Shifting Your Mindset From "I cannot" to "I am Learning"
I have come to understand that one of the things that stop the way to personal growth is not lack of opportunity, time, or lack or talent, but it is the words that you speak to yourself. You will be surprised to know that the words "I cannot" have stopped a lot of dreams, hindered a lot of progress, discouraged a lot of potentials, and even led to more failures than you can ever imagine. This is why instead of saying that you cannot do something, it will be better to say "I am learning." This change in mindset will also affect how you approach challenges, and the way you go about life in general.
Saying that you cannot do something is an easy way to shut the door against opportunities. It means that you have already failed even before making an attempt. It also brings fear and discouragement. But when you say that you are learning, it shows that you are opened to welcome new opportunities and that you are ready for growth, for progress, and for success. This also reminds you that getting success is actually a progress, not actually a destination. Each day you live, you will be met with challenges, and these may be what you have not experienced before. It is your mindset that will determine how you respond to the challenges.
I once worked with a colleague some years back in one of the vacation jobs I did when I was in school. Each time a work was brought by our boss, no matter how complex or complicated it may look, even the ones we never saw before, he would always say "we can do it." He would welcome the job and then we would begin researching on how to go about it. In more cases than none, we would end up succeeding at the job. I observed and learnt a lot from him. If he had been concluding that we cannot do it, it would have affected our work negatively. Your response when challenges come to you will determine the mindset you will use to face the challenge. If you say the challenge is impossible to solve, it will become so. But if you say you can solve it, then you can.
When you take a look at all the skills you have today; starting from the complex work skills, to the simply skills like operating your phone, reading, writing, driving, etc, you will agree with me that none of them came automatically or instantly. In fact, you learnt some of them through consistency, repetition, mistakes, and dedication. This same thing should also apply to the new challenges that you face on a daily basis. You may want to start a new business, go into a new relationship, learn a new skill, or grow in confidence, you have to understand that growth does not come by the fear of failing, but it comes by the willingness to learn. If you will keep learning, then you will keep growing.
When you have adopted a mindset of "I am learning," even failure will become a feedback and not a defeat. With that mindset, you will be able to learn new things from everywhere and in a everything that comes your way. Even mistakes will become lessons, and life itself will become a teacher. This is the mindset that is required to turn stumbling-blocks and obstacles into stepping-stone. You do not need to have everything figured out, you only need to be improving and getting better than you were yesterday. Remember that even a very little step in the right direction is better than a no step at all.
Having the mindset of "I am learning" has a way of building confidence. You will have the inner conviction that you are capable of progress, and it will show in how you do things. By putting this to work, what looked impossible at the beginning will naturally begin to look easy. The greatest achievements in any field of human endeavour will always start when learners refuse to say "I cannot." So anytime you are faced with anything to do, no matter how difficult it may look like, do not say "I cannot," rather tell yourself "I am learning."
Thanks for reading
