The Mindset of Exercise
As days, weeks, months and years go by, have you been changing your health in a good way? The mind can be a funny thing. It can throw you for a loop of emotions and what you really want. You might feel motivated one day and not the next. The brain tells use everything such as, can I push harder? Can I run further? Just one more? Having the right exercise mindset can change everything.
There can be two different types of mindsets, fixed and growth. As quoted from What is Mindset, “In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.”
If you feel that you may be both, there is nothing wrong with that. But, let’s say you have no idea about exercise and want to learn and change. Well, this is the growth mindset. You are aware that you can lose weight, but you need to figure out how and ask for help. If you think to yourself, I can’t lose weight because of X reasons, this is a fixed mindset. Sometimes, we forgot that we are humans, we need to grow and learn in order to get through life. You may not want to learn at times, but it just happens anyway.
It’s very interesting how the mind works. If you think you can grow and achieve better results, that’s where it all starts. Once you know that you can be better, your life can take a different turn. Exercise can be boring for some, but it’s how you think of exercise that makes the difference. If you think to yourself, I can find a gym, a class, do circuit training, find someone to workout with to help push each other, that can be a growth mindset. Let’s say you always think exercise is boring, you barely do it and you say it’s not for you. Well, that can be a fixed mindset. You don’t want to go out and learn exercises you might enjoy or bother finding a class you may like.
If you have been working out already, a growth mindset during exercise can be something as, I can run another mile, I am going to do more weight to gain strength, I need to do x,y and z in order to lose more weight. A fixed mindset can be, I don’t need to run anymore, I can’t do anymore weight, I can’t run another mile. You will be surprised how far your body can actually be pushed. If you think you can’t, sometimes you can do a lot more. The thing is, your mindset needs to change in order to grow, become healthier and stronger.
Resources:
https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/
https://mindsetonline.com/whatisit/about/