Never in before in history have we had access to so much information. It’s at our fingertips 24/7, instantly educating, entertaining, scaring and influencing us at the click of a mouse or swipe of a finger. It won’t be too long before it’s at the blink of an eye or a brain command, but that’s another story for another day.
But let’s take a trip back in time, cue in the harp dream music… Let’s go right back to the beginning, to the time before books were used to store information and history…To the time when information was communicated as stories told around the fire to pass on knowledge, wisdom, and tradition. And that information was vital. Existence back then was tough, it was in fact, life or death.
Early humans needed to know stuff, like don’t poke a sabre-toothed tiger, in fact don’t do anything to a sabre-toothed tiger! Or that people visiting from another village may not be a good thing. Or that delicious looking fruit may just kill you, although not as quick as the sabre-toothed tiger. So, information back in those early days was measured and relevant to day to day living and absolutely essential for survival.
Fast forward to today… Most of us will never have to fight for survival … ever… Think about it this way: what’s the worst thing that could happen to you in your daily life? The train is running late, oh! there it is – another red light, or… look at that line up at the coffee shop, it will take forever to get that extra hot, half strength something-ino with an extra shot of whatever. Yes, I’m being flippant. I know life changing events can happen but compared to early human life we have it pretty cosy.
We are living in a world of information overload and, sadly, disinformation overload. We can google anything, get answers to questions in nano seconds, but those answers are not necessarily correct and don’t get me started on fake news. And this is where I am going with mindset. I believe mindset is everything when it comes to the challenges of our day to day life. Don’t get me wrong – a positive mindset won’t stop your car running out of petrol if you didn’t fill the tank, but a positive mindset will help you navigate your world and hopefully make better decisions.
But the question is “whose mindset do you have?” Now I can hear a few of you saying: “that’s it, Todd has lost me!” but hang in there. We live in a world of information overload. Added to it are past events and influences. So, isn’t it possible that we have a pre-programmed mindset?
Pre-programming is not all bad though. Could you imagine if every device you purchased required you to create every action and function from scratch? Instant meltdown! But while there are certain settings or “norms” that can’t be changed, generally we have the ability to customize settings to suit us and the way we like to do things. Our mindset is no different.
Consider our mindset pre-programming coming from our family, friends, or daily events. This mindset may not be bad but it’s also not necessarily ours and can be customized. So, do you have your own mindset or someone else’s and, worst still, are you defending your mindset and don’t necessarily know why?
Creating a positive mindset can be challenging but it’s even harder when it’s not yours and it doesn’t feel authentic. Just because you have always thought a certain way, doesn’t mean you have to now, put simply that mindset’s used by date has arrived. Anthony Robbins summed it up, “The Past Doesn’t Equal the Future”.
Having a positive passionate mindset is giving yourself the best possible chance to change a situation you’re not happy with or open the door to a future of excitement.
Just make sure it’s your own!