Your Mindset: What Is It And Why Does It Matter?

Your mindset is the single most vital factor influencing your life and it matters because your personal and professional success, happiness and wellbeing depend on your life perspective.

In other words your mindset underscores every aspect of life, from success to satisfaction.

Luckily for us all, we can fine-tune the inner conversations that lie at the core of our mindset.

Make no mistake about it, your life experiences are directly related to every thought and feeling you have and they have a powerful impact on your behavior and consequently your results.  So, it’s important to get this fundamental element right.

If you’re serious about achieving your heart’s desires in all or any area of your life, mindset is the one thing you need to master.

Your mindset: what is it and why does it matter?

According to Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success there are two basic mindsets one that is a “fixed mindset” and one that is  a “growth mindset.”

She tells us:

In the fixed mindset, everything is about the outcome. If you fail—or if you’re not the best—it’s all been wasted. The growth mindset allows people to value what they’re doing regardless of the outcome . They’re tackling problems, charting new courses, working on important issues. Maybe they haven’t found the cure for cancer, but the search was deeply meaningful.

Don’t worry if it turns out you might be one of those who currently dwell in a “fixed mindset” state of Being – in everything there is a silver lining.

You can manage, and no I don’t mean control, your mental outlook – but you can master a new way to be. 

Let’s begin with this:

Right thinking

A vital part of an effective mindset is right thinking. Believing in our negative thoughts is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to a life that is lived beyond mere existence, making a huge difference between those who succeed and those who do not.

The good news is that changing even the simplest belief or idea that we hold can have an incredibly profound impact on nearly every aspect of our life.

It is doable. You can cultivate the right mindset, one where you have released yourself from past experiences of doubts and disappointments.

Regardless of what you’re working towards, creating a more prosperous future, get in shape, start a business, making a difference in the world it’s your frame of mind that determines how your efforts will turn out. 

So if you continue along the easy road, working from your old mindset you should know that before too long that road turns into the hard road. 

But if you make a conscious decision to choose the road that pushes you beyond your current experiences towards growth and success the universe will gradually conspire to reward your efforts.

Why is this so? I have no idea, I just know that’s what happens through my own, often stumbling, experiences down this second road. 

Meanwhile, here’s how and why your mindset is vital and determines whether you live the future you desire, or not.

Your remarkable future

Lies in your the growth of your mindset. That is your ability to switch your inner self-talk that informs how you perceive the world, yourself and others.

So when you change your world view, your view of your world changes.

And you can’t become your best future self with a world that is worth seeing, unless you start becoming a little better at being that best self today.

Begin by using your daily inner conversation to reinforce how capable you are of achieving the future you desire and deserve.

Plant seeds of inspiration, of positivity and success and kick self-criticism and doubt to the curb.

Purpose Intention and results

How many of the actions you take each day are shaped by the easiest and most obvious choice?

We can only make choices based on the mindset we currently occupy, so it makes no sense to expect different results or a greater future without changing that mindset.  Sad to say that’s not the way life works.

James Clear In his book Atomic Habits talks of creating an Integrity Report where he answers these three questions:

What went well this year?

What didn’t go so well this year? 

What did I learn?

This motivates him to get back on track to his purpose and intention and supports his continued mindset growth. Why not test it for yourself and perhaps shift some energy from old habits to those that will create more value for you and your world.

Facing down challenges

There are times in life when things break down, when tough days turn up more often than we’d like, or we recognize we have much in our world that no longer serves our greatest good.

This is where your mental attitude comes into play in a huge way.

Adversity can be a siren call to give up. You’ve experienced extreme hardship and feel stuck and lost. Defeat feels like the only option. 

But you have an incredibly resilient mind and every day you have the opportunity to rise above the disempowering mindset of self-defeating, negative thinking.

Your world can change once you change your conception of it.

Shift your mental outlook away from confusion and difficulties. Leverage your self-talk to move through the challenges. Use a little mental toughness and watch your frame of mind change before your very eyes. 

The game of supposing

Your mindset is the keystone and bedrock for everything that happens in your life. 

We’re all made of the same stuff and at the end of the day we all have the same possibilities of mind.  The difference lies in the arrangement of those minds.

”Success is not a result. Success is a mindset.” Meir Ezra

Play the game of supposing by imagining how you would feel if you were now your greatest, most successful, happiest self.

Your mind automatically responds to whatever images and feelings you spend the most time thinking about.

If you can imagine buying a private island, or winning a Nobel Prize for something or other, or winning a World Cup, paying no attention to the fact that these seem highly unlikely to happen this simple act can bring about changes in your life experiences.

And no, it probably doesn’t mean that the private island is yours, what it does mean is that the very act of putting yourself in that imagination fueled energy level is the connection to your new attitude and mindset.

And that’s the framework for acquiring an optimistic mindset to support you in achieving the future you truly desire.

At the end of the day we are what we think we are and if you want to change anything in life at all you need to start with what you constantly and repeatedly think about yourself.

And once you are able to manage, and no, as I said before, I don’t mean control, your mental outlook you can master a new way to be. 

A way that shifts your focus from confusion or difficulties. One that leaves you with a deeper sense of how you can make a positive difference in your life and that of others. One that shines a light on the path to your brighter future.

I really hope I get to “see you” in the comments below with thoughts and ideas on mindsets. You might have just the right words to help others reignite their mindset and discover untold amounts of joy and happiness.

Encourage one another.

Love Elle

xox

P.S. Know somebody who needs a nudge to shift to a new mindset? Give ’em the courage and tools they need by sharing this article. 🙂