First off we need to define what the “right mindset” really is. To me its pretty simple. I want my mindset to exhibit the following features:
- Positivity
- Gratitude
- Clear Thought
- Growth
- Curiosity
Each of these features is important and somewhat interdependent; as such, the order listed is arbitrary.
Positivity
Many may claim that negativity is the best path forward. After all, how can you progress without proper criticism? I contend that a positive attitude and a critical attitude are not mutually exclusive. Positive thinking is associated with a host of benefits including increased lifespan, decreased rates of depression, increased immunity, overall better well being, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and increased stress tolerance.
Ideas to increase positive thinking in your life:
Surround yourself with positive people – we are social animals and for many this may be the most impactful thing you do.
Identify negative thoughts and reverse them – remember negatively and objective truth are separate things. eg. “I don’t have the time money to do x/y/z” the inverse of which is “I am motivated by necessity”.
Exercise – a tried and true manner to think more positively. Exercise may be difficult in the moment but the result is an increase in mood from the release of endorphins and drop in cortisol levels post exercise session.
Gratitude
Who wants to live life feelings resentful, greedy, jealous or like they got the short end of the stick? I certainty do not. Gratitude is a mindset that influences a variety of areas in your life. For example, those who are grateful are more likely to exercise and report overall more positive thinking and well being. Additionally, when managers were promoted to be grateful to their employees, the employees actually worked harder! Subjectively I have found that my day runs more smoothly with less negative emotion and more of a feeling of purpose after I have implemented one of the following practices.
Gratitude writing – shortly after waking record a few things you are grateful for. It works best if you try to be consistent with this practice. Depending on your starting mindset you may find it almost impossible to find anything you are grateful for; however, with time you will find the practice easier/more automatic.
Thank someone in person – Tell someone who has really influenced your life how grateful your are. Thank a stranger for an everyday nicety.
Gratitude meditation – clear your mind or focus on your breath. once settled mentally focus on feelings of gratitude. you may focus on specific people, objects, places or situations. you may flip between subjects or stay on one subject.
Clear Thought
You are only as effective as the state of your tool. Would a knight go into battle without sharpening their sword? Nope. Does a high performance runner compete without a warming up and stretching out? Hell no. So why do we go about our day without conditioning or preparing our minds? Say no to clouded judgement, impulsive decisions and muddled musing. Say yes to preparing yourself to think clearly. The critical change for me was when I transitioned from allowing my thoughts to control me to harnessing the power of my brain to control my thoughts or at the bear minimum, to realize I was in an irrational frame of mind and to do something about. Clear thinking is advantageous in almost any domain of life. It usually leads to higher performance, productivity, better outcomes and more holistic decision making.
This is how you can think more clearly:
Meditation – There is plenty of evidence for the benefits of meditation. The cool thing is that you are not limited to any particular form. You can sit, stand, walk, do yoga, eye open, eyes closed, etc. If your brain is in constant disarray it will definitely be helpful to schedule meditation sessions throughout your day so that you can get the reps in. As with any activity you can improve with time. After you have familiarize yourself with the process of meditation you may find that you don’t need to meditate as often to achieve the level of performance you desire. You may also be able to recognize yourself starting to think irrationally before you have dropped into full blown neuronal chaos. In this way you can adjust your thinking throughout the day without needing to stick to a rigid schedule. I personally find schedules limiting so I choose to fit the meditation in wherever I can or it makes sense. That being said many highly successful people meditated religiously once or more per day. Most people achieve max benefits from 1-2 sessions of 20 mins per day; however, 5 mins per day still results in changes. Interestingly monks who mediate frequently have brain activation while meditating similar to a non-meditator on a dose of LSD.
