The Truth About Mindset

Time to set some things straight.

I talk about forming a creative thought process and developing a strong mindset all the time on this site. That’s because I’ve seen the difference those skills make firsthand.

If I always thought the way I think now, I would have avoided some awful times in the past. And I’m not saying that because I’m still bitter about it, I’m just being honest here.

The reason I emphasize this stuff is the same reason why I put anything else on this site—I want others to succeed in areas where I failed before. And my thought life was one of those areas.

I still remember some of the ways I used to think, and it pains me to know that I let those thoughts swarm through my head like that. I blamed everyone else for what I was dealing with then, but for the longest time I didn’t realize that I was my biggest enemy.

Things are different now though. And I know that my thoughts affect the way I live. But what’s also important to know is how they do it.

The Truth About Your Thoughts

I can sum up the biggest way your thoughts affect your life in one word: focus.

Wherever your focus is, your actions will follow. And it’s that simple truth that explains how and why your thoughts are so important.

So building off that truth, you can see that people with strong mindsets are just people who’ve learned to control their focus. They realize that focusing on the uncontrollable leads to a defeated attitude, whereas a focus on what’s changeable leads to the ability to solve countless problems.

The most common mistake people make here, though, is thinking that a strong mindset is one that leads to being happy all the time. But that’s impossible, and a lot of problems arise when we try to be.

We’ve made the mistake of labeling our emotions as either good or bad. And while I get that happiness is a wonderful feeling, we weren’t given a full range of emotions to only chase one. None of our emotions are bad in themselves, it’s just that bad things happen when we misplace the focus of those emotions and the responses we give them.

Hate is good when we direct it towards what’s truly evil instead of towards people we don’t like. Sorrow can lead to unimaginable change. The pressure brought on by hardship teaches us to be content despite the worst of circumstances.

All emotions have a purpose. We just have to recognize those emotions in the moment and direct our focus the right way.

That’s the mindset I encourage here—one that sees reality for what it is and responds accordingly.

But with all that said, let’s take a look at what I don’t mean.

Mindset: What It Isn’t

I have a hard time reading anything about the mind these days. I loved reading about mindsets and the thought processes of others before, but the more I read now, the more I realize people are deluded about the topic.

All of these “smart” people keep pushing things like the law of attraction and the power of positive thinking. And if you read up on those concepts, you might think these people are just telling you about the importance of focus and an optimistic attitude, but that’s not what they’re getting at.

I know I said this already, but when I talk about a strong mindset, I’m encouraging you to think great thoughts. That’s because focusing on the good in a bad situation will lead to doing good within it. But these law of attraction guys are telling you something different.

What they’re saying is that your mind creates reality.

Now you might think, “What’s wrong with that?”, but if you understand the magnitude of that statement and the effect it has on the people who believe it, you’ll see how flawed this style of thinking is.

The truth is that there is no inherent power in your thinking. And your mind does not create reality. The only power your thoughts have are the ability to influence your reaction to reality.

You might think these two messages are the same, but there’s a big difference between the two. One recognizes the importance of making good decisions, while the other builds a false belief in human power.

We as people are capable of great things. Controlling our reality isn’t one of them.

We can respond to reality. We can make choices that shape better lives. But let me be very clear in saying that the mind has no magical powers, and there is no secret.

It’s just choices. That’s it.

Avoid the Rabbit Hole

It’s funny man.

People learn to think for themselves and all of sudden they’re “gods”.

But what these “gods” don’t realize is that they’re just children who’ve learned how to walk—they take a few legitimate ways to control their thought patterns and then expand them to dangerous proportions.

It angers me when I see people tossing around New Age philosophy like it’s no big deal. I would hope that some of them are confused and don’t know what they’re spreading, but I wouldn’t put it past them.

Plenty of well-meaning people have fallen into this trap and don’t realize how deceptive this mindset is—even I dabbled in it before I saw past the smoke and mirrors.

And on top of all this, the people teaching this stuff think they’re wise, but they’re falling for what’s literally the oldest lie in the Book.

But who am I kidding? There’s no need for them to stop. The greed of others will keep stuffing their pockets. The rampant thirst for “success” will pull everyone back. And if you’re not rich like they are, you just need their help to master the secret, right?

Yeah, right.

But seriously, if you ever run across that New Age stuff, see it for what it really is.

Remember that your thoughts affect the choices you make. And the choices you make affect the life you live.

It’s not complicated. So please don’t get confused.

-Drew