“It is not always the people who start out the smartest who end up the smartest.”
Alfred Binet
The definition of mindset is: “The established set of attitudes held by someone.” The definition is so simple, yet it describes something so complex. There are many dimensions to our mindset. In part it represents how we approach life, and what we bring to every experience that we are a part of. Mindset is affected by longstanding beliefs and values, and it is affected by specific situations that evoke emotions of excitement, happiness, sadness or anger. For all of us, our mindset is a primary source of power because mindset determines outcomes. Mindset allows you to go far beyond what you or anyone else thought possible, and it allows you to fall far short of your potential.
One line of thinking that is very popular in the corporate world right now is that you are born with a set of talents or strengths, and while they may change in magnitude, what those talents or strengths are do not change. The same is not true with mindset. Mindsets can and do change. We can control our own mindset. Our mindset reflects the choices we make to be optimistic or pessimistic, tolerant or intolerant, confident or insecure, trusting or skeptical, adventuresome or cautious, flexible or rigid, spiritual or not spiritual, focused on the greater good or only on our own needs and interests. We all fall somewhere on each of these dimensions.
Changing our mindset can take a lot of effort. We may have to let go of the voice that is a constant companion in our heads and that is always trying to cause mischief. And, the more our beliefs and values are embedded in our mindset, the more work and determination it will take to change it. I often hear in coaching: “I don’t want to be this way, but this is the way that I am and have been my whole life.” It’s a catch 22, how do you change you mindset, when your mindset is that you cannot change? Over the next few days, my blogs will focus on to deal with this catch 22 situation.
“Not he is great who can alter matter, but he who can alter my state of mind.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
