Greatness is Created (from scratch, after much hard work)

ByMatthew

I don’t normally include whole posts from other folks, but when I do, it’s generally from Seth Godin (Steve Chandler being the other common exception) (and this one is short… ).

The below reminds me of Carol Dweck‘s amazing work on Mindset.

According to Dweck there are some who believe that the gifts and talents you are born with are all you have (Fixed mindset) and that others say that we can grow our skills, abilities and capacity through intelligent and focused hard work (Growth mindset).

Thankfully, there is significant and compelling evidence for the latter.

But back to Seth’s post…

Take a minute, or 20, to really consider Seth’s brilliant and succinct words:

Actually, it goes the other way

Wouldn’t it be great to be gifted? In fact…

It turns out that choices lead to habits.

Habits become talents.

Talents are labeled gifts.

You’re not born this way, you get this way.

(Keep in mind, the “you-get-this-way” works both ways… if you practice not developing your gifts and continue to not-go-for-it you get more of that.)

Similar Posts

  • Shift to Appreciation

    ByMatthew

    Trade your expectation for appreciation and the world changes for you. – Tony Robbins When you expect you are needy and in opposition with how the World works. When you appreciate the World it (and everything and one in it) is available to you. When you are in appreciation, you are aligned with the energy of creation…

  • Choose Growth, Focus on Love

    ByMatthew

    One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again. – Abraham Maslow I would edit Maslow’s suggestion a bit and suggest that rather than (concerning ourselves with) “overcoming fear,” that we focus on its opposite: love. Choose growth…

  • What About You?

    ByMatthew

    Everyone wants to be appreciated.  So if you appreciate someone, don’t keep it a secret. – Mary Kay Ash Is it a wonderful, great, generous idea and practice to acknowledge and appreciate others? Absolutely. But you can’t give what you don’t see in yourself. What can you appreciate about you today? Take a minute and, sincerely,…

  • What Actual Humility Is

    ByMatthew

    Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. – C.S. Lewis So many people (or at least the ones with enough self-awareness) get this wrong. They think, consciously or otherwise, that they need to make themselves smaller, or lesser, to be “humble.” It’s a mistake of thinking. You’re amazing. You have…

  • Default vs Intentional

    ByMatthew

    Default. Habitual. Less-than-fully-Conscious. Routine. Comfortable. The Usual. So much of what we do is out of habit. It’s routine. It’s just the way we do it. There’s good reason for how this happens and why. We’re built to create and use routines and habits. It’s efficient. It leaves room to focus on threats and survival. It’s primitive….