Hi, everyone. Welcome to Radio Headspace and to Monday. It's Sam here.

So something that can really help us navigate this complicated world is working with our

mindsets, that vital self-talk that gives us perspective. We've all had difficult moments

where we couldn't see the best case scenario. But when we practice, we can learn to spot

those elusive silver linings. So today, let's explore how our mindset can help us bring

a little more hope into our lives.

The other day, I experienced a meditation that really shifted my mindset. You never

know what emotions or memories are going to arise in meditation. So during this one,

a small young part of myself asked me to protect her from harm. And that's when a profound

message arose. It said, pain is inevitable. It's part of living this human life. And

in this moment, I felt some primal part of me let go of that fantasy that I could avoid

pain. And I surrendered. I could feel the tiny muscles around my eyes and the tightness

in the back of my neck just start to let go. And then this kind wise voice emerged, reassuring

small Sam, saying, I'll be here with you through all of it.

So this experience created a major shift in my mindset. Something that I had taught

my own students a thousand times before landed in my body in a new way. And that just goes

to show how powerful mindsets are. So how can we shift our mindset and make it work in

our favor? First, I found it's helpful to break down what a mindset actually is. Essentially,

a mindset includes a belief that affects how you think, how you feel, and how you act.

And the way you approach life has a lot to do with beliefs. These could be beliefs about

yourself, like your own innate strengths and abilities, or beliefs about others. So there's

a great example of this in a study that researcher Greg Walton did at Stanford. He designed

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