Mindset

Mindset is “the established set of attitudes held by someone.” No matter where you are in life, you have a mindset going into everyday situations. Your mindset can destroy you, or it can bring you life.

Looking back on my life, I’ve realized that I’ve consistently had a negative mindset or at least a cup-half-empty attitude. I would always rag on myself if I screwed up; I would tell myself I was awful at what I did and I would even tell myself how worthless I was. Now, what do you think this mindset brought me? It brought me the things I would constantly say to myself, I would be awful at what I did, I would actually screw up less because I was scared to take risks which only hurt me, and the sense of worthlessness would only compound day by day because I would continue to reiterate that lie to myself. How is that a good way to live? But does this mindset sound familiar?

Every situation has two viewpoints, you can see the good, or you can see the bad. We, as humans, naturally tend to lean toward the bad. We’ll be amazing 49 out of 50 times, but we don’t remember the 49. We remember the 1. We let that one thing define who we are for the day, the week, the month, or even the year. We allow this one stupid mistake to control the way we think about ourselves. When we could view that one mistake as a blessing as we got to learn from it. We get the opportunity to analyze that mistake, pick out where we screwed up, and smile because we know how to fix it. We know how to come back better than ever next time. We know how to win. Average to below-average people have failed the least, and failure scared them, so they stopped taking risks. They became content with mediocrity. Extraordinary people have failed the most; they went through seasons of absolute heartbreak and struggle. But look at where they are now. They didn’t let fear destroy them. They invited failure; they invited mistakes; they rejoiced when they did screw up because they understood that they learned something. There is no better teacher than failed experiences, and it’s up to you if you choose to learn from them and accept them.

Now, what does a good mindset look like? A good mindset is a mindset that takes every step of your day and views it positively, no matter how negative it may be. You can get up every morning and groan about going to school or work, or you can get up with a smile and tell yourself it’s going to be a good day. You can get a bad grade on a test or screw up on a work project and let that thing ruin your whole day, or you could learn from it and take on a new task and tell yourself you’re going to succeed in that due to the fact that you just learned. You can make it a mental point that you want to become the best version of yourself or tell yourself that you’re okay with who you are and continue to be lazy. Lazy people do not win in this world. Laziness is a destroyer; strive to be great and find the best version of yourself. You should want to be able to look back at yourself in six months and say, wow, I did this.

When you change from a negative to a positive mindset, your mental health improves, and your physical has to follow. When you focus on your mental growth, you’ll realize how important it is to take care of your body to achieve your desired goal. A healthy body aids in healthy mental health and vice versa.

Finally, I would like to hit on the law of attraction. The law of attraction states that a positive mindset will bring positive things, while a negative mindset will bring negative things. Although a philosophy, I find it to be entirely true. You can’t tell me that your attitude of “life sucks, I would rather just not today” will bring you a joyous moment that day. It doesn’t work like that. If you don’t think you deserve blessings, then blessings will not come to you. On the other hand, you can look at any negative situation and turn it into something positive. You can do that; your mind is so powerful. You can take control of your life today with that simple change.

Life is precious; our everyday experiences may seem mundane, but man, are they beautiful. We shouldn’t be here; science tells us that our existence is so improbable that it makes no sense that we are here. Your life is the most precious gift you’ll ever receive. So why waste it? Why wake up every day and see life only as pointless? I know life is hard; trust me, I know it’ll knock you down and hold you there for a while. But life isn’t as strong as you are; you are stronger. So believe in yourself, and take it back today by changing your mindset. Take it back by telling yourself that you can do this. That you want to do this. Tell yourself that it is going to be a good day. Smile at the fact that you do get to do mundane things. Smile at the fact that you might fail today. But also smile at the fact that you can do something right now that will drastically affect your life that you may not even recognize yourself six months from now.

Today I pray for favor in your lives. I pray that God shows you that you are worth it, you are worth fighting for, and you are loved. I also pray that he walks this path with you; I know changing your mindset is easier said than done, but trust me, when you do it, your life will change, I promise. Thank you for the constant support; you are worth it, and you are loved.

Trevor Crowder