This question has endless possibilities, it just depends on what your looking for. My recent WW (formerly Weight Watchers) workshop and the book I’m currently reading, Grit by Angela Duckworth, both have a common denominator: mindset.

Mindset is one of the three pillars of WW (the other two being food and activity). In one of the WW handouts titled “Shift Your Mindset” it discusses the following:

• Fixed Mindset: when you feel things can’t change, you are less open to challenges. An example would be, “I’ll never be able to do this, why try”
• Growth Mindset: is like a mental superpower; it helps you believe things can change for the better. Example: “Yes, its a challenge, but I’ve overcome challenges before and with time, I know I can do it.”

Shifting your mindset from fixed to growth helps you learn, adapt and succeed. Opening your minds to the possibility of a goal enables you to take on the challenge.

In Grit, there is one particular example that grabbed my attention about 14-year old student Scott. His critical turning point was when his teacher questioned why he wasn’t in more challenging classes. Quoted from page 32 of Grit:

“Until then, Scott had never questioned his intellectual status. Instead he’d assumed that his lack of talent would put a very low ceiling on what he might do with his life.

Meeting a teacher who believed in his potential was a critical turning point: a pivot from This is all you can do to Who knows what you can do?…”

My interpretation of Scott’s experience is that when someone puts limits on you, you believe it and become close minded to any personal growth. On the contrary, when someone believes in you, you also take it on yourself which gives you the ounce of belief you need to open your mind. This rings true for me, as I would have never walked through the doors of AA or WW, challenged my fitness and many other areas of my life if my mindset was fixed. Once I opened my mind up by either someone believing in me before I believed in myself (like Scott’s teacher) or if it was me having an ounce of belief in myself, I was half way there. The door was now opened. As Mark W. Perrett says

Open mind = Open doors

Closed mind = Closed doors

What goal would you love to accomplish? Is your mindset putting obstacles in your way or opening the door for a new challenge? Are YOU ready?

Imagine with all your mind ~ Believe with all your heart ~ Achieve with all your might

Life With Lisa