Written by: Brooke Summer Adams, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Pretty much every person with an interest in personal development would have stumbled upon the term “mindset is everything” probably choosing to adopt a few new helpful thinking patterns off the back of this revelation. But few people really understand WHY mindset is everything and VERY few people apply for mindset work in the way that is truly going to change their lives.
The Oxford dictionary defines mindset as “a set of attitudes or fixed ideas that somebody has and that is often difficult to change”. While pretty much everyone will agree that the attitudes and ideas you hold are influential this doesn’t come close to illustrating why mindset truly is EVERYTHING.
Your mindset determines the way you see the world, and the way you think about the world. This determines the way you feel about the world which determines the way you behave within the world which determines the results you get in the world.
Mindset is more than “a positive outlook” or “finding the silver lining”. It’s creating the very most helpful automatic mental reconstructions of our reality and the automatic thought processes that proceed with helpful feelings and therefore the helpful action that creates desired results.
Mindset in check = feelings in check = actions in check = results in check.
Take an example of getting something you want and your mindset will be a HUGE meditating factor to making it happen.
Not only does mindset determine your chances of achieving desires, but it determines just about everything in your day to day life.
The difference between a bad day and a good day? Mindset.
The difference between a productive day and a wasted day? Mindset.
The difference between a stressful day and a resilient day? Mindset.
The difference between an optimist and a pessimist? Mindset.
The difference between responding and reacting? Mindset.
The difference between supporting yourself and sabotaging yourself? Mindset.
We could go on and on, but understand that mindset basically is everything.
When it comes to addressing your mindset, it can quickly get overwhelming. The ever increasing “trendy” nature of personal development has resulted in a flood of contradictory information making it difficult to navigate your way to a mindset that truly serves you.
Brooke Summer Adams Internationally Accredited Transformation Coach, NLP Master Practitioner, Founder of the Best Self Blueprint and Yahoo Finance Top 10 Female Life Coaches 2021 is here today to deliver the non-negotiables.
Here is your mindset must-have checklist for creating a mindset that truly serves you:
1. Positive self talk
Easily perceived as trivial, but anything but, positive self-talk is a powerful habit to develop. The language that we use is not only to describe our experiences but also to craft them. If you tell yourself that you can’t cope, that is the experience that your brain will create. If you tell yourself that you’re more than capable of finding a solution to the stressful situation you’re in, you’ll find it. There’s a lot of psychology that underpins this principle, but just know that the words you use determine the experience you have. Choose them wisely.
2. A helpful RAS
The reticular activating system (RAS) inside your brain is hugely responsible for the information that you become aware of in your environment. Every second your brain receives 4 million pieces of information, but you will only become aware of 5-9 of those pieces. There are several mediators that underpin the information your RAS selects, but the one you want to focus on is your focus.
Your RAS is searching for information that pertains to your priorities. A lot of your priorities are determined by the amount of TIME you spend thinking about something.
If you spend a lot of time overthinking stresses, worrying about problems, picking out your flaws and complaining about your home for example
Then your RAS is going to be actively searching for and bringing to your attention: stress, problems, flaws and complaint worthy information. This is what fuels your fire. This is underpinning your social comparisons. This is crafting the perception you have of the world.
If you spend a lot of time appreciating what is going well, being grateful for what you do have, the bits about you worth loving and the things that you have achieved for example.
Then your RAS is going to be actively searching for things to appreciate, to feel proud or grateful for and to love. This is going to create a very different experience of the world.
To change the information your RAS automatically selects, begin by dedicating some time each day to journal (and actively practice bringing awareness) on the things you actually want to focus on. Eg. What was worth appreciating today? In what way was I grateful today? In what way did I love myself today? What was achieved today?
Keep it simple and keep consistent, you’ll soon notice your automatic focus begin to change.
3. Survivor mentality
The opposite of a victim mentality. So long as we surrender all control of a situation, we will never be able to do anything about it. Yes, things happen to us. Bad things happen and we are allowed to feel sorry for ourselves every now and again. But the moment you begin identifying with the mindset that everything happens FOR you and not TO you, the solutions and positive meanings of situations become unavoidably clear.
4. An empowering belief system
The belief system refers to the set of principles that you use to interpret reality. It includes your religious or spiritual beliefs, and your beliefs about what you deem to be morally right or wrong (amongst many others). But it also includes beliefs about yourself, and about the world, that are either going to limit you or empower you. This is where we hold things such as “I am a confident person” or “I’m not good enough” (for example).
It is said that 95% of what we do each day is subconscious, essentially meaning that it happens on autopilot we don’t need conscious effort to make it happen. Your belief system is used subconsciously to navigate the world and just like with the RAS how you see the world.
If you believe you’re not good enough, the information you perceive from your environment will be skewed to prove you right. If you begin to try and act like someone who is “good enough” you’ll notice an influx of self-sabotage to make sure you stay in check with your beliefs (things such as negative self-talk or unhelpful or anxious thinking or feelings that bring you back to feeling not good enough).
If you’re trying to be something that your belief system doesn’t support you’re going to struggle.
To get your belief system in check, affirmations are a great place to start. However, honestly, this is when you might want to start thinking about hiring a coach who can help you to see the lies you’ve sold yourself.
5. Growth based outlook
This refers to whether or not you generally believe something is fixed, or believe that it can be developed. For example, if you fail a test and assume that means you’ll never be able to pass that test, then you have a fixed based mindset. This ensures you won’t ever try again. But if you fail a test and assume this means that you just need to study harder, then you have a growth-based mindset. Similarly, if you are experiencing a prolonged period of stress and decide that things will forever remain this stressful, then that is a fixed mindset. If you believe that this prolonged period of stress is an opportunity for personal growth and the awareness of new boundaries that need to be put in place, then that is a growth-based mindset. We can skip the psychology lesson this time, but people with a fixed based mindset rarely achieve anything amazing in life. If you don’t believe that trying will change anything, then what’s the point in trying?
While all mindset work is beneficial if you focus on creating a helpful RAS, an empowering belief system, positive self-talk, a growth-based outlook and a survivors mentality you can guarantee yourself a mindset that is going to serve you.Remember mindset in check = feelings in check = actions in check = results in check. For further guidance, you’ll find in-depth training on all the aspects of mindset mentioned above in Brooke’s FREE Facebook group — Transformative Training: Women Becoming the Best Version of Themselves
People can connect with me via Email, Facebook, Instagram or my Website. Wherever you go you’ll find helpful training and info on all things transformation. Read more from Brooke!
Brooke Summer Adams, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Brooke Summer Adams is an Internationally Accredited Transformation Coach and NLP Master Practitioner. Rated 'Top 10 Female Life Coaches to Work Within 2021' by Yahoo Finance, Brooke runs her 'Best Self Blueprint' course, provides expert training in various online communities including her own, and works 1-2-1 with clients to help other women transform into the very best versions of themselves. Following her own personal transformation, Brooke acquired an honours degree in psychology, certification in coaching, business and NLP, an international accreditation in coaching and qualified as an NLP master practitioner in order to truly understand the process of transformation ‒ in a way that could be used to also change other peoples lives. This combination of study, practice and personal experience has allowed her to piece together a step by step process for moving someone from where they are, to where they want to be. Transforming mindset, self-esteem and lifestyle, this process can be applied uniquely to each individual to allow them to step into alignment with the person they've always wanted to become.
