MINDSET ZONE

On the last episode, I focused on the the first agreement from the book: The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. I spoke about “Be impeccable with your word" and reflected on the Power of Words. I even shared some insights from recent psychological research that can help us take this concept to next level, and avoid “The Inverse Power of Praise” Today, I want to focus on the Second Agreement - Don't take anything personally. Ruiz summarizes this agreement as: 1. Nothing others do is because of you 2. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality 3. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering Let’s think about these three points, one at a time: 1. Nothing others do is because of you Think about a common situation that can happen today with the use of Social Media. You post something really meaningful for you in Facebook. Then, you see a negative comment to that post. Do you take this comment personally? Do you think that person that you never met in your life, is doing that to hurt you, or because of you. 2. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality Let’s go back to the Facebook example. That person's interpretation of your post, triggered an emotional reaction that led to writing a negative comment. So, other people's reactions are a projection of their own issues, and nothing to do with you. 3. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering When we don't take things personally, that can be liberating, and prevent us from feeding our own insecurities. So, “Don’t take anything personally" it’s a powerful maximum to live with. Yet, I have the tendency to react to absolute words such as “anything”. It’s easy for me to live by “Don’t take this personally”, yet “Don’t take ANYTHING personally” is going too far. I’m quite good in applying this principle to critiques and other people's negative opinions. I’m good at developing a thick skin, yet the price I pay, is I become numb and this prevents me to enjoying and savoring the praise and positive feelings. So, I decided to apply a twist to this principle inspired by Social Psychology's Attribution Theory. Attribution Theory tries to explain how individuals interpret their success and failures via 3 dimensions: 1- Locus of causality: internal to external The cause of success or failure can be internal – due to factors that we believe have their origin within the person – or external – due to factors that we believe originate in the environment. 2- Stability: Stable to Unstable The cause of the success or failure falls within a stable (constant) to unstable (fluctuating) continuum. We believe a cause is stable – when the outcome is likely to be the same on another occasion. We believe a cause is unstable – when the outcome is likely to be different on another occasion. 3- Controllability: Controllable or Uncontrollable The cause of the success or failure falls within a controllable to uncontrollable continuum. We believe a cause is controllable – when we perceive it as under our volitional or optional control. We believe a cause is uncontrollable – when the circumstances cannot be willed to change. Let’s go back to the Facebook scenario above as an example of a Negative Situation. Negative Situation We post something really meaningful for us in Facebook. Then, we see a negative comment to that post. We take this very personally We see the situation as a big crisis. "How can that person dare to write that? How can that person be so insensitive? I shouldn't have posted that.” "I should know better by now. What was I thinking?" “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have posted that in Facebook.” We interpret the crisis as our responsibility and as something that will happen again (internal locus of causality and stable).

On the last episode I spoke about the book: The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. I explored what Ruiz calls Self-Limiting Beliefs. I call them Mindset Blind-Spots because we are not aware that we hold them, and yet we filter our experiences through them. I even started a 7-day Awareness Challenge for myself. Just to become aware of some of my self-limiting beliefs, and to try to articulate them. The reality is that we all have many of these Mindset Blind-Spots. Don Miguel Ruiz suggests to replace these Self-Limiting Beliefs by The Four Agreements: 1. Be impeccable with your word 2. Don't take anything personally 3. Don't make assumptions 4. Always do your best Today, I want to focus on the first agreement “Be impeccable with your word," and reflect on the power of words. Ruiz defines this First Agreement - Be impeccable with your word - as: Speak with integritySay only what you meanAvoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about othersUse the power of your word in the direction of truth and love We often use expressions such as: "Those are just words." “Too much talking and no action." "Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me." And so forth. All these expressions view words as powerless. Yet, if that was true, why do we get so hurt by words, why do we keep remembering words that someone said to us. Having the capacity of using words is something distinctly human, and we should recognize that words are powerful. Don Miguel Ruiz emphasies the power of words. He writes: "The word is not just a sound or a written symbol. The word is a force; it is the power you have to express and communicate, to think, and thereby to create the events in your life. You can speak. What other animal on the planet can speak? The word is the most powerful tool you have as a human; it is the tool of magic. But like a sword with two edges, your word can create the most beautiful dream, or your word can destroy everything around you. ... Depending upon how it is used, the word can set you free, or it can enslave you even more than you know." Let me give another example from another book. Dr. Carol Dweck, in her book Mindset, writes about the power of negative labels. She even refers to research studies that show that to check a box to indicate your race or gender can evoke a stereotype and lower test scores. It seems that this happens at a subconscious level. Words, their meaning and associations are very powerful. Yet, it’s not enough to replace negative words by positive words. It’s not enough to replace negative labels by positive labels. For instance, do you know that praising kids for their intelligence can be counterproductive? See the video below that summarizes some of this research. jQLeadBrite("#leadplayer_video_element_54C1190A5CCA1").leadplayer(false, "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"); We can learn a lot from these type of studies. We can learn to avoid “The Inverse Power of Praise”, and focus our positive words to praise other peoples effort in a specific and concrete wa...

