Mindset of the Mighty
Mindset of the Mighty
Based on learnings from the life of Kurt Vonnegut, Amy Purdy, Ryan Holiday, Alexander III and more.
A bunch of advice on mindset based on stories, speeches and writings by Kurt Vonnegut, Ali Adbaal, Ryan Holiday, Alexander III and Amy Purdy.
Disclaimer: All advice is autobiographical. This advice is advice I would have given myself at some point of time, it may not always apply to you. Your Mileage May Vary, Take what you like best and leave the rest.
Kurt Vonnegut, the author of Slaughter House Five, and Joseph Keller, the author of Catch-22, were at a party hosted by a hedge fund manager.
Vonnegut teased Keller saying that their host had made more money in the last week than Catch-22 had made throughout its history. Keller agreed but added that he had something the billionaire didn’t have, THE IDEA OF WHAT IS ENOUGH.
It is the excessive desire of what one doesn’t have which renders them unable to enjoy what they already have.
Everybody seems to have clear idea of how other people should lead their life, but none about their own.
Everyone knows their destiny when they are young. At that point in life, everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream. As age increases, a mysterious fear creeps in and starts to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their dream.
This causes people to be afraid to pursue their most important dreams as they feel that they don’t deserve them or that they’ll not be able to achieve them.
Think about it, what is more painful: To try and fail or to live your life in fear of the failure?
Fear has lead to more procrastination than failure ever will.
Luck is not an intensive factor available to a few, Luck happens to those who make things happen.
An year from now, you’ll wish that you had started today. START NOW.
Don't Give Up - Phoebe Cary
If u keep on going
And never stop
U can keep on going
You can make it to the top
Life is full of mountain
Some are big and some are small
But if you don't give up
You can overcome them all
So keep on going
Try not to stop
When you keep on going
You can make it to the top
Amy Purdy lost her spleen, both her kidneys and her legs beyond her knees due to a case of bacterial meningitis at the age of 19. With 2% chance of living all hope was lost, but she didn’t give up. After an horrible amputation of legs it was certain she wouldn’t walk again. Against all odds, she didn’t give up.
Only six months have passed since she retired from competitive sports with 1 gold in New Zealand Winter Games and 1 Silver and 2 Bronze in the Olympics.
She was the runner up on season 18 of Dancing With The Stars. Moreover, her performance is among the top ten in the show’s 31 season run.
She was the first Paralympian to make it to the cover of Woman’s Health Magazine.
“We all have challenges. You can let them be obstacles or roadblocks, or you can use them.” - Amy Purdy
In life sometimes we fail and then we try again and again, keep on improving ourselves and then we succeed.
But if we accept that we are never going to succeed, we will never be able to.
Broke is like a decision went wrong. Poor is acceptance and making that failure your destiny.
To get more done, you need to work more.
You don't work more by preparing to work, thinking about work, talking about work, posting about work.
You work more by working.
Don't let anyone confuse you.
You don’t need an intricate morning routine to get stuff done, you need to wake up and get working. The middle potion is just to get you into ‘the working state of mind’ make it as simple and short as possible.
Whatever the other person did is on them. Whatever your reaction is to their remark or action, that’s on you. No one can make you angry, only you have that power.
Someone can certainly say something offensive or stupid or mean, but no one can make you upset—that’s a choice.
This is worth remembering always. You shouldn’t give away your power over yourself. You shouldn’t let others bait you. You shouldn’t allow yourself to be provoked. But most of all, you can’t blame them if that happens.
Because you control you, nobody else.
When Alexander was conquering the world, certain countries would offer him pieces of their territory in hopes that he’d leave them alone in exchange. Alexander would tell them that he hadn’t come all the way to Asia to accept whatever they would give him, but instead they were going to have to accept whatever he chose to leave them.
That’s the position your passions and goals should have. They should not be given the time that is left after everything is over, they should have their own block of time and everything else should reveolve around them.
The mind must believe it can do something before it is capable of actually doing it. The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful. Listen to your self-talk and replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Regardless of how a situation seems, focus on what you do want to happen, and then take the next positive step forward. No, you can’t control everything that happens to you, but you can control how you react to things. Everyone’s life has positive and negative aspects—whether you’re happy and successful in the long run depends greatly on which aspects you focus on.
No matter your approach, you need to set three expectations before embarking on any journey:
First: Expect results. Choose to be optimistic about the impending benefits. They are many.
Second: Expect that this process will require discipline, perhaps more than you believe you currently possess. That will build as we go.
Third: Expect to tackle this work alone. Be willing to be a solo contrarian, even if no one else understands what you are doing.
The Book Buying Rule: If you are thinking of buying a book, buy it. Don’t waste five seconds debating about it. Applying even a single idea from a book is worth it
And that’s all I have to offer. If you liked the post, click the heart and if you are interested in more such content; Please consider subscribing.
Thanks for Reading,
Warm Regards,
Arjun Agarwal.