Early on in 2018, I embarked a journey; a mental journey, that is, which led me to learn and explore on just how powerful the subconscious mind is. I was really amazed at all I learned and from that time on, I ensured I always made conscious efforts to think about what I’m thinking about. The subconscious mind is a very tricky place and if ever you want to improve the quality of your life, then you must consciously improve your mindset.
Mindset meaning involves your personal convictions and inclination toward a particular thing, person or concept. It refers to the state of your mind and thought patterns, which ultimately shapes your habits, determines your behavior and controls your actions or reaction to things. Yes! It’s that powerful. One seemingly insignificant thought carry plenty weight.
The Power Of a Mindset
Mindsets are powerful! Never you forget that. One single thought has the power to influence your habits, determine your behavior and control your reaction to situations or people.
If for instance, you believe that (a hypothetical) Jane cannot pay you an honest compliment, but that rather her statements are always laced with sarcasm and falsehood, you subconsciously develop a habit of second-guessing everything she says; makes you develop a low self-esteem, especially around her; and ultimately makes you either act in a hostile way (in a bid to ‘defend’ yourself) or makes you act in a timid way around her (in a bid to shy away from criticism).
And it all began with one mindset, one little thing you believed. It eats deep into your subconscious that even when/if she is genuine, you just can’t see it. And until you change that perception, you would always feel inferior around her and will always act the way you do around her. Got it now? If you want to change a certain reaction, get to the root of it─ the thought pattern behind it.
You can have either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset; either way, it’s just as powerful. A fixed mindset is as the name implies; fixed. Unmoving. Limited. While a growth mindset is a mind eager to learn, improve and develop. Your mind has tremendous power and influence; it would be best to get it to work in your favor.
I heard someone say that “your mind is not your friend.” I don’t quite agree because it is possible to bend your mind to suit, soothe and serve you. A mindset can either keep you bound or keep you soaring.
If you want to make headway, you need to know how you can alter a mindset.
3 Ways Mindsets Are Formed
Most times, you build convictions without even realizing how or when. A number of factors are responsible for how convictions are built in your mind; educational background, culture or traditions and (my all-time favotrite) past experiences. All of these shape how we think and ultimately how we react to things.
Educational background and exposure refers to formal levels of education. This plays a major role, and agree or not, educational exposure has impacts on your mind. Sometimes, it’s not just about bagging a degree. The question should be ‘how has your mind been transformed?’
Culture and tradition is another way through which mindsets are formed. A person who has a fixed mindset towards his/her culture and traditions cannot have a transformed mind. Have you ever met a person with a strong educational background yet possesses some thought patterns which you consider absurd? or as I like to call it, myopic.
About a year or so back, within a particular period when rape cases were on the increase in Nigeria and some parts of the world, I was utterly amused by a lot of people’s perception to the whole thing. I read a lot of comments on social media from some educated people who believed females were only victims based on how they dressed, and that includes generally wearing of trousers (story for another day). Early Nigerian culture didn’t believe a female should be seen in trousers, some still hold that thought till this day but that’s not the point anyway. I’m sure you get the drift of all I’ve been yapping on about.
Past experience is the oga pata pata of them all. Your past experience regarding a particular thing builds a strong perception in your mind about that thing. Remember our hypothetical Jane story? Well maybe what made the current situation as it is was a past experience where Jane was mercilessly sarcastic in her compliment and now poor you have to battle self-esteem because you believed her words and thus built a perception thereupon.
Why Is Mindset So Important?
There were a couple of courses/classes I took in which the facilitators began with the topic of the mind and mindsets. If you want to learn a skill or anything, it begins with your mind. If you want to study on the subject of money and finance, you would have to alter old mindsets and reestablish new ones on the subject. However, why mindset is important doesn’t just end there.
So, why is mindset so important anyway? Mindsets help you grow and develop in basically every aspect of life. If you want to improve in anything, improve your mindset. Having a growth mindset in everything is a healthy mindset, and that transmits to a happy and productive life. A healthy mindset sets you up on the path of success. It is the winning mindset that wins.
Can Mindsets Be Transferred?
A short and simple answer is YES! Mindsets, positive or negative, can be transferred from one person to another; from parent to child; from thought leaders to their disciples. It’s what we do every day. It’s what I attempt doing with every article on this blog or across my social media pages─ to get you to adopt the personal development mindset (that’s a practical example of intentional attempts at transferring and adopting a mindset).
Transferring a mindset to a person can either be an intentional and deliberate act (or string of actions) or an unintentional one; just like adopting such thought patterns can be either. The more you remain with a person, interact with them and watch them do things, you unconsciously begin to act like them. That, dear friend, is simply a transfer of mindset.
I read a story once, a fictional one most likely, of a woman who recently got married. Whenever she wanted to cook with her charcoal stove, she bent very close to it and began to fan the flame using her mouth to blow air into it. This process was slow, always affected her eyes and made them teary, yet she never stopped. One day when asked why she does that, she responded with “I don’t know. That was how I saw my mother do it.” Her mother was then asked why she did that always and she also responded with it being how she saw her own mother do. Thankfully, her own mother was still alive and she was asked as well. She responded with “oh! I didn’t have a fan or anything to blow the flames with.”
I have a friend who once told me that the things we grew up seeing our parents do are the same things we would also replicate in ours. Both the things we admired and things we didn’t. and even if we vow never to do those things, we still would unless we challenge the status quo. You see, it’s not enough to identify those loopholes and promise never to do them. The truth is you will still find yourself doing them despite your resolve. You would have to intentionally challenge that mindset. If you don’t, remember that a mindset ultimately controls your actions and that’s what would happen.
We make do of mindsets every day, be it intentionally or unintentionally. If you want to live a productive life, then you must begin thinking about what you’re thinking about.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Philippians 4:8 NLT
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Cheers to steady growth.
Sending LOVE and LIGHT your way,
Zoey.
Zoey 
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