What is Mindset and Why it Matters

inspiration mindset Mar 21, 2021
Mindset and Why it Matters nlp course

What is Mindset?

It is your way of thinking which is why it matters. 

In a word, it is your mental inclination or dispositionor your frame of mind.  Your mindset is your collection of thoughts and beliefs that shape your thought habits.  And your thought habits affect how you think, what you feel, and what you do.  Your mind-set impacts how you make sense of the world, and how you make sense of you.

So, your mindset is a big deal.  Have you ever thought about what you focus on?  Are you a glass half empty or glass half full type of person?  Are you reactive or proactive? Are you a radiator or drain on those around you?  Do you prefer to focus on the art of the possible or the excuses that keep you stuck?  Whatever you focus on grows in your mind so this blog is all about helping you figure out if you are focusing on what you want in your life, the right things as we come out of lockdown? 

Although the work of Dr Carol Dweck it is not NLP, it is closely aligned with our beliefs and values.  She speaks about the difference between the fixed and growth mindsets.  Sometimes you might be surprised as you think you have a growth mindset but actually how stuck in your ways are you? 

For us as NLP'ers, undertaking an enquiry into the power of our beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, leads us to understanding that changing even the simplest of them can have profound impact on nearly every aspect of our lives.

 A “fixed mindset” assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static givens which we can’t change in any meaningful way, and success is the affirmation of that inherent intelligence, an assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed standard; striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled. A “growth mindset,” on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities. Out of these two mindsets, which we manifest from a very early age, springs a great deal of our behaviour, our relationship with success and failure in both professional and personal contexts, and ultimately our capacity for happiness.  

When you enter a mindset, you enter a new world. In one world — the world of fixed traits — success is about proving you’re smart or talented. Validating yourself. In the other — the world of changing qualities — it’s about stretching yourself to learn something new. Developing yourself.

In one world, failure is about having a setback. Getting a bad grade. Losing a tournament. Getting fired. Getting rejected. It means you’re not smart or talented. In the other world, failure is about not growing. Not reaching for the things you value. It means you’re not fulfilling your potential.

In one world, effort is a bad thing. It, like failure, means you’re not smart or talented. If you were, you wouldn’t need effort. In the other world, effort is what makes you smart or talented.  So are you a 'know it all' or a 'learn it all'? 

To your success 

 

Lindsey and Team NLP