We live inside of our minds. We wake up here, fall asleep here, and move through our days here. Just like we take care of our homes to make them pleasant living spaces, we also want to take care of our minds and develop the right mindset to make these positive, productive, and pleasant living spaces. This is the growth mindset - believing in your ability to accomplish your goals through creating healthy routines, developing discipline, and seeking information to expand knowledge and growth, and viewing every situation as an opportunity for learning and growing.
How do we train ourselves to think this way?
Build and strengthen self-esteem through self-care and self-love.
Self-care has become a bit of a trendy term - it’s simple, though. Think about the basics: regular exercise, proper nutrition, adequate sleep, and stress management. These build the foundation of self-care, and they look different from person to person. Throughout each of these, speak kindly to yourself as you discover what works best for you. Build yourself up and find peace in the process of learning to understand yourself more and more. Find an exercise routine that brings you joy and energy. Nourish your body with healthy, nutrient-dense foods. Get in the habit of falling asleep and waking up at around the same time each day. And most importantly, engage in activities that help you cope with and release stress.
Set achievable, sustainable goals.
The keywords here are achievable and sustainable. Achievable - challenge yourself, of course, but be realistic when setting goals. If a goal is too far out of reach, you’ll likely end up feeling discouraged for not achieving it. Setting achievable goals can both challenge you AND boost self-esteem when you do achieve them. Sustainable - set goals with habits and results that can be maintained long-term. If achieving a goal involves following a restrictive diet, or working 10-12 long hours everyday, it’s likely not sustainable. Set goals with habits and results you feel confident about maintaining for the long-term.
Practice gratitude.
Practicing gratitude plays an integral role in creating a growth mindset. It’s a simple and effective way to refocus your mind - keeping you in the present moment, but shifting your focus to moments, things, people, etc. to be thankful for. As a result, this practice highlights the bright side of every situation. Simple ways to incorporate this throughout your day would be to list 3 things to be grateful for in the morning and at night. The best way to do so is to just do it - create gratitude reminders on your phone and throughout your home and/or office. This will remind you to stop and take a moment to express gratitude.
Find the learning / growing opportunity in every situation.
At the very core of developing the growth mindset is this practice. Similar to the gratitude practice, this involves developing the habit of seeing - and focusing on - the opportunity to learn something new and grow from every situation. It takes practice to train your mind to look through this lens, especially when the situation isn’t a positive one. However, developing this skill is how we master the growth mindset. Learning to view setbacks through a forward-thinking lens focuses your mind on the things you can control. Combined with the other tools mentioned here, you’ll now be able to take control - with boosted self-esteem, your eyes on the goal, and your mind focusing on gratitude and growth.
These tools are not stuck within the walls of fitness and nutrition goals. They span goals in all areas of life - work, relationships, spiritual health, personal development, and more. They’re simple, and most importantly, sustainable. Make your mind a positive, productive, and pleasant living space!