Mindfulness/situational awareness – the western bastardization of meditation. I like to use mindfulness when I am cruising throughout my day without much break between activities. Examples of mindfulness include. Monitoring your pulse, respiration rate, breathing patterns, hydration and energy levels, etc. Mindfulness can also pertain to acting with purpose. With every step you take are you thinking about what you are doing or are you just going through the motions with your body on autopilot? If you often find yourself forgetting to do certain things, repeating certain behaviors reflexively or feeling as though you are on autopilot you may want to try to be more mindful about your actions. I start by constantly questions what I am doing and why I am doing it. Once I have identified these things I question whether I should be doing the actions and either stop, proceed or augment said action to be more inline with my long term goals. Another fun exercise to do to be more aware of your environment is to try to notice subtle changes which others may not have noticed. Did x person get a new hair cut? Ss there a picture missing from the wall? How many telephone poles did you pass while on the way to pick up groceries at the supermarket? What time did you leave the gas station? Was the teller wearing a blue or orange shirt? You get the idea. Details are important.
Here is another great activity. Sit down and focus on each sense individually blocking out all other senses. Try to be aware of as much of the diversity sensed by that one sense as possible. eg. Just focus on your eye sight. How many types of blue do you see. This activity is particularly useful if you are feeling extremely overwhelmed. Mindfullness can also make everyday tasks way more interesting.
Breathing – Activate your PNS (parasympathetic nervous system – rest/digest) by utilizing different forms of breathing. In general it is best to breath out of your nose at a rate of 5-6 seconds inhale followed by 5-6 seconds of exhalation (based on analyses of opera singers and mediating monks); however, when you noticed tachardia (increased heart rate) and bradychardia (increased respiration rate) both signs of SNS (sympathetic nervous system activation – fight/freeze/flight) its best to switch to a different style of breathing. Box breathing is performed by breathing 4 secs in, 4 secs hold, 4 secs out and 4 secs hold. repeat until heart rate and subjective stress levels lower. Some people have the opposite problem and are so relaxed that they need to activate their SNS to kick their brains in gear. In this cased hyperventilation can be helpful. Just be careful to perform in a controlled environment as hyperventilation can lead to feeling light headed and loss of consciousness.
Sleep – Making decisions on a night lacking sleep is like driving your car on empty or attempting to gauge distance with one eye closed. Its a recipe for disaster. Although many people are criticized for being a sleep princess and sleeping longer than average, the running scientific consensus is that 7-9 hours is necessary for the average person. Less sleep than this can impact long term memory formation, reaction time, stress levels, SNS activation, cardiovascular health and overall fitness. You can carve out more time for sleeping by unapologetic ally eliminating all but the necessities from your life. Eg. Stop watching TV, movies or any other content that does not bring value to your life. You can also sleep better without spending any more time sleeping by abstaining from food for about 3 hrs before bedtime, dimming the lights before bed, meditating or stretching before bed, taking a hot then cold shower before bed. If you wake up hot in the night, how back into the shower briefly. The evaporation cooling loss from the water will help cool your body down and lull you back to sleep. Write down cyclic thoughts in a journal rather than ruminating all night. Exercise. However, avoid high intensity exercise 1-2 hours before bed as late exercise can promote wakefulness. Eliminate lights from the room.
Growth
The growth mindset is one that can 100% be cultivated. I know this because I went from a depressed and anxious young man to one motivated and hungry for challenge. This mindset can be cultivated by: Having goals – without goals you are kind of like a horse without reigns, you might be doing a lot but are you really getting anywhere or are you just letting the flow of life drift you around? Evidence suggests that clearly writing down goals leads to better scholastic performance. In addition focusing on improvement no matter how small. 1 % improvement every day compounded annually is something like 37 times better over the course of a year.
Emphasis the process try not to be attached to the outcome.
Curiosity
Curiosity the gift that keeps on giving. Is your life feeling boring? Are you going through the motions? Do you find that things are more stressful than they need to be? Maybe you should approach your boring – lack of stress – or overstimulating – too much stress – life by finding a source of something to be curious about. Curiosity is great because almost instantly balances your stress levels and kicks into gear your problem solving ability. Another great thing about curiosity is it allows you to appreciate the finer beautiful things in life
Curiosity allows you to ask questions. Questions are 1/2 to thinking. When you think, you ask a question and then seek the answer. This is also what makes a great conversation if you’re not asking questions why bother? Conversations like these tend to be boring – essentially it’s a competition of one-ups-man-ship between people who state facts about their own lives instead of discovering what’s going on outside their own universe.
Generalism 