Why Mindset is Everything to Achieving Happiness
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Written by: Jonette Dyer
“Mindset is everything” is a buzzword in the mental health world, but what exactly does this mean? What is mindset, and how can it help push you toward success? Jonette Dyer, life coach, explores this reality so you can understand how mindset affects your success.
What Is Mindset?
The word mindset refers to the underlying attitude you have when you approach situations life brings you. Your beliefs and interpretations of life events directly impact how you respond to situations. When you face problems in life, your mindset shapes how you view them and what strategies you employ to tackle them.
Fixed vs. Growth Mindset
Most people have either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. A fixed mindset occurs when you think your personal skills and personality traits cannot change. This mindset will stunt your potential because you will not feel confident exploring opportunities outside of your existing skill set. You will also fear failure enough to stop challenging yourself.
In contrast, a growth mindset believes that traits can grow and change with time. People with a growth mindset are open to situations and experiences that are outside of their norm or comfort zone. They embrace the journey and believe that these experiences can change their skills and even personality traits.
Even just with these definitions of fixed and growth mindset, it’s clear that mindset is everything. The right mindset can be a key factor in helping you achieve success.
How to Define Success
This opens the door to another question, and that is how to best define success. Most people define success as achieving a goal or vision they have for themselves. You can have small successes, such as passing a test at school, and large successes, such as achieving a major leadership position at your job. The definition of success is going to be very different from one person to the next.
Because success is defined by a goal or vision, your mindset impacts your view of success. If your goal is to achieve something specific, you may not have success very quickly. If your goal is to enjoy the journey of life, you can find success in daily encounters and interactions.
Remember, you get to define success for yourself. Take a moment to think about your goals and dreams, and then determine what success would look like for you. Soon, you will find that mindset is everything when it comes to achieving these and having them clearly defined will give you something to strive for.
The Relationship Between Success & Happiness
Success and happiness can be closely related. While it is possible to be happy if you aren’t successful at everything, many people will be happier if they are successful at achieving their goals.
Interestingly, recent research has found that focusing on happiness first, rather than success first, is the better way to do life. When you focus on being happy first, you find success faster and more often. Since mindset directly impacts how happy you feel, mindset is clearly linked to your success.
How to Improve Your Mindset
If you feel that you need a better mindset to improve your happiness and your level of success, these strategies can help.
Embrace Challenges with a Growth Mindset
Challenges are going to come your way no matter who you are and what your life is like. Learn to embrace, rather than fear, those challenges. Using a growth mindset, you can recognize that the challenges life throws at you are an opportunity to learn, develop, and change.
Learn from Failure and Adjust Your Approach
Failures are part of growth. A growth mindset views them as a chance to learn and develop rather than the end of the experience. When you fail, use the learning opportunity to adjust your approach, taking a different approach to the problem, concern, or challenge in the future until you find what works.
Surround Yourself with Positive & Supportive People
The people in your life directly impact the way you think, which directly impacts your mindset. If you surround yourself with negative, critical people who have a fixed mindset, you’ll find yourself thinking similarly. Instead, find positive people who support your goals and help you think positively.
Practice Gratitude & Positive Affirmations
Being thankful for the good in your life and using positive affirmations to change your day-to-day thinking can help shift your mindset. If you repeat positive affirmations regularly, your mind starts to accept and embrace them, and that can shift your mindset. Don’t forget to embrace self-gratitude, giving thanks for all of the amazing ways you support your own development and success.
Practice Self-Compassion During Difficult Times
When difficult times come, treat yourself with compassion, the same way you’d want a friend to treat you when you face challenges. Practicing self-compassion, which means giving yourself permission to be sad or go through difficult times, will change your mindset. You’ll start to realize that your challenges aren't forever, and as such, you can get through them.
Take Care of Your Physical Health
Your mental health is directly tied to your physical health. If you aren’t resting, your mental health will suffer. Good nutrition and exercise also boost your mood while supporting good physical health at the same time. When you take care of your physical health, you will find your mindset shifting, and you will have the confidence that you can achieve anything.
Establish Meaningful Goals
Finally, make sure you set goals, but make those goals meaningful. Make goals that are things you want to strive for rather than just things that would be nice to achieve. Keep your goals measurable, but look for goals in multiple areas of life. Have goals for work, education, personal development, relationships, family, and physical health. The more meaningful, the more fulfilling it will feel when you achieve one of these goals.
Attaining Guidance to Build a Positive Mindset
Mindset can be deeply ingrained, and it can be hard to change from a fixed, negative mindset to a positive growth mindset. Jonette Dyer is a life coach who can help. Her personal coaching services, including mental health and life coaching, can help you make the mindset shift you need to find happiness and success. Get started with coaching today.
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