At the beginning of the year, I like to re-read books that impacted me in the past. This year, I decided to read again The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. It’s a beautifully written short book that calls our attention to the many self-limiting beliefs we hold in our lives. The author, Don Miguel Ruiz, calls these beliefs agreements. I like to call them Mindset Blind-Spots, because we are not aware that we hold them, yet we filter our experiences through them. According to Don Miguel Ruiz, if we learn to replace these self-limiting beliefs by The Four Agreements proposed in his book, we can change our lives for the better. These Four Agreements are: 1. Be impeccable with your word 2. Don't take anything personally 3. Don't make assumptions 4. Always do your best In the next episodes of this podcast, I will focus on these agreements. Today, I want to explore the concept of agreement as a self-limiting belief which we hold without awareness. This is why I consider these self-limiting beliefs as Mindset Blind-Spots. Yet, unlike the visual blind spot I described in Episode 6: Blind Spots - We All Have Them, we are not born with Mindset Blind-Spots - we learn them. Don Miguel Ruiz calls this learning process the domestication of humans. It’s how we typically learn how to live and how to dream. This often happens at a subconscious level. We start to believe in certain rules as truisms that we don't even consider to challenge. These can be rules like saying “Thank You" when someone gives us as a gift. To take as fact that if someone says we are “dumb”, “ugly”, “bad” that also must be true. I see this process of domestication as part of being human, living in an organized society. Yet, I like the idea of living in a society where I have some say about the rules that govern it. Luckily enough, I lived all my live in countries ruled by democratic regimes, where theoretically, we have some say on the rules. Yet there are so many implicit and subtle rules that are not written, but are as strong or even stronger that the written ones. I want to have a say on these rules too. Even if it's to agree that I want to keep following that rule. This is vital, because often these are the rules that govern our personal lives. I know that I cannot be in a state of constant analysis – that would lead to analysis paralysis. I would be so overwhelmed that would prevent me to do any meaningful action. Yet, I like to create spaces where I become aware of these unwritten rules. This helps me to become aware of my own Mindset Blind-Spots. I see this as a three-step ABC process: Step 1: Awareness – Become aware that we have many self-limiting beliefs that make us react in a certain way Step 2: Breath Out – Remind myself that I have the power to press the pause button. I don’t have to react, I can choose how to respond Step 3: Create My Response (following my own agreements) I speak about this on Episode 8: React or Create–Your Choice. Love the quote that Stephen R. Covey attributes to Viktor Frankl: “Between stimulus and response there is a space.In that space is our power to choose our response.In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” I love this quote because, we usually see a stimulus as something that activates a response almost automatically. There – between stimulus and response – Frankl sees a space. A brief space where we have the power to choose our response. A brief space where we can learn to be creators of our lives and not just be reactors. This is very powerful and transformational. My challenge for the my next 7 days is to focus on awareness - Step 1 of the ABC process described. The goal is to become more aware. Whenever possible, I will write down my awareness or feelings about the situation. What are the rules am I following?How do I feel about them?Do I feel I need to do this,

