Meditation
Meditation trains your mind to focus your attention on any object, thought, activity or idea. If you have ever tried to meditate or have a practice already, you already may be familiar with the tendency for the mind to wander. The purposes behind such practices attempt to achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm, stable state of mind.
Scholars have found it challenging to define meditation as practices that vary between and within traditions. Modern meditation techniques may incorporate technology, binaural patterns, applications, and computerized simulations to achieve similar ends.
The benefits of these methods are far-reaching, significant, and represent a pinnacle of progress in health and well-being. As research into this area grows, we continue to stretch our ability to reveal what we can about the nature of consciousness and how meditation can foster better health.
Internal Representations Make Up Our Mindset
Does what you believe about yourself have any impact upon your failure or success? According to some psychologists, your beliefs play a pivotal role in identifying what you want and whether you achieve it.
So, what does your mindset have to do with determining achievement or success? And what exactly is a mindset anyway? You determine your mindset by selecting the set of beliefs that shape how you make sense of your world and yourself.
These are sometimes called your ‘internal representations’ of your world and yourself. Though these selections often take place in early childhood, you are free to change your mind at any point. Habits do tend to form, however, and your chosen mindset consequently influences how you think, feel, and behave in any given situation.
Growth or Fixed Mindset?
The two basic mindsets include fixed or growth. If you have a fixed mindset, you believe your abilities are fixed, unchangeable traits. You may also think that your success requires no effort since your innate talent and intelligence alone have led to your success so far.
In contrast to this, a growth mindset allows you to believe that your talents and abilities require development over time through effort, persistent practice, and improvement.
With this mindset, you don’t necessarily believe that everyone can become another Einstein or Mozart just because they try. You do, however, believe that everyone can get smarter or more talented if they work at it.
How Did Your Mindset Develop?
Based on current ideas, there are two primary sources for developing mindset – praising and labeling, both of which occur in early childhood. In a landmark series of experiments, researchers found that kids behaved very differently depending on the type of praise they received.
If you received personal praise during childhood, praise that focused on your innate talents rather than accomplishments, with labeling that identified you as “smart” or some other “label,” this may have promoted in you a fixed mindset. It sent a message that you were imbued with an ability (according to the label) and that nothing could ever change that fact.
On the other hand, process praise emphasizes the effort you put into accomplishing a task. This type of praise implies that your success is due to the effort and strategy to control and improve over time.
The Impact of Mindset
Your mindset plays a critical role in how you cope with challenges in life. With a growth mindset, you tend to have a hunger for learning and a desire to work hard and discover new things. This mindset often translates into academic, business, or social achievement.
As an adult, if you have a fixed mindset, you are more likely to give up in the face of challenging circumstances. But remember, you aren’t stuck with any particular mindset. All you have to do is recognize your mindset to change it.
If you can foster a growth mindset through meditation, then you can enjoy the tendency to view any setback simply as an opportunity to learn and grow. In that case, you are more likely to persevere in the face of setbacks instead of throwing in the towel.
Achieve a Growth Mindset
Changing your mindset may present some awkward challenges at first, but you can achieve anything with diligent practice. If you seek guidance in incorporating meditation practices into your life or achieving better success with these methods, allow me to assist you.
Let’s work together to help you gain a stable growth mindset.
Contact me today. (310) 902-7222