[Free Chapter]
How to Think Better in 7 Days Learn how to think better, be happier and more positive, in just 7 days
M Salek
Table of Contents Preface Introduction Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Next Steps Closing Thoughts Bonus Resources Other Books About the Author
Copyright © M Salek
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
First edition - May 2020
*
*
*
All the material contained in this book is provided for educational and informational purposes only. The author, his agents, heirs, and assignees do not accept any responsibilities for any liabilities, actual or alleged, resulting from the use of this information. No responsibility can be taken for any results or outcomes resulting from the use of this material. This book is not “professional advice.” The author encourages the reader to seek advice from a professional where any reasonably prudent person would do so.
While every attempt has been made to provide information that is both accurate and effective, the author and his affiliates cannot assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions, including omissions in transmission or reproduction. Any references to people, events, organisations, or business entities are for educational and illustrative purposes only, and no intent to falsely characterise, recommend, disparage, or injure is intended or should be so construed.
Any results stated or implied are consistent with general results, but this means results can and will vary. The author, his agents, and assigns, make no promises or guarantees, stated or implied. Individual results will vary and this work is supplied strictly on an “at your own risk� basis.
Preface It won’t be an exaggeration for me to say that I have lived and experienced a fair few things. Beginning with my first entrepreneurial venture at the age of 13, I’ve had several careers spanning multiple sectors (successful ones by general standards), traveled over 40% of the world, lived in several countries, wrote several books, personally helped over 10,000 people significantly improve their lives.... I’ve tried my hands at a lot of different activities, skills and experiences, to (temporarily) sate my insatiable curiosity. I made and lost money. I have faced struggles, often significant ones, struggles that seemed impossible to overcome at the time.
My lessons, I am certain, will continue, and I still have a lot to learn. But through all that I have been through, and experienced, I have picked up a few things. Things that I believe can be helpful to others. I started writing books to share what I have learned, and experienced. This book is no different.
If you follow my writing, some of the content in this book will be familiar, since it is mostly a compilation of things I have written about before, be it on my own blog or on the web in general. It was about time to bring them together to create something more actionable, and impactful.
For some time now it has been on my task list to create a simple and straightforward guide that will help people improve the way they think. Towards that goal, I have tried my best to keep this book as simple, actionable, short, and effective as possible.
I really hope you, my reader, find it useful. Let me know how you get on.
Wishing you all the very best, Salek 1st May, 2020
Introduction There
is
one
common
denominator
for
everything
in
our
lives.
It is what connects everything: big and small, good and bad, right and wrong, happy and sad, and so on. It
is
what
affects,
Can
influences,
you
Here
denominator
that
happens
question
our
lives.
it
is?
answer...
our in
in
what the
is common
everything
guess is
It The
and
thoughts. is
the
way
we
think.
This all influential factor, our thoughts, affects and influences everything in our lives. EVERYTHING. This is why exactly the same situation is experienced by two people in very different ways. This is why some people see the proverbial glass as half empty while others see it as half full. And this is also why some make lemonade when life gives them lemons, while others don’t. The way we think affects, and influences, absolutely everything in our lives. So it goes without saying that changing the way we think, i.e. our mindset, is a good way to change our lives (if not the best way). It is the single most important thing you can do to impact the quality of your life. The equation is simple: • Thinking well = Good quality of life • Thinking poorly = Bad quality of life If you want to improve the quality of your life, this is the starting point. Without fail.
For unless you improve your mindset, no number of external perks will ever make you truly happy, fulfilled, or successful. To have any chance at creating a life by design, you need to fix the way you think. To have a genuine, positive, long term impact on the quality of your life, the way you think always will be the starting point. Here’s the good news: it’s not hard to do, improving the way you think. Takes a bit of learning, awareness and practice. But once you get the ball rolling, it gets easier. Anyone can improve their thoughts. Everyone has the capacity to elevate their mindset. And this book will give you a simple and straightforward path to achieve just that. Follow along, apply what you learn, and in 7 days you should be in a place to begin the work of elevating the way you think and improve your mindset, if not completely transform your mindset. Let’s begin.
Day 1 Objective: Understand what is mindset, and fixed mindset ——————————————————————
Why mindset matters The way we think matters.
Why?
Because it affects the way we feel.
But why is that important?
Because the way we feel ultimately determines the way we act. You know how you act very differently when you are really angry, or sad, this is why that is. And this is precisely why one of the smartest pieces of wisdom around is to not act out of anger.
This is the concept of mindset.
To put it simply, our mindset is the way we think.
It is our operating system.
A person's mindset determines how that person thinks. the way we think determines our actions. It does a lot more in fact, as it determines everything we do, and even how we feel. This makes our mindset an extremely important matter, as it affects every part of our lives. The difference in mindset, ultimately, is why two people facing the exact same situation will often come out with very different results, one better than the other. The difference in mindset is why some people stay stuck, while others move forward.
