
Athletes do have a unique mindset in that they are usually very self motivated, highly driven and goal oriented. I was/am an athlete and I can relate to some of these mindsets. Many are relentless, and it can be genetic. Many could be called obsessive, which is not always a good thing!
Now, please don't get me wrong, I know most of you don't consider yourself an athlete and of course I am by no means comparing you to athletes.
HOWEVER, having the right mindset does make a huge difference in whether or not you are successful when starting a health & fitness journey! And for many people, they just didn't have the upbringing to generate this drive to be consistent with exercise or eating healthy. So in a lot of ways it is not your fault! Many of our habits and mindsets come from things we have been told by others, or even ourselves.
So, first, what is the definition of a mindset? Dr. Alia Crum describes it as "a mental frame or lens that selectively organizes & encodes information." Dr. Crum is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Stanford, so her career has been focused on understanding how mindsets affect important outcomes outside the realm of medicine.
As you can see, I highlighted the words organize & information because these are the specific components of what we do on a daily basis. We have a large amount of information coming in and out all day and our mindset helps us organize it. For example, our mind asks, "am I full right now? Am I hungry? " or "am I anxious?" based on our experiences.
According to Andrew Huberman, American Neuroscientist, the nervous system
has the ability to change in response to experience. And of course we want it to change for the better! As a nutrition & lifestyle coach, I would love to encourage & support you with the tools to help you adapt a performance enhancing mindset. I don't mean performance as athletic performance but more of a take action & grow mindset.
Are you the type that if you were told that you aren't good at something, or received negative feedback about something, that you dug your heels in to prove that you are good at it or you could be? If this is you, you may not struggle starting or completing a project but those of you who do not have this mindset, you might not do well if the going gets tough.
Studies have shown in children that a GROWTH MINDSET, which is one that is open to new ideas and getting better at things, definitely benefited them to perform better in things like math, music or even athletics! This approach used effort feedback instead of label feedback. They were told thing like "you tried really hard or it was great what you did," instead of "you are smart, great, talented," which labels a person.
So ask yourself... are you stuck in a negative mindset when it comes to making a change to your health & fitness, maybe from some negative feedback or situation that you didn't do well with, and it left you doubting yourself. Or maybe it got a little tougher than you thought so you didn't finish...
Be Honest with yourself...
What is your mindset and how has it helped or kept you from achieving your health goals? Comment below and let me know.
If you need some help with changing your mindset, please free to email assistant@Michelleschirra.com to schedule a free 15-minute consultation.
As always, be safe & be well!!
You mean the world to me and I appreciate you trusting me on your health & fitness journey!
xoxo
Michelle
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