At the Art and Science of Health Promotion Conference I spoke at last week, an important topic of conversation was about re-setting mindset.

Mindset is generally considered to be a set of ideas or beliefs that we establish that guide much of our behavior.

I brought this topic up in my session as a way of helping peoples change the way they currently think about stress so that they can create more of a resilient framework upon facing challenges.

One woman in the group shared that prior to her decision to get a divorce, all she could think about was how her life would be over and that she would not know how to deal with her life challenges. After several months of ruminating on the idea, she finally decided to file papers and after that issue was resolved, she felt like the weight of the world was off her shoulders. Suddenly, she shared with the group all kinds of opportunities in her mind and her life opened up.

We are burdened with the mistaken belief that change is hard. Change is challenging but not hard. Inertia, the tendency of a body at rest to stay at rest keeps us from thinking about things differently. It’s just easier to think the same old way. However, when we shift our thinking and begin the move in a new direction, the other quality of inertia, that a body in motion tends to stay in motion begins to work in our favor.

Consider ways that you can change one or two perspectives that you hold close to you such as how you can commit more energy to your work or how you could eat a bit healthier. New thinking opens new vistas.

© Richard Citrin, All rights reserved, 2018

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