Mindsets Influence Mental States
Reflection on the difference between mindsets and mental states. Empowering perspective to leverage our core assumptions to influence all aspects of life.
Since my teenage years, I’ve been known to say everything is a mental state. While this isn’t absolutely true (nothing is), mental states are the filter through which we experience the world.
Perception is reality.
How you view the world will shape your reality.
Mindsets are simply consolidated perspectives we have about everything. They represent a framework of uniquely applied thought patterns.
Mental states are the resulting feelings, emotions and cognitive processes based on our perspectives. They’re reflections of established mindsets.
The first opportunity we always have for control in our life is judgement of our thoughts.
Conscious processing of our interpretations.
Intentionality in our mindsets.
Thought interpretations are typically habitual. Without conscious consideration, most of our functioning gets delegated to the subconscious which can be detrimental if poor self-talk, pessimism, cynicism, or other forms of negative thinking patterns are the result.
Feelings change our functioning in every way.
In the absence of intentional mindsets, the subconscious or external events control our mental states.
Ultimately, mindsets are a choice. Whether delegated to instinctual reactions or conscious decisions, mental states are the result.
Cognitive Flexibility
Cognitive flexibility is a psychological term that refers to the ability to reflect on assumptions and determine appropriate application. Rather than a fixed mindset, where our beliefs are applied rigidly across domains, cognitive flexibility allows one to consider what may be true and/or most beneficial circumstantially.
Exceptions are always possible.
Adaptive mindsets encourage open-mindedness, alternative perspectives, and intentional control of thought patterns. Insert logical considerations into potentially irrational assumptions.
Passive application of beliefs, particularly ideas hand fed by media and influencers of the modern era, appear to require less energy.
Easy now, hard later.
Delegation of our mindsets to others and/or our innate reactions is delayed suffering.
Mental states don’t have to be influenced by anything other than conscious choice.
One of my favorite statements that encourages cognitive flexibility is, “there are no absolute truths.” The other is “there are exceptions to every rule.” Simply considering possible exceptions or that there could be more than one truth based on countless factors we may or may not understand, encourages adaptive thinking.
Cognitive flexibility and adaptive mindsets are the path to resilient mental states.
Mindset Experiment
Read each statement and its corresponding counter statement. Consider exceptions to both.
Police officers are dangerous. All police officers are virtuous.
My political party is always right. That political party is always wrong.
People who are pro-choice are comfortable with killing babies. People who are pro-life don’t care about women’s rights.
Wearing a surgical mask prevents the spread of respiratory infections. Wearing a mask is useless.
Exercise is always a healthy choice. Exercise is unnecessary.
Stress is always bad. Stress is always good.
Each of these potential beliefs can present potential limitations.
The ability to consider alternative perspectives allows for reduced emotional ties to any particular belief.
Function can be improved in all ways when opinions don’t override our ability to reason.
As you will see, there is substantial evidence that the mind can dramatically change your experience regardless of circumstance.
The Power of the Mind
Dr. Alia Crum, psychologist and leading investigator in the Stanford Mind and Body Lab, defines mindsets as core and assumptions one has about a given domain or category of things that orient us toward certain expectations, explanations and goals. In short, mindsets are core assumptions about aspects of the self and the world.
Alia’s lab has consistently shown that beliefs can physiologically impact our body’s response to stress, illness, food, exercise, medication, and other aspects of life.
In one of her team’s famous experiments, subjects were given two perceptually different milkshakes. They were told one was a standard high-calorie milkshake while other was a low-calorie alternate. In reality, they were the same milkshake. Subjects reported feeling fuller after eating the “high-calorie” milkshake. Furthermore, ghrelin levels, the hormone responsible for hunger, were found to be significantly higher in those who thought they ate the “low-calorie” milkshake. These findings indicate that humans experience both subjective and objective changes following consumption based on beliefs about food. If we believe that what we are eating is “enough,” our mind will agree psychologically, and our bodies will correspond physiologically.
In an equally incredible study demonstrating the power of mindset, Dr. Crum’s team surveyed female hotel housekeepers. On average, these women rated their job satisfaction and daily fitness output around 3/10. Half of these women were then educated about their jobs actually producing well above surgeon general guidelines for physical activity. Their work alone was reportedly good for their health. Four weeks later, this experimental group lost weight, systolic blood pressure decreased, fatigue levels and job satisfaction all significantly improved when compared to baseline and the control group. Simply changing perception about their daily output dramatically improved several health factors in one month.
The power of mindset isn’t limited to adults. The Mind and Body Lab did a project focusing on beliefs surrounding side effects of Oral Immunotherapy Treatments (OTPs) for children with peanut allergies. Half of the families received the typical warning regarding undesirable side effects and their need to be managed. The experimental group, however, was told that mild side effects were signs that the treatments were working which is true in these interventions. The families and children who received the positive messaging around associated symptoms with peanut allergy treatment had significantly lower levels of anxiety, fewer symptoms during highest doses, and improved immune markers for allergic tolerance. This evidence demonstrates subjective perceptions and objective reactions of the mind and body can be improved for all ages with mindset optimization.
Dr. Tim Noakes, world renowned exercise scientist out of South Africa, demonstrated that fatigue is a brain-derived phenomenon and the key differentiator in performance of athletes in a ground breaking study. The mind, not the body, contributes more to optimal training and competition performance. His incredible book outlines several revolutionary studies from his lab in Cape Town, South Africa that changed our knowledge behind the power of mindsets.
“The Iceman” Wim Hof is the man who proved being cold is a mental state. Combining breathing protocols, fitness, and mindset, Wim demonstrated that the hyperthermia can be reversed. He went on to accomplish other extraordinary feats in extreme conditions and even demonstrated the ability to prevent an immune response to an injected virus. Verifying that he wasn’t just an outlier, The Iceman then went on to train other people to complete the same feats using his primitive methods in controlled studies.
The impact of mindsets and corresponding mental states cannot be overstated.
You can literally change your psychology, physiology, and biology by changing your mind.
Summary
Feelings are mental states derived from applied mindsets.
Mindsets are extremely powerful but not conclusive when it comes to downstream mental states. Our beliefs and assumptions are ultimately choices. Our resulting states are not.
A resilient mental state, therefore, is an ideal.
Possess a positive attitude and you increase your chances of finding positivity.
Focus on the negative and you will reveal it.
Decide to be resilient regardless of condition and you significantly improve your odds of applying resilience.
Forget or excuse yourself from this decision and you most assuredly won’t be resilient.
Resilient mental states are possible for anyone.
Intentional stress and stress management strategies are tools to cultivate resilient mental states in response to any form of adversity.
Practice resilient mindset application in all domains to encourage ideal mental states.
Intentionality to optimize functionality.
Beautiful job contrasting the nuances between mindsets and mental states. We need more examples of these subtle forms of thinking that provide us guardrails to keep us on healthy, focused, productive paths.
I appreciate you.
As a psych major, I could talk about this stuff all day! A wonderful and insightful article. Makes me think of the Wayne Dyer quote "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." Also reminded me of the Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton. Such fascinating stuff!