Dr. Alia Crum: Science of Mindsets for Health & Performance

How do we consciously and deliberately change our mindsets? And the first step is really simple, and that's just to be aware that you have them—that the world, your beliefs, aren't an unmitigated reflection of reality as it objectively is; they are filtered through our interpretations, our expectations, our frameworks, and simplifications of that reality.

What we found in this study was that when people thought they were consuming the high-fat/high-calorie indulgent milkshake, in response to the shake, their ghrelin levels dropped at a three-fold rate stronger than when they thought they were consuming the sensible shake. So, essentially, their bodies responded as if they had consumed more food, even though it was the exact same shake at both time points.

So, if you're in the interest of maintaining or losing weight, what's the best mindset to be in? It's to be in a mindset that you're eating indulgently, that you're having enough food, that you're getting enough ... That has a more adaptive effect on ghrelin responses.

I think that our mindsets are influenced by four different sources. First is our upbringing—how our parents talked about things like when we're stressed or food or other things. Second is culture and media; so movies, podcasts, and now social media. Third is influential others, so what doctors say to us or close friends or peers. And fourth is your conscious choice.

As a parent, for me, I guess my number one piece of advice is to lighten up trying to get your kids to do certain things, and focus more on helping them to adopt more adaptive mindsets.

The total effect of anything is a combined product of what you're doing and what you think about what you're doing.

Any athlete knows that you can be the same physical being from one day to the next, one moment to the next, and perform completely differently just depending on what you're thinking.

We define mindsets as core beliefs or assumptions that we have about a domain or category of things that orient us to a particular set of expectations, explanations, and goals.

Mindsets are kind of a portal between conscious and subconscious processes. They operate as a default setting of the mind.