January 16, 2023
Future Self
How to Reset Your Mindset
Are you aware that your mindset can determine your success in life? If you are living a life you do not want, chances are your thoughts and beliefs are the culprit. Everything you think, feel and do is a direct result of what you do with your mind. How do you then change your mindset to be the person you want to become?
What is mindset
The Cambridge dictionary defines mindset as a person’s way of thinking and their opinions. It includes one’s perspectives, beliefs, attitudes, and expectations. It is how we see ourselves and the way the world works.
Mindsets can come from our experiences. When good or bad things happen to us we form attitudes and habits related to those experiences. If something unideal occurs, we often do things that would protect us because we believe there is a threat.
Each one of us has different beliefs and expectations because of our past experiences hence, we react differently under the same circumstances. Our mindset can also come from behaviors, emotions, and ideas that we see in the world around us.
Society dictates how we think, decide or act because as human beings we are social people. We want to be part of the pack because it helps us survive. Doing and thinking otherwise can ostracize us from the comfortable and familiar environment we are in.
As children we are taught values and attitudes that are deemed favorable by our parents or by the people in the community so that we act and behave in ways that are within the norms of society. Doing otherwise is frowned upon for it disrupts the commonality that people have.
As we go through our lives, we develop mindsets that can shape our future.
How your mindset impacts your success
Your mindset plays a crucial role in your success or failure for it directs your emotions and behaviors in different circumstances. What your brain and body does is often a result of what you are doing with your mind.
The way you interpret and react to situations dictates your actions. How well you view yourself can determine how well you can overcome life’s challenges.
Your mindset can lead you to mental health disorders or even prevent you from achieving your goal, but it can also be the force that can turn your dreams to realities. This all depends on whether you have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset.
Fixed mindset and Growth mindset
Carol Dweck, an American psychologist who studied mindset since the 1970s came up with the theory on growth mindset and fixed mindset. According to her, persons with a fixed mindset believe that their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, and fixed traits.
If you believe that your abilities and talents are inherent and cannot be changed then you have a fixed mindset. You think that you can be successful through your intelligence alone without putting in all the effort.
Feeling threatened by the achievement of others, fearing that others can surpass your expertise and take an opportunity away from you can be signs of a fixed mindset. You fear that the talents you have are not enough, so you discourage others from developing themselves.
Furthermore, people with fixed mindsets often give up easily in times of challenges because they are convinced that their abilities are not enough to overcome the setbacks they are in. This in turn can lead to depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders.
On the other hand, Dweck describes the growth mindset is when people understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort and persistence, they believe everyone can get smarter if they work at it.
In other words, you have a growth mindset if you know you can further develop the skills that you have. You know that you can be better or can even gain a new talent through hard work, and persistence.
You are certain that you have the capacity to grow and you consider your existing abilities and intelligence as starting points for your growth. You accept challenges and mistakes and view them as opportunities for growth.
A growth mindset leads you to success because you consciously choose the way you think and act. You are open to other perspectives. You change and adapt your thinking as needed.
A growth mindset gives you control of your life.
Reset your mindset
Knowing a growth mindset can lead to success, how do you then change your thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs?
Stop and look
First, it is necessary for you to stop and look at what you are doing with your mind. What results are you producing? Are you producing the outcomes that you want?
Stopping to reflect on these matters is important for it is only then that you become aware of where you are, what you are doing as well as realize, the lessons you have learned, and what you need to do to attain your goals.
You cannot change what you do not know. You cannot develop if you do not know what to improve on. Reflecting prevents you from becoming a victim of your limiting habits, attitudes, and thoughts.
Knowing where to start gives you the ability to plan what you need to do.
Channel your mind
Second is to channel your mind. It is a tool that can take you to where you want to go, so set it on who you want to become. The pre-frontal cortex of your brain allows you to create visions or realities of the future.
Once you see the future you, identify with that person because when you have a relationship with your future, you will choose a path and act to bring that person into reality.
Listen to the person you intend to be and not the person you currently are. Be guided by the future you. Consider him in every decision and action you take. How will those actions and decisions impact the future you.
Realize also that your mind plays tricks on you. Your mind works overtime and has a habit of thinking and acting in certain ways. If you always do what you have always done, then you are going to get what you have always got.
Studies have shown that the brain continues to develop and change as we grow. Therefore changing the way you think is not impossible. Science has shown that new neural pathways can be formed through repeated actions and thoughts.
Forming new habits, attitudes, and beliefs create new connections in your brain. Through constant practice, actions and thoughts become embedded in your brain and ultimately your mindset.
Gather new perspectives and change the way you think. Be open to ideas and practice positivity. Think of challenges as opportunities for improvement or chances for you to grow and learn new things.
Change habits
Mindset has also been said to be habits of the mind, therefore changing your habits can lead to changing your mindset. It can be difficult to do so, but it is not impossible.
The Stop One Start One Habit Tracker app (ANDRIOD APPLE) simplifies habit replacement. You can download it and take advantage of all the insights, the community and tools it provides to make your journey successful.
Repeatedly doing things that can benefit your future self turns to repeated behaviors or habits. With enough practice what was once hard to do becomes a lot easier.
Meditation, positive thinking, reflecting, exercising, eating right, sleeping for eight hours are good habits that can lead to a better you.
Invest in yourself
Investing in yourself means giving some time for yourself to improve. It is the best investment you can ever make. You can learn a new skill, gather a new perspective, travel, and gain new experiences.
Through these activities you can have new insights and form new thoughts and transforms to a new mindset. When you broaden your horizons, you realize that the things you once thought to be true and useful no longer serves you so you adapt chose those that can lead to a better you.
The power to change is within you. You have choice. You do not have to be the person you are today. You can be someone better. You can be successful and live the life you want if you decide to reinvent yourself now and act.
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Future Self
