Change Your Mindsets, Change Your Life
One of my favorite dinner table conversations follows this prompt:
Tell me about a time you changed your mind...
Maybe you were like me and you hated country music and swore you'd never listen to it, but then you heard John Prine and his lyrics carried you to a new place inside yourself. You changed your mind.
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Or perhaps you swore you'd never live there...but then you met the people from there, and they were pretty great. Now your kids go to school in that community.
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Maybe you swore you'd never have a 9-5 job because it's too boring or, that you'd never be a freelancer because it's too risky - yet here you are, doing the opposite.
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All your life you might have been sure you'd never vote that way, yet here you are rethinking your candidate and party of choice - and your values.
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You could have been afraid or skeptical of "those people" because of a worn-out mindset your parents gave you and, after spending time with them, you see things completely differently.
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A bit closer to home - maybe you believed a story about yourself for so long that kept you small and scared, and one day you changed your mind, stopped believing that story, and found freedom.
We can live two different lives - two totally different stories - based on the mindsets we choose.
Yes - choose. Because our mindsets are so deeply wired into the neural pathways of our brain, we forget we have a choice which thoughts we allow to run our lives.
We forget because we are not aware.
When we become aware of the mindsets to which we default on a regular basis, we can begin to assess which mindsets are helpful and which are unhelpful.
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In so doing, one might notice they tend to believe everyone is good at their core and can be trusted. A pretty helpful mindset for the most part.
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On the other hand, one may believe every time a coworker asks them a question they are insulting their intelligence. Not a helpful mindset.
When we bring awareness to our patterns of behavior, we can understand the mindsets driving our daily actions. Then, we can consciously double-down on the helpful mindsets and work to eradicate the unhelpful ones by replacing them with better stories.
New mindsets don't always stick the first time we try them - just like any new practice, they take time and conscious effort.
I believe it's safe to say, however, that thoughts become things. If we want to navigate our lives by hanging on to outdated, scared, judgmental, unhelpful mindsets, our life is probably going to look that way.
But if we shift into helpful mindsets, if we're constantly aware of which thoughts bring about more peace, acceptance, humor and joy - then we begin to see our life mirror the mindsets we're choosing to employ.
We've all got outdated wiring in our brains - don't feel bad about that. Most of it was handed down and taught to us when we were young.
The good news is, we have a chance every day to redeem the sad, unhelpful stories brought about by small mindsets and instead, to choose the mindsets that open us up to the world.
We could all use more practice at this - which is why I'm excited to host Mindset Shifts to Drive Your Growth - a workshop about gaining clarity on your mindsets, and shifting into more helpful ways of thinking.
Join us Wednesday, September 9th from noon-1:00pm CST
You'll walk away with a deeper understanding of your own mindsets, their impact on your life, and a few new mindsets to practice.
If you're looking for space to reflect and some support in bringing more awareness to your life, you need to join us!