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Academic Mentoring Resources: Healthy Mindset

A Healthy Mindset

What is Mindset?

Your mindset is the way you think about and perceive your experiences or what happens in the world. Your mindset impacts your thoughts, emotions and behaviors. Mindset impacts every area of life, not just learning or how we perceive our mistakes. For a healthy mindset in your personal, social, and spiritual life, consider these tools:

  • Practice gratitude. Recognizing the blessings in one’s life has been shown to increase happiness.
  • Have an optimistic outlook. Negative self-talk doesn’t help you; instead, practice flipping your statements around to be positive! You’ll win more support in the process, too.
  • A healthy mindset is a growth mindset. Challenges and setbacks are key ways to improving who we are. There is always room in you for growth. With a growth mindset, you can continue to try and see any failure as a stepping stone to success. With time and practice, you can learn and mature.

Resources

 

Neurologically, a fixed and growth mindset can affect decision making, impulse, mental flexibility, and even motivation. When we choose a fixed mindset, we are preventing our brain from developing in a multitude of crucial areas. When we choose growth mindset, these areas are positively impacted. What you tell yourself matters. 

Fixed vs. Growth Mindset

Do you have a fixed or a growth mindset? See which of these statements resonate with you and notice how to flip them from negative to positive.

Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset
Either I’m good at it or I’m not. I can learn to do anything I want.
That's just who I am. I can't change it. I'm a constantly evolving work in progress.
If I have to work hard, I don't have the ability. The more I challenge myself, the smarter I can become.
If I don't try, I won't fail. I only fail when I stop trying
That job position is totally out of my league. That job position looks challenging. Let me just apply for it.

https://www.alterledger.com/who-needs-a-growth-mindset/