So why do some people stay stuck?
It is nearly always because they have a fixed mindset.
What is a fixed mindset Remember that phrase about an object in motion staying in motion? The opposite is also true - an object at rest stays at rest. That is not just a saying by the way, it's a fundamental principle of physics.
It is, in fact, Newton's first law of motion.
This is exactly why when a ball is resting, it will continue to stay in place until it is moved, and then it continues to move again.
A fixed mindset, then, using Newton's first law of motion as an example, is a mindset that's at rest. It is stationary mindset. It stays put, it doesn't move forward. This makes fixed mindset the opposite of growth mindset, which is a mindset that's all about moving forward and progress, but more about that on day 2.
Someone with a fixed mindset is destined to not moving forward, if moving at all. They are people who are perpetually stuck. That is, until their mindset changes.
Fixed traits When talking about fixed mindset, one factor that absolutely needs to be explored is that of abilities.
Now, here is one of the most fundamental characteristics of people with a fixed mindset they believe their abilities are "fixed". That is to say that they believe they either can, or they can't. Fixed mindset is the mindset that leads to beliefs like how people are born with talents, and they cannot be developed. When someone is absolutely convinced that they either have it or they don't, that their abilities and talents are fixed, they won't even try since there isn't any point in trying.
Let me put it like this - if a person believe that they do not have the talents to be a good student, they won't even try to be a good student, because as far as they are concerned, what would be the point? Since they were not born with the talents of a good student, why would working at it make any difference? That would be the thought process of someone with a fixed mindset. Because, based on their beliefs, they just were not born with the necessary talents!
This might seem unreal to you, but lots of people think like that. If you don't, however, then I'm sending you a virtual high-five, because that means you are clearly on the right track.
As for that limited way of thinking that fixed mindset embodies, here is the reality - it is never that black and white. It is never as simple as some people being born with talents while others are not. If it was that simple, most of the people that we read about today would never have made their mark, or gotten into the pages of history books.
For example, if Abraham Lincoln believed that he did not have the talents to be a politician, he never would have become one of the greatest politician's the world has ever known. It's not as if he did not have reasons to believe he did not have what it takes. Quite the contrary. He had many, many setbacks - setbacks which could have lead him to believe that he did not have what it takes to be a politician. Thankfully, though, he had a growth mindset, so he did not believe his abilities were set in stone. He worked at it despite the challenges. He kept at it, and that hard work and perseverance ultimately helped him create history.
Then there's Edison, the poster-child of perseverance. He famously failed nearly a thousand times while creating the light bulb. He could have given up after the first 5 or even 10 attempts. By general standards, 10 tries are plenty of tries, right? Surely after ten failed attempts it would be reasonable to think that it just is not meant to be? But that is not what he believed. He believed it could be done, so he kept at it. And he got it done. If he had a fixed mindset, we might not be in the age of technology that we are enjoying right now.
What a difference mindset makes...
They are not the only ones by the way. History is full of examples like that. The record books are full of people who have gone and done the impossible, because they did not believe that
their abilities and capabilities had limits. They had a growth mindset, which meant they kept going despite challenges, and setbacks, and obstacles, and often lots of them.
This is the mindset, after all, that resulted in Colonel Saunders creating one of the biggest fast food franchises in the world right now (yes, I am talking about KFC), and is also the mindset that was instrumental in Henry Ford revolutionising transportation. It's not that they did not face challenges, because they did, and a lot of them. But their mindset was not fixed. They never believed it could not be done, they never believed they were not good enough, they never believed their talents were defined at birth.
Quite the opposite.
They had faith in their abilities and their ideas, they believed it could be done, they believed that setbacks were opportunities to learn from, and that mindset enabled them to keep going until they achieved what they set out to achieve.
Growth mindset is what enabled those who created history, to create history. And that, by the way, is a key difference between those with a fixed mindset and those with a growth mindset. People with a fixed mindset rarely, if ever, achieve any goals or accomplish anything great. On the other hand those who accomplish great things always have a growth mindset. Without fail. Because without having a growth mindset, it would be impossible to keep going when the obstacles crop up. Which they always do, for the road to achieving anything worthwhile is never without obstacles.
Life just is not a bed of roses, and it is just the reality of things.
Doing the impossible Let's examine the limits of possible, and impossible, now for that is a major construct of fixed mindset.
Napoleon famously said that the word impossible does not exist in his dictionary. That was a testament to his mindset, his operating system. He had a growth mindset, and that mindset enabled him to achieve incredible feats. Now, don't get me wrong - I am not commenting on his actions - wars are never good. What I am commenting on, rather, are his achievements, which were extraordinary by anyone's standards.
And he is not the only one. Of course.
