Tell me what you see when you look at you
on (insane) self-belief and developing a positive mind set.
Dear reader,
I hope this mail finds you well. I’m not sure if I’ve said this before, but writing these letters to you gives me a sense of joy and accomplishment, so thank you for sticking with me.
Earlier in the week, I sent my friend a reel from one of my favourite comedians on Instagram and say: this babe really manifested her life.
The manifestation I’m referring to is the fact that she married a rich man like she had been saying she would years ago when I started following her. We make a few jokes and say the usual god-whens, but our conversation takes a more serious tone later. We start to reflect on self-belief and how some of the most successful people in history are people who believed 120% in their talent, skill, and brilliance - even, and especially when they had no reason to.
From Muhammad Ali calling himself The Greatest to Kanye adopting the G.O.A.T (Greatest Of All Time) moniker to Elsa Majimbo saying in an interview: I am a professional bragger, it’s my talent.
In The Secret- a documentary that once aired on Netflix, scientists, writers, and philosophers take a look at some of the world’s most prominent people -Einstein, da Vinci, Plato etc- and propose that the secret to leading a successful life is by aligning your thoughts to positive things you want from life and this attracts those things to you; in summary, you are/become what you think.
While the documentary has received its fair share of criticism, I believe there is something to say about how our thoughts and perceptions of ourselves very often serve as a prophecy for what we’ll become.
For example, if you walk into a room, thinking that you not only deserve to be there but that you are the best person in that room, the energy you’ll carry is just different. You become more confident, assertive and willing to ask questions or challenge ideas. You walk with your head up high and very few people can tell you anything. Cocky, yes. They expand more on this concept in this article.
I’m transported back to secondary school, years ago when one of our teachers made us recite this: what you think becomes how you feel, how you feel becomes how you act, how you act becomes your habits and your habits can determine your future.
Of course, there are millions of people who thought the world of themselves and ended up being merely dreamers and wishful thinkers; all fluff, zero will to actually do the work. Or people who did put in the work, but life just happened to regardless.
Having a positive mindset also shapes how you perceive and solve problems. You’re more likely to see problems as: I’ve not found the answer to this yet as opposed to a: I can never solve this perspective.
It also shapes how you deal with rejection; You’re more likely to think it’s because they can’t recognise your greatness yet than thinking it’s because you’re not good enough and this gives you fuel to keep trying.
That said, maybe it’s all bullshit. Maybe the positive mindset and self-perception thing are all fluff. But I think that when the going gets hard (as it often does in life), and it seems like there’s no way out, it would take an insane amount of self-belief - almost to the point of delusion or idiocy, to keep trudging on, despite it all. And those who trudge on are usually the people who become the greats.
So, in Burna’s voice: Tell me what you see when you look at you.
P.S: I can’t believe I turned a simple Instagram post into a motivational thing (have I become my mum?)
Away from my musings, I read pretty interesting stuff this week, so let’s unpack them:
Pottery lessons might be what you need to learn to stop double texting and obsessing over someone. I learnt detachment this year, so this was such a fun read.
I can’t express how I feel about this article (you would have to infiltrate my inner circle to find out), but it was an interesting read.
We’re constantly in motion. A barrage of places to go, tasks to mark as done, but do we ever pause to just appreciate our existence and the life around us? To notice raindrops on a window, to hear the humming of your air conditioner? To feel the stillness of the air?
Fiction: I really enjoyed reading this story of The Housewife.
What this newsletter is:
Watching: Persuasion. An adaptation of the Jane Austen novel. I understand the concept they were going for; juxtapositioning contemporary lingua with historical times. I just don’t understand why it was necessary, but this article makes a good case for it.
If you’re looking for something nice and sweet, then you should watch it.
Listening to: Tems. There’s just something so soothing about her voice.
That’s it for this newsletter. Thank you for reading.
With love,
Titi.
Gosh titi, I love this because it is something I believe die. Like, I actually believe life is created, not discovered and this is so validating in ways, because i rate you die. Thank you for writing it.
i rate you die too (like a lot lot!)
thank you for reading it ❤️