Sometimes we don’t even realize our current mindset, let alone know how to evolve a new one. But evolving your mindset isn’t an insurmountable task – it just takes awareness and small diligent steps.
The Realities of Living with a Fixed Mindset
Imagine knowing, beyond any doubt, that there was nothing you could do to improve yourself. Your intelligence level and the very things your parents and teachers complimented you on years ago would remain fixed throughout your life. While this is an impossible reality for most people, many live with fixed mindsets about certain qualities they believe they cannot change.
People who believe their character traits are fixed and can’t be changed have a fixed mindset. For example, if someone thinks they are unlovable, they may develop into a pattern of self-sabotage. They may take actions in relationships that drive people away. This is because the fixed mindset believes that lovable qualities cannot be acquired.
People who believe their intelligence is fixed and they cannot improve upon it have a fixed mindset. When the person fails at something, they see it as proof that they aren’t smart. They feel that if they can’t do something well, there’s no point in even trying.
According to the data, fixed mindsets are often developed in childhood due to trauma and sometimes due to simply misunderstanding the importance of your experiences compared to how most people interpret them.
If you have a fixed mindset, you must develop a growth mindset. A growth mindset says that your character traits, intelligence level, and abilities are not set. Instead, they can be developed over time with work, effort, and dedication. You can develop a growth mindset by following the three steps below:
1. Recognize your fixed mindset triggers.
As you begin to recognize the fixed mindset thoughts running through your head, you can start to separate fixed mindset thoughts from growth mindset thoughts.
2. Reframe fixed mindset triggers in order to evolve your mindset.
Whenever you begin to have fixed-mindset thoughts, reframe those fixed-mindset thoughts as a challenge that can be overcome with hard work and effort instead of a fixed reality about the situation. For example, if someone has a fixed mindset about money, they might think it takes hundreds of thousands of dollars to be happy. When they come up against their fixed mindset beliefs, they can reframe those fixed-mindset thoughts as challenges inviting them to go out and earn more money.
3. Stop comparing yourself to others.
People with fixed mindsets not only compare themselves to others, but they often only compare the best qualities of their fixed mindset to others’ fixed or growth mindsets. So, for example, somebody with a fixed mindset about weight may constantly compare their weight to other people’s weights. As a result, the issue may cause them to ignore how much money they’re eating, causing the weight problem, instead of tackling the matter knowing that they have the power to do it.
The downside of having a fixed mindset is that it leaves you believing that your abilities are set and cannot be overcome with hard work. Evolving your mindset means you have to step byeond your fixed mindset. The good news is that you don’t need to live with a fixed mindset. The data is overwhelming that you can improve yourself. You can learn and grow and develop into a person with a growth mindset if you follow the three tips above.
Evolving Your Mindset by Rewriting The Story You Tell Yourself
Negative biases and negative thinking affect how you talk to yourself and how you manage your life. If you are working towards evolving your mindset, you can change your story by changing negative thoughts into positive ones. Negative frameworks, negative filters, and negative bias cause negative thinking. When you get in the habit of negative thinking, it leads to negative outcomes.
Changing your story to end the negativity can improve your quality of life. If negative thoughts are not changed, negative feelings and negative thinking will continue. But if they are changed, you will experience a happier, more contented life. To rewrite your story, take the following steps:
Identify negative thoughts – Write them down or acknowledge them as they happen but do not react to them. Becoming emotionally resilient doesn’t mean that you need to stuff your feelings. Of course, you can have negative emotions, but you want to learn to act mindfully and proactively instead of reacting without thought.
Examine your negative thinking – Discover why you are thinking this way and whether there is a better way to look at the situation. What happened in your life made you think this? Do you have limiting beliefs you need to address?
Recognize your negative biases – What or who made you believe this? Can you see the other side of the bias? Try proving yourself wrong. It can be tough to accept the things that happen to you may subjective and not always indicative of the world, and statistics may surprise you.
Change negative thinking to positive thinking – Once you note the negative thought, understand why you had it, and prove it wrong, you can quickly turn it into a positive or neutral thought. Even if you verify the idea is true, it doesn’t mean you have to look at it with hostile intentions. You can instead accept it and figure out a way around it.
Write down your positive or neutral changes – Once you transform the negative into a neutral or positive change, write it down so you can access it quickly when you need it.
Keep a gratitude journal – As you rewrite your story, take time to focus on your gratitude. You want to focus on the positives in your life to help you increase your positive thoughts, as well as acknowledge the kind things people say to you and do for you.
To start rewriting your story, journal your negative thoughts that occur in your everyday life so you can examine them and re-frame them into positive ones. If negative thoughts continue to appear in your daily life, consider seeking professional help from a life coach or counselor.
Once you change your negative thoughts into positive thoughts, talk to yourself about it. Self-talk is effective because your mind will hear what you’re saying and believe it. If negative words or phrases pop into your head, stop. Recognize them and switch them to positive thought or phrase. Rewrite negative thoughts through positive self-talk until positive thinking becomes a habit.