Perfection - I strive for perfection. I always did, and I still do. I like to do things as well as possible. I'm always looking for ways to improve. I know that perfection is an illusion. It's impossible to produce something totally flawless, but why not to try to create something as good as possible. In preparation to produce this Podcast,  I invested the time and money to learn from the Podcast Answer Man, Cliff Ravenscraft. To launch this podcast, I invested the time and money to learn from John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneurs On Fire. I decided to do this podcast – MINDSET ZONE – because I know that I can create experiences that will help my listeners to expand their possibilities about what they can do and be. Most of the episodes have been solo, and I only bring guests for interviews, when I think that adds significant value to the overall experience to my listener. I'm also aware that when we do a podcast interview, we increase the reach of our message to a wider audience. We are potentially speaking to our own peeps and well as the people who already follow our guest. Thus, to bring the Best-Selling Author Michael Port, to the last week's episode was a very important event at both levels (to create an incredible experience and increase the reach of the Mindset Zone to new listeners). I wanted this interview to be as to be perfect as possible. I Did The Prep Work I had prepared the topic and questions I wanted to cover with Michael well ahead of time. I thought I had planned equally well the environment here in my home office to be ready for this event. This happened during my 5 year-old daughter's school winter break, thus I asked my husband to take her out of the house during the interview. There was a miscommunication about timing, and they returned home during the recording. There I was, trying not to panic, and trying to manage everything in order not to ruin my perfect interview. If you are a home based solo-preneur, you probably get this scenario. Not surprisingly my daughter interrupted the interview by saying hello in the mic (she loves mics!). Again, trying not to panic and bring all my professional skills into play, I utilized the situation to illustrate how we have to be able to deal with situations that are not perfect and yet keep putting our work out there. Courage To Be Imperfect Still, the truth is, it took me a week to gather the courage to listen to the recording and decide if I was going to use it or not. I had worked hard to produce this interview. It was the right timing. My show was trending high in the New & Noteworthy lists in iTunes. I was showing in the main feature chart. I rated: Number 1 in Education>Training and Health>Self-Help Categories.Number 2 in the Business>Management & Marketing category, in both the New & Noteworthy list, as well as, the Top Podcast list. Finally, I was reaching more people, and I knew I had the opportunity to give them an experience that could determine if they will keep following my show (or not). I had to decide to publish (or not to publish) the interview. What would people think? What kind of professional image am I going to project? Agonizing with these issues, I thought of possible solutions. Maybe, I could edit that part out (but, there was solid content that I would have had to cut as well). Maybe, I could ask Michael to re-record the interview, (however, that would delay the release of that episode at least for a couple of weeks). I gathered my courage (and pressured by the deadline to make a decision,) and hit play. The interview sounded better than expected. The Reality... The reality is that doing a good interview with Michael Port is not difficult. If we have a good enough first question, we just have to keep out of his way and he will produce a great show, full of useful and powerful content. Yes,

During this episode, I interviewed my mentor Michael Port about the Think BIG MindSet. Michael Port has been called an "uncommonly honest author" by the Boston Globe, and a "marketing guru" by The Wall Street Journal. He has written 5 bestselling books including Book Yourself Solid, Beyond Booked Solid, The Contrarian Effect, the New York Times Bestseller, The Think Big Manifesto, and Book Yourself Solid Illustrated Edition. He is also known as “The guy to call when you are tired of thinking small." In fact, everything he does is inspired by thinking big about who you are and what you offer the world. Thus Michael is the ideal person to speak about this topic. In this interview we speak about: How to become aware if we are thinking small or thinking big, and if we are going for approval or resultsNon-geeky approaches to Social Media and MarketingTypes of balance that go beyond life and workHow to make the Mindset shift to start to play bigThe concept that all the world is a stageHow to claim who we want to becomeDifferent roles we play in our livesPerfectionismHow to plan the New Year Links referred to: http://heroicpublicspeaking.com/live http://michaelport.com Please rate and especially write a review in iTunes.

