ReWired not ReTired

At the end of 2007, Ron was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis – MS. This was completely left field and unexpected.  And yes, initially we were in shock and forced to face the reality of what the rest of our lives would look like!  

In the first few months we undertook loads of research to understand how we could live with this condition and still live our best lives.

Very quickly, we realised that it was going to be up to us to determine how we would choose to live our lives with some of the constraints MS might impose.  

The first thing that was key for us was being consciously aware or paying attention to our thoughts, our words and our actions. This allowed us to make choices of how we would respond to situations – what mindset we needed to adopt.

Ron was asked by many people if he was retiring (he had to leave his 39 year corporate career due to stress, fatigue and because his right arm just didn’t work the same).  We were shocked as the retirement word didn’t even exist in our vocabulary!  We also found it quite annoying as it seemed many people had labelled us with a stereotype that just wasn’t congruent with our lives, values and belief system.  

We also started to realise we did have choices and did not have to fit into a 20th century retirement model that was quickly becoming outdated and not relevant for the world we’re living in today. This was also when Ron coined the phrase that has become our mantra by which we have endeavoured to live – we’re “ReWired not ReTired.”

The right mindset changes everything because it changes how you look at things. When you change how you look at things, it changes how you feel.  When you change how you feel, you change how you think. When you change how you feel and how you think, you change what you do.  When you change what you do, you change your results.

So what’s the difference between a fixed and growth mindset you ask?

If you have a Fixed mindset:

• You believe your innate abilities, intelligence and personality is as you’re born with and therefore unchangeable.
• You believe failure is something to be feared and avoided at all costs.
• You are rigid and set in your ways.

If you have a Growth mindset:

• You believe your talents, skills, habits and traits can be changed through learning and practice.
• You see failure or challenges as an opportunity for growth.
• You are flexible and open to change.

If you have a desire to Rewire Your Life, it’s essential you take a close look at your mindset – is it fixed or growth?  And what might I need to change?

To get started with changing your mindset, here are a couple of phrases, affirmations or intentions you can use regularly to help you transform any fixed mindset areas that are keeping you stuck.

ReWiring your Mind:

1. I am open and eager to learn something new, even if I think I already know everything there is to know about it.
2. What other people think of me or my belief system is none of my business.

When we look back, the single most important thing we did was to change our mindset.  We embraced a Growth mindset and truly believed we could learn anything we needed to, as we embarked on our journey of living the best life we could.

As much as we believe in learning though, we also believe in luck.  As Peter Thiel put it:

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”

 May your mindset help the world conspire with you to achieve your goals and dreams.