Reflections on Amal Totkay
Working towards a goal and staying patient throughout the process isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. When we are destined to a goal, it brings us failures, disappointments and disapproval during the process and only a few have the art to tackle those situations and keep their positive side alive. It’s not easy for everyone to practice perseverance.
I just came across these amazing Amal Totkay which teaches us how we can build a growth mindset and how we can be more persistent. Let’s have a look on them:
1. Self-talk:
Self-talk means deciding what to think and what to not. We are often obliviously telling ourselves that what we are capable of and what we are not. But what if we think on purpose that what to think (a little confusing right). It means we can train our minds positively. We can program our mind the way we program a computer by self-talk. We just need to convert the negative thoughts into positive ones . For example if someone says : “I won’t be able to pass this semester”. It means they are solidifying the thought of failure and a person’s actions are dependent on his/her mindset and whoever has a failure mindset will never think of ways to get the things done. We can transform this static mindset into a growth mindset by changing our negative thoughts to positive ones. We can change the above example positively: “I will pass this semester”. In this way a person would go to look out for ways to get passed. I’ve been practicing the self-talk for about 10 months and it has brought great results. I’ve achieved more than I ever could with a static mindset. If someone really wants to change their mindset I would suggest them to read the book “Mind Hacking”. It really teaches us practically how we can change our mindset and teaches us self-talk.
2. Get out of your comfort zone:
It’s an amazing technique for achieving more in life. Nothing comes your way easy. And we should remember:
Opportunities do not always come to us but we can make them by ourselves.
The hard work we are putting to get ourselves out of our comfort zone helps us in the long run as if we are doing it to learn a skill , we would end up learning it one day and of course sooner as we are compelled to do it no matter how uncomfortable we are. I got out of my comfort zone when I was doing a trainee program for a software house. It was hard to manage with an online semester and an ongoing internship but I made time to make projects for that program . The trainee program consisted of three modules and it was hard to be consistent but I pushed myself to get it done and guess what I am among four individuals who completed the trainee program and got an internship there out of 200 applicants.
3. Create new habits:
Changing your life demands you to change your habits as well. Our habits really make us what we are. I read somewhere that it takes 41 days to build a new habit but we can confine the limit of days to practice more easily and then increase them gradually like I plan to go on a walk for five days and then I aim for another five days. You can be more consistent in building a new habit if you note down the results you produce from your new habits on a daily basis.
4. Ask People Help:
It refers to asking your close ones to give feedback on your performance. We can really rectify our faults in this way. I’ve never done this before but since Amal totkay emphasizes on this technique so I’m definitely going to look out for ways to implement it.
5. Fake it till you make it:
It pretty much relates to your belief that you are believing something even if you don’t truly believe (sounds paradoxical.. right?). But it is an effective way to lead your mindset in a direction you want. You just need to force your mind to think in a particular direction. As a software engineering undergraduate, I’m always suffering from impostor syndrome, but in such situations I just try to teach my mind I know everything and if I’ve come up to a certain point then I can make it to the desired destination as well.
