What's the Key to Success? Being Able to Change Your Own Mind
Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
Times of economic uncertainty push virtually everyone into big changes. Some of the changes may be easy to wrap your arms around and embrace. For example, you may be able to take advantage of opportunities to purchase a home or a car at a low price. On the other hands, others are much harder. Will you need to change jobs? Train yourself for a new career? You've always thought of yourself in one way -- now you're going to have to think of yourself in another. Some people seem to morph easily. But you're not so sure about yourself... can you do it?
If you're not sure, you need to look within and find ways to adapt to our new realities.
This applies to e-learning in more ways that you might think. In unpredictable times, you may need to change in unexpected ways. You may find you need to explore a new career path. Consequently, you may be facing a degree or certificate program that, while it excites you, makes you nervous. Math phobic? Faint at the sight of blood? These are things you'll need to overcome if you want to become a nurse. The question is, how do you do it? Some people say the best approach is progressive desensitization.
It all depends on your ability to change. To effect real change, you must first reach deep inside your mind and your emotions and learn how, why, and where you need to focus. There are some powerful steps that you can take to make changes.
Why do we believe what we believe?
According to Howard Gardner, a Harvard psychologist who is well-known for his work with multiple intelligences and mind-frames, the first step start analyzing the bases of your decisions. As you do so, start examining how and why it is that you believe what you do. You may be unconsciously blocking yourself and your ability to adapt or change your mind.
"I believe what I believe because it's reasonable."
One of the ways to change your beliefs is to start looking at the reasons why you believe something is true or real. You may find that what you thought was a rational, logical belief was not actually so reasonable. Start asking yourself where and how what you believed to always to be true may, in fact, be unreasonable. For example, your belief that all pit bulls are aggressive may seem reasonable. But, ask yourself where and how your belief might be unreasonable. Is it unreasonable for me to assume that all pit bulls are aggressive child-maulers? Ask yourself the question in that way, and you'll start to see how your mind starts to embrace other possibilities.
http://changingminds.org/principles/logic.htm
"I believe what I believe because I have read studies and research on the topic."
Research often supports arguments and provides scientific evidence. Is research always reliable? You know that it varies -- just like you can't believe everything you read on the Internet. We're not talking about releasing yourself from the tyranny of facts and evidence. Instead, it is a matter of asking where the facts came from, how they were derived, and how the conclusions were drawn.
http://changingminds.org/principles/evidence.htm
"I believe it because it resonates with what I already think and feel."
Be careful, you may be setting yourself up to be manipulated. After all, a classical technique of persuasion is to appeal to the emotions. But, just because something feels comfortable and it resonates with your own experience does not mean that it is necessarily true.
http://changingminds.org/principles/consistency.htm
“My friends think this way. I don’t want to lose my sense of affiliation.”
Peer pressure can be a powerful thing. You may even start hanging onto beliefs and attitudes you know are not healthy for you just so that you can stay in your group. This is not altogether irrational. After all, groups can offer protection. But, they can also hold you back. How many friends and connections will you make if you evolve out of the group you’re in and transition into another? http://changingminds.org/principles/bonding.htm
“When I hold onto certain beliefs, I feel powerful.”
Belief is power. Why? The mind is powerful. Yet, believing in something patently untrue, even though it makes you feel good, will only limit you.
http://changingminds.org/principles/dependence.htm
“Everything lines up with what I already think and believe”
When everything lines up, there are no contradictions to cause disagreement. You're able to avoid the uncomfortable condition of cognitive dissonance. However, sometimes, it's important to be able to recognize when there inner contradictions. When you get to that point, list the elements and find the contradictions and the elements that engender inner conflict.
http://changingminds.org/principles/alignment.htm
"When I don't like what I see, I make the parts that are important to me, and I try to reduce the other elements."
If you find yourself thinking this way, you're setting yourself up for a big fall. On the other hand, if you're trying to persuade someone else of the validity of your point of view, focus on the big points, and de-emphasize the minor points.
http://changingminds.org/principles/amplification.htm
"I have to finish what I've started."
True. But, is this always the case? We need to complete that which is started. But, we may be irrationally attached to a bad plan. Make a list of pro's and con's. Examine the benefits.
http://changingminds.org/principles/completion.htm
Meaning depends on context. So control the context.
But, don't stay in your comfort zone. The context -- the "comfort zone" -- may be limiting you. Let go and place your beliefs in a new context. Do they still hold up? You may be trying to get a degree as quickly as possible, and not thinking of the major. In your current situation, all you need is a degree -- any degree -- to advance in your job. But - what happens if your job evaporates? What if your context changes? Your easy, quick degree may not really get you where you need to be.
http://changingminds.org/principles/framing.htm
Sometimes it's hard to look at things from a different perspective. It's hard to see yourself as others see you. But, once you've mastered that, you may find that it's even harder to change the core assumptions, beliefs, and underlying ideas about things in your life.