The Mindset Guide

Nature is such a good example to us of how constant change is. As the world starts waking up around us, what greater inspiration is there to also wake up?

So as we see buds form on the tree, we can start to become more aware of our presence in this world. What thoughts are dominating your mind right now? What beliefs do you hold that are influencing your present behavior?

The start of the process of shifting mindsets is the awareness of how much they affect you so take some time this week to listen in to the constant chatter that goes on in the background. Who do you think you are? Is that consistent who you want to be?

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.

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We all have many different selves how we act when we are alone differs from how we act when we are with our family, or around friends or at work.

So what is our real self? The answer, I believe is all of them are authentic just different.

Different situations trigger different mindsets. How often have you gone back home and slipped straight back into behaviors learnt during childhood even though you left home decades earlier?

Stress can accentuate certain facets of our behavior. Some people rise to difficult occasions and are able to reveal parts of them that are not normally apparent. Others revert back to childhood patterns. Extreme conditions can remove the veneer, the mask that we all wear. Yet the mask is just as much a part of us, just as real as the core underneath.

All of our different selves are governed by mindsets. Some of our more primitive reactions such as fight or flight are ingrained deeply within us. Others are learned mindsets such as manners.

Our awareness of our own behavior also differs. Sometimes we are aware of making a huge effort and controlling how we behave. Other times we are more relaxed and allow different mindsets to dictate how we act, but it all in the end comes down to the internal programming that we have in our brains.

Change starts in the mind. Whether you want to change your body, your job, your lifestyle, you need first to adopt a new mindset that supports the change. To do otherwise puts you in conflict with your own brain.

The brain can change. In fact its ability to do is astounding. If the brain is injured, it can rewire itself in order to replace lost functions.

We all have many mindsets that determine how we think, feel and act. Many of these mindsets are set before puberty. Though we may not be aware of it, a single comment made by a third grade teacher could influence a major life decision we make decades later.

Our parents are usually the biggest influencers of our mindset.

Our mindsets affect:

our occupation

how much money we earn

what we eat and how much we weigh

our choices of friends and romantic partner

what television and movies we watch

who we vote for

and every single other area of our life.

Our mindsets help inform the subconcious to form filters to the world so that we only see what our subconcious allows us to see.

We are rarely aware of all our different mindsets.