Mindset is key to good health

Think yourself fit?! Too good to be true?

Definitely not.

The fascinating results of a Stanford University study released last week have once again highlighted the extraordinary power of our beliefs and thoughts – our mindset.

The study appearing July 20 in Health Psychology Full article here found that people who believe they are less active than others of a similar age bracket, die younger than those who considered themselves more active – even if their actual activity levels are similar.

The scientists responsible for the study of more than 60,000 people have shown that those who believe themselves to be physically active, gain major health benefits.

Conversely those who believed they were less active than others were up to 71% more likely to die in the following 21 years, even if they were in fact relatively physically fit.

Remarkably those who believed themselves to be fit were protected from an early death, even if their perception of their physical fitness was out of whack with reality.

“Our findings fall in line with a growing body of research suggesting that our mindsets, in this case our beliefs about how much exercise we are getting relative to others, can play a crucial role in our health,” said Dr Alia Crum, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Stanford University.

It’s time we started taking mindsets in health more seriously. In the pursuit of health and longevity, it is important to adopt not only healthy behaviours, but also healthy thoughts.

Dr Alia Crum, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Stanford University

Of course these findings are nothing new or surprising to myself.

As Dr Crum says this is simply adding to the body of research and evidence that already exists and is continuing to grow regarding the importance of mindset for health, wellbeing & performance.

It is the same expanding body of research upon which I have built my app and company.

For those leaders, companies, teams and organisations that are genuine in supporting the health, wellbeing and performance of their people then supporting them to gain greater awareness of their mindset is fundamental.

Luckily for those now ready to walk the talk and truly put their people first…there’s now an app for that.

Keen to get started? Check out our website by clicking here

So much effort, notably in public health campaigns, is geared toward motivating people to change their behavior: eat healthier, exercise more and stress less.

But an important variable is being left out of the equation: people’s mindsets about those healthy behaviors.

Dr Alia Crum, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Stanford University