Mindset is really one of the things I’ve struggled the most to write about, and I’ve written about it many times. The problem has nothing to do with describing what a good mindset is — in fact, I’m about to do that for you with relative ease. The problem has to do with getting the person to act.
If you’re in an unhealthy mindset, more likely than not you’ll read the description of a healthy mindset and think, “This is a waste of my time.” That’s because mindset is literally the way we perceive our world. And yet, there’s no point in writing about mindset for people who already get it. The entire thing seems entirely paradoxical.
At the same time, there are many levels of mindset. Perhaps most of your life perceptions aren’t great, but you’ve gotten to the point where you’re open to try new things (I was once like this back in senior year of high school). In which case, this episode is for you.
The number one rule of positive mindset is to have a realistic view of the external world and an idealistic view of the self. Sure, it’s all true. 99.5% of people don’t care about you. Corporations just want your money. Politics is corrupt. But where most people just stop there, a person with a healthy mindset realizes that it’s not their job to fix all those things — in reality, they’re impossible to fix. Rather, the point is to work around all those things, making strategic moves that benefit you and the ones you care about. That is something much, much more feasible — and is the key to a successful life.
On this topic, don’t compare yourself with others. You probably won’t achieve most of the things others achieve — that’s the realistic view. But you can work around them, and achieve a combination of things that no one else in history has — that’s the idealistic view. It’s not you vs. the person sitting next to you — it’s you vs. you a year ago. A person with an unhealthy mindset: “But there’s only a set amount of people who can work at this job, and (s)he has a better resume than me!” A person with a healthy mindset: “There is always a move.” Trust me — there is always a move.
Do what you can with what you have now. A person with an unhealthy mindset will say its too risky to become their ideal self now, but once they complete X, Y, and Z then it will be possible. But by that point, becoming your ideal self is too late. A person with an unhealthy mindset: “I can’t become a musician, I’ll go broke and homeless!” A person with a healthy mindset: “Life finds a way.” Trust me — life always finds a way.
One last thing: become the fullest extent of what you are. Don’t worry about ideological boundaries, or the beliefs of others, or the global trends. Just worry about you. Worry about that ubermensch we spoke of last episode — the deep, inherent structure of yourself. A person with an unhealthy mindset: “But I’ll be ostracized, and no one will love me!” A person with a healthy mindset: “But you’ll love yourself.” And you’re the person whose love matters the most.
In our third and final episode on life, we’ll be talking about dealing with life’s greatest issue: chaos, suffering, and pain.
Apalla 