Day 1 Mindset
The Day 1 Mindset is something that I think about a lot, originally proposed by Jeff Bezos in more of a business context for Amazon about always being willing to take risks.
Day 1 Mindset as Jeff Bezos Puts it
Day 1 is about being constantly curious, nimble, and experimental. It means being brave enough to fail if it means that by applying lessons learnt, we can better surprise and delight customers in the future.
When we lose Day 1, we get to Day 2. Which is absolutely horrible.
BAD: Day 2...
Day 2 is stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by excruciating, painful decline. Followed by death. And that is why it is always Day 1.
My interpretation of Day 1 Mindset
I make my own amendment of what the day 1 mindset means. It’s also about never being entitled to anything you have accomplished.
Steven's Amendment to Day 1
Just because you are the sh-t now doesn’t mean you can be entitled to that anytime in the future. Every day is a new day from scratch. Day 1.
Look at Lewis Hamilton. Every year, he starts from 0. He has the Day 1 Mindset. He doesn’t think just because he was the previous year’s champion, he can just be entitled to that this year. He works harder than anyone else.
It’s always Day 1. Because Day 2 is a stasis …
Let’s evaluate these situations
- Relationships
- Physical Fitness
- Pursuing a career
Every day you start from 0.
Day 1 Mindset for Relationships 👬
Peter: “Remember the excitement, hunger, desire to learn you had on the first day of orientation? How we would sit down at lunch with strangers, excited to know about their culture and perspective? Come Day 2, there’s no novelty, no hype, no reason to grow.”
So day 1 is about being willing to challenge yourself, to go out there and talk to these strangers which might seem very intimidating at first but it’s so exciting.
But to make an amendment to that, it’s also about not being entitled to those friendships you form. So just because you are friends now doesn’t mean you can just stop putting in the work to care for them.
Day 1 Mindset for Physical Fitness 🏋
Just because you are fit now doesn’t mean that will be the case in the future.
Day 1 Mindset for Career đź’Ľ
Just because you find a sick internship now doesn’t mean that you will be guaranteed a good one for the next one. You have to put in the WORK.
Just because your YT channel starts popping off doesn’t mean you are going to be guaranteed this success in the future. You have to put in the WORK.
Just because you got into Waterloo doesn’t mean you are suddenly the sh-t.