Mindset

There is no shortage of writing out there extolling the importance of managing and cultivating your mindset, and it’s with good reason! There are hundreds of books, articles, studies, etc., on the very real effects that your mindset has on your mood, mental health, and sometimes your outcomes in life.

And you know what, this is another article to add to the list — because of science! Studies show that repetition significantly increases our ability to remember things, and when it comes to changing your state of mind, that’s a pretty big ask.1 So, the more that you are reminded about the power of your mindset, the more likely you are to take action.

Pause for a minute and think about the last time you changed your mind about something. It might have been a long-held belief or opinion, or maybe it was as simple as reframing the way you think about incorporating fruits and veggies into your diet. Whatever it was, consider how long it took you to make that change. How many times did you have to tell yourself to go do something good for you before your mind caught up to that desire? How many times did you have to challenge your belief about someone or something?

Your mindset is everything. When you have to do something that you don’t want to, you can change the energy around it by changing your mindset, even if it’s not true. In the post about Excitement, I mentioned an experiment where people said, “I’m excited to do [an activity],” even if they were terrified or bored by the idea of it.2 Some subjects did this before giving a presentation or singing karaoke in public. No matter what the action was, just by stating, “I’m excited,” their entire experience around the event changed. Did it mean they weren’t scared or uncomfortable anymore? No. But for that moment in time, their brain believed that they were.

The point is, if we logically know something isn’t true, our mindset can still change, even for a little while. Over time, we can pave those neural pathways until our mindset on something truly has reformed.

“The mind is everything. What you think, you become.”

— Buddha

For example, I naturally like to stay up late and wake up late, but for my entire career, I’ve had jobs that required me to wake up around 6:00 a.m. or earlier. That’s 20 years of rough mornings. Lately, it started weighing on me, so I tried to turn it around. How can I make it easier to get up early when I’m biologically wired not to?

I started changing my mindset around waking up early. I reminded myself that I love sleeping, and that reminder helps me get excited to get into bed earlier. When I set my alarm, I tell myself, “It’s going to be so easy to get up at 5:30 a.m. I’ve done it hundreds of times already.” When the alarm goes off, I tell myself, “I can’t wait to get the day started! I’m so excited!” Now, I realize this all sounds corny as hell… but it works. The mornings when I’m too groggy to remember to say, “I’m so excited for today!” are harder than the mornings when I do say it.

What is one area of your life that you want to work on, and how can you minorly tweak your mindset about it? Can you simply change a “have to” to a “get to” or say, “I’m excited about this!” Recently, instead of saying, “I have to go on a run,” I say, “I get to go on a run.” Just that small change of words makes all the difference.

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”

— Theodore Roosevelt

If you’re thinking, “This is stupid, I’m just lying to myself,” then just know you’re not alone. Thousands of people have been in that same boat. But the truth is, sometimes we have to do things in life that we don’t want to, and we have a superpower within reach that can make these undesirable moments a little better: it’s our mindset.

Maybe you don’t want to say the “untrue” thing because it doesn’t align with where you are in your life right now. It’s like the old adage, “If you want something you’ve never had, then you have to do something you’ve never done.” Do you want to be more successful at work? Then start by telling yourself that you’re the best at what you do and you deserve to be promoted. Do you want to establish healthier habits? Then tell yourself you love doing that desired habit, because if you love it, then you’re more likely to keep up with it. Maybe you’re just in a bad mood and you can’t shake it. Tell yourself, “I feel great right now and I’m having the best day.” It won’t completely flip your disposition, but it’ll have an incremental effect, and sometimes that’s all we need to get through the day.

This week, try to control your mindset 1% more to align with how you want to feel, what you want to do, or who you want to be. You have all the power you need to completely change your life 1% at a time.

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

— Henry Ford