So the other day I was interviewed with the topic of mindset
And I kind of realized not a lot of people know what a mindset really is
Go ahead
Pause here and think about what makes a mindset
And what your mindset is
If you want to, comment on my Facebook or Instagram before you continue reading 🙂
I’ll wait!
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Hope you wrote something down cause I am really curious what you think a mindset is
And even what makes a mindset
But you see, my title is the grey area of mindset
And it’s a bit of a pun
Partly because the brain has grey matter
And I personally think people don’t really have very clear distinctions of what a mindset is all about
You see, people think a mindset is a set of assumptions
Or even just an individual perspectives of the world around him or her
However, from mindset, we also have the idea of a fixed mindset and a growth mindset
But wait a minute!
How does a fixed or a growth mindset, relate to a set of assumptions or an individual’s perspectives?
Curious, huh?
Of course, what I will be sharing today may or may not be the correct explanation of what a mindset is
But maybe you can learn a thing or two
And get some clarity
Hopefully 🙂
So first up, what makes a mindset?
A mindset is made up of an individual’s values, beliefs, attitudes etc regarding different aspects or areas of life
I’m going to use a metaphor and see if that helps
A mindset is like a building
A building needs a good foundation made of concrete, pillars, steel structures etc
The concrete, pillars and steel structures etc are the values, beliefs, attitudes, etc
The different aspects or areas of life, are the different floors of the building
Because if the base is weak or small, the upper floors cannot grow much more, can it?
And individual rooms are like mini experiences of the related aspect of area of life (of the floor)
WOW!!
That’s some metaphor huh?
Now I’m not going to restrict it by saying the first floor (and base) has to be family, and the second floor is about career etc
We are dynamic creatures, humans
So it’s quite flexible
However, if the first floor is weak or small, such as cutting down of materials, or using poor quality concrete and pillars
Then the upper floors will not hold and the building will collapse
And that’s kind of true for life, isn’t it?
Ok fine, I shall use the example of family for the first floor for now haha
Imagine this
If a child is brought up in a family with neglect (cutting down of materials), poor or negative values (poor quality concrete), limiting beliefs (using unstable pillars) etc, well what is going to happen to this child as he or she grows up?
Of course, it’s possible for such a child to be barely sustainable in the career, earning just enough to get by
Or if it’s in a worse case scenario, the child might mix with the wrong company and get into terrible situations
The list might go on
What about the rooms?
Say the rooms of the family floor are like individual attitudes to different family members
Imagine if a room is to abuse your spouse and another room is neglect your children, because those were the same conditions, the same materials from when he or she was growing up
And that stacks up, doesn’t it?
The same goes for career, boss and colleagues and how you do your work
For money, earning, spending, or none at all
Personal development, skills, hobbies, passion
And that to me, my friend, is what makes a mindset
Hope that clarifies a couple of things for you 🙂
Now from here, we need to somehow be able to explain the fixed or the growth mindset
Naturally as the name implies
A fixed mindset is fixed, stuck or not wanting to learn and grow
While a growth mindset is one who seeks learning and continued development
Now think of it this way
Is it possible to have a fixed mindset about money, but a growth mindset for your career or business?
How about a fixed mindset for your family and a growth mindset for your money?
It’s actually possible!
So what does this mean?
It’s like the individual floors of the building
Being able to expand, or add more rooms
To add more furniture and more decorations
That’s a growth mindset, with regards to that aspect or area of life
While a fixed mindset, regardless of that area, is still that
And that is why you might meet people who might be successful in their career, and yet have something negative or stuck about them
Due to the different fixed or growth mindset for the different floors
Now here is the key
And this is magic
Can you expand and have growth on the top floors, without growing the bottom base of a building?
More often that not, and no we cannot use technology when it comes to the mind here
The answer is mostly no
Try this
Look at your life right now
Please do this ok?
Look at the different aspects of your life
Here is a chart to show you
Which of these areas are great for you right now?
And which are not so great?
Which did you keep trying and trying to grow, and yet cannot?
And which can grow and learn so much more easily?
You might notice, especially if you have quite a few areas that are not doing so well
That everything overall isn’t doing that well
And you get stuck
Whereas if you find most of your areas are doing great
Then there is nothing much holding you back too ain’t it?
That’s the key my friend
Whatever else that is holding you back, you might want to fix it
If you have 5 areas great and 1 not so, resolving that 1 not so will make your whole life like fireworks
If you have 3 areas ok and 3 not ok, then you might want to resolve those 3 not ok before you relook into the ok areas to grow
Using the building as a metaphor again
It’s the base foundation that needs the most growth before you can grow the upper floors
Or the middle floors need to grow before the upper floors can grow
You get the picture 🙂
What if your base is small and you manage to grow your upper floors well?
Well my friend, if you seen those highly successful people suddenly have some trauma or incident, go into depression and stuff…
Yea, cause the base is not good or strong
Hopefully this sort of clears up your understanding of what a mindset is all about
Lastly, regarding your question of how to resolve those issues in those aspects or areas
You have options
There are always options
You can find various coaches, or therapists, or business consultants
And if you believe in metaphysics, you can find fengshui masters, bazi masters etc
And of course, you can always find me
You also have the option of self help
Whether it’s reading online, attending courses etc
Or even self reflection and meditation
There are 2 currencies at play here
Time or Money
If you have money, you save time
If you have time, you save money
Most important will be if you want to resolve your issues that are stopping you from achieving the best mindset for growth in the respective areas of your life
And that, is a question you must answer on your own
Til next time my friend
