I have been doing a lot of work lately with my beliefs. I am taking inventory of my beliefs – the good, the bad, and the appallingly ugly. I am ushering out the ones that no longer serve me (goodbey, toxic beliefs inherited from the patriarchy!) and welcoming new radiant beliefs.

Here’s one belief I really want to embrace: I can improve myself and grow in my abilities if I put in the effort. This belief is called a “growth mindset.”

The opposite of a growth mindset is a “fixed mindset.” A person with a fixed mindset believes that she is born with set talents and no amount of effort will make them better.

I used to have a fixed mindset, but that belief no longer serves me. It holds me back from trying new things that I feel called to do. Also, it is just not true! I have seen, again and again, how I can improve myself and grow in my abilities when I put in the effort.

I put in the effort after I had postpartum depression and become a less anxious person.

I put in the effort when I wrote my memoir and learned how to write a book. Trust me, the first draft was really, really shitty. But I worked with an editor and learned how to transform the shitty draft into an actual book.

Now I am putting in the effort to change my relationship with food. Noom is helping me tremendously on that front. I have struggled with my weight for nearly thirty years. A fixed mindset tells me that I am doomed to be overweight for the rest of my life.

Fuck that.

I am embracing the growth mindset. I can change. I am changing. I am using my weight loss journey as an opportunity to learn how to love myself in the way the Universe wants me to love my sweet, glorious, magnificent self. So what if I have struggled for nearly thirty years? I know that with work and effort, I can change.