Mindset

Your mindset plays a critical role in how you cope with life's challenges. A strong and positive mindset is essential to developing healthy self-esteem. Self esteem comprises of our beliefs, attitudes and feelings about ourselves. Without a positive mindset, you’ll struggle to push through the ups and downs of chasing your goals. So what can you do to work on the right mindset?

Cultivate a sense of purpose.

The first thing you need to do in order to create a positive mindset is to figure out why the heck you need a positive mindset in the first place.

• (Phd) Carol Dweck’s research shows that people with a growth mindset have a sense of purpose

• having a greater purpose keeps us invested in the small, often difficult steps we must take to accomplish our goals

• there is an emerging body of research that shows people who find meaning and relevance in their studies are more engaged and motivated to master the material

• it is important to be flexible about your approach and the goals/targets - but keep in mind your internal motivation/reason for learning and developing on your chosen path

• A clear vision will serve you in whatever areas you’re seeking growth and improvement

• If you have a compelling vision (something you want to move toward), then this will motivate you to keep going

Change beliefs and attitudes

• Be realistic about time and effort, and don’t expect to master every topic quickly

• Disassociate improvement from failure - view a mistake or falling short of a goal as a learning not a failure

• Acknowledge and embrace imperfections

• View challenges as opportunities

• Replace the word “failing” with the word “learning”

• Take risks in the company of others, and stop trying to save face all the time

• Stop seeking approval or worrying about the approval of others

Focus on learning

• Rather than focus on the end result all the time, make sure you value the process and your learnings along the way

• Emphasise growth over speed

• Learn from other people’s mistakes

• Create new goals to foster continuous growth and learning

Reflect and celebrate

• make time to reflect so you can learn and celebrate improvements and/or success

• seek feedback from others

• celebrate growth with others