Mindset
“Our mindsets are our mental lenses that shape how we see the world. In fact, I call them our mental fuel filters.”
— Ryan Gottfredson, Ph.D.
Our mindsets are our mental fuel filters because every day we are bombarded by a near infinite number of stimuli, and it is our mindsets that filter select information to our brains. This information goes on to fuel three things that are foundational to how we live our lives: our thinking, our learning, and our behaviors.
What is mindset?
Mindsets are specific, recognizable, and repeatable orientations to our life’s experiences.
When you are faced with any of the following situations, your mindsets will guide your interpretation and response to each situation in specific, recognizable, and repeatable ways:
A challenge or difficulty has presented itself
You are given constructive criticism
You are having to decide between taking a risk and playing it safe
You have to interact with another individual
Here are some important implications we have learned associated with mindsets:
Some mindsets lead to more healthy interpretations and responses than others
Most people are not conscious of their mindsets
Regardless of how healthy our mindsets are, our interpretations and responses come so naturally to us that they “feel right,” even if they are negative/less healthy
Recognizing Mindset Red Flags
Recognizing Red Flags
Having more negative mindsets is a sign that our mental maturity is lower than what it could be
Just by becoming conscious of our mindsets, we level up in our mental maturity
We can shift our mindsets, and if we do so in a positive direction, we will come to interpret and respond to our world in more productive ways
Four Sets of Mindsets
There are four sets of mindsets that have been identified and have received 30+ years of research backing.
Each set represents an empirically-backed continuum, and the quality of our mindsets will fall somewhere along each continuum.
Inward and Outward Mindset
How Inward and Outward Mindsets Affect Our Thinking
How Inward and Outward Mindsets Affect Our Operating
Additional Resources and Training Opportunities are coming to the NWS:
Books available via CLC/Precipio (Log into CLC then click on this link (wait for a pause to load)
Leadership & Self-Deception, 3rd edition (book and audio)
The Outward Mindset, 2nd edition (book)
The Outward Mindset Study Guide & Exercises
NWS Program Managers
Dianne Suess: dianne.suess@noaa.gov
John Ogren: john.ogren@noaa.gov
Fixed and Growth Mindset
How Fixed and Growth Mindsets Affect Our Thinking
How Fixed and Growth Mindsets Affect Our Operating
Open and Closed Mindset
How Open and Closed Mindsets Affect Our Operating
How Open and Closed Mindsets Affect Our Thinking
Prevention and Promotion Mindset
How Prevention and Promotion Mindsets Affect Our Thinking
How Prevention and Promotion Mindsets Affect Our Operating
Where Do You Stand?
Through our minds, we take in and process the world around us. Depending on the mindset that you possess on the day-to-day, there can be a world of difference in how you approach life. Mindsets shape our thoughts, beliefs and experiences, with one to another determining whether we unlock our happiness and whether we find our success.
This is particularly true for professionals with big dreams. If you work on your career doubting yourself, putting down your accomplishments and seeing it all through a negative lens, you may be setting your own self up for failure. As we work for what we want, our chances for success may often lie simply within our mindset.
The good news is that a mindset is not actually set in stone. You can reframe your thoughts at any moment, and you can always change your approach when needed.
-Forbes | How You Can Make The Right Mindset Work For You