The power of Mindset and its capability to transform our lives through positive thinking is very underrated. Mindset influences every aspect of our lives consciously or subconsciously (especially when we have that belief for too long). It's the lens through which we view the world, influencing our thoughts, actions, and ultimately our outcomes. Understanding what mindset entails, recognizing the impact of a negative attitude, and learning how to cultivate a positive mindset can profoundly affect personal and professional success.
What is Mindset?
In simple terms, mindset is a set of beliefs and attitudes that shape how we think about ourselves and the world. Furthermore, mindset refers to a set of beliefs or attitudes that an individual holds about their abilities, intelligence, and the nature of their personal qualities. Psychologist Carol Dweck, a leading researcher in this field, identifies two primary types of mindsets: fixed and growth. what word comes to your mind when you think of mindset?
Fixed Mindset
Individuals with a fixed mindset believe that their qualities, such as intelligence and talent, are static and unchangeable. They think that effort and hard work have little impact on their abilities, leading them to avoid challenges and give up easily when faced with difficulties.
Growth Mindset
Conversely, individuals with a growth mindset believe that their abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication, effort, and learning. They see challenges as opportunities to grow, embrace failure as a part of the learning process, and are more resilient in the face of setbacks.
The Downside of a Bad Mindset
A negative or fixed mindset can significantly hinder personal and professional growth. Here are some of the key drawbacks:
Limited Potential
With a fixed mindset, people tend to avoid challenges for fear of failure. This avoidance can result in missed opportunities and a failure to reach their full potential. For example, an employee might avoid taking on a new project because they doubt their capabilities, thereby missing out on a chance to develop new skills and demonstrate their potential.
Can a mindset be changed?
Have you been in a "fucking Gilfoyle" situation when you think your friend's mindset and attitude cannot change? It can actually be changed, you are wrong. Looking at the concept of neuroplasticity which refers to the fact that the brain cells or neurons are plastic(malleable or bendable) we know changing mindset is a fact. over time brain cells or neuron pathways that are used get strengthened(view this part of the brain as a particular mindset). It gets to a point where these pathways are much stronger and it is easy to receive full information about that mindset. To change this mindset you need to begin to use other parts of the brain (thinking differently) while the former part that was stronger gets weakened since it is not regularly visited by the brain again. Neurons that fire together wires together. The more you spend time thinking of something, the more you begin to focus on that thing and the more you are conditioning your mind to literally change the structure of your brain and strengthen the cells involved in that thinking. There are lots of phenomenal stories about people who are paralyzed and training their minds day in and day out by imagining things, and visualizing and they can change the reality of their lives. Always know that your mind is plastic and you can change the structure of your mind. Regardless of your mental habits, you need to know that you are going to have to change your mindset moving forward.
Let's say right now you are operating at your maximum potential you have to change the way your mind works by thinking differently. Everything you think of, focus on, or pay attention to is conditioning your mind.
In every moment of your life, you are making three important decisions which are:
- What you focus on
- What meaning do you give
- What actions you take
A good example to depict these decisions is when you receive a rejection letter. Ask yourself these questions: Do you focus on the rejection or the way forward, what meaning do you give to rejections(obstacles or challenges that help you forge ahead), and what actions do you take after the rejection?
What shapes your mindset?
The factors that change your mindset can be classified into two categories:
- External inputs
- Internal inputs
Everything you think of and consume influences your mindset directly or indirectly. Be careful of what you bug your mind with or intrusive thoughts that come to you. Also, everything about your mindset is your belief. This is why it is important to have positive beliefs about yourself. If you strongly believe that you are smart or strong. These beliefs may go unquestioned in your brain and become your reality if you are big on execution. Unquestioned beliefs form the basics of your mindset.
Classes of Beliefs
Have you taken time to think about your beliefs? Do they keep you going or bring you down? What limiting beliefs do you have? Your beliefs about every decision make you different from others and can be viewed as your mindset 🤝
Challenging your beliefs
Challenging your beliefs can take time as you can have a belief that doesn't change till you kiss your grave. To validate your beliefs you have to ask questions about every belief you have. If these questions return negative for your belief, that belief is best discarded. Some of those questions include?
- What is the actual evidence of this thought?
- Are there exceptions to this belief?
- What is the benefit of this perspective?
- Is this belief always true?
I used to believe my country could not produce good tech talents. After seeing some of my agemates making it big in the tech space I discovered I had to write off that belief. There was no evidence for this thought, there were clear exceptions to this belief, this perspective has no benefit for my life and my growth in the tech space, the belief was not always true. Right there, I have validated my belief and discarded it immediately. That's how challenging your belief works actually.😉
The success Cycle
You have to go through the success cycle of reinforcing great beliefs and discarding negative ones to succeed as a result of your beliefs.
The success cycle starts by looking at your potential, you need to believe you can do it, and you need to take action to put those beliefs into existence. These actions yield results that further reinforce that belief. It is as simple as that. I don't need to overbeat the success cycle as it revolves around these four tenets.
What you need to know about your mind
Mind from Mindset is the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, think, and feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought.
Let's take a deep look at how the mind works, these two are examples of what the mind does which is important to our study. The mind:
- Distorts
- Generalizes
Our mind distorts information in that it gets to diffuse information over time and those information form the basis of our beliefs which is then applied to every areas of our lives(generalization)
Let's have a Journal and reflection 🙌🤝👌
Always have it at the back of your mind that you are a champion and see how this belief will tremendously change a lot about your life.
As a rule of thumb, it is important to note that if you are "gaslighting" yourself and changing your mindset and you don't work towards it(lack of actions) you may not achieve your goal.
As a practice, take your time to write all the limiting beliefs because they are the algorithm of your mindset.
This can be someone's dream as a champion. take time to write yours so you can see the bigger picture and change your mindset.
I am a champion. I can buy anything I want. I can build anything I like. I have been a successful entrepreneur. I have a product that people use. I have my house and cars and look good. I may have travelled out of my country more than once. I am the best at what I do. I am an expert in 5 programming languages.
Thanks for reading. See you on the next one. Holla 🙌👋🙋♂️
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