Why mindset matters?
For those of you that regularly browse through this blog and my socials, you will have noticed that my whole philosophy for coaching revolves around the concept of mindset. However, I was recently asked to explain why investing time and energy in developing your mindset is important.
Before we get stuck into the why. Let’s quickly define this term, because let’s be honest, there are so many buzzwords that get thrown around this personal development/coaching space.
When I refer to mindset, I am referring to the thoughts, beliefs and habits that you have developed and use in your everyday life. Most of our beliefs are inherited and we then subconsciously translate these ideas into our daily routines and habits. In my work, I love exploring these thought patterns and looking at what subtle tweaks we can make to change the results we are experiencing in our life. Sometimes it’s as simple as getting curious about my reactions to certain situations or changing how I speak to myself.
So why mindset? And why now?
In a nutshell, we all need help to find clarity in the chaos that humanity is experiencing right now .2+ years of our pandemic world, climate change, the MeToo and BlackLivesMatter movement, the Russian invasion of Ukraine are just a few of the challenges facing our world today. Living in a society that is now on high alert and driven by a huge fear narrative, it can be hard to not feel overwhelmed or stressed about the future. Now more than ever, we need tools and strategies to help us navigate these waves of uncertainty and anxiety that spreads through society.
Tapping into your mindset can help you feel some sense of internal control and security. With the external world so unstable, now is the time to go within. We can’t control a lot of what is happening out there but we can control how we show up every day.
How heavy is your backpack?
Not long after I emigrated back to Australia in 2018, I was trying to explain to a colleague how I was feeling and the challenges I was facing during that transition phase of moving to a new country. She summed it up beautifully by saying ‘It sounds like your backpack is pretty heavy right now.’
This backpack metaphor has stuck with me ever since and I often use it when working with clients. I love this idea of a ‘backpack’ as a place where we store our worries, fears and old hurts. We will often try to put these wounds out of sight. However, if we don’t offload or unpack our backpacks now and again, it can cause us a lot of pain. Some days, it can feel really heavy to haul that backpack up on our shoulders again. Sometimes we need to ask a friend to help us carry the load.
I think this beautifully sums up that heaviness or burnout that so many of us experience.
How about putting that ‘backpack’ on ‘wheels’?
So this is where mindset comes in and the magic happens. By investing time and energy into assessing your thoughts and beliefs, you begin to
- Unpack what is currently weighing you down. This involves learning how your mind forms thought patterns and that you can redirect and change these
- Remove or redesign the habits/beliefs that no longer serve you. For me, this meant letting go of the societal expectations that I felt as a single 30 something-year-old woman. It is amazing how much lighter your backpack can feel when you offload these.
- Develop greater self-awareness. This can bring about life-changing realisations about the beliefs and habits that you do subconsciously. Instead of being on autopilot, you start to take control of your destination
- And then you glide! With this new insight, you start to make conscious decisions about your life and how you want to feel every day. This doesn’t happen overnight but it’s like you repack all your ‘life challenges’ out of the backpack and into a suitcase with wheels. Some of those wounds might still linger and new challenges may appear but it means there is less friction and resistance. You feel greater flow in your life!
How to transform your mindset and put some ‘wheels’ on your ‘backpack’?
- Less phone time. We all need to cull our social media; why are you wasting your time watching people that you don’t even like or aspire to be? Mute and move on with your life.
- Daily time in stillness and gratitude practice. As I mentioned in last week’s blog; doing less is the secret to achieving your goals. We rarely allow ourselves the luxury of quiet time to think and be present.
- Invest in your personal development. I read all the books and listened to the podcasts but investing in a coach was where I saw the REAL transformation I was craving.
So the big question…
Would you rather trudge through life with an overfull backpack or glide along with less effort?
I know what one I would pick and I choose it every day.
MC