Mindset is like a pair of glasses that filter how we see the world and how we respond to it. I love this quote from the late American business magnate Henry Ford, who said, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” What this suggests is that we believe what we think. And what we think and believe is in our hands, especially with tools like mindfulness.
Mindfulness means being present and aware of your thoughts, and this can change how you communicate. Mindfulness helps you notice your feelings, manage emotions, reduce stress, lower your blood pressure and increase compassion. Furthermore, because it lengthens the telomeres at the end of your DNA, it’s antiaging and it changes your DNA.
Also, mindful people are 20% more likely to make rational financial decisions, according to research. In the realm of conscious leadership, mindfulness isn’t just a personal tool; it’s a leadership superpower.
For me, the best definition of mindfulness is the quote from Viktor Frankl, the Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, who said, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose. In the choice we make, in our response, lies our growth and our freedom.”
Tamsin Astor is a chief habit scientist whose mission is to help people organize their habits, create their vision and transform their mindset, so they have time for what they want and need and time for fun. This is excerpted from her 2025 MDRT Annual Meeting presentation, Manage your mindset to communicate in a digital world. Both the video and audio presentations are MDRT member exclusives.
