This 1 Mindset Changed My Life Forever

I think of it as my superpower.

As I’ve grown professionally, I’ve unintentionally developed it, and it has massively impacted my life.

The mindset?

Being okay with looking foolish trying something new.

As a teenager I never had a problem trying something new.

I don’t mean something like new food (which I never like to change up), but any sort of activity I thought looked interesting, fun, or necessary in pursuit of a goal. Anytime we try something new there’s always the risk of looking unintelligent, stupid, or awkward. And that’s alright, at least it always has been for me.

Some people are paralyzed with fear at the thought of trying something new.

This is why I consider this mindset my superpower.

I have had 13 jobs and started 4 different businesses. Each one was more daunting than the previous. However, the work and life experience I’ve garnered is nothing short of irreplaceable.

None of them would have happened if I wasn’t okay looking foolish.

When we first started our painting company, there were countless times I answered a question a customer had and looked totally ridiculous. I look back now and cringe, but I never would have learned to say the right thing if I wasn’t at least willing to say the wrong thing at the time.

When I had my first ghostwriting client, I was terrified.

I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to capture their voice, that they would want a refund, that they would tell other people I wasn’t a good ghostwriter to work with. But that didn’t stop me from trying.

Here’s why:

There is an initial resistance to overcome whenever trying anything new.

You’ve been trying something new your whole life – you just haven’t realized it.

Anytime you push yourself beyond the initial learning resistance of something new, that is you implementing this superpower. We used to have no problem doing it as kids. But somewhere along the way people get insecure.

The mindset I developed to overcome this insecurity comes down to one simple fact:

Learning anything new requires x number of hours or attempts before becoming proficient.

So why not get those out of the way as quickly as possible?

If it is a universal fact that trying something new requires a bit of awkwardness in the beginning, I want to get those reps in as quickly as possible.

Once you accept this as FACT, the insecurity starts to fade away.

Then comes proof.

Proof that you can try something new and eventually become proficient over time.

Now you have a record of trying new things and it being okay.

Once that proof begins to stack you start to look at opportunities from a different perspective. You say to yourself “I bet you I could try this, and if I stay with it long enough to get past the initial learning curve, I could probably become proficient at it.”

Once you’re operating with this mindset, you’re superhuman.

Nothing will stand in your way.

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