#1 Mindset Expert: Simple Mindset Shifts That Transform Your Body, Energy, & Life
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
In this episode, Stanford professor Dr. Alia Crum reveals the groundbreaking science behind how your thoughts shape your body, energy, and health. Dr. Crum explains that mindsets are literally "settings in your mind" that can be consciously changed to improve your life outcomes. Through her famous milkshake study and research on the placebo effect, she demonstrates how beliefs about food, exercise, stress, and health create measurable biological changes in your body. (06:00)
- Core Focus: Moving beyond positive thinking to understand the scientific mechanisms of how mindset changes create real physiological responses and better health outcomes.
Speakers
Dr. Alia Crum
Dr. Alia Crum is a Stanford University professor who runs the Stanford Mind and Body Lab, where she conducts groundbreaking research on how mindsets shape physical health. She earned her BA in psychology from Harvard and her PhD in clinical psychology from Yale, and has led mindset change programs for major organizations including LinkedIn, UBS, Stanford Healthcare, and The US Navy. Dr. Crum is the recipient of the National Institute of Health's New Innovator Award for her research proving that beliefs can change biology.
Mel Robbins
Mel Robbins is a bestselling author, podcast host, and motivational speaker known for her practical approach to personal development. She hosts The Mel Robbins Podcast and has written multiple bestselling books including "The Let Them Theory," helping millions of people create positive changes in their lives through science-backed strategies and actionable insights.
Key Takeaways
Mindsets Are Settings You Can Change
Dr. Crum defines mindsets as literally "settings of the mind" - core beliefs about the essence of what something is and why it matters. (05:59) These aren't just attitudes, but programmable settings that shape your reality through four key mechanisms: what you pay attention to, how you feel emotionally, what you're motivated to do, and how your body physiologically responds. The revolutionary insight is that these settings can be consciously changed at any moment, giving you power over your health outcomes.
Adopt an Indulgent Mindset When Eating
The milkshake study revealed that believing you're eating indulgently creates better biological responses than believing you're restricting. (14:30) When people thought they were drinking a high-calorie "indulgent" shake, their hunger hormone (ghrelin) dropped three times faster than when they thought they were drinking a low-calorie "sensible" shake - even though it was identical. This means focusing on enjoyment and allowing yourself pleasure while eating creates healthier metabolic responses than eating with a restrictive, depriving mindset.
Stress Can Make You Stronger
Rather than believing stress will kill you, adopting the mindset that stress is designed to support and strengthen you activates your body's natural resilience systems. (84:00) Dr. Crum emphasizes that the stress response wasn't designed to harm you - it's there because you care about something important and can channel your efforts toward that goal. This mindset shift transforms stress from a health threat into a performance enhancer.
Your Body Is Capable of Healing
For those facing health challenges like cancer, the most beneficial mindset is believing the condition is "manageable" and that "your body is capable." (48:51) Research shows this mindset significantly improves quality of life and reduces physical symptoms like nausea and fatigue during treatment. This isn't about denial - it's about trusting your body's remarkable healing systems while still receiving proper medical care. The combination of mind and medicine is more powerful than either alone.
Update Old Settings That No Longer Serve You
Many of our mindset settings were created by childhood experiences or external influences and may no longer be useful. (23:00) The example of Melissa overcoming her ten-year fear of flying by simply recognizing "this is just an old setting in my mind" demonstrates that awareness alone can sometimes be enough to change limiting beliefs. You don't need years of therapy to update mental settings - you just need to recognize when old programming is creating unwanted realities.
Statistics & Facts
- In the milkshake study, participants' hunger hormone (ghrelin) levels dropped at a threefold rate when they believed they were consuming an indulgent shake versus a sensible shake, even though both shakes were identical 350-calorie vanilla milkshakes. (14:53)
- In migraine research, real medication (Maxalt) worked significantly less effectively when patients were told it was a placebo, demonstrating that beliefs can reduce the biological effectiveness of actual medicine. (44:13)
- Cancer patients who adopted mindsets of "this is manageable" and "my body is capable" showed significant improvements in quality of functioning and reduced physical symptoms like nausea and fatigue during chemotherapy treatment. (49:30)
