Mindset – what is it?
Those who have read my posts and articles know that this is an area of interest for me. “It’s not your aptitude, but your attitude that determines your altitude” – this phrase stuck with me all these years and a good description on the importance of mindset.
So what is mindset? In short, it’s a mental inclination or disposition, or a frame of mind. Mindset is our collection of thoughts and beliefs that shape our thought habits that affect how we think, what we feel, and what we do.

Our attitude is a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something. E.g. my attitude towards hanging up the laundry or clearing the rubbish 🙂

Mindset shapes our attitude, and our attitude reinforces our mindset.

Well know mindsets like growth mindset and fixed mindset are examples of mindsets. There can be many other mindsets like Dreamer mindset, Lazy mindset etc.

I’d like to share a personal example on how we can “trigger” or activate the mindset that we want to adopt in any situation. I’m an avid badminton player and play the doubles on weekends. I enjoy the sport, the fun and like most people, would like to win if I’m playing the game against opponents. In order to be at my best when I’m playing, I’ve discovered that I need to adopt a certain mindset when playing, where I’m calm enough so that I can control my shots well but also aggressive when I need to make the “kill” or a forceful shot like a smash. How to get myself in this state?

A simple and effective way to activate such a mindset is to use a mantra or “motto” and for me it’s the phrase “controlled aggression” which I repeat to myself mentally before starting the game and also during the game. It gets me into the frame of mind to play my best game.

You can apply this to in your daily life when you want to put yourself in a certain state of mind before you do anything. Think of a short mantra or motto that is meaningful to you and describes the essence of the mindset you want to activate.

Please let me know and share how you have applied this, your thoughts and experience of it.

To your success!

Brief Author Profile

Chris is the founder and managing director of THINKE LLP, a company that specializes in helping individuals and organizations create transformational shifts in thinking and effectiveness.

Chris can be reached at thinke001@gmail.com or chrischew@thinke.co