Mindset Practices for Wellness and Well Being
Achieving our goals, whether they be about our physical wellness or mental well being, requires a balanced approach. We must first be able to develop a positive growth mindset that will propel us toward meeting the goals we have set for ourselves. Those goals will be more attainable if we have a growth mindset that will act to motivate our self discipline to want to stay engaged in healthful practices. Mindset and practice work together to help us focus more clearly on our goals as we move toward improving our physical and mental health.
But how do we develop a mindset that will support our physical and mental wellness? There are many cognitive strategies that we can use to improve our psychological well being. Have you ever tried using positive affirmation? An affirmation is a statement that can be repeated aloud or internally to remind us of our intended actions and goals. It is statement of what we are hoping to achieve and a healthful beginning in the process of developing a positive mindset. We can also think of an affirmation as providing internal or external feedback to enhance our self awareness and to keep us on track as we move toward our goal. Affirmations are statements that empower our thinking and help us move toward a desired outcome. As a form of “self talk” they create a feedback loop in our mind. If the feedback is positive and motivational, we are more likely to keep moving toward our goal. Negative or punitive self talk as as negative feedback or criticism and make us less likely to feel positive about ourselves or ability to achieve our goals. Negative feedback can also be self defeating, reducing our self beliefs, and convincing us that our goals cannot be achieved. Keeping our affirmations and self talk “positive” empowers our thinking and our self beliefs, and increases our ability to achieve our goals.
Another powerful psychological tool we can use for growing a positive growth mindset is cognitive self appraisal. We can use our cognition or thinking to help frame events and situations that occur with the intention of taking control of our emotions. This process is often used when individuals need to reframe their thinking to reappraise their responses to emotional situations. When we reflect on events we can view them as opportunities for growth. Even when things don’t go as planned, we can learn and grow from those experiences. Keeping our thinking focused on how to grow from all experiences helps us to maintain a positive growth mindset.
Being introspective is a strategy for reflective thinking. The challenge we face is avoiding self judgments that can impair our ability to maintain a positive growth mindset. Monitoring and appraising our thinking helps us to determine if our actions meet our physical and mental health goals. Cognitive self appraisal gives us feedback about our progress and about how effective we have been in meeting our goals. Focusing on what we want to achieve, or our ability to meet our goal will support a positive growth mindset more effectively than being negative to finding faults in our progress.
Learn more about Mindful Self Care at https://a.co/d/fnzuFde
