Hi everyone.
For those who care, the reason for my general absence from the forum recently is because I've been busy with schoolwork and catching up on some things I needed to do for quite a while (like the topic of this post, improving!). I've also experienced somewhat of a creative block as to what topic to talk about, so that's another reason. I'm not sure if I'll be as active as I was once I joined, but I'll try to at least reply to quotes and stuff.
So, mindset. The most underrated aspect of every game that has a skill ceiling of some kind, and the one people overlook the most simply because it doesn't exactly involve your mechanics.
"What is the point you're trying to make with this topic, kid?"
Quite simple, I want to give you some examples of situations where having a bad mindset about something is severely detrimental to your performance and general enjoyment of X activity.
Let's say you're playing a game, such as Touhou. You're struggling to fight a stage 2 boss, and constantly ends up receiving a game over. After some time, you'll start thinking in 2 ways:
1: "the fuck is wrong with me why am I so bad RAAAAAAAH" <-- The bad mindset.
2: "the fuck am I doing wrong lemme recheck, oh ok I should've moved this way etc etc" <-- The good mindset.
You've probably got into one of these situations, and more often than not, people tend to go into the first situation. What this does is simply train your brain into immediately reacting in such way that you believe you're flat out trash (which sometimes you indeed are) and you'll never improve, etc etc. Do it enough times and you've basically engrained in your memory this form of thinking and it'll bring you down since you won't feel motivated to keep pushing the envelope and develop your skills further because your brain is always so damn negative about it.
Now, if you were to take the good route, you'd analyze what you did wrong and what you can do to avoid this same mistake next run, and potentially break through the wall you've been struggling so much with. It then does the EXACT same thing as the previous scenario does, but instead of bringing you down, it brings your confidence up because you're trying your best to improve and learn from your mistakes. This, is what makes you a good player.
There is something interest called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (comically abbreviated to "CBT"), which is basically a therapy in which you enforce your mind to change your way of thinking instead of reacting immