This Just In… New Years Edition
Happy New Years and thanks for tuning in! This week’s post features: Mindset by Carol Dweck (book), 14 Ways To Make Journaling One of the Best Things You Do In 2018 by Ryan Holiday (blog), 31 days of TED (ted talk) & more. Look to the bonus section to find out who won last week’s challenge. Enjoy…
Book: Mindset by Carol Dweck (246 pgs)
Success is largely determined by mindset, mindset is largely determined by the way you talk to yourself. This is so critical, yet so many people fail to realize this. In this book, Carol explains the differences between and effects of a growth and a fixed mindset. I would classify them like this:
- Growth mindset: everything is malleable, every moment provides an opportunity to grow. Traits and abilities can change with effort. This mindset is about being kind to yourself
- Fixed mindset: everything is set in stone, you either are or you aren’t and nothing can change that. Traits and abilities are innate and unchanging. This mindset is about being hard on yourself
At the end of each chapter and throughout the last chapter (starting from pg 226), Carol shows the reader ways to recognize the mindset that is guiding their life, understand whats going on, and change it if they wish. Carol says on page 12 that in her book she shows “how these mindsets play out in school, in sports, in the workplace, and in relationships. You’ll see where they come from and how they can be changed.”
Mindsets are just beliefs. You’re only limited by what you think is possible for yourself, how much effort your willing to put in and your learning habits. Learn to become the puppet master of your mindset and direct yourself to a growth-oriented life! If you only focus on changing one thing this year, make it this and watch as your life changes along with it.
Blog Post: 14 Ways To Make Journaling One of the Best Things You Do In 2018 by Ryan Holiday (3 mins)
2 years ago to the day I began keeping a daily journal. It was a really rough end of one year and start of another. I needed something to lift my spirits so I decided to take on the practices of journaling and gratitude. At the end of each day, I would write down what made me happy, what I wasn’t so happy about and what I thought I could do to make thing better, and then I would bullet 3 things 1 was grateful for before going to sleep. I kept this up until Feb. 6th. I started getting happy so I stopped. What a terrible mistake… I soon fell to a place deeper and darker than when I started. I stopped appreciating the good things in my life and the plethora of joy that was around me. It took me about a year to bounce back without a journal to where I made it to in a bit over a month with one. I don’t know why I didn’t pick the practice back up when I starting falling but I cant change the past, I can only make it apart of my future.
Since last new years, I have been jotting down notes and building lists here and there. About 6 months ago I started doing daily journaling with the help of the 5-minute journal. And then there is this, I like to think this is more or less a weekly journal, a sounding board for me to bounce ideas off of. A few of the tips listed I already incorporate and I look forward to implementing the rest of these 14 tactics.
If you don’t journal (yet) make 2018 the year you start, even if you just have a note where every day you list 3 things you are grateful for its nice to reflect on to see how far you have come or to reminisce about a happy memory when you need a reminder that life is good.
Ted Talk: 31 Days of Ideas curated by TED
Ted did something super cool this year (I don’t know if they did it in the past, this might just be the first time I saw it). They rallied together a bunch of influential people (31 to be exact) and had them share their favorite Ted Talks with a description of the talk they picked. Instead of me sharing a particular Ted Talk that I enjoyed this week, I figured I’d let a bunch of people much smarter than me do the writing. I haven’t watched all of these (yet), and I will probably share my thoughts on some of them at some point; for now, enjoy these and let me know some of your favorites.
Bonus: Winner winner chicken dinner
Congratulations to Danny Rosengard for having the most embarrassing story, the lucky winner of last weeks challenge for sharing their embarrassing story about losing his bathing suit while banana boating. I hope this helped you get over or at least alleviate some of the embarrassing feelings. If not at least you won $25, I’m sure Autism Speaks will appreciate the donation. Thank you to everyone else that competed and better luck next time.
Quote: “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot” — Michael Altshuler
Another year passes us by tonight and soon we will be reigning in a new one. As the year closes it is natural to reflect on all that happened…
I was lucky enough to bring in this year with a bunch of friends in New Jersey, then took a road trip to Maryland, made the decision to finish my year in yeshiva and flew back to Israel. In a little over 6 months, I took trips to Lithuania, London, Budapest, Vienna, and Prague finished my term in yeshiva and went back home to New Jersey to intern at a marketing company. 3 months later I decided to come to back to do another year in yeshiva. I met some new friends and I watched as old ones get married. I also started this blog and learned a ton along the way. It was a good year.
Don’t get me wrong I had some pretty bad days throughout this year but I have no reason to dwell on them. If there is one thing I learned this year, it’s that the days are going to pass whether I want them to or not so I might as well make them as good as I can. I did this by taking control of what I could, letting go of what I couldn’t, and focusing as much as possible on the good in order to propel my life to the sunny side.
This is what worked for me, it might not work for you but this year make a resolution to find out what does and take control of your life. Happy New Years, I hope this one is the best one yet!!
What was your favorite bullet in this post? If you had to pick only one bullet to keep in this post what would it be and why and if you had to get rid of one what would it be and why? Send a message or comment below.
Find any good content lately? Send it to thejustproject@gmail.com. Include “I want to be featured” as the subject for a shout out.
Like us on Facebook to stay updated on everything that is The Just Project.
Please share with anyone you think might be interested!
To your growth! Stay curious…
P.S. If you want my notes for the book above, send me an email with the subject “Notes for (insert book name)” and I will happily share.
