TOTKAY FOR DEVELOPING GROWTH MINDSET
If you live in a brown household, you must have heard the word ‘totkay’ thrown around casually. From using various items like turmeric or spices for better health to having a tradition of eating almonds before a huge test. The English translation of Totkay is something involving Sorcery/ Witchcraft or Satanism. And it makes perfect sense too! Having turmeric milk and instantly feeling better is nothing less than some devilish Satanism.
Just like those ‘Gharelu Totkay’, Today we will be exploring the totkay of developing a growth mindset.
1- Self Talk: This totka is based on the concept ‘your thoughts create your reality and mindset’. If you keep telling yourself that you cant do a thing, you are more likely to end up not doing it in fact. This can be considered as an augmentation of the ‘Law of attraction’ or the concept of ‘Mantra’ in Hinduism.
This is a totka that I have recently started implementing as well. Writing whatever I want to achieve on a piece of paper and hanging it on my room’s wall, listening to a random guy on YouTube say self affirmations, or surrounding myself with people who constantly remind me that I am doing good, and every effort counts; are all things that may sound stupid to someone who doesn’t know the importance of self talk. But believe it or not, these have helped me at every step of the way.
Here’s a link to the sorcery of affirmations: (lol jk its just a YouTube video)
2- Get out of your Comfort zone: A comfort zone is a psychological state in which things feel familiar to a person and they are at ease and in control of their environment. But staying in your comfort zone constantly can decrease your mental growth significantly. If you don’t challenge yourself, and do things that you normally wouldn’t do, you would never be able to unleash your true potential.
Getting out of comfort zone is one of those totkas that I need to implement in my life as well. A lot of the times I don’t take an action because it seems too far beyond my comfort zone. So I will recommend trying the Kaizen Approach ; which means making 1% effort towards change every day by stepping out of the comfort zone.
3- Create New Habits: We often make goals about giving up bad habits and developing new ones. Be it hitting the gym daily or reading that one book that you promised your friend you would read and it has been resting on the bookshelf ever since. But the question is, ‘Is making the goal, or putting up sticky notes as a reminder of this new habit, enough?’. Of course not. Creating new habits can be tiresome, but it is absolutely essential for continuous growth. And I believe that one of the most effective ways to do this is by making these habits a part of your routine. For example, if I want to take up reading, I would make it a part of my routine by taking out 30 minutes everyday for reading, before going to bed.
Another popular rule in this regard is the 21/90 rule which means you stick to a routine for 21 days, and by then it starts becoming a habit. Once you have established the habit, you continue for another 90 days and by then it becomes a lifestyle.
4- Ask Other for Help: Asking people for help can be a daunting thing. Letting your guard down and being vulnerable is not something that comes easy for the most of us. But we have repeatedly heard slogans like “1+1=11” or “2+2=5”. What these slogans teach us is that the strength of team work is more than individual work. Even if you are doing a task on your own, you will need assistance, guidance or support from the people around you. And being able to accept help is a brave task indeed.
In order to grow continuously, develop the courage to actively ask for feedback and help from the right people.
5- Fake it Till you Make it: This totka again connects to the first totka. Our thoughts create our reality and mindset. Fake it till you make it basically means to act like you have everything under control, even when you don’t necessarily feel like it.
This totka is by far my favorite one. This is something that I always use and it has helped me every single time. A lot of the time I feel like I have no clue what I am doing but I compose myself (oops, did I just expose myself?). I remember taking an interview, where I was extremely nervous and anxious but I got through it because I maintained composure externally. I remember hosting a group discussion unprepared, which I aced because of this totka only. I have learned that people believe people who are or seem self assured.
And that's all on today’s class of learning life through magic tips. Make sure to implement them for a beautiful and ever nourishing mindset! Goodbye.