Ever heard of Roger Bannister? In case you have not, he is the guy who first ran a mile in 4 minutes, the guy famous for the 4-minute mile. He did this in 1954, at the age of 25, in under 4 minutes (3 minutes and 59.4 seconds to be exact).
Before he achieved that feat, it was widely believed that it was impossible for a human being to run that fast, to run a mile in 4 minutes, or less. But then he did it. If he believed in the claims of what was possible and what was not, if he believed that he just was not capable of achieving such a feat, he never would have done it. He never would have even tried.
There were plenty of reasons to believe it too, to believe that he just did not have what it takes since according to the experts of the time the human body was not capable of running
that fast. But his mindset refused to accept what was not possible, and that helped him achieve the impossible. His is an extraordinary case, but it does prove the point.
Since then his record has been broken, multiple times. The current record stands at 3 minutes and 43.13 seconds. So much for humans not being capable of running a 4-minute mile.
People who created history by doing the impossible, people like Roger Bannister, they believed that even if things seemed impossible, they could be done. That it was still worth giving it a shot, and giving it their best. And that helped them achieve the impossible.
Let's face it - impossible, at the end of the day, is nearly always a matter of perspective. What we often believe to be impossible is simply a matter of imperfect knowledge or information, or even a matter of what we have learned from society about what's possible and impossible.
In the early days people believed it was impossible for the Earth to be round, for if it was then we would literally fall off! But then it was proven, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the Earth was, in fact, round.
People believed it was impossible for humans to ever reach the moon. Then humans went to moon.
People believed it was impossible for humans to ever climb the Everest. Then Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed it.
People believed it was impossible to ever go far into the space or land on another planet. Then the Rover landed on Mars.
What was once thought impossible have been proven to be possible, over and over.
The boundaries of impossible are always changing. What was believed to be impossible 5, 10, 50 years ago is not impossible today. And the same will happen to what we believe to be impossible now, they very likely will not be impossible a few years from now. We might very well have a transporter technology like the one in Star Trek, and immortality might become a reality. Who knows. But the point isn't about how far science and technology will go, but rather, about what we believe. Because the technologies and scientific breakthroughs that make the impossible possible start in someone's mind, and those people can not come up with such ideas if they believe their ideas are impossible.
All the breakthrough discoveries and inventions we have had, if their inventors had a fixed mindset, they would have labeled the ideas "unrealistic" and moved on to more "realistic" pursuits.
We are living in the world we are today thanks to the fact that those people had a growth mindset.
How we think matters, a lot. THAT is ultimately what makes impossible possible.
So, to sum it up, here is the definition of fixed mindset: it is a belief system where people believe that reality, abilities and qualities are fixed. They believe that what's impossible is
absolutely never possible, and that their capabilities and talents are set in stone and can never be improved or changed. That's the mindset which leads to beliefs like "you are either born with it, or you are not".
Fixed mindset limits people's abilities, as they never really scratch the surface of their true potential. That's the mindset that gets people to give up too soon, and the mindset that holds people back, and leads to a life of regrets.
It should be abundantly clear by now why having a fixed mindset is bad for you. In case this hasn't quite sunk in yet, have another read. Sometimes going over something multiple times deepens our understanding, as the repetition helps our minds consolidate the information better.
So, to reiterate - fixed mindset leads to the belief that we cannot grow and improve, while growth mindset establishes the opposite belief.
Now before I end today’s lesson, I have something I would like you to do today, a selfintrospection/awareness exercise of sorts: I want you to examine your mindset. Ask yourself: do you have a growth mindset, or a fixed one? Ask yourself about what you believe you can achieve, about what you believe about your talents and capabilities. Jot down the answers, think about them - examine how true they are, and if they are helping you or harming you. If your beliefs, your mindset, if harming you then it's about time to change them, and replace them with beliefs that will help and empower you.
These exercises and questions will help you build self awareness, which is key to upgrading your mindset.
That’s it for today. Do the action steps, read today’s again if the concept of mindset and fixed mindset aren’t absolutely clear. To get the most out of the upcoming days lessons, you need to be clear on these concepts.
See you on day 2.
*
*
*
Action steps: 1. Define mindset, in your own words 2. Define fixed mindset, in your own words 3. Self-awareness exercise: Ask yourself, do you have a growth mindset, or a fixed one? Ask yourself about what you believe you can achieve? about what you believe about your talents and capabilities. Jot down the answers, think about them - examine how true they are, and if they are helping you or harming you. If your beliefs, your mindset, if harming you then it's about time to change them, and replace them with beliefs that will help and empower you.
Next Step Hopefully what you read so far was useful, and insightful. To carry on learning how you can think better in 7 days, get the book. It is available on most book retailers, including Amazon, Kobo and B&N. :Having trouble finding the links? Then use this link /http://mhasalek.com/booksbymsalek/how-to-think-better-in-7-days