On the last episode I spoke about the book:

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.

I explored what Ruiz calls Self-Limiting Beliefs.

I call them Mindset Blind-Spots because we are not aware that we hold them, and yet we filter our experiences through them.

I even started a 7-day Awareness Challenge for myself. Just to become aware of some of my self-limiting beliefs, and to try to articulate them. The reality is that we all have many of these Mindset Blind-Spots.

Don Miguel Ruiz suggests to replace these Self-Limiting Beliefs by The Four Agreements:

1. Be impeccable with your word

2. Don't take anything personally

3. Don't make assumptions

4. Always do your best

Today, I want to focus on the first agreement “Be impeccable with your word,” and reflect on the power of words.

The idea behind this podcast is that our mindsets determine the way we see the world. And, because it’s so easy to stay stuck in Fixed Mindsets, that prevents us from learning new things, it’s vital to intentionally cultivate Growth Mindsets.

These concepts of Fixed and Growth Mindsets are based on the work of Carol Dweck, a Stanford University psychologist.

In her book–Mindset: The New Psychology of Success–she describes decades of research about why people succeed or fail, and how the Fixed and Growth Mindsets play a role in this process.

Dr. Dweck's 10-minute TED Talk, “The Power Of Believing That You Can Improve”, gives a powerful introduction to these concepts.

One of my favorite golden nuggets from her presentation is how she explains the Power of YET.

I received touching comments from Episode 4 where I focused on Carol Dweck's book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.”

Here are a few:

“If you ever wanted to make a difference in the world, you certainly did change my world with this podcast.”

“What a great topic, Ana. I've read Dr. Dweck's book and it really had a positive impact in my life.”

“I started believing something very different, that this is a skill set that I can build with practice and intention.”

Learning about Growth and Fixed Mindset makes a difference, mainly when we realize that we have a growth mindset overall, yet a fixed mindset in certain critical areas. These fixed mindsets, of which we are usually unaware, stop us from being “So Good They Can't Ignore You” (could not resist the plug to Episode 5 about this other wonderful book ;).

All of us have these blind spots. That’s normal.

We are not aware of them until someone, or something forces us to see what we don’t see them.

Did you know that you have a visual blind spot in your eye?