I’m not sure about you, but if I hear Coronavirus or COVID-19 mentioned one more time, I’m not sure I’ll keep it together. I stopped watching the news a few weeks ago now and whilst I have used it more than my fair share of the ‘C’ virus word in business and at home, I now think it’s time to shift the mindset and focus on a new letter, the ‘M’ word.
Mindset is one of those buzzwords that is currently being touted as an essential life tool alongside mindfulness to essentially manage mental health and wellbeing. What is mindset though? Your mindset plays a critical role in how you cope with life and the challenges it throws at you. Experts believe there are two types on mindsets, one is a Growth mindset and the other is a Fixed mindset.
People with growth mindsets are more adaptable to problem-solving when facing challenges, they show greater resilience and are more likely to persevere in the face of setbacks. On the other hand, people with fixed mindsets are more liable to give up when faced with a challenge and tend to create a need for approval.
Nevermore than right now have we have collectively been forced to take a look at our own mindsets. I’m convinced the ‘C’ virus is the universe’s way of telling us to look inwardly, slow down, stop comparing ourselves to others, be grateful for what we’ve got, connecting less is actually connecting more and learning how to do the same things in a different way? We’ve been forced to take a microscope to our mindsets like never before and like we may never have to again in our lifetimes.
Regardless of which mindset category you fall into, what is clear is that there has been a need to shift, adjust, tweak or completely reset, not just our working mindset, but also our home, family, and social mindsets as well.
7 STRATEGIES TO SHIFT YOUR MINDSET
- Change your inner voice – how you praise or punish yourself matters – what qualities are you praising yourself on, what beliefs are limiting, and holding you back. Take stock of what you are telling yourself on a daily basis and address anything that is keeping you stuck in a fixed mindset.
- Focus on the process, not the outcome – change happens when you acknowledge the small steps along the way. Should being smart be more highly regarded than someone working hard for something? It’s not the destination but the journey.
- Change your language – change the way you talk about yourself to other people. Avoid phrases like “I am always like that” or “I can’t do that”, make it a habit of talking about the things that are going well in your life instead of complaining. This is the best way to promote a healthy growth mindset.
- Create new habits for your day – these habits need to help you develop your new mindset and reinforce your new thinking with actions. For example, schedule time for personal learning and development, set your goals, get up early, and exercise or meditate.
- Get out of your comfort zone – put yourself in those situations that challenge you and make you feel uncomfortable. The idea is to engineer your environment to train your brain to adopt your new mindset. You can’t just talk about changing your mindset you need to actually do something about it.
- Develop an attitude of gratitude – instead of beating yourself up for the failures, be grateful for the small successes, and celebrate them. Accept there are no failures only lessons to grow and learn from.
- The Two S’s Stress and Self-Care –as far as I’m concerned these two, stress and self-care go hand in hand when it comes to mindset. If you are feeling overly stressed, you aren’t indulging in enough self-care to balance this. Work out what self-care you can undertake to address your stress levels, book into your week, and stick to it at all costs.
The best mindset shift we can all have right now in isolation is to acknowledge and accept we are not alone, but all in this together. Make sure you utilise your work, family and social circles to make you accountable for sticking to your new mindset and prioritise your self-care above all else.
KYLIE WALKER – DIRECTOR – BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING