No matter what area of your life you are looking to improve, building a healthy mindset should be the first item on your to-do list.
Without a healthy mindset, it’ll be a bumpy road trying to accomplish the larger goals and tasks in your life. Whether it be creating your dream job, finding that ideal partner, improving your diet and exercise routine, or better managing your mental health, none of it will be possible without a healthy mindset.
Once you establish a healthier mindset, you’ll begin to notice specific changes within yourself.
For example, you’ll begin to experience more gratitude, joy, and happiness for no apparent reason. You won’t get caught up on the little things as much, and you will have an easier time dealing with complicated and heavy emotions.
WHAT IS A HEALTHY MINDSET?
Through my own experience and research, specific characteristics of a healthy mindset tend to be more prevalent.
Not every person who has a healthy mindset possesses every quality, but most do.
Here are the traits/characteristics:
- Don’t take things too personally
- Understand healthy boundaries
- Don’t let setbacks define them
- In tune with their emotions
- Have a healthy balance in life
- Don’t care about what others think of them
- Confident but not arrogant
- Masters at practicing gratitude
WHY IS MINDSET IMPORTANT?
Mindset is defined as “a mental attitude or inclination.” Your mindset is the driver of your choices, decisions, habits, and the direction of your life.
If you have a healthy mindset, you will make healthier decisions that will positively impact your life. Conversely, if you have an unhealthy mindset, especially over a prolonged period, you will make unhealthy decisions that negatively impact your life.
I can attest to this firsthand. I look back at specific times in my life when I was at a low point or engaging in some unhealthy activity, and usually, one of the main culprits was my unhealthy mindset.
For example, when I felt depressed or overly anxious, I would binge eat and eat late at night. Doing this had a negative impact on my sleep, my diet, and my overall well-being. I gained weight in the wrong areas, felt like crap, and became lazier and unmotivated because of my consistently eating junk food.
As soon as I started to change my mindset and become a healthier version of myself, my diet changed for the better.
You can be the wealthiest, best-looking, most well-versed person on the planet, but you will suffer the consequences if your mindset is not in a good place.
FIXED MINDSET:
People who have a fixed mindset believe that these qualities are inherent and virtually unchangeable.
GROWTH MINDSET:
Conversely, people who have a growth mindset believe that these qualities can be developed and strengthened by hard work and dedication.
10 KEY HABITS FOR BUILDING A HEALTHY MINDSET
1. PRACTICE MINDFULNESS
Mindfulness is “The practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis.”
When you practice mindfulness, you are trying to stay hyper-focused in the present moment and not get caught up in the thoughts of the past or worries of the future. Doing this will be incredibly beneficial in building a healthy mindset.
I have found that when you first begin to practice being mindful, it takes a lot of effort. Your thoughts will wander, you’ll ruminate about the past, you’ll worry about the future, but the key is to keep coming back to the present moment by:
- OBSERVING YOUR THOUGHTS WITHOUT GETTING CAUGHT UP IN THEM
- LETTING THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS FLOW THROUGH YOU LIKE A TRAIN CAR PASSING ON RAILROAD TRACKS
- FOCUSING ON WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING IN THAT MOMENT
Ever since I have implemented more mindfulness into my life, I have gained new insights. Mindfulness has taught me many things about myself, including:
- NEGATIVE THOUGHT PATTERNS
- UNCONSCIOUS HABITS AND ROUTINES
- AUTOMATIC EMOTIONAL TRIGGERS
- AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT
- AREAS OF STRENGTH
- GROWTH ACTIVITIES
- SLEEPING PATTERNS
- DIET & EXERCISE
- INSECURITIES
2. OPTIMIZE YOUR SLEEP
Optimizing sleep is a critical step in building a healthy mindset.
Poor sleep and lack of sleep have detrimental effects on the human brain. Studies have shown that people who don’t get enough sleep or sleep poorly (sleep apnea) have trouble with memories, difficulties concentrating, and poorer health in general. Getting to bed and waking up at the same time is crucial in developing a healthy sleeping pattern. Also, monitoring your REM sleep is essential, as it helps with memory and replenishes neurotransmitters. Researchers have found that more REM sleep is associated with lower reactivity in the amygdala. So practicing good sleeping habits is crucial.
3. LEARN HOW TO MANAGE YOUR EMOTIONS
Managing our emotions is one of the most challenging aspects of building a healthy mindset. Even those who have a solid grasp on their emotions will have their “off” days. Emotions are tricky because they can creep up on us and take over our state of being. Although getting into the details of how to manage emotions properly would take several long articles, it’s essential to become aware of the emotions you are feeling. Once you are aware of the emotions, when you typically experience them, and how they affect you, it’ll be easier to adjust your thoughts, habits, and routines to manage them.
4. CHOOSE A HEALTHY DIET
Choosing a healthy diet is a critical component for all areas of life.
No matter what aspect of your life it is, the healthier you eat, the better you will feel. And the better you feel, the easier it is to manage and overcome negative thought patterns and some of the powerful emotions that accompany them. Diet has an effect on the chemicals in your gut and your brain, which have a direct impact on mindset. You should always speak to a doctor, dietician, or trained professional when it comes to deciding what is best for you, but always remember how important a healthy diet is to sustain a long-term healthy mindset.
5. USE FEAR SETTING TO CHALLENGE YOUR FEARS
Entrepreneur, podcaster, author, and philanthropist Tim Ferriss has been one of my go-to people in the personal development arena.
One of Tim’s best tips is a practice he created called fear setting.
Tim suggests that instead of defining our goals, like most people seem to do, we should be defining our fears since fear is the enemy that usually holds people back from accomplishing their goals.
