Last year as the pandemic forced us all inside, I hunkered down in my home and filled my days with podcasts, news shows, Masterclasses, social media, TV series, novels and movies. I formed one-sided friendships with Emily Abbotte during her Hurdle podcast, learned about wine from James Suckling, finally caught up to the rest of the world by binge-watching Game of Thrones, and read many of my “one day” books, the ones I’ve been carting around since college but never really had a chance to dig into (a few of my favorites: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Beloved, and Lean In). It was a comfort to surround myself with virtual friends and mentors, but it has also left me feeling a little muddled. My thoughts were suddenly so crowded with the thoughts of others that for a while it felt like I’d forgotten how to think for myself. I had over-consumed and under-produced.
In order to re-tip the scales, I’m trying to spend 2021 giving more than I take. It can be easy to hide behind the guise of “learning” by filling all of our time and energy with other people’s ideas, without ever really applying them, or considering ideas of our own. This year, I want to stop hiding.
And by far the place in my life where I consume the most content is in personal growth and development. I’ve read all the research and learned all the tactics, even the really ridiculous and shitty ones. So I figured maybe this year I’d take a break from that kind of content. It’s not going anywhere, and just because I put it down for a few months doesn’t mean it won’t be right there for me to pick back up again whenever I want.
In the meantime, I want to spend some time thoughtfully applying the things that I’ve learned thus far to actually formulate my own opinion on what works best for me. For example, do I agree with Warren Buffet’s philosophy of ruthlessly pursuing one passion and avoiding all other interests in service to greatness, or do I have a differing point of view? Do I benefit from crafting a vision board full of lofty goals or are tiny habits done slowly over time more my jam? Whatever it is, I’d like to spend this year finding it, so welcome to the journey!
I’m calling this my “mindset thesis” because the process feels similar to the process I learned for long-form paper writing in college:
research –> hypothesize –> outline –> test –> revise –> finalize
Of course I’ll be share all of these steps with you on the blog over the next few months, starting with a recap of the research I’ve spent a decent chunk of my adult life doing (lit review, anyone? English majors? Hello?). From there I’ll craft a hypothetical mindset thesis of my own, outline it, test, revise and finalize. If you are a huge nerd like me, maybe you want to do this too! Or you have suggestions for where I should begin, which I would love to hear about.
So much good can be done when we all find the courage to think for ourselves, which in 2021 can sometimes feel like a radical act. Thanks for being on this journey with me, and I hope it encourages you to examine places in your own life where you might be taking someone else’s word for it when you should be taking your own.