Natalie Lamb and the Laughology wellbeing sessions: Thinking about thinking

I’ve recently led a series of two Eastern Area Institute of Water events with a company called Laughology. I’ve written three blog posts about what I learned at these wellbeing sessions, one on thinking about thinking, one on negative thinking and one on effective feedback. Search for Laughology in the search box to find the other blog posts in the series.

Why is important to think about thinking?

Every experience in your life, whether that’s your upbringing or beyond, will result in positive or negative feelings.  Your pre-existing beliefs, values and memories shape the way you feel and the way you act. That’s why we judge people using only small amounts of information (hence the age old saying, don’t just a book by its cover). This is only a bad thing if we don’t challenge it.

This is also why it can be important to supplement your thoughts too. For instance, if we know why someone is doing something, we might react differently to a situation. That parent ignoring the tantruming child on the train might be on their way back from a funeral. Maybe if you knew their loss, you wouldn’t be annoyed by the noise. 

Laughology, 2021

So that's why we should think about thinking, to change our actions. But how can this be applied in our lives to your benefit?

Growth and fixed mindset

Growth mindset was a term first coined by Prof Carol Dweck, a psychologist at Stamford University intrigued by people who weren’t high academic achievers but who became really successful.

A fixed mindset describes the belief that you are naturally talented while a growth mindset describes the belief that an individual can grow and develop through dedication, hard work and purposeful practice, and not just rely on natural talent.

We both have a mixture of both of these mindsets depending on different situations but being aware of how you are thinking (metacognition- thinking about thinking) can allow you to shift the way you think and so react.

An example of a fixed mindset is that intelligence is static. This mind set would lead to a desire to look smart, block new ideas or not give things a go. But a growth mindset would be that intelligence can be developed through your life. This mind set would lead to a desire to learn, making you be more open, to listen to new ideas to give new things a go.

Lughology, 2021

Also, if you don’t want to do something you’re actually more likely to have a fixed mindset about it. 

By being aware of your thinking, you can consider your actions, your feelings and your beliefs to identify and eventually change your own fixed mindsets.