On this self-improvement kick that I’ve been on lately one thing that I’ve learned in my research is that mindset is everything. All of these gurus say that it’s in your head, you must overcome yourself in order to be successful. Are they right? What’s the truth?
“It’s all in your head,” they say
A great practical example of where this is seen is stock trading, there have been a large number of influencers popping up selling training in stock and securities trading. Of course, wanting to make money, I tried a few. Every one of them has said at one point or another “You’re not fighting the markets, you’re fighting yourself”.
What do they mean by this? Well, they’re not just being vague and obtuse to get your money. They actually mean that the way that you look at the stock market has already determined how successful you’ll be in it.
There’s a book on Mindset, aptly titled ‘Mindset’, by Dr Carol Dweck. Where in the book she talks about the presence of two mindsets (she loosely defines a mindset as the view you adopt for yourself) being the fixed and the growth mindsets.
People tend to fall into two categories: the first is where they believe that they are as good as they’re gonna get, talent is what’s needed to succeed, and no one can move from where they are. This is called the fixed mindset.
The second is where the person views challenges as opportunities for growth, and believes that they can change. This is called the growth mindset.
Now I’m sure you can already guess which mindset is likely more healthy for the aspiring entrepreneur. The growth mindset is the best one to try and live by, but the title of this blog is about truth.
Sometimes, the truth doesn’t matter
Big pivot, have you ever heard of hypnosis? Hypnosis is a real medical treatment with documented effects. It’s used for pain management and can have psychological benefits. Many are skeptical of it, and so was I, but it’s a real thing. Hypnosis can be defined as “A trance-like state in which a person becomes more aware and focused on particular thoughts, feelings, images, sensations, or behaviors.” -National Cancer Institute.“
Once the person has been induced into this state they become susceptible to thoughts and feelings so much that they can become hyper aware to the point of drowning out reality. They can be convinced that certain things are true that may not be true, such as that the pain of the most recent chemo treatment isn’t as bad as they perceive it to be.
And so when this happens, what is truth? Essentially, isn’t hypnosis just lying to you? No, it’s more than that, it’s lying to you so much that you believe it, and by virtue of believing it to be true, it becomes true. In this case, what is truth becomes a lie (‘The pain is unbearable’) and is traded for the lie which becomes truth (‘The pain will subside more and more with each breath you take’)
In psychology the perception of truth has been widely studied as well. As it turns out, if you repeat a lie enough times it becomes perceived as truth. The Illusory Truth Effect is what this is called. Lots of people blame this idea for the acceptance of statements such as ‘you only use 10% of your brain’, ‘eating carrots improves your eyesight’, and ‘vitamin c helps cure colds’.
You might be wondering now that I’ve mentioned them, but these statements are all false. If you’re surprised, that’s okay, everyone thinks they’re true and have repeated them so much that it’s hard to believe that they could possibly be false.
The suggestion effect
Another related concept in psychology is that of the suggestion effect, in which simply by suggesting something, it becomes true to someone else. Such as if I were to say “Having a beer or two may help you loosen up at the party.”. While alcohol may lower your inhibitions, you’ll likely be more sociable after you start drinking before any effects simply because I’ve suggested drinking will make you more sociable.
Let’s try some other statements: “He’s just talented, on a whole other level.”, “She’s so smart, I wish I could be like her.”, or “I’ve never been very good at doing math.”
We’ve all thought and heard these things, probably more times than we can count. Probably enough times to start believing them, even when they may not be true. Or maybe, when they’re plausible, but only end up having negative effects when it comes to believing them. Ultimately, all of our statements have meaning, and most all suggestions will become self-fulfilling prophecies.
The common denominator between all of these statements is the lack of belief in oneself. Our egos are fickle things, any hint of a slight upon them will result in emotion, which will change our behavior. Which, to quote the stock gurus, means “You’ll lose before you’ve even begun.”
So what if you actually do suck at trading stocks?
Lie to yourself.
That’s right, lie to yourself. Maybe you weren’t the best, but as of right now, you are. Anytime a contrary thought pops up, dismiss it and attribute it as a lie, to a different part of you. Carol Dweck advises us to do this in her book on Mindset, she tells us to devise a character within us representing our fixed mindset, and attribute any thoughts that are negative to that mindset. In this way we separate ourselves from it, and give it no credibility. Making it easier to follow a growth mindset.
Just like the hypnotized patients, what is truth becomes a lie, and what is a lie becomes truth. But you must truly believe it. Thankfully, all it takes to believe it is to repeat it enough times to yourself.