Mindset Fertiliser
Do you ever wonder why you do certain things?
Have you ever resolved to change and then slipped back to old ways?
When you look at some of the great changes you have made, do you wonder why you can’t seem to apply that learning in other areas?
I was born and bred in Africa. Education was the only sure route to any form of freedom and liberty. In Zimbabwe, there was no social security system to speak of. If you had no job you would either starve to death or have to rely on family to support you. Education was a privilege.
On the backdrop of this, one would imagine that I did exceedingly well at school. Sadly I took my education at one of the best schools in the country for granted and look back regretfully on many days spent playing volleyball rather than studying. No surprises - I did not graduate with a glowing report. I was very fortunate to secure a job as a trainee production manager before the results came out. Working life was a reality check and wake up call. Picking the easiest option whenever I felt under pressure was not a mindset that served me well. The study required was relentless and, done on the back of 8+hour days in a steel factory, I defaulted to my high school approach of finding a fun alternative to study.
A turning point arrived in the person of a sprightly 80+ year old. Eric Hoyle was my Workstudy/Time & Motion lecturer. His sharp mind, high standards and humble character drew the best from the whole team. He personified the freedom of knowledge blended with wisdom of application. He taught that mindset had to change before behaviour did.
“How to change mindset?” - the question beckoned me, teasing with flashes of freedom and opportunity. Pictures with motivational quotes were all the rage. “If you always do what you’ve always done - you will always get what you have”; “Nothing changes if nothing changes”; “The first part of any journey starts with the first step” - these, and other quotes, took on new meaning. I started searching, dabbling, exploring the self help field. My epiphany moment came wrapped in a statistic (maths being my least favourite subject at school, I always smile recalling this). “The average person reads one non-fiction book a year.” As that truth sunk in, my heart raced and I reasoned “If I read a book a week I will be 50 times ahead of the average person!”
I did not know how I would do it. I just started. Reason would have argued that I read too slowly. I did not want to be reasonable. I wanted to grow. The “how” arrived in an unassuming plastic box 10 cm × 6.3 cm × 1.3 cm. The cassette tape opened up a world of rapid learning. “Turn your car into a university on wheels!” It was like an IV drip straight to brain! My world changed.
How do you learn best? In this age of the information revolution, find your fertilizer! You choose how you intake this. Drip feed yourself new thoughts, ideas, concepts. Turn on a steady stream - immerse yourself.
Mindset changes when you feed yourself new “settings” - new thoughts, ways of thinking, ways of perceiving, exploring, deciding.
Here's to your success!
