20-year-old communications graduate living in the Waikato, New Zealand. Currently working in internal communications at a technology company in Hamilton. Sharing what I'm learning and contemplating weekly––often related to happiness, productivity, and making the most of our lives.
I like an adapted version: 'You are what you speak.'
Lately, I’ve become a big believer in the power of mindset. Quotes like 'Our attitude on life is what matters, not what life throws at us' and 'We can't control what happens to us, but we can control how we react' resonate with me a lot.
I know going too far down that line of thinking can get pretty toxic––particularly in the self-help, manosphere, productivity-guru world. But on a lowkey note: what we say and how we think really is everything.
I've never been sporty. I've never been overly fit. I've certainly never been a runner.
But recently, I've become someone who likes to keep active!
How? Because I said so.
Don’t get me wrong—I do need to do some sport, run, and keep fit. But calling myself someone who is active? That shift is all in my head. And that identity nudge makes me more likely to keep going.
Believing that I'm not sporty or fit has held me back from becoming sporty and fit. It's all about mindset.
Turns out, I'm now a runner! After months without running, I did the 6km Round The Bridges in Hamilton today.
Got the bib on and don't look nervous at all...
Ready to go with 6,500 other runners!
We did it!
To change our behaviour long-term, we have to start believing new things about ourselves. It's not 'I'm trying to get into running', it's 'I’m someone who takes care of my body and likes to run'. It's not 'I'm someone who wants to read', it's 'I'm a reader'.
When you tell your brain who it is, it gets to work finding ways to prove you right.
What’s the label you secretly want to claim? Writer? Artist? Leader? Morning person...? Go ahead. Think it. Speak it. Do it.
Ben x
p.s. There is some truth to 'you are what you eat' as most of us have the ability to make food and lifestyle choices that impact our bodies and health. However, some evidence suggests that 'you are what your mother ate' is also true––remember that we're not totally in control and to not punish yourself for doing your best.
The core idea of the book is that we underestimate the value of time. We often budget our money well, but not our time, despite the latter being much more precious.
I wasn't a huge fan of the book's writing style, but one key point really stuck out for me as I'm a few weeks into working full-time.
We tend to think of our work hours as "the day", and thus we don't value or plan for the remainder. We have 24 hours in a day: sleeping for eight working for eight, and eight more to use wisely. Many of us seem to forget about that last eight hours.
The idea of there being much to life than work is so important to keep top of mind when we can. I understand this isn't a luxury all of us are offered. But life quickly gets away from us if we don't be intentional. Our days are more than just those eight working hours. We need to claim them and make them count.
👀 This week's standouts
📺 YouTube video - Pianote is a company that sells music lessons and they've created a golden YouTube format: Find a professional pianist, find a well-known hit song that they've somehow not heard, play just the drums and vocals, and then let them improvise a piano part. A Harry Styles song. A Sabrina Carpenter song. A Teddy Swims song. A Dua Lipa song. There's a whole playlist of them. Brilliant. Great content marketing.
📝 Blog post - “63 principles”by Nabeel S. Qureshi. Nabeel is currently a startup founder but was previously at Palantir Technologies. He has been a visiting scholar in AI at the Mercatus Center. He shares 63 things he's learned from experience and that he tries to keep in mind. Will study this over the week.
🎙️ Podcast - The Casey Neistat Interview on Created with John Youshaei. I grew up watching Casey's daily vlogs and he'll long be one of the greatest creators. In this podcast episode, he talks about why he started the vlog, stories around financial and emotional hardship, how he pitched crazy video ideas to Nike and HBO, his best business advice, and more. Really interesting listen.
✍🏻 Quotes of the week
"Sometimes fear does not subside and one must choose to do it afraid."
20-year-old communications graduate living in the Waikato, New Zealand. Currently working in internal communications at a technology company in Hamilton. Sharing what I'm learning and contemplating weekly––often related to happiness, productivity, and making the most of our lives.
