With the case of developing a fixed mindset, over time you may have learned to associate a certain stimulus that you’ve been conditioned to with a conditioned response. For example, perhaps you’ve always been around negative, unsupportive people and their opinions have led you to turn your back on certain opportunities out of fear of being negatively judged. Later in life you may be in the company of uplifting and positive people, but you may perceive their good-hearted feedback as being judged this may create the same fear in you causing you to back down on potential success. What if you learn to reduce your fear of potential judgements and teach yourself to cope with unwanted situations and move ahead?

ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY

ACT was developed by Steven C. Hayes in 1982. It helps people unlearn limiting behaviours by acknowledging them and embracing their thoughts and feelings. It incorporates mindfulness along with behaviour change strategies to get one to commit to actions that will enrich their life.*

The ACT framework consists of six core processes:

1. Acceptance – allow the negative conditioned behaviour.
2. Cognitive Defusion – view the experience from opposite views.
3. Being Present – awareness of the present without predicting the outcome.
4. Self as Context – self outside of the experience.
5. Values – establishing core beliefs.
6. Committed Action – committing to action and positive behaviour changes consistent with values.

ACT is a third wave therapy which prioritizes health promotion from a holistic approach of behavioural and psychological processes and eliminate limiting behaviours by diminishing classical and negative operate conditioning.

OPERANT CONDITIONING FOR SUCCESSFUL HABITS

B.F. Skinner was a behavioural psychologist and he developed the theory of operant conditioning – it’s the idea that behaviour is determined by its consequences; whether it be by reinforcements or punishments that will either reduce or increase a certain behaviour.

Operant conditioning is the result of behaviours you exhibit that are under conscious control – this can be applied to the way you learn and unlearn certain habits and behaviours. There are two components of this type of conditioning: reinforcement and punishment:

1. Reinforcement is any event that either strengthens or increases a behaviour. There are two kinds of reinforcers:
   
   a. Positive reinforcers – favourable outcomes after the behaviour occurs. Such as keeping up with your fitness routine for a week and then rewarding yourself with a treat meal.
   
   b. Negative reinforcers – the removal of unfavourable events after the behaviour occurs. You may have done a good job on a project at work and your boss doesn’t micromanage you as much.
   
2. Punishment is an event that causes a decrease in a certain behaviour. There are two kinds of punishments: 
   
   a. Positive punishment – the outcome that weakens a certain behaviour following an event. Maybe your fitness coach may add one mile run to every workout because you haven’t been committed to your program.
   
   b. Negative reinforcers – a favourable outcome or event is removed after a behaviour occurs. If you don’t follow deadlines, your boss may remove the mini basketball net in the office.

STRENGTHEN YOUR POSITIVE BEHAVIOURS

As you know, setting small goals motivates individuals to take action. Consider incorporating operant conditioning reinforcers into your action plan to better establish success habits as you work towards fulfilling your goals.

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JOURNALING AND HEALTH BENEFITS

For every moment that you experience, you feel a different emotion, and you develop different thoughts which your mind catalogues as unique memories. Also, your body reacts to the emotions that you feel by responding to the level of stress or ease that you are experiencing. Every situation that you encounter in your life relates to your well-being. 

The action of writing your experiences, feelings, thoughts and reflections in a journal can add to your personal growth and even decode the mysteries of happiness. Furthermore, many studies reveal that writing is positively correlated with: healing chronic illnesses, reducing anxiety and depression, and treating stress and various disorders and addictions. For example, in a 1988 study led by psychologist, James W. Pennebaker, PhD and his colleagues asked 50 healthy undergraduate students to write about their traumatic experiences or superficial topics for four consecutive days. Six weeks after the writing exercise, students that wrote about their traumas experienced positive subjective well-being – better moods and fewer illnesses. ^*

EXPRESSIVE WRITING

Expressive writing can help you identify negative patterns in their day-to-day life, better cope with stress, gain personal insight and also to find meaning and greater life satisfaction. There isn’t a right or wrong way to journal. You simply just need to be open to the the process and write in whichever way or format that is best suited for you. Here are some ways that you can engage yourself in journaling on the daily:

Free-writing – begin to write about anything that comes to your mind and let your immediate thoughts guide you. You will be surprised at how reflective this is.

Randomized words – write down a few words on different pieces of paper and fold them up (or ask someone to come up with the words for you). Start by picking up one piece of paper to reveal the word, set a one-minute timer and write whatever comes to your mind. 

Repeat the steps for each word. At the end of this writing session, you may discover a certain thought pattern or a creative pastime developing.

Future self journaling – on every new moon or during a particular time of the month, make a journal entry from six months in to the future. This helps kickstart your visualization process and also helps you create intentions and goals for yourself. Also, you will be amazed to read your journal entries in the future to find out that you are living the life that you created on paper!

Short-story – write a short story or fairy tale – this can lead you into writing your life’s story in a creative way.

Gillie Bolton, a writer and researcher suggests writing for at least six minutes. Twenty minutes is ideal to get to the core of your self exploration. Regardless of the manner that you choose to write in, remember that you own this process. There are no rules of writing or organization that you need to follow. Just go with the flow.

UNCOVER YOUR HAPPINESS AND CREATE YOUR STORY

When you make journaling a daily habit, you end up becoming a researcher of your own self and a conscious creator of your future life. That’s right! You gain all control over the mood, the tone and the theme of the upcoming super hit series of your life! Once you grab a handle on journaling, be sure to include these elements into your writing practice:

1. Include your intentions. When you write down your intentions whether it be by goal-setting or creatively; you are actually developing a deeper belief within you about your abilities and you are more likely to take action.
2. Reflect. By writing about your thoughts and situations, you actually start to examine them objectively and uncover life lessons – an opportunity to grow.
3. Accept. Exercise self-compassion and accept the feelings and emotions that may flow out onto the paper.

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At lot of people at a certain point in their lives begin to feel dissatisfaction and unfulfilled with their day-to-day routine. They feel stuck, but they don’t know how to make the appropriate changes to live a more happier lifestyle.

4 OBSTACLES TO CHANGE

Common obstacles to change that most people experience have to do with feeling accepted, competent and in control which are associated with our basic survival needs. ^*

• Cognitive – growing up developing low self-esteem, perfectionist qualities and people pleasing traits.
• Behavioural – creating self limiting habits that become engrained into your mind.
• Emotional – resorting to feelings such as anger, frustration, guilt and shame when you fear change or have failed at something.
• Environmental – surrounding yourself with people that are negative or unsupportive, being in environments that keep your in your comfort zone.

Often, people are unaware about their various limiting behaviours, and many types of influences can either strengthen or weaken one’s ability to change.

SELF-EFFICACY

To be able to identify a need for change and to effectively progress through changes, you need to develop self-efficacy which is the belief in your ability to succeed in any particular situation.

Motivation and self-regulation are intertwined with having high self-efficacy. When you develop high self-efficacy you become motivated to overcome your obstacles and you’re persistent in making the required changes in order to be more satisfied with your life’s endeavours.  Self-efficacy also increases your self confidence, and renews your optimism.

THE 6 STAGES OF CHANGE

Studies indicate that when people begin to modify their behaviours, they go through a series of stages. Researchers, Prochaska & DiClemente (1983) constructed the Transtheorhetical Model (TTM) which is based on 35 years of research and empirical studies. The TTM reveals the series of stages that individuals go through when they make a conscious effort to change a limiting behaviour or habit of theirs.

1. Pre-contemplation – no intention of taking action to change a certain behaviour over the next 6 months. Self work: increase your awareness of why it’s needed and the risks associated with your current behaviour.
2. Contemplation – intending to take action in the next 6 months. Recognizing the pros of changing, but spending time procrastinating. Self work: list pros and cons of existing limiting behaviour and consider pros and cons of new behaviour. Identify barriers to change.
3. Preparation – ready to take action in the next 30 days. Developing an action plan. Self work: create goals and develop an action plan.
4. Action – making lifestyle changes over the past 6 months. Self work: implement the plan, revise goals as needed and celebrate your successes.
5. Maintenance – exhibiting a new and more positive behaviour for over 6 months. Self work: continue with transformation, reaffirm positive behaviours and develop coping and self-regulation strategies.
6. Termination – the end state. Not returning to limiting behaviours and bad habits even when feelings of anxiety or depression arise. Self work:continue exercising with new habits and behaviours.

One’s behaviours in the earlier stages may not be linear due to relapse. In this case, triggers should be identified and worked through. An individual may cycle through through the first couple of stages in the beginning before they gain motivation to progress through each of the stages effortlessly. It’s also important to note that during the action stage, behaviours such as grieving and frustration may be exhibited followed by covert behaviours in the form of self-rewards and recognitions during the maintenance and termination stages of the TTM.

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• The brain stem which comprises of the spinal cord and connects the brain to the rest of your body and regulates physiological processes such as respiration and heart rate.
• The limbic area which help regulate emotions (amygdala)  and works with other features of the brain to create various forms of memory (hippocampus).

• The cortex which includes the prefrontal cortex this allows you to think and reflect. It also lets you to manage and regulate your emotions, desires and impulses. This is also where your mind develops awareness and subjective experiences.

WHY YOU PROCRASTINATE

If you find yourself having big ideas but you tend to spend your time doing senseless tasks instead of implementing your ideas, then it may be time for you to confront your emotions. That’s right, procrastination isn’t a time management problem, it’s more of a challenge with you regulating your emotions. You may actually be worried about failure, or your mind may take you on a trip down memory lane back to an experience where you may have not done as well as you

expected on a project or task. Some behaviours that you may exhibit are:

• Rumination being fixated on certain aspects of your life.
• Comparison, scrolling your social media feeds
• Engaging with activities that drive your impulses and give you momentary pleasure such as playing games.

GROWTH MINDSET VERSUS FIXED MINSET

A fixed mindset is going with the status quo or not being able to site a reason for change. It’s the type of mindset in which you may be less fluid and more rigid in your way of thinking. Growth mindset is creating opportunities for success, it’s the ability to see the big picture in bringing about a positive change. It’s also your level of health and happiness that bring attention to you.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE YOUR FIXED MINDSET

You can begin to raise your awareness and combat your fixed mindset by:

• Catching yourself when your mind gets into a negative loop of doubt and worry. When this happens, nurture your thoughts, reflect as to why you have developed a fear-based way of thinking at any moment and tell yourself that you are in a different place. It’s time to flow forward.
• Being aware of your level of happiness. If you aren’t entirely happy with certain aspects of your life; write out why you may not be happy and list some things that you would like to change.
• Recognizing negative experiences that you keep attracting. What attitudes, behaviours and thoughts might need to transform?

THE PHYSIOLOGICAL AFFECTS OF  WORRY-FILLED THINKING

Many times when you fill yourself up with worries, doubts, and fears; it comes from your level of subjective awareness. This means that you may not be totally aware of how well you are actually doing because you may slip into self-criticism. What happens is that your mind begins to scan its memory bank for similar situations you’ve experienced that may have had an undesirable outcome and you start to associate your past experiences with your present moment. Your body also begins to feel the physiological affects of your thinking:

• Muscles tensing up – your shoulder and leg muscles may tighten up preparing itself for some type of threatening situation.
• Tight jaw muscles and headaches will come on which will bring on moment of unrest
• Increased heart rate/elevated blood pressure can bring on potential panic attacks.
• Shallow breathing is a common symptom of anxiety.
• Increased or decreased intestinal and/or bladder activity – your body may begin to secrete certain chemicals or hormones that can affect your digestive organs.

Your mind can’t distinguish between your actual reality and your imagination or your past thoughts. Therefore, it’s important for you to be aware of your thoughts that don’t accurately represent your present moment.

YOUR MOOD ALSO  GETS AFFECTED

Yes! Even though your present reality may be so much better than your past; when you begin to worry about an outcome that hasn’t occurred yet your mood will undergo a subtle change.

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B.F. SKINNER AND OPERANT LEARNING Skinner was an American behavioural psychologist. He was interested in learning more about how the consequences of people’s actions influenced their behaviours. This later became known as operant conditioning – a type of learning where rewards and punishments are used to acknowledge certain behaviours. Skinner invented the ‘Skinner box,’ an enclosed apparatus with a key or a lever that an animal could press to obtain food or some type of reinforcement. There was also a device that recorded each response provided by the animal. Over time the animal (a pigeon in this case) learned that by pulling the lever, they would be rewarded with food. Later, Skinner incorporated green and red lights into his experiment. When the lever was pulled as the green light flashed the animal would be rewarded with food. When the lever was pulled when the red light flashed, the animal was punished with an electrical shock. Over time the animal learned to avoid pressing the lever when the light was red. Through this experiment, Skinner learned that specific consequences are associated with voluntary behaviours in natural settings. This meant that rewards increased a behaviour and punishments decreased a behaviour.

REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES

Skinner went on to discover that the timing and frequency of reinforcements influenced how new behaviours were learned and old behaviours were modified. There are four schedules of partial reinforcements that impact the operant conditioning process.

1. Fixed-ratio schedules – Responses are reinforced only after a certain number of responses have occurred, i.e. receiving a gold star after turning in homework for five days in a row.
2. Fixed-interval schedules – Responses occur after a certain amount of time has passed, i.e. cleaning your room every Friday because you know you will receive a present.
3. Variable-ratio schedules – Reinforcing a behaviour after a varied amount of responses. This keeps you motivated, i.e. your teacher rewarding your class with pizza on any given day for consistent positive work habits. (unpredictable). Gambling is another good example.
4. Variable-interval schedules – Providing reinforcement after an unpredictable amount of time has passed, i.e. being given a treat after an unpredictable amount of time has passed between you doing something nice for someone at work/school.

UNDERSTANDING THE REWARD CENTER OF YOUR BRAIN

There are ‘reward circuits’ at the top of your brain stem called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) comprising of the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens it’s where dopamine (a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and rewards) communicates with dopamine producing neurons. The dopamine is later transported to areas of your brain through two dopamine pathways: mesolimbic and mesocortical. In the 1950’s it was recognized that dopamine neurons are activated in your brain when it is exposed to pleasure and rewards. This is why certain actions such as: eating certain types of foods, ingesting certain drugs, sex and gambling give you a ‘feel good’ experience.

WHY SOCIAL MEDIA IS DESIGNED THE WAY IT IS

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter all may be used for different purposes, but they are designed with four things in mind: trigger, action, attention and investment.

• Trigger – a human need for everyone is to belong. In other words, you crave acceptance – well, all do. Social media creates a community where you can easily be recognized.
• Action – you go on social media to share something, or to see what others are doing.
• Attention – you are rewarded with likes, comments and follows, your attention is now captured.
• Investment – the more you spend time and money, the more market research social media outlets acquire. Social media follows a variable-ratio schedule similar to slot machines. You receive likes, follows, comments and DMs at random times and the swipe down feature to refresh acts like the lever to pull on slot machines. Having an AHA moment now?

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