In other words, to conquer your fears, you need to define them.
The first thing you need to do is write down whatever it is you are thinking about doing.
For example, you might want to ask your boss at work for a raise. You feel that you’ve earned it but have put off talking to your boss about it out of fear.
I call this the “What if” statement.
So you write down, “What if I asked my boss for a raise?”
After you have your “what if” statement, you’ll want to create three separate pages with the following:
Page 1:
Make the three lists below with 10 to 20 different answers for each.
• Define — What are the worst things that could happen?
• Prevent — How do I prevent each from happening?
• Repair — If the worst happens, how can I fix it?
Page 2:
What might be the benefits of an attempt or a partial success? What new skills would you learn or new relationships could you develop?
Page 3:
Here is the most important one in my opinion – what are the costs of inaction? Or in other words, if I avoid doing this, what will I be missing out on? A fun new adventure? A better-paying job? A more satisfying relationship?
Think in terms of six months, one year, and three years from both the second and third pages.
After you have completed all three pages, you’ll have the ammunition to make a more informed decision moving forward!
6. EXERCISE CONSISTENTLY
Exercise, much like sleep and diet, is a crucial component to a healthy mindset. When your body is in peak physical shape, it’s easier to fend off stress, anxiety, and other negative contributing factors that hinder a healthy mindset. Find an exercise routine that works for you by talking to a doctor, wellness coach, or another fitness professional that can run you through some options.
7. START GRATITUDE JOURNALING
Journaling is an excellent way to clear the mind.
Practicing gratitude is an excellent way to seek out the good in your life.
Combining them both is a recipe for a healthier mindset.
Gratitude journaling consists of writing daily about all that you are grateful for in your life. There are different types of gratitude journaling, but I tend to enjoy jotting down three things I am thankful for on that given day. They can be anything from a heartfelt conversation with a friend, a hug from a loved one, a job promotion, your favorite team winning a big game, or the weather turning out to your liking.
But practicing gratitude has many benefits, including having a positive impact on relationships, improving symptoms of PTSD, creating a stronger sense of self, improving sleep, and reducing stress, to name a few.
Gratitude goes a long way in creating a healthier mindset.
8. LEARN THE 90-SECOND RULE
This is such a simple and effective tool to use to grow a healthy mindset.
The 90-second rule is a term coined by Harvard brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor.
She discovered that when a person has an emotional reaction to something in their environment, there’s a 90-second chemical process. Any emotional response beyond that 90-seconds is the person choosing to stay in that emotional loop.
This means that we can choose not to get caught up in a highly charged emotional situation, by in a sense, distracting ourselves for 90-seconds while the chemicals producing the emotion calm down.
When creating a healthy mindset, managing your highly charged emotions is critical in keeping your peace of mind.
9. STAY CONNECTED TO OTHERS
Over the years, I noticed that my mindset would become more anxious, lonely, and depressed when I would spend long periods alone at my place. This is not an indictment on spending alone time with yourself since that is also important to personal growth. But I am referring to a more isolated mindset, one that rarely leans on anyone for support and doesn’t connect with other people beyond a few superficial areas.
Author and journalist Johann Hari wrote a book entitled ‘Lost Connections.’ Also, he did a TED Talks on why he believes through his research that lack of connection with others is a significant factor in both addiction and depression.
Research points to many benefits of connection, including:
- An increase in happiness, including one study, showed that the difference between very happy and less-happy people was good relationships.
- Assists in better health, as loneliness was linked with a higher risk of high blood pressure in a study of older people.
- Living longer, since people with strong social and community connections were two to three times less likely to die during a 9-year study.
10. ENGAGE IN DAILY PERSPECTIVE
Often when we are stuck in a dark mental space, it’s challenging to pull back and take perspective. But perspective gives us a chance to view the problem(s) from a higher elevation of thought, more profound wisdom. And it is a key in building a healthy mindset.
Falling into an unhealthy, negative-based mindset is much easier when perspective is not applied to the equation. We can get caught up in the present drama and swept away in the emotions associated with whatever we are currently experiencing. Acknowledging the present and feeling the emotions is essential, of course, but there’s a difference between living in the present moment and letting it consume you.
I’ll give you an example.
The one year rule:
I use what I call the one-year rule to get myself out of mental ruts.
Anytime I am experiencing a highly volatile or stressful situation in my life, I pause and take a moment to reflect by asking this one question: will this situation affect me a year from now?
If this answer is yes, then I will try to work on potential solutions. If the answer is no, then I let it go.
The majority of the time, in most situations, the answer is no.
Using perspective and taking the ten thousand foot approach can be highly beneficial in halting unwanted stress, anxiety, and negative thoughts that perpetuate an unhealthy mindset.
IN REVIEW
These ten items listed above or just some of the many aspects of a healthy mindset. But they are some of the most important. Building a healthy mindset isn’t something that happens overnight, nor is it something that is the same each day. You will have some off days where you struggle, even with a healthy mindset. And that’s okay – you’re human. We all face those types of days. The essential part of a healthy mindset is being consistent over a long period with healthy daily habits in all areas of your life. Once those habits are formed and kept, it’ll be much easier to maintain that healthy mindset.
If you have any questions or would like a free life coaching consultation – contact me at brad@upplifter.com.
Although we strive to provide accurate general information, the information presented here is not a substitute for any kind of professional advice, and you should not rely solely on this information. Always consult a professional in the medical and health area for your particular needs and circumstances prior to making any medical or health-related decisions. For your health-related questions, please seek the advice of a licensed physician or any other qualified health care provider immediately.
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