Chris Mance II - Mental Skills Coach

In her preeminent book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. provides a simple definition of mindset. She defines mindset as:

The view you adopt for yourself [that] profoundly affects the way you lead your life.

Dweck goes on to make the case that one’s mindset determines whether or not a person becomes who they want to be and accomplishes their goals. There are all types of mindsets that make these determinations. The one Dweck focuses on most is the growth mindset vs. the fixed mindset. However, other mindsets include:

• process vs. outcome,
• shortcut vs. patience,
• threat vs. challenge,
• short term vs. long term,
• why vs what,
• task vs. ego,
• cause vs. effect,
• impulsive vs. strategic mindset,
• more of less vs. less of more, and
• building strengths vs. fixing weaknesses.

With this in mind, if you want to change your mindset you must understand the basic elements that determine your mindset. There are five of these elements.

1. Thoughts

Thoughts are both conscious and subconscious. We have the ability to temporarily control our conscious thoughts, but ultimately our subconscious thoughts overwhelm our conscious thoughts. We derive our subconscious thoughts through years of conditioning from environmental factors. Some of these factors include our family and friends, schooling, media, and religion.

Taking action: Create a list of affirmations of thoughts you want to change. Read these affirmations each day in the morning and before bed. Choose one of those affirmations as a mantra to repeat each time you have a reoccurring negative thought you want to eliminate.

2. Perception

Perception is how we process (or judge) our thoughts to create our reality. The age old metaphor of viewing the glass half empty or half full is the classic example. The fact is, 10 people can see the same thing, and each see something different.

Taking action: The next time you see something as negative (or with the glass half empty), try to take the opposite view point. Then take time to sit and contemplate the “why” behind that view.

3. Emotions

Emotions are a judgement of your perceptions. These judgements you make have the potential to cause physiological changes. For example, anger may cause your heart rate to go up, stress may cause you to sweat, and happiness or sadness may make you cry. Understanding your emotional triggers and how to manage them play a big role in well-being. In addition, understanding emotional intelligence is the first step for doing this.

Taking action: Take a mental note each time you experience a change of emotions then at the end of the day take time to write down and track your triggers.

4. Values

Values define what one believes is important. An order of priority of what’s important also comes through values, which leads to core values. These core values provide a means for one to process choices between conflicting values. Common core values include preparation, commitment, quality, loyalty, and integrity. For example, if one valued loyalty over integrity one might consider telling a lie to help a friend. Another example is if one valued preparation over commitment, one might cancel or delay an event if they didn’t feel they prepared enough.

Taking action: Write down your core values and a list of other less priority values. Identify the conflicts and think through examples in your life where these conflicts led to good or bad choices.

5. Behaviors

Behaviors are both a direct product of values and a culmination of the other three elements. As a result, although one’s behavior is a representation of what they value, one’s facial expressions, posture, and effort are the manifestation of one’s thoughts, perceptions, and emotions.

Taking action: Identify a behavior you want to change. Then identify the minimum viable change you can make while still making a difference, and make that your daily goal.