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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GROWTH MINDSET

In her research, Dweck also documents that when individuals fail at something, they tell themselves that they aren’t capable of ever accomplishing that task or they will make excuses to rationalize their behaviour. Alternatively those with a growth mindset view their failures as an opportunity to develop their skills and abilities. They have a desire to learn and a tendency to:

• embrace challenges
• persist in the face of obstacles
• see effort as a path to mastery
• learn from criticism 
• find lessons and inspiration in the success of others

The growth mindset builds a resilient attitude in individuals.

BECOMING RESILIENT

Resilience is the ability to cope with stress and to ‘bounce back’ from adversity in a positive, self-regulating manner. Harvard Health cites, ‘resilience is associated with longevity, lower rates of depression, and greater satisfaction with life. “There’s a sense of control, and it helps people feel more positive in general.’ *

According to research by Susan Kobasa, a psychologist – she found that resiliency has three elements associated with it:

1. Challenge – failures and setbacks are viewed as learning opportunities for growth.
2. Commitment – goal-orientated and having a positive future vision of self.
3. Personal control – confident and focused on controllable situations and events rather worrying about things beyond one’s control. *

UNDERSTANDING GRIT

Much like resilience, grit is a trait that develops through experience. Angela Lee Duckworth, psychologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania led a study on grit and has found grit to be a common factor among the high-achievers she has studied. She defines grit as, “the tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term goals” (Duckworth et al., 2007).

Grit is sustained, consistent long-term effort towards a goal even when one struggles, falters or fails. Furthermore, grit involves passion and perseverance. The five characteristics of grit are:

1. Courage to face adversity, fears and challenges. 
2. Conscientiousness: achievement oriented vs. dependable, looking at the big picture and being ready for challenges.
3. Long-term goals and endurance: follow through, to persevere, practice with a purpose. 
4. Resilience: optimism, confidence, and creativity. Bouncing back from setbacks and staying positive.
5. Excellence vs. Perfection. Following your passions and focused on growth through learning.

Grit provides understanding of why some people succeed while others fail. In short, it’s because those that succeed view mistakes as temporary opportunities to learn and grow, and they have a passion and focused persistence. 

OVERCOMING YOUR FAILURES AND SETBACKS

Resilience, grit and growth mindset are interconnected are developed over time.

It’s a lot like developing your muscles, you need to identify your goals and commit to your action plan while ‘exercising’ self-discipline, persistence and patience. In the process, you will begin to raise your self-awareness which will lead you towards identifying your strengths, weaknesses and potential challenges that you may encounter.

By cultivating a growth mindset, you better understand that your abilities and behaviours are not fixed, and you can start to transform your lifestyle. This type of mindset requires you to understand that taking certain risks will lead you to failure – knowing how to rebound from setbacks while applying your resilience and grit is what will drive you ahead in achieving your short and long-term goals. 

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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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LEARN ACCEPTANCE

Rather than becoming a victim to rumination, worrying and anxiety – it’s scientifically proven that when you learn to recognize and accept your negative experiences and emotions and acknowledge their existence at the time they occur, you will become a victor rather than a slave towards such tendencies. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and/or mindfulness are proven to be effective ways to bring

about awareness and acceptance for individuals experiencing physical or psychological pain. Ron Siegel, an Assistant Clinical of Psychology Professor at Harvard Medial School mentions a study on his blog and indicates the positive benefits of CBT by writing, “It helps us learn to observe and identify our negative thoughts about our condition, and replace them with more realistic ones.” ^*

THE SCIENCE OF MINDFULNESS

There have been many neuroscience research studies done on how mindfulness positively correlates to better cognitive function.  One study revealed that mindfulness reduces inflammation in those experiencing chronic stress. The research found that mindfulness increased connections between the

amygdala and the prefrontal cortex – which helped these parts of the brain be less reactive to stressors (Berkeley University, Greater Good, 2017). ^* Also an article in a 2011 publication of Psychiatry Res. cites a study where fMRI images revealed explicit changes in concentration in brain regions that are involved in learning, memory and emotional regulation.^*

THE BENEFITS OF BEING PRESENT

There’s no denying that both the Western and Eastern worlds associate more happiness and greater health with mindfulness. Eckhart Tolle says, “With the simple act of surrender to the inevitability of the present moment, another energy comes.” Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk and a spiritual teacher tells us to focus on our breath and recite mindfulness versus to help calm our mind, to accept what’s in front of us and to return back to ourselves. These actions provide us with physical, cognitive and relational benefits:

Physical – sleep patterns improve which help our bodies restore itself, and supports major systems heal itself. Studies have also revealed that mindfulness has helped reduce chronic back pain by raising awareness of the pain and paying attention to our tendencies and specific thoughts that make us tense up. Mindfulness and focused breathing activates the parasympathetic autonomic system which places our muscles in a relaxed state, reduces our heart rate and and stimulates digestion.

Cognitive – When our minds are at ease, our hormones are better regulated and blood and sugar levels are at normal levels. This aids with better concentration, memory, organization and focus. Also, we experience lower levels of anxiety, stress and depression due to our ability to better regulate our emotions.

Relationships – Mindfulness increases our ability to build and maintain fulfilling relationships. A 2004 study of mindfulness-based relationships revealed that couples that practiced mindfulness on a regular basis experienced more happiness, less stress and developed better ways to cope with uncertainties. ^*    

BEING IN THE PRESENT AND GOAL PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

When you are fully in the present moment and embracing the time by reflecting, creating, and visualizing – you are navigating yourself into being in a place of comfort, awareness and self-compassion. These are the qualities will continue to carry you forward time and time again. The present moment will clearly reveal your next endevour and guide you towards your next action steps…

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