Mindset Matters

Written by: Barbara Jandu, M.A., AMFT 120259

November 1, 2023

At some point along each of our paths, we must decide how we want to view ourselves and the world around us. But it isn’t always as simple as a one-time reframe. Choosing to espouse the role of victorious survivor, for example, as opposed to victim may take more than one attempt. When we do choose to make a shift like this, however, the rewards can be bountiful. Here are a few examples of how much our mindset matters.

Mindset about Abilities, Character, & Intellect

In 1999, psychologist Carol Dweck coined the terms growth mindset and fixed mindset. If a person has a fixed mindset, that individual will assume that things like intelligence, skills, and personality can’t be changed. On the other hand, those with a growth mindset believe that all of these can be improved – it just takes effort – which leads to seeing obstacles or challenges as just a normal part of life and learning.

Why is this important? Having a growth mindset helps us to succeed and stay motivated. Rather than becoming discouraged when life’s invariable hiccups arise, we stay the course and continue learning. On the flip side, those with a fixed mindset are more likely to either give up too soon or spend endless energy on trying to avoid challenges, simply because they believe they just don’t have what it takes.

Mindset about Stress

The mindset an individual chooses to adopt is important in determining how one’s body will react to stress. For example, in 2013, researchers Crum, Salovey, & Achor found that if an individual views stress as enhancing rather than dangerous, it was much healthier for that person.

Likewise, the Yerkes-Dodson law says that just the right amount of anxiety is healthy, whereas too little or too much can be detrimental. For instance, in taking on this writing challenge, I could have said, “Meh - it will eventually get written” and then done nothing productive. Or, I could have said “This is too much! I can’t do it. How can I get out of this?”, which also would have been paralyzing. A moderate level of anxiety is just enough to be motivating - but not so much as to be overwhelming.

Mindset about Exercise & Health

We all feel a certain way about exercise. For many of us, it’s not quite as simple as loving it or hating it. It may be more accurate to say that the relationship is “complicated”. Given the above findings about stress, though, maybe those who truly embrace exercise as a healthy, acute, life-enhancing stressor will experience the greatest performance and health-related benefits.

To test this hypothesis, researchers Crum & Langley (2007) had 84 hotel room attendants view their normal daily cleaning routines as “exercise”. They didn’t change anything else in their lifestyle other than their mindset. Remarkably, they saw significant decreases in weight, body fat, and blood pressure. It’s pretty amazing to consider the powerful role mindset plays in helping people experience healthy benefits.

Choosing a Growth Mindset

The first step to change any mindset is self-awareness; just observing your inner dialogue. What you tell yourself about mistakes or setbacks? Notice when phrases like “I can’t do this,” or “I’m not good/smart enough,” come up for you. These are examples of a fixed mindset.

To gently bring yourself back into that growth mindset frame again, it takes a decision and some effort. Remember, when you adopt a growth mindset, your internal voice is more like an optimistic encourager telling you to keep trying. You can experiment with phrases such as “I’m really having a hard time with this, but I have tools I need,” or, “Mistakes are how we learn”, or my favorite, “Practice makes progress”.

And finally, you can use your new mindset about your abilities, about stress, about what you can do to take on challenges with curiosity. You can reframe what you used to think of as failure as learning opportunities and bounce back from setbacks. The more you use it, the more natural it will feel.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing , and perfect will.” ~Romans 12:2

Photo credit: Suzanne D. Williams on Unsplash