A healthy mindset is one of the keys to personal and professional success, though it’s often overshadowed by external achievements or immediate demands. Approaching life with resilience, self-awareness and a balanced perspective—acknowledging challenges without being defined by them—can help foster clearer decision-making, stronger relationships and a greater capacity to adapt, ultimately supporting both personal well-being and long-term growth.
“Somebody with a healthy mindset is somebody that thinks flexibly, isn’t rigid in their thinking and has the courage to just pause for a moment in life—whether that’s personal life or professional life,” says Kika Partakis, a health psychologist based outside of London whose practice is called The Healthy Mindset.
That pause allows people “to take stock of what’s going on around them and how it impacts them… looking at what they’ve achieved but, equally, looking at where they’re struggling, so they can grow.”
Pausing can also allow people to appreciate even the small events and experiences that are easy to take for granted but still have meaning.
“Pause and try and find that meaning,” says Partakis, who has worked in the health and well-being industry for around 20 years and says she named her practice The Healthy Mindset to reflect her focus on both physical and mental health. “You can see that if you have a certain way of thinking and being, you do approach things in a much healthier kind of way.”
Though there’s no step-by-step guide to forging a healthy mindset, Partakis says there are things you can do to move in the right direction. Here are a few of her suggestions.
Avoid Rigid Thinking
Flexibility is crucial to adjusting to life’s many twists and turns. It can take time, but learning to think more flexibly is possible, Partakis says.
You may want to work on flexibility if you find yourself unable to pivot when things don’t go as expected—a sure sign of rigidity. Another red flag to keep an eye out for, Partakis says, is the word “should.”
“It’s almost like a teacher or a strict parent. You see the finger wagging. ‘You should be doing this, you should be doing that,’” she says.
If you find yourself using words like “should” or “need” too often, stop and ask yourself why, she suggests.
And while flexibility is the ultimate goal, “everyone is going to have moments of rigidness,” she adds.
When stress is high, we understandably get more rigid. But there’s a difference between brief moments of fight-or-flight response and feeling genuinely stuck, at which point you might need help from a professional.
“No one’s doing anything wrong, but it can become an unhealthy way of thinking if we stay in that [state] for long periods of time,” she says.
Likewise, too much “go with the flow” flexibility can be an indication that you’re missing important boundaries or even perhaps lacking the self-confidence to stand by your principles.
“It’s hard to have a balance,” Partakis says, adding that it’s important to strive for it all the same.
Pause and Reflect
In our breakneck world, where everything is instantly accessible, it can be difficult to hit pause and sit with our feelings. But doing so is essential for a healthy mindset, Partakis says. Those conversations we have with ourselves—when we’re experiencing successes and failures in our personal and professional lives—can unlock insights that help us grow.
“There’s this perception that we need to finish a goal and move on quickly to the next one,” she says. “But I think a healthy mindset is somebody initially who pauses, has the flexibility to just pause and be brave enough to go, ‘What’s going on around me? Why am I feeling this way? How do I feel about doing this? Do I need support to come in or not?’”
She recommends building in small moments throughout your day where you can turn off your screens, go make a cup of coffee or take a short walk and simply reflect. Do this whether you’re at work or at home. “It just takes a few minutes to reset,” she says.
Consider what you’re feeling in the moment and why, as well as whether it’s important or valid for you to continue feeling that way. Then, ponder what you can learn from the situation.
“Everything’s a learning opportunity, but if we don’t stop, and if we don’t have the courage to say to ourselves and others around us, ‘I just want to pause for a moment to take stock of what I’ve achieved, or what has happened to me,’ then we just don’t learn,” Partakis says.
Notice the Process
A healthy mindset isn’t necessarily a goal-oriented mindset. Setting and reaching goals is important, but so is stopping to evaluate what went on in between.
“It’s equally important to take notice of the process, the journey, getting there,” she says. “And that’s the one thing that a lot of people miss.… That’s where the learning also comes into play. And that’s what makes us more flexible, because we’re just allowing this learning from the world, rather than staying like this.”
Find Meaning
The people who find meaning, even in unexpected life events, are the ones who tend to stay mentally healthier, Partakis says.
Partakis tells the story of a global head of human resources whose role was made redundant. Even though this executive perfectly understood why their position was no longer feasible for the company, they couldn’t see beyond the negative implications of losing their job.
“They were stuck, and they wouldn’t allow themselves to see that being out of work could be an opportunity to pause and learn about themselves, what they want to do in the future,” she says. “They didn’t see the period of [unemployment] as meaningful.”
She adds: “A healthy mindset is a human mindset which encompasses both happiness but gives the right to be sad and angry also... Because you learn from everything.”
Featured image by PeopleImages/Shutterstock
