“There isn’t a person anywhere who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can” – Henry Ford

What is a mindset?

Your mindset about specific issues and life itself is often set in certain ways.  How often have you heard someone say to open your mind or that someone has a closed mind about something? Most people have heard or said this at some point.  But, if you aren’t clear on what a mindset is, or why your mindset matters, you won’t know what you need to do to change or grow.

Your mindset determines what you experience and the ideas you are open to.  It sets your success in business, love and life.  You might have a growth mindset that allows you to grow as a person and live a happier life or your mindset might be fixed in some ways about certain ideas and situations.

According to Wikipedia, a mindset is a set of assumptions, methods, or notations held by one or more people or groups of people. 

It’s the view you adopt, which determines how you live your life, how you see the world and how you make decisions.  It’s your perspective or your view of the world.  It’s your beliefs about your abilities and qualities that form how you see or do things.  It’s your mental state or your normal attitude.

Think about your talents or strengths. Are you creative?  Are you wise or intuitive? Are you musically talented?  How you answer these questions defines your mindset and provides clues as to how you view yourself and the world around you.  Your mindset shapes your reality and your perception of what you can do and what’s out of reach for you.

Your mindset can be negative, optimistic or a mixture of both.  It can be that of a person with a sunny outlook on life, a business owner’s way of thinking or an athlete’s focus on success.

There are also different mindsets.  The growth and the fixed mindset are the two main ones that determine how you see things.  You might have a fear mindset, a social mindset, a lazy or envy mindset.  Maybe you have a dreamer mindset, a business mindset or a follower mindset.  You can possess a gratitude mindset, a creative mindset or a confident mindset.  Your mindset might be one of greed or angry.  You can have different mindsets about different areas of your life as well.

Why mindset matters

The mindset plays a huge role in how you cope with challenges.  For example, when you were in school, having a growth or open mindset helped you achieve and learn more by putting in more effort.  Your mindset can determine how persistent or resilient you are.  It determines how successful you will be in every area of your life.  Someone with a growth mindset is much more likely to succeed because they are driven and believe to always aim for bigger and better things.  While those with a fixed or closed mindset become stagnant and lack the motivation to achieve more than they already have.

Your mindset is the force behind whether you thrive or avoid challenges, how you persevere toward your goals and how you view failures and setbacks.  You can change your mindset when you realize it’s keeping you stuck.

xxx