by Mojca Henigman, www.mojcahenigman.com
Our mindset is not something we come born with, or something our parents install and we’re forever at the effect of.
Of course, our childhood experiences have an impact on our personality and that includes our mindset, but we now know through neuroscience that we’re always able to change and grow, it literally is up to us.
I like this definition of mindset — “a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations”.
Mindset is like a lens through which we choose to see the world and ourselves.
Consciously cultivating a positive mindset will help you interpret tough situations in your life in such a way that you will get through them in one piece, and dare I say even stronger than before. You’ll be able to see opportunities in every situation, and not dwell on what you can’t control.
We can grow through crises. Actually, I think we either grow or wither. We must ask ourselves, which would we rather?
I say ‘cultivate’ a mindset, because that’s what it takes — conscious effort and perseverance.
Mindset is a set of mental habits, and each habit needs some time (and repetition) to get embedded.
A coaching client of mine recently shared in a session that when we first started working together, she didn’t think much of focusing on changing her self-talk and not believing every thought she had. And now, only a few months later, she’s down with it, because she’s experienced the impact.
Back when we started, all her negative thoughts seemed true to her. And she was getting the results in line with that.
But that’s only because she never questioned her thoughts before. Once she started to, with my help in our sessions and carrying on on her own, she noticed over time that questioning happened automatically.
She had embedded a new way of seeing herself, her thoughts, and her world as a result.
That affected how she went about things and how much more effective she became. She felt less like procrastinating, because one of the things she started was being kinder to herself. This compassionate attitude freed up a lot of energy that she was able to put to good use.
It’s not to say that all the challenges went away in one fell swoop — but they definitely reduced significantly, and some vanished altogether. She created results she couldn’t imagine before.
I’m telling this to show you that new mental habits a.k.a. our mindset, just like any other habit, take some conscious effort before they get embedded in the unconscious.
You just need to make a decision which mental habits are worth putting in place, and which ones you’re ready to ditch because they aren’t doing you any good.
For example, if you’ve ever not believed in yourself, you’d probably been listening to your critical inner voice whilst discarding all the praise that comes your way — sound familiar?
Well, what inner voice you give priority to, and how you respond to it, is a choice on your part.
And a series of those kinds of choices creates a habit, and that shapes our mindset. It isn’t all pre-determined, or set in stone once we’re past childhood.
Our brain and our minds are malleable and adaptable, it’s a fantastic capacity we all have — to change, at any age, and no matter what we’ve done so far.
And best of all, it doesn’t even have to be that hard.
I’m always working at optimising my mindset, and that of my clients. What about you?
Book a call below if you want to see how I could help you choose differently and transform your mindset to support your goals and dreams.
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