Does menopause affect our mindset?

According to Wikipedia

A Mindset is a set of assumptions, methods, or notions held by one or more people or groups of people.

A mindset can also be seen as arising out of a person’s world view or philosophy of life.

A mindset may be so firmly established that it creates a powerful incentive within these people or groups to continue to adopt or accept prior behaviours, choices or tools.

 

Menopause and Mindset

Written by sarahjcale

GROWTH MINDSET V FIXED MINDSET

So if you didn’t quite grasp the Wikipedia explanation for Mindset, I will try and unravel the two different concepts * here.

Those individuals with a fixed mindset believe that abilities are mostly innate and interpret failure as a lack of necessary basic abilities.

An example of this would be if you were asked to bake a cake, and you had never really attempted to do this before. Your answer may well be sorry I can’t really cook because I have never had to, therefore I lack those skills required to do so now.

Whilst those with a growth mindset believe that they can acquire any given ability provided they invest effort or study.

So they would take the task and get excited about the fact that they would learn a new skill. Maybe find a recipe and learn about how to ensure that all of the ingredients work together well.

 AN INDIVIDUALS MINDSET IMPACTS HOW THEY FACE AND COPE WITH CHALLENGES

Take the photograph above. Now imagine that you are at the bottom of that set of stairs and they look pretty steep, oh and there are quite a few. In fact, you cannot see where it ends. 

What are your first thoughts? Urgh, how am I going to walk to the top of there, and can I even be bothered. My legs are already aching because of the distance I have already covered and now they will ache even more.

Or do you think, wow look at this that someone has taken the time to build? Why have they even done that? There must be something pretty special at the top, I can’t wait to get up there.

So if your first thought was to throw an internal strop then it looks like you have a fixed mindset.

If your thought was I can’t wait to get to the top, and tasks like this excite me.

You have a growth mindset.

So how does this affect me during the menopause?

Well remember those steps in the previous photograph. At the beginning of the menopause it is like standing at the bottom of those steps.

All you can think about is how difficult life has suddenly become. That energy you once has been zapped away, and that strength you had seems to have gone.

Well, guess what… It hasn’t!!

And depending on your mindset it can make the difference between enjoying that transitional season or hating it.

Take for instance the next time you visit your GP and you are fearful that your words won’t be heard again, or they will give you a prescription for something that you are unsure about. How do you react? Think about that for a minute, because I bet the way that you react is also the way that you deal with other situations in your life.

So what can you do to change your mindset, not only when it comes to receiving the right medical care, but when it comes to dealing with the fact that your children no longer rely on you, or your husband doesn’t seem to pay you the same attention that he used to.

(These are some of the factors that many women will face during this time of their lives, and how are mindset is wired will make a difference in the quality of our lives and our wellbeing.)

Change your mindset…

Yes, it is possible and yes you can do it. You have one life and you are important, so make yourself a priority.

Write down a list of all of the things that you want to change, and make a conscious decision each time one of these situations arises to react, act, behave differently.

Next time your visit your GP write down exactly what type of support you need and ask for it.

Next time your kids won’t clear up after themselves find ways to make it more difficult for them to say no.

If a friend has started to behave badly towards you or does not validate things that you say, then make a decision, do you actually want them in your life?

LIKE EVERYTHING, ALL YOU NEED IS CONSISTENCY.

FIND YOUR INNER SUPERHERO AND BEGIN TO LIVE THAT MINDSET

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