Why does it all begins with the right mindset? Is the mindset really important to help us achieve what we desire? Let’s explore this.
What is a Mindset?
A mindset is a way of thinking. It is a collection of thought habits of how we make sense of what is happening around us. These thought habits are our mental inclination towards what we believe and how we see things, and often affects how we think, feel and act.
Conditioning Your Mind
The natural conditioning of our brain is formed through the repetition of thoughts, feelings and actions. How we were raised, our experiences and beliefs strengthen the neural pathways in our brain that form the brain’s pattern of thinking, feeling and acting.
Habits, beliefs and perceptions are the result of the natural conditioning of our brain. The beliefs we hold in our mind forms our attitude which shapes our mindset, and our attitude in turns strengthen the habits we have which reinforces our mindset. Your mindset is what leads you to your destination of the life you create for yourself.
Two Types of Mindsets
The growth mindset
When challenged or faced with something difficult, you believe you can do it. You learn and develop the skills to solve the matter at hand.
The static mindset
When challenged or faced with difficulties, you believe you are hopeless and provide all sorts of excuses why it is undoable or unreachable.
Why Growth Mindset Is Important?
As Carol S Dweck explains:
Growth Mindset (Intelligence can be developed)
- embraces challenges
- persists in the face of setback
- uses effort as the path to mastery
- learn from critics
- finds lessons and inspiration in the success of others
As a result, they reach even higher levels of achievement.
Fixed Mindset (Intelligence is static)
- avoids challenges
- gives up easily
- sees effort as fruitless or worse
- ignores useful negative feedback
- feel threatened by the success of others
As a result, they may plateau early and achieve less than their full potential.
Why It Begins with the Mindset?
Significance of Powerful Positive Thoughts and Actions
As pointed above, when we have a healthy and growing mindset, we can accomplish great achievements.
AS WE THINK WE ACT,
AS WE ACT, WE ARE
AS WE ARE, WE THINK.
I find this to be very true based on my own experiences with my life challenges. There was a time years ago, when I was going through one of my darkest period in life, it was a growing mindset filled with gratitude and positivity that drove me to become alive again.
Mind you, it wasn’t easy when all I wanted to do was to lie on my bed and wished my sorrow away. Everything that was the essence of me, all vanished into thin air. On many days, I was aware of my zombie state. I was also very aware that it all begins with my mindset, but my mind refused to do anything. Until one fine day, my inner strength finally broke through my weaknesses and called out to me. Enough was enough! I awoken with the tenacity to dig myself out of the mud hole I buried myself in.
Initially, the journey of returning to my true nature was arduous. Every single day, I had to consciously push myself to look inwards to find the true essence of me again and in what I believe in – growth, positiveness, gratitude, and love. I strived to be mindful in my thoughts and actions. Every morning, I gave thanks daily for another day to work on my shortcomings. I remember to be grateful for everything around me, even on days when I did not feel grateful at all. When negative thoughts arised abruptly, I purposefully rewired my mindset to change them into powerful positive thoughts, and focus on the moment of where I was and what I was doing. There are still days when unwanted negative thoughts appear. I just observe them, accept that yeah, I’m human and move on from that thought. It is what it is as part of my growing and learning journey where I work on improving my mind power. As I think, I am.
Which Mindset Do You Have?
It is our present mindset that determines the life we create. How we think and what we decide to do today leads to a future of what we did in the past.
The problem though, is that most of us are not mentally strong enough and we have yet to master the growth mindset. Without a growth and positive mindset, it is always easier to look at the external factors for blame in our current life. It is always easier to give up than to struggle. A person with a fixed mindset has limited beliefs that often leads to self fulfilling prophecies which prevents him or her from being their personal best.
Mental Conditioning
Train your mind to rid the default negative beliefs and impressions planted in your brain Modify your thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs to accept reformed positive thinking patterns that will ultimately optimise your performances.
Observe your thoughts
- Keep a log of your thoughts.
- Are your thoughts more positive or negative?
- Why do you think the way you do?
- Understand the mechanisms in your thought patterns so that you can address them.
Be aware of your thoughts.
- Realise that your subconscious mind cannot distinguish between truth and false.
- Whatever you feed your mind constantly and repeatedly will be accepted as its truth.
Build good thoughts habits.
- Be in control of your thoughts.
- Do not give power to negative thoughts.
- Whenever a thought that does not suit your purpose pops up, tell yourself it is ok but it is not you.
- Discard it and consciously bring a good thought to counter that negative thought. Tune in to positive thinking Remember, what you repeatedly tell yourself is what your mind perceive as the truth.
Build Mental Toughness Of Positive Thinking
- Focus on gratitude. Be grateful for the good things in your life. Write 5 things you are grateful for.
- Believe in who you are. Write 5 positive affirmations about yourself and read them out when you awake and before you go to bed. A trick here is to look at your eyes in the mirror as you make the affirmations, totally believing in yourself.
- Train your brain to speak in positive ways. Have positive responses to everything that happens to you. Do not allow external factors to control your emotions.
- Whenever a negative thought or feeling arises:
- STOP.
- FOCUS ON BREATHING.
- COUNT to TEN before you respond.
- Tell yourself you are no longer that person and return to the present moment with a good thought.
Positive Thinking, Mental Toughness, Focus and Concentration
You can increase self awareness of your mental and physical states by
- having a clear positive vision of what you want to change
- understanding why you want the change
- develop the positivity, mindset and focus to achieve the change
It all begins with the mindset. So, plant good thought seeds to sow great intentions and form robust habits to gift yourself a growth mindset that endures and overcomes all your challenges. Namaste.