The idea behind this podcast is that our mindsets determine the way we see the world. And, because it’s so easy to stay stuck in Fixed Mindsets, that prevents us from learning new things, it’s vital to intentionally cultivate Growth Mindsets. These concepts of Fixed and Growth Mindsets are based on the work of Carol Dweck, a Stanford University psychologist. In her book–Mindset: The New Psychology of Success–she describes decades of research about why people succeed or fail, and how the Fixed and Growth Mindsets play a role in this process. Dr. Dweck's 10-minute TED Talk, “The Power Of Believing That You Can Improve”, gives a powerful introduction to these concepts. One of my favorite golden nuggets from her presentation is how she explains the Power of YET. She begins by describing research studies about how 10-year-old children coped with learning challenges. In her own words: So I gave 10-year-olds problems that were slightly too hard for them. Some of them reacted in a shockingly positive way. They said things like, "I love a challenge," or, "You know, I was hoping this would be informative." They understood that their abilities could be developed. They had what I call a growth mindset. But other students felt it was tragic, catastrophic. From their more fixed mindset perspective, their intelligence had been up for judgment and they failed. Instead of luxuriating in the power of yet, they were gripped in the tyranny of now." So what do they do next? I'll tell you what they do next. In one study, they told us they would probably cheat the next time instead of studying more if they failed a test. In another study, after a failure, they looked for someone who did worse than they did so they could feel really good about themselves. And in study after study, they have run from difficulty. Scientists measured the electrical activity from the brain as students confronted an error. On the left, you see the fixed mindset students. There's hardly any activity. They run from the error. They don't engage with it. But on the right, you have the students with the growth mindset, the idea that abilities can be developed. They engage deeply. Their brain is on fire with yet. They engage deeply. They process the error. They learn from it and they correct it." Let’s think about these studies for a moment. Research shows us that when a child has a Fixed Mindset as regards their skills and abilities they run away from challenges, they even go as far as to cheat, and compare themselves with children who do worse than they do. If they have a Growth Mindset, they see difficulties as a challenge to overcome, to learn from. Their brain fires up, and they engage. These same principles apply to adults as well. Think about the implications of these principles for our personal and professional lives. If we are locked into a Fixed Mindset, we are gripped in the tyranny of now. If we challenge ourselves with a Growth Mindset, we can luxuriate in the Power of YET. So, how can we cultivate a Growth Mindset in our lives? Here are some clues from Dr. Dweck: First of all, we can praise wisely, not praising intelligence or talent. That has failed. Don't do that anymore. But praising the process that kids engage in: their effort, their strategies, their focus, their perseverance, their improvement. This process praise creates kids who are hardy and resilient. There are other ways to reward yet. We recently teamed up with game scientists from the University of Washington to create a new online math game that rewarded yet. In this game, students were rewarded for effort, strategy and progress. The usual math game rewards you for getting answers right right now, but this game rewarded process. And we got more effort, more strategies, more engagement over longer periods of time, and more perseverance when they hit really, really hard problems. Just the words "yet" or "not yet," we're finding,

I had a thought provoking conversation with Sarah Thompson, a financial expert, on how to overcome the fear of running out of money. I invited Sarah, because she has a well of experiences, from working on the corporate world, to her own personal struggles with debt, finances, and success. Now she brings it all together in her own coaching and consulting business - MoreMoneyMentoring.com. Love to hear your comments about this conversation. Others links: Mindset.Zone/8 - Episode 008: React or Create – Your Choice Mindset.Zone/6 - Episode 006: Blind Spots – We All Have Them Mindset.Zone/4 - Episode 004: Growth Mindset – Yes, We Can Learn It Thank you for the iTunes Reviews! Food4BonesEmpowered PurposeRamona V.Vered K.DrddlDenice WhiteleyHolly CrumpJoshco0752John Murphy (Ireland)TBSolutionsDonDBook Yourself Solid Jason (Canada)KarrenGarrityPoetinprogressWatcha33The Healthy EntrepreneurMalaMonkeyHeather*02Matt McWilliamsLifeForce SolutionsAdrienne Olso Your reviews encourage us and help others find this podcast! Please rate and especially write a review for us in iTunes.

