Study Shows What You Believe Affects Your Reality

At our staff meeting this morning, we talked about a Harvard study:
Mindset Matters – Exercise and the Placebo Effect.

We talked about the idea that what you believe can affect your reality. Think positively and good things happen. Think negatively…

You might have heard of the book The Secret that suggests having a positive attitude can create life changing results. The Harvard study is the first we’ve heard of someone trying to validate the concept scientifically.

At the start of our Tuesday meetings, we share Good News. This is one of the ways we try to get our brains working in a positive direction. Today’s conversation was a good reminder that our thoughts and beliefs have real power in our personal and professional lives.

The Study

The research study was conducted with 84 room attendants working in seven different hotels to measure how their mind set could affect their health.

A portion of the cleaning staff was told that the work they do is good exercise and meets the Surgeon General’s recommendations for an active lifestyle. The other portion of the cleaning staff was not told this information. The room attendants were studied. It’s important to know that their behavior didn’t change even though they had been told their daily work qualified as leading a healthy lifestyle.

When interviewed after four weeks had passed, the informed group felt like they were getting more exercise than before. And the result, compared with the control group, is that they lost weight, had lower blood pressure, less body fat and a smaller waist-to-hip ratio than before.

If you are interested in reading more about the Harvard study, here’s a link to the full research article.