This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.
Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game?
Well, with a name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills.
Try it at progressive .com.
Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates, price and coverage match limited by state law, not available in all states.
You know that feeling when you're at Ross and you find the best gifts for way less?
Like brand name sweaters, the coolest kids toys and plush dog beds?
Get that feeling with every gift and save 20 to 60 % off other retailers' prices.
At Ross, yes for less.
Headspace studio. Hey everyone, it's Sam.
Welcome to Radio Headspace and to Tuesday.
Recently I've been thinking about how my ability to handle critical feedback, whether it's from myself or others, has changed over the last 10 years.
In my early 20s, my insecurity would be triggered when my deeply held beliefs about myself were challenged.
And this was something that I worked on a lot in therapy.
All of this reminded me of what's referred to as a growth mindset.
This is a term coined by Carol Dweck and it pertains to how we evaluate our own talent and abilities.
When you approach life with a growth mindset, you believe that your abilities can improve with practice.
You see failure as a chance to learn and pivot.
You receive critical feedback openly and see it as a chance to improve as you embrace challenging tasks.
On the other end, those with fixed mindsets believe their abilities are innate and unchangeable.
And this leads to a feeling of defeat when you're presented with challenging tasks and an unwillingness to try challenging new things.
I ran into a situation where I observed a fixed mindset in action.
I was at one of my favorite coffee shops and I saw that they had a new spice that they were adding to drinks.
I asked if they could add some to my coffee as I wanted to experiment with a new flavor.
The barista refused, saying that it was for a different drink.
I then offered to pay extra for it and reassured him that I was willing to risk not liking it.
Again, he refused. So I stood there confused and irritated.
Finally, I said, you know, I'm just surprised that you wouldn't want to experiment.
My sister who was with me giggled at my persistence and at the quirkiness of the moment.
But this was a moment of a growth mindset, meaning a fixed mindset.
When you embrace a growth mindset, you're committed to continual improvement and you see creative risks as opportunities to innovate and improve.
So take a moment to think about your own mindset.
Where does it fall along the continuum of growth versus a fixed mindset?
The good news is that we have agency when it comes to our mindset and we can shift it with practice.
One way of building a growth mindset is to practice mindfulness meditation.
This type of meditation helps us to see our habitual thought patterns objectively so that we can choose different more helpful thoughts instead of the limiting ones.
We're learning about our minds habits and exiting the habit cycle by seeing them as they are before choosing to believe them.
When we're faced with a difficult thought like, I'll never be good at this.
We can ask ourselves four questions to challenge that thought.
And these four questions come from the book, Loving What Is, Four Questions That Can Change Your Life by Byron Katie and Stephen Mitchell.
We can ask, is this thought true?
And then ask yourself, is it absolutely true?
Are there exceptions?
And then you can ask, what does it feel like to have this thought?
What does it feel like in your body and your mind?
And finally, you can ask, what would it be like if I didn't have this thought?
And this helps us to open up to a new way of relating to our thoughts, opening the door to new beliefs that are aligned with a growth mindset.
And if you're looking for more ways to grow and expand your mindset, my friend and colleague Dora has a Transforming Difficulties meditation in the Headspace app.
Until next time, take good care and I'll see you back here soon.
Hi, I'm Melanie, a tech lead at Capital One, where we use Serverless at scale.
Recently, my team used Serverless to build an API that lets you generate a pass you can add to your digital wallet for a faster check -in at Capital One Airport lounges.
And we made it reusable, so other Capital One dev teams can also implement digital pass services.
Our Serverless first approach allows engineers like me to focus on the fun part, building impactful solutions for our business and our customers.
That's technology at Capital One.
Learn more at CapitalOne .com slash tech slash Serverless.