If you are trying to make a difference – with whatever you are doing at this moment in your life – do you see age as an advantage or a disadvantage? Today, in our western society, a common belief is that as we age, our opportunities to make a difference diminish. Often we rationalize our inertia. We feel we are too old to make a deep impact in the world. We want to make a difference, but can we really make it happen? We listen to the amazing stories of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. They started working in their garages as teenagers and changed the way we live, with companies they founded before they reached their thirties. If we are over thirty, it’s easy to think that we missed our chance. Many of us still keep trying to make a difference – yet, we “shrink" our goals, because we think that it’s too late to aim higher. It’s so easy to accept this fixed mindset that justifies not thinking big. Even worse, we give up, we surrender to regret. This is a common trend: "As we age and we start to see this disconnect between what we aspire to be, and what we aspire to do, and what we're accomplishing, and what we were told we can't accomplish, regret builds, picking up in the late forties. There is that pressure, and human nature says that we have to look for a way to relieve that pressure. So we look for a source of information that tells us that we really can’t accomplish. We go back to that idea that society presents that it’s the young that matter. To relive that pressure, to give up, we find those sources of information. In fact we give up, that relieves the pressure, regret goes away, we lose our opportunity, we lose our drive."- Jonathan Sackner-Bernstein’s TEDx Talk However, if we look at the facts, they can surprise us. For instance: Nobel Prize winners of the last decades are in their mid-to-upper fortiesA significant number of founders of successful companies are in their forties or fifties And, if you keep looking, you will find many examples of people that make a huge difference at an even later age. Instead of seeing age as a sign of decline and narrowing opportunities, why not to challenge yourself to see age as an opportunity to ramp up our efforts, stretch ourselves, expand our abilities, and make a deep difference in this world. [Tweet "Age is an opportunity to ramp up our efforts, stretch ourselves, expand our abilities, and make a deep difference in this world"] It’s our choice. We can start to talk back to our fixed mindset voice, and start to take growth mindset actions. Begin by seeing the full TEDx Talk from Jonathan Sackner-Bernstein. Here is another snippet: “Age is an advantage. Those of us who are over thirty-five, over forty, even over fifty, are the people who can make a difference, who have the skills to make the difference, who must step up to make the difference."- Jonathan Sackner-Bernstein’s TEDx Talk jQLeadBrite("#leadplayer_video_element_548A853C9D7D2").leadplayer(false, "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"); Note: I became aware of this TEDx Talk via Seth Godin's Blog - I really recommend t...

Take a minute to do this awareness exercise: Look around the room and count how many red objects you see. Write that number down. Now that you know how many red objects you saw, do you have any idea how many blue objects were there? If you are like most of us, you didn’t notice the blue objects. So look around one more time and count the blue objects around you. Quite amazing! It’s similar to when we buy a new car and suddenly we are more aware of a particular brand or color. If our mind is focused on one thing, we often will see more of it around us. Think about this. Is your mind more focused on negative or positive emotions? As I mentioned in Episode 8, it’s difficult to ignore the negative. Negativity screams at us. When we bite a really hot chile pepper – we feel it! Positive emotions are like eating a comfort food. We enjoy it, but we are not always fully aware of that positive feeling. It’s more difficult to focus on positive emotions. Our body is wired to notice the negative, and we have to train ourselves to counteract this tendency. Sonja Lyubomirsky, in her book, The How of Happiness, explains that our well-being is determined by: - 50% – a genetic set point - 10% – life circumstances - 40% – intentional activity (what we think and what we do) This is essential to keep in mind – scientific research shows that 40% of what determines our well-being has to do with our mindset – what we think and do daily. This means that we can train ourselves to see more positivity around us. We can train ourselves to focus on what bring us: Joy | Gratitude | Serenity | Interest | Hope | Pride | Amusement | Inspiration | Awe | Love This reminds of the old story, adapted by the Positive Psychology researcher and author, Barbara Fredrickson: One evening, an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people.He said:- My son, the battle is between two “wolves” inside us all.One is Negativity. It’s anger, sadness, stress, contempt, disgust, fear, embarrassment, guilt, shame and hate.The other is Positivity. It’s joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspirations, awe, and above all, love.The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:- Which wolf wins?The old Cherokee simply replied:- The one you feed. Everyday, every moment we have to decide what wolf to feed – negativity or positivity. [Tweet "Everyday, every moment we have to decide what wolf to feed."] Think of the possibilities.

Why do we spend so long to decide about a name? The name of our children, the name of our pets, the name of our business. I spent a long time thinking about how to name this podcast. If you followed me from the inception of this show, you know that I started as the "Self-Employed Professional Making a Difference” Podcast. Yet, I decided to rebrand it as the Mindset Zone. I explained my reasoning in the new reloaded Episode 1 (click here to listen it). I now understand better some Native American Traditions on naming. From a Western perspective, we see a name as something we are given at birth, and will remain forever– just as the brand that the cowboys used to burn on their cattle - it cannot be changed. Within some Native American Traditions: names usually change over an individual’s lifetime to reflect milestones, accomplishments, and actions. * Since one of the goals I had for this podcast was to expand our possibilities - why not rename it as the MindSet Zone. My invitation to you is: "Unlock possibilities by changing your mindsets. You will expand what's possible - for you, for the ones around you, for the world. You're moving into a land of both blind spots and learning, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the MindSet Zone." [Tweet "Unlock possibilities by changing your mindsets."]