Mindset: The Foundation of Success
During my recent “study with me” livestream, a comment from one of the participants struck a chord. The individual remarked, “C is hard,” referring to the C programming language known for its complexity, especially for beginners. While I acknowledge the difficulty of C, I have reservations about such statements, and here’s why.
Yes, C can be challenging. But my issue isn’t with its intricacy; it’s with the mindset we adopt when labeling something as “difficult.” Our brains are naturally inclined to gravitate toward simplicity and shy away from adversity. When we approach a task, already deeming it challenging, our brain—our primary decision-making tool—might discourage us even before we begin. If we manage to start, the slightest resistance might urge us to take the easiest route: quitting.
The mindset with which we approach problems or challenges significantly influences our perseverance and outcome. It’s crucial to frame challenges in a light that motivates rather than demotivates.
I advocate for a mindset shift. Instead of viewing challenges as insurmountable obstacles, consider them as opportunities to prove your mettle. Embrace the thought: “Yes, C is tough, but I am tougher.” Every challenging situation you face? You have the capability to conquer it. And if you ever doubt yourself, remember that countless others have faced similar challenges and emerged victorious. I firmly believe that not every individual who overcomes such obstacles possesses superhuman abilities.
The journey to success begins by conditioning your mind to see potential in adversity and continuously propel you towards achievement, no matter the odds.
Dr. Ehoneah Obed (Pharmacist, Software Engineer, Health Informatician, Founder)
My work focuses on identity engineering, which is the deliberate process of designing and updating who you are, personally and professionally.
Most people experience identity as something fixed or accidental. It is shaped by parents, early success or failure, education, and society’s definition of what a “good life” looks like. They adapt to it rather than questioning it. What most people do not realize is that identity is not just something you discover. It is something you can actively engineer.
Personal identity engineering is about gaining control over how your beliefs, values, and self-concept are formed and reinforced.
Professional identity engineering is about translating that internal identity into skills, work, leverage, and visible contribution in the world.
When people feel stuck, it is rarely because they lack motivation or talent. It is because they are trying to change outcomes while leaving the underlying identity system untouched. Careers stall. Confidence collapses. Direction feels unclear. The system keeps producing the same results.
I learned this by rebuilding myself multiple times.
I trained as a pharmacist for six years. While working in hospitals, I began learning to code alongside my job. That led to building real software, selling products, transitioning into software engineering, completing a master’s degree in health informatics at the University of Toronto, and now building startups and systems full time. Each transition followed the same pattern. My identity did not change because I thought differently. It changed because I took specific actions that produced new evidence, and that evidence forced a new story about who I was capable of being.
That is the core mechanism behind identity engineering.
Identity updates when you intentionally generate evidence that contradicts your old self-image, then compound that evidence until the old identity can no longer run the system.
This blog is where I document that process. I write about how to design identity experiments that are small, controlled, and reversible. How to build proof-of-work that changes both how you see yourself and how the world responds to you. How to move forward without waiting for clarity, confidence, or permission.
This is not motivation and it is not coaching. It is systems thinking applied to human change.
I also write The Ledger, a weekly record of systems and experiments for building a life you own.
And I built the Identity Audit, a diagnostic tool that helps you understand your current identity state before you attempt to change it.
I am not presenting a finished theory. I am engineering this in real time, using my own life as the test environment. If you want more agency over who you are becoming, both personally and professionally, you are in the right place.
