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Do you ever wonder how world-class athletes, leaders
The truth is when they started they didn’t have much more than you do now. Some probably less.
Then how did they build, make and become so successfully explosive? Mindset plays a key role.
Internal narrative is key, the brain game is one of the most important games you need to master.
Mindset needs to take precedence for three key reasons:
- It will be one of the last things you have.
- Money is an algorithm that changes. Let your brain find
algorithma not money. - Different situations need different mindsets. Rest vs Stress. Peak Performance by Stulberg and Magness
It’s a bad idea to let your mindset dictate your goals. You should position yourself to take control of your mindset daily to help achieve goal or activities you are not naturally inclined to do.
So lets define Mindset so we are all on the same page. Mindset is the established set of attitudes that you hold.
Mindsets can change. Your internal narrative is a story about yourself that is influenced by your mindset. Since the building blocks of mindset are attitudes you can hack your internal narrative and mindset with exercises and developmental activities.
To find out more about Story Hacking your internal narrative check out my book called the StoryTelling Heart. It’s on Amazon.com and Kindle just search Nick Ovalle and you will find it online. It’s basically using the Heroes Journey to structure your life and hack your internal narrative for the best outcomes.
So here are the best practical ways you can hack your mindset.
1st is what I call Resetting the Problem Solving Loop. 2nd is Psychological Masquerading 3rd is Strengthening Your Internal Locus of Control.
I dedicate a whole podcast to Resetting the Problem Solving Loop in Episode 2 we covered more detail of Resetting the Problem solving loop, check it out. Today we will talk about the mind-body connection that directly effects your brain.
Since you have direct connection to your brain through physical activity you can change mindsets by physical activity.
A poor mindset is categorized by victimhood, fear, separation or the wanting to control or discourage others. All these attitudes are story killers, they kill your story from moving forward and have the potential to kill other stories around you. These attitudes end with in-activity. A healthy mindset is characterized by attitudes that propels curiosity, action, encouragement and connectedness.
Physical activities that hack and encourage better mindsets are
- Intense Workouts – This limits oxygen and blood flow to your brain and increases euphoria by releasing endorphins.
- Cold Showers actually move your blood and lymph in a very efficient way. Cold showers also have an increased ability to help improve mood and physical pain.
- Breathing – The technique of breathing in for 4 seconds, holding for 6 seconds and exhaling for 8 seconds clams your heart rate, increases oxygen and allows your body to calm down.
The 2nd technique to hack your mindset is called Psychological masquerading. The idea is best described as pretending to be someone you are not. This is not a long term sustainable solution but a quick hack to serve you when you need a fast effective mindset change.
Pretending to think like Elon Musk, Mary Poppins or Walt Disney is a concept that was first introduced by Napoleon Hill in his book think and grow rich. Psychologists have adapted the model to not only think like them but for short periods of time to act as if you were that person. It helps immediately leave behind any attitudes and world views you are holding on to and shift paradigms and actions rather quickly. This is great for creating new concepts or dealing with situations that your personality is not designed to handle.
I do this when I have to watch my kids and I am not in the mindset to watch them. Sometime I am in the middle of work or learning and a sudden psychological masquerade shift helps me get into the proper mindset to have fun and create structure for my kids to enjoy. It’s made me adjust to situations faster than brooding about having to take time away from my schedule and work. My kids also enjoy when we dive into imagination more than watching tv or playing video games.
The third mindset hack is an activity to help strengthen your thoughts of control. There is good control and bad control. Bad control is over controlling or having the feeling of no control at all. Control is a tension to be managed. Your internal locus of control is the psychological belief you can control out comes in your life. It’s a scale but you can strengthen it with this quick exercise.
Write down areas in your life that you feel you don’t have control. Next write down areas in life you can adjust to control.
For example say you feel you don’t have control in work. Write down the areas where you do have control. What you will find is that you have a lot more control than you think. The narrative that you don’t have control needs creativity to find out what you do control and do more of that. This builds confidence and allows you start to take control in areas where you are not brave enough to take control yet.
Question to consider. Where do you need a mindset change in your life? The best thing you can do is talk to someone about the changes you want to make and discuss these options.
You can go to nickovalle.com/14 and download the discussion guide to process this information with a friend.
Until we chat again I hope you tell the world a great story.