Mindset or Mindshift: Rewiring the Way We Think, Lead, and Live
There are moments in our lives, often subtle although sometimes seismic, when we realize that the way we’ve been thinking no longer serves the life we want to live. These moments don’t always arrive with fireworks or fanfare. Sometimes they whisper. Sometimes they nudge. Sometimes they stop us mid-stride during a difficult shift, a heavy conversation, or a season of unexpected challenge.
In emergency medicine (and perhaps in your vocation), we pride ourselves on decisiveness, competency, and control in environments that offer little of it. Yet the most significant transformations in our personal and professional lives rarely come from skill alone. They come from a mindset, a willingness to see differently, think differently, and ultimately become different. And it isn’t easy.
Over the past years, two thinkers have influenced my understanding of this inner work: Carol Dweck, whose research on Mindset reframes how we view growth and potential, and Erwin McManus, whose book Mindshift challenges us to disrupt the internal narratives that hold us back.
The intersection of their ideas offers a roadmap for anyone who wants to become more intentional about the life they are building, especially where pressure is relentless, and change is constant.
Where might I be limiting my own growth simply by the way I think about myself?
What is Mindset? (Dweck)
Carol Dweck’s research centers on one core truth:
Your belief about whether you can grow determines whether you will.
A fixed mindset believes abilities are innate, static, and unchangeable.
A growth mindset believes abilities can be developed through effort, learning, and persistence.
In life, a fixed mindset sounds like:
· “I’m not good at this.”
· “This new tool isn’t for me.”
· “I don’t want to look incompetent by trying something unfamiliar.”
A growth mindset sounds like:
“I can get better with practice.”
“What would I discover if I pushed beyond my comfort zone?”
“Skill is learned and earned, not inherited.”
Dweck’s work reveals that mindset is not about positive thinking—it’s about embracing the process of becoming better, even when it demands humility, discomfort, or failure. And recognizing the most powerful step toward growth is shifting from self-protection to self-expansion.
What is Mindshift? (McManus)
Where Mindset is about belief, Mindshift is about action. As McManus explains:
Mindshift is the courage to intentionally disrupt the patterns that tether you to who you used to be.
Mindshift is the intentional reorientation of habits, assumptions, and identity. It is the willingness to challenge your own internal narratives, especially those that anchor you to the past. It’s the decision to stop rehearsing old stories. Stories about failure, fear, inadequacy, or “the way things have always been.”
Mindshift reminds us that transformation doesn’t happen when the environment changes; it happens when we do. Mindshift is a growth mindset in motion.
For most, this looks like:
Continuing to grow as a leader and letting go of outdated approaches.
Rewriting the story you tell yourself about your limitations.
Seeing obstacles as invitations to innovation.
Choosing courage over comfort (repeatedly).
What narrative about yourself needs to be rewritten for you to grow into what’s next?
Five Essentials for a Mindset That Fuels Growth & Leadership
1. Embrace the Power of “Yet” (Dweck)
“I’m not good at this… yet.”
This single word transforms failure into potential and threat into opportunity. It rewires the brain from defensiveness to curiosity.
2. Break the Internal Narrative Loop (McManus)
We all carry internal scripts, those stories about who we are and what we can do. Mindshift demands that we challenge the lies, interrupt the loop, and rewrite the story with intentionality and truth.
3. Lean Into Productive Discomfort
Growth always begins at the edge of competence. If you’re never uncomfortable, you’re not growing.
Clinicians, leaders, and innovators must learn to interpret discomfort as a signal of progress, not danger.
4. Seek Feedback Like Oxygen (Dweck)
Feedback is not judgment; it’s information. It is the raw material for improvement, clarity, and mastery.
High performers don’t tolerate feedback; they seek it.
5. Protect Your Mental Environment (McManus)
Mindshift requires guarding your inputs as intentionally as your outputs. Your mindset is shaped by the environment you live in:
the people you surround yourself with,
the voices you listen to,
the habits you practice,
the culture you cultivate.
Three Steps to Build a Better, Stronger, More Positive Mindset
1. Identify the Limiting Belief
Name the script that holds you back and Write It Down. Speak it out loud. Share with those who hold you accountable. Awareness precedes transformation.
2. Reframe the Story
Shift from limitation to opportunity:
“I always fail at this” → “I’m learning a skill that will take time.”
“This is too hard” → “This is stretching me into who I’m becoming.”
“I’m overwhelmed” → “I’m capable, and I can take one focused step at a time.”
3. Practice Micro-Shifts Daily
Mindset doesn’t change with epiphanies, it changes with repetition. It is that 1% rule (Clear).
Choose one small action each day that reflects the mindset you want, not the one you have:
Ask for feedback.
Try a new technique.
Pause during stress and choose response over reaction.
Replace negative self-talk with a growth statement.
Small daily shifts are the compound interest of transformation.
Reflections
In medicine, life, and leadership, mindset isn’t just a psychological concept; it’s a clinical and cultural imperative. The way we think determines how we lead, heal, and grow. Dweck shows us that we are not finished products; our abilities can expand. McManus reminds us that we can change our internal direction at any moment. Together, they teach us that transformation is not accidental; it is intentional, and we can rewrite the possibilities of who we become.