I have to ask, "is my time best spent doing this task?" Often times the answer is "probably not."

Sullivan and Hardy suggest that we find the "Whos" in our lives and resist the urge to ask "how?" Again, it is a shift in mindset.

So, with this in mind, I am soliciting the "Whos" in my life. I have a lot of tasks and projects that another person might be much better at than I am.

Currently, I am a one-man operation: podcasts, video, websites, marketing, scheduling, publishing, etc.

It's crazy for me to do everything from start-to-finish. I'm finally realizing it.

There's not enough time for me to cram 20+ hours of work into a work day, especially with things that take me multiples of time more than is necessary or appropriate.

If you can help edit audio &/or video or if you fancy tinkering with websites, I'd like to talk. We can help each other do great things. Hamster wheel be gone!

My Calendly has a few slots available for a quick 15 minute meeting. Book a time and see if we are a mutual fit.

As always,

Brian

P.S. -- For more on "mindset," check out our page on psychologist Carol Dweck's book Mindset: