3 destructive mindsets
And one mindset that overpowers them all
The moment we open our eyes, our mindset sets the tone. Today can feel full of possibilities or full of problems. Calm or chaotic. Energised or drained.
Yet most of us don’t consciously choose our mindsets—they sneak in through habits, experiences, and unconscious patterns. Left unchecked, they can quietly chip away at our curiosity, our ambition, and even our joy.
Anne-Laure Le Cunff, author of Tiny Experiments, writes about three destructive mindsets we can all slip into from time to time. Let’s see if we recognize ourselves in any of these.
Cynical mindset
It’s when we’ve lost both curiosity and ambition.
We catch ourselves doomscrolling, rolling our eyes at someone else’s big dreams, or thinking, “What’s the point of even trying?”
All of us know at least one person who’s always whining about global economic problems at dinner like a news anchor. When asked what they’re working on personally, they don’t have anything interesting to share.
A cynical mindset can cause us to lose the excitement in our own lives. When that happens, our only source of excitement becomes complaining about the problems we think “others” created.
The cynical mindset keeps us stuck in survival mode, draining energy but never creating momentum.
Escapist mindset
We’re still curious, but ambition has left the room.
With this type of mindset, we end up doing activities that help us escape our responsibilities. Think of those evenings when we’re busy planning our “dream future” in a notebook while ignoring the work that could actually move us there. Or when we’re five episodes deep into a Netflix series instead of tackling the uncomfortable task that might open new doors.
It feels harmless, even comforting. It’s a quiet form of avoidance.
Perfectionist mindset
Here, ambition is sky-high, but curiosity has flatlined.
This shows up when we can’t stop working, even on weekends. Or when we convince ourselves that happiness will finally arrive after the next big milestone.
That milestone is a moving target. The bar keeps rising, and happiness always lives in the “next thing.”
Perfectionism feels productive but leaves us burned out, disconnected, and always one step behind joy.
We don’t live in one mindset forever. We shift in and out depending on our circumstances, triggers, and goals. It’s good news because this means we can overcome our destructive mindsets. To do so, the first step we need is to be consciously aware of them. Only then can we develop an experimental mindset, which overpowers them all.
Experimental mindset
When we combine curiosity and ambition, we step into an experimental mindset.
We stop needing perfect answers. Instead, we approach challenges like scientists:
Define a small experiment (“I’ll try journaling for 10 minutes each morning for one week”, “I’ll work on a micro SaaS for a month”, “I’ll strength train twice a day for 3 weeks”, etc).
Track it simply (done or not done).
Reflect at the end: Did we enjoy it? Did it move us forward? Should we continue, pause, or pivot?
With this mindset, we see uncertainty as opportunity, mistakes as insights, and failures as stepping stones.
Life stops being about chasing one grand purpose. Instead, purpose reveals itself through the experiments we run along the way.
“Not everyone knows their big purpose in life. Most of us discover it gradually, hidden inside the tiny experiments we dare to try.”