Training the mind to a much more flexible, elastic and creative approach can help us to react better to unexpected events and small daily setbacks. To do this, we need to make a commitment to ourselves. Let's see what the key points of this change are.
Written and verified by the psychologist GetPersonalGrowth.
Last update: 15 November 2021
Sometimes we barricade ourselves in our rigid mental patterns as inflexible and stubborn soldiers. Thus, almost without realizing it, we are no longer able to find solutions to our problems, remedies for disappointments and new points of view on daily failures. Changing your way of thinking is certainly not easy, but sometimes it can mean the difference between well-being and suffering.
But what is really stopping us from thinking in a more lucid, original and even healthier way? One of the most prominent figures in the field of psychology to have dealt with this subject was Abraham Luchins.
In 1942 he published the results of an experiment entitled "Water Jug Problem", in which he demonstrated that our main obstacles are mental rigidity, prejudices and fear.
We are afraid of novelty. Not only that, we tend to be rather uncertain even when they invite us to change our way of thinking, attitude or to introduce something new in our everyday life. In other words, when we are asked to rethink our approach to life, deactivating old inherited mental patterns or, even more, identifying the defense mechanisms that we apply in our daily life and of which we are generally not aware.
According to Luchins, the strategy to improve in these cases would be found none other than the application of more flexible thinking, which helps to adapt to a constantly evolving and increasingly demanding context. Let's deepen the topic.
Changing your way of thinking to live better: how to do it?
We are all able to perceive the same things: the sound of a storm that is about to start, the smell of wet earth, the rain beating on the windows ...
While perceiving the same stimuli, each of us makes our own interpretation: depending on experience, personality, education, environment, mood, preferences, what he despises, etc.
For example, while some people are annoyed by an approaching storm, others are fascinated by it. There is nothing wrong with this: each of us has particularities that allow us to filter and understand reality in one way rather than another.
The point is that sometimes that particular way of processing events makes use of negativity, of the vulnerability and mental rigidity that show only the darkness at the end of the tunnel.
How can we change our thinking to get better? How to do this, if our thoughts take shape automatically and are mediated, very often, by our emotions? Let's see it in the following lines.
The mental flexibility to change the way of thinking
Already in the 40s, Dr. Abraham Luchin anticipated the need to develop an alternative mental approach. One that would help to survive and react to an evolving and stimulating environment.
Leonard Mlodinow, a well-known physicist and mathematician, introduced a concept of great interest to the field of psychology a few years ago: the “elastic mind”. He collaborated with Stephen Hawking in writing several of his texts, and Mlodinow is today one of the most fascinating science communicators.
His so-called elastic mind is a direct invitation to change your way of thinking, and not only to live better, but also for our happiness and for the progress of society. This idea is based on the following principles:
- We need to stop taking things for granted. Comfortable ideas make us lazy. It is time to adopt a critical, acute point of view that is not satisfied with easy answers.
- It is also the time to take an initiative that will cost us effort: tolerate ambiguity, uncertainty and even contradiction.
- We need to go beyond the more conventional mentality.
- When trying to innovate, trust logic and lateral thinking.
Flexible thinking does not fear novelty and accepts uncertainty. He is aware and understands that changes are a constant and not only do you have to adapt to them, but also take advantage of it.
Thinking differently forces us to identify "useless" thoughts to see better
To adopt a more flexible thought pattern allows you to respond effectively to life's challenges daily. We would all like to apply this healthy approach in order to react in a new way to the future we face. However, there is another aspect to keep in mind.
In our mind, an infinity of little useful and even harmful thoughts are crowded. We refer, for example, to those who feed negative inner dialogue. The same ones that lead us to repeat phrases such as "I am useless, I will never get over this situation", "things will get worse and worse and I can't help it", "I shouldn't risk it, I should stay in my comfort zone, etc."
By clearing this stream of limiting thoughts that are installed in our mental structures, the internal dialogue will be much healthier, even more stimulating. Only then will we allow ourselves to think differently, making room for that flexible mentality capable of seeing valid opportunities in change.
The mind and the brain must also evolve, updating itself with the times. Such an activity requires constant work and a firm commitment to ourselves. Let's start right now.
