The Key To Changing Habits
Hey friends – have you ever had the experience of walking by your kitchen garbage when your senses became suddenly overwhelmed with rotting food mixed with kitty litter? (No need to go into detail here!) This happened to me this week – the putrid smell caused me to stop in my tracks. I had a choice: to leave things as they were and get stuck in “stinking thinking”, or seize the opportunity to do something about the problem. I confess that for many years, I had a bad habit of allowing negativity to reign and rule in me; this would result in me outwardly complaining and then to family fights. But with much thanks to Jesus Christ and lots of self-coaching over the years, I automatically knew what to do. I grabbed that bag of trash and hauled it outside – good riddance!
This little life scenario reminded me about the changing of bad habits. How do you actually do it? A growth mindset is what helps you develop and improve over time. Embracing a growth mindset enables you to rise to challenges, improve adaptability and see setbacks as a way to learn. It’s what we read about in Romans 12:2, where we are instructed to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so we can discern the good, pleasing and perfect will of God. In contrast, when you have a fixed mindset you believe you can never change. You avoid challenges, blame others, give up easily, and become intimidated or threatened by others. A fixed mindset leads to stinkin’ thinkin for sure!
When wanting to create a new habit, you first need awareness: you simply can’t change what you don’t know! Cultivating a growth mindset begins with acknowledging any fixed mindset you may have – and HOW it specifically shows up. This could be in the form of avoidance, fear, self-limiting beliefs, or even negative reactions to feedback. Once you’re able to recognize it, you can then start to shift your perspective towards a more positive mindset. As you do this, you gain even more insight as you explore what you can do differently. Taking some sort of action around what you’ve discovered comes next, followed by evaluating to see what’s been learned. Two great reflection questions you can use are:
What can I learn from this situation?
How can this help me grow?
The bottom line: if you want to change your habits, a growth mindset is the key. It fosters resilience, facilitates learning, and fuels success. Growth-minded individuals understand that to achieve a goal, they must step out of their comfort zone, put in continual effort, and learn from their failures. However, this shifting from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset isn’t like flipping a light switch. Like with most things it takes time, attention, effort, practice, and self-reflection. But the bestest news ever? It’s entirely possible. (My now fresher smelling garbage can testify!) Practicing a growth mindset as you work to establish new habits will change your life. I’ve seen it time and again happen in the lives of my clients. It can for you too, as you to step out, embrace new possibilities and continue growing into the beautiful woman God created you to be.
Coaching Connection:
- Do you tend to have a fixed or growth mindset?
- How could a growth mindset help you create new habits?
To Your Growth,
Image by Creativeye99 from Getty Images Signature