I have heard a lot of talk lately about mindset. Carol Dweck, a world-renowned psychologist at Stanford University, wrote a book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success about how your thinking can impact your growth and success.
People with a “fixed” mindset believe that their intelligence and talent are fixed, unchangeable. For example, I might be born with a gift to play basketball or to make amazing scientific discoveries. But if I wasn’t born with the gift of music, I can take voice lessons and practice constantly, but I will never be able to sing well.
However, people with a “growth” mindset believe they can develop any ability through persistence and hard work. Because anything is achievable in their mind, they develop a love for learning and a resiliency to setbacks. They are more confident, knowing they can shape their experiences and over time create their desired outcomes.
Some people might think this is crazy talk, but I believe it to be true. Math is a great example. I happen to love math and believe that anyone is able to do math, as long as they are willing to work at it. However, whenever I mention liking math, people usually respond, “I hate math”, “I was never good at math”, or “I’m not a math person”. They assumed they were not born with the “math gene”, and math will forevermore be a foreign object to them. They don’t consider the option that they could develop mathematical talent if they tried hard enough.
Well, my point today is that we can also develop a growth mindset when it comes to weight loss.
I have tried to lose weight multiple times in my life, and while I have experienced varying degrees of success each time, I have never attained and maintained a weight I was happy with. As a result, I could believe that I will never be able to lose weight and I will never be thin.
BUT, if I adhere to a growth mindset, I know I simply need to change my thinking, which will in turn affect my actions and my results. Here are some examples.
You can download these statements along with a blank page for you to record your own growth mindset statements.
As you continue your journey to becoming a healthier you, I hope these statements help you transform your thinking and lead you to even better results. Remember you do not need to be born with the “skinny gene”, you merely need to maintain a positive attitude and persevere. You can accomplish anything as long as you are willing to work at it.
If you create your own growth mindset statements, share them in the comment section below. If you want help writing a new statement to transform an old way of thinking, share it too and we will help you out.
OK, here’s my attempt:
Instead of saying, “When I exercise, my mind wanders to things I should be doing and I feel like I’m wasting my time.”
Try thinking, “Exercise is what I should be doing. It is a worthwhile use of my time. I choose to allow my mind to relax and be in the moment.”
How’s that?
That is perfect! Thank you for adding it to the list. I’m impressed your mind can wander during exercise. I’m usually too busy trying to breathe to think about anything else. Ha, ha. Sad but true. Thanks for stopping by.