#5 - The Art of Possibility
I Am Not Good At Interviews | Hiring Secrets from CEO of Shopify | The Growth Mindset | The Art of Possibility | Women’s Work in Auckland, NZ
Hello,
Here is your weekly dose of ideas and inspiration for a better career. This week I got fascinated by the power of the growth mindset.
How can a simple change in assumptions profoundly impact how we act?
How can we avoid letting a failure define us, and rather see it as an opportunity to discover things that don’t work?
How can a three letter word transform a negative label into a pathway to success?
How can we move from the world of measurement and comparison into the universe of possibility?
You will find the answers in our new articles and book recommendations. And because it’s been the International Women’s Day, a gift is waiting for you at the end of the newsletter: amazing work by women photographers - brought to you all the way from Auckland, New Zealand.
New Article: I Am Not Good at Interviews
When a three letter word changes everything.
Book Recommendation: Mindset
There are two mindsets - two strong and contrasting beliefs - that have a powerful impact on how we see ourselves and others, how we act and react, how we build relationships, how we live our life. The fixed mindset is a belief that our qualities are fixed in stone; it often leads to judgement, comparison and blame. The growth mindset is a belief that everyone can get better through effort; it focuses on learning and growth, and does not let the failure or stereotypes define us. Check what mindset dominates your thinking and how transformational the growth mindset can be, in all areas of life.
Hiring Secrets: Tobi Lütke
Tobi Lütke is the co-founder and CEO of Shopify - “the largest small company in the world” that empowers thousands of e-commerce entrepreneurs. He is a huge fan of the growth mindset and an original thinker. I like his ideas on hiring and developing people’s potential. His unconventional opinions on video games and his powerful concept of trust battery have made me question and reconsider my views on kids development and working relationships.
Book Recommendation: The Art of Possibility
This fascinating book makes a perfect complementary read to “Mindset” and is a powerful reminder that everything in our life is a story we choose to tell ourselves. So why wouldn’t we invent a story, a frame, a worldview that helps make ourselves better, makes those we touch and the world around us better too?
A Souvenir from Napier - Invictus
For the past two weeks, we have been criss-crossing New Zealand’s North Island and have collected many wonderful memories. One of them is directly linked to the growth mindset.
The airbnb accommodation we booked in Napier happened to be the actual house of a large family. Settling in their house for two days and taking a glimpse into someone else’s life felt really special. The eldest of the family’s three children is a fine basketball player. In his bedroom, I found the famous “Invictus” poem framed on the wall. “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.” - Can there be a growth-mindset statement more powerful?
Women’s Work - all the way from Auckland, NZ
Last, but not least, the promised Women’s day gift. It’s another memory from the trip to New Zealand - photography and stories from the “Women’s Work | A Different Lens” Exhibition, celebrating the work of 21 NZ women photographers. The exhibition runs only for 4 days - from 6 to 9 March. I ran into it completely by chance, and it has become one of the strongest visual and artistic memories from the trip. I hope these selected photos will inspire you as much as they have inspired me.
STRENGTH, by Sacha Stejko.
There is strength in the skin I wear. It is both thin and thick. It’s the impregnable shield that protects me from preconceived judgements and expectations of what I should be.
In these series, I wanted to express the tension between a woman’s strength and vulnerability, her toughness and softness, her power and pain.
YOU ARE ENOUGH AS YOU ARE, by Melanie Jenkins
My submission is about young girls realising that they are enough as they are. They don’t need to change the way they look, or act in a certain way to prove themselves in this world. All girls and women should feel and recognise that they’re enough as they are to succeed and be happy.
HERSTORY, by Sara Orme
Herstory makes women’s experience visible.
It’s a collaborative process…An awakening for my subjects and myself; a process of discovery, empowerment and liberation for both of us. Extraordinary in their ordinariness, each woman’s story, no matter how big or small, is unique.
Together we discover our vulnerabilities and strengths… And the spirit of our thoughts and feelings are powered into a single image.
Stay firmly in the growth mindset, be inspiring and inspired,
Arina