The Mindset Guide

Behind every action is a thought and behind every thought is a belief.

To make a change we need to attack the problem at one of these three points.

Often the most obvious place to start is the action. If we go on a diet, for example, we are attempting to change the pattern of eating. The hope is that in changing the behavior, this will filter back, changing the thoughts and ultimately changing the belief. The concept of acting “as if” is also along the same lines.

The problem with this approach, as all of us who have started diets, attempted to follow a budget or taken up a new exercise regime is that it is hard to sustain. We tend to sabotage ourselves because what we are trying to do is running counter to a belief we hold about ourselves. Our subconcious tends to hold on to the status quo.

So can we change our thoughts? Just the very act of monitoring our thoughts can bring an awareness that starts to change us. Studies with pessimistic children who monitored and then changed their negative thoughts into positive ones showed a marked improvement and the children started to change into optimists. When we challenge our belief with new thoughts, we can set up a brand new belief system for ourselves.

Most powerful of all is to go straight to the source - what do I believe that is causing me to think, feel and act this way? What concepts have I built around this topic? This can be hard to uncover as most of it tends to be subconcious and is often from long ago. If you have a fear of dogs for example, it may be due to an incident you do not even remember. Monitoring your thoughts can give you clues to the belief system as can examining your emotions. When you think about money for example, what starts to come up for you? Can you identify the contradictions?

As you start to build up a mindmap - a collection of all the thoughts, ideas and beliefs that you have around subject of the change that you want to make, you will be able to start dismantling the old framework and putting in its place a new set of beliefs that will enable the change you wish to make.