Whether you’re trying to live a healthy lifestyle or trying to be empathetic by understanding others points of views, changing your mindset may be the piece of the puzzle you’re missing.
It’s important to understand how our own minds work. Each of us are different. We are all classified as human beings. However, we all feel and think in our own unique and individual ways. It’s important to know that just because we are thinking about something or feeling something specific, others may not be thinking or feeling that same way.
Let’s take the biggest example of all: women on their menstrual cycle.
Do we honestly think that men understand what it feels like for a woman to have cramps? Probably not. Men can be empathetic and know that a woman is hurting, but does he really know how she is feeling? Same thing goes for every situation you encounter of every moment of the day. No matter who the person you are talking with, they, like you, have feelings and thoughts too. No one can control how they feel and what they believe because their feelings and beliefs are literally inside of them. There is no delete button, eraser at the top of their pencil, or shake to undo. People feel and believe because they are human, and that is just what we do.
What we can control is the empathetic way we respond to people through our words and our actions.
- We know we want to hurt someone, so we say something mean to them.
- We know we want to show appreciation, we compliment someone on a job well done.
- We know we want to make someone laugh, we tell them a joke or tickle them.
- We know we want to cheer someone up, we buy them a cup of coffee.
- We know someone is hurting, we lend an ear for listening and a shoulder to cry on.
The way you take control of how you want to respond to someone or any situation is the way you change your mindset.
If you are trying to lose weight and you say to yourself, “I am never going to fit into those jeans ever again.” Well, that is the way you have just explained to yourself that you are never going to fit into those jeans ever again. But, if you say to yourself, “I know I will fit into those jeans again one day,” then you are telling yourself that you will fit into those jeans again one day. It might not be as soon as you think, but you will do it one day. I know this because I did this same thing. Before I knew it, my jeans weren’t fitting me anymore. But it wasn’t because I didn’t lose weight. It was because I lost more than I ever expected and the jeans were too big on me and I needed to get new ones!
The same concept that I just explained about losing weight pertains to all walks of life. It might not be a fitness or nutrition goal. You might just want to clean out your house. Instead of saying, “I think I’ll clean out my bedroom tomorrow,” say, “Tomorrow, I’m cleaning out my bedroom.” This way, you just told yourself you’re going to do it. Now, do it. Easier said than done. I know. It takes time and a little getting used to change your mindset. Don’t forget, it’ll take others around you sometime to get used to you changing as well. It doesn’t happen overnight. After awhile of using this new mindset, your body will get use to you saying that you are going to do something, and your body will know that you need to follow up on the task at hand. I go for walks every day. At first, it was hard. 12:00 came and I would roll my eyes, but go for the walk anyway because I told myself I was going to do it. Now, my body yells at me if I don’t go for my walks. It’s now an automatic, “Time to put my sneakers on.” It’s easy now, but was hard then. Use this mentality to help you with every goal you set out to accomplish.
Do you agree that you are happier when you are positive then when you are negative?
Think about the last time you were at a family picnic or with a group of friends who you haven’t seen in a while. Did your spirits at this event lift you up and make you happy even if it was just for a moment? That is what a positive feeling is. If you surround yourself with positive people, events, and energy, you will experience that uplifting every moment you are alive. Can you imagine if we all felt that way all the time?
Growing up, I used to feel this way when we would sit down for our family dinners. Four girls versus my dad. We would have the best time laughing (mostly at my dad) but we all seemed happy at these family dinners. For a brief moment in time, we had this positive energy.
If we all changed our mindsets about the things we do and the things we say, we would be more positive people, and that would affect those around us. If each of our positive attitudes rubbed off on the people we surround ourselves with, and those people’s positive attitudes rubbed off on the people they surround themselves with, can you imagine how positive the world could be? Just even a little bit?
The first step? Change our own mindset and be positive.