Ed’s letter: Naomi Larkin ponders the benefits of a positive mindset.

Over a bowl of spaghetti I told my daughter about a course I attended which focused on the importance that state of mind plays in achieving goals. I talked about the golfer who had the skills, knowledge and experience but it was his mindset that saw him continually striving to better his game, making him a world champion. Her fork – entwined in tomatoey pasta strands – paused on its trajectory from bowl to mouth and she looked me dead in the eye: “Growth mindset and fixed mindset,” she said. My jaw dropped. She is seven years old. “Yes,” I exclaimed. “That’s it.” I might have expected a 13-year-old to grasp the concept but not a seven-year-old. Turns out our schools are well ahead in the education game.

Retired farmers Jane and Mick Burdon are definitely not bogged down by a fixed mindset. They recently bought electric bikes, though septuagenarian Mick says Jane is too young to own one at age 75. They also oversaw the building of their Arrowtown home, completed less than two years ago, and did much of the landscaping themselves. The four-bedroom designer house (page 78) is just the latest project in a lifetime of adventures including building three homes since leaving their Crown Range farm in 2008 and developing an export peony business. Jane tried bookmaking but is now a committed painter, while Mick still does odd jobs for a building company. Their positive outlook on life is uplifting. “We don’t like the word retirement,” Jane says. “And we are still looking for more land. I think we could have another house in us and that may be the finale.”

I was also supercharged by meeting Joanna and Pawel Grochowicz. The author of a series of “narrative non-fiction novels on the heroic age of polar exploration” and a global governance and strategy expert respectively, they are also the parents of two teenage sons. Pre-Covid their work meant extensive and regular overseas travel for both of them but they still manage to make their Auckland house both look and feel like a real home. Effusive and generous Polish-born Pawel has the ability to make you instantly feel welcome while Joanna’s innate charm is equally beguiling. Their two-storeyed 25-year-old house, which overlooks the Westhaven Marina and harbour, is decorated with thoughtfully selected designer and vintage pieces along with beautiful artworks – mostly created by friends. “I don’t care if it’s not current,” Joanna says. “I’m not in some arms race of improvement or feel the need to constantly upgrade. And whenever we think about doing work on the house, we end up buying art instead.”

These and the other homeowners in this issue are truly inspiring – let’s hope my daughter gets to meet similar role models as she grows and hangs on to her forward-looking mindset.