Mind Your Mind
Your Mindset: The mind takes on the persona of everything it has learned. Either through education or experience, self-perception is a compilation of one’s beliefs & disbeliefs. By developing a mind that has a love of learning & a resilience towards challenges, the mind creates pathways of endless possibilities. Educational degrees, careers & societal titles define the roles that people carry. However, it’s the view of one’s self that creates the mindset to improve or not to improve. Is your reaction to failure stopping you from pursuing something you want or is the failure a stepping stone to improve & define who you want to be? Depending on the topic, your answer may vary; however, asking this question will help you to better understand your mindset towards a particular goal.
Growth Mindset: A ‘growth mindset’ believes that one’s abilities & intelligence can be developed & enhanced through dedication, hard work, learning & resilience. Challenges, roadblocks & setbacks are seen as opportunities to grow, learn & skill practice. Old & new goals are approached with enthusiasm & with the anticipation of improvement over time. Ask yourself, “Do I have all the knowledge, dedication, work ethic & persistence to overcome challenges to reach a particular personal goal?” If you said, “Yes,” then you have a growth mindset towards that specific goal.
Fixed Mindset: A ‘fixed mindset’ believes that one’s abilities & intelligence are innate & unchangeable. This type of thinking allows the mind to believe that it does not have the talent, genes or learning capacity to pursue a topic of interest. Perceiving that others have abilities & intelligence strengthens the fixed mindset that these self-imposed limitations exist. A fixed mindset leads to avoiding certain challenges that might expose the perceived limitation. Fearing failure, viewing effort as pointless & avoiding the newbie role reinforces the thinking that ability & intelligence are needed to pursue a specific goal. It limits personal, career & academic growth which results in not pursuing a specific desired goal. Do you have a fixed mindset regarding a particular personal goal?
Mind Algorithm: The mind’s algorithm creates an image of itself by whatever it takes in & by whatever it avoids. To achieve a desired goal, the mind needs exposure to books, videos, research, conversations & groups with the common interest. If one is not actively learning & doing, a goal or ambition remains as a wish. Life mentors, coaches or trainers may help to motivate & support the achievement of a personal goal. By feeding a mind’s algorithm with positive resources & like-minded people, the mind is put in a better position of thinking about its pursuit of wanted traits, skills & goals.
Setup to Fail: Failing is a part of learning & goal achievement. Because of this, one needs to be ready to fail. The anticipation of failing at an activity to reach a goal puts a person in a better position to find out why it happened, how to solve for it and to do it better next time. When you give up on a personal goal, be careful how you label it. Did you give up the desire to learn & work at it or did you decide that you are not good at it &/or lacked the talent & skills? When you anticipate failure, you begin to associate it with the process of learning & doing and not as reflection of who you are.
Education Lover: If you want to achieve a goal, approach the subject as a knowledge deficit. If others are achieving something that causes you to struggle & stress, just think that you have not learned enough about it. By telling the mind that it needs more time to learn & practice, it creates more possibilities of how to achieve the desired goal. If you want it and love the learning, you will get closer to your goal and enjoy the process of getting there. Being an education lover helps the mind go from wishing for a goal to achieving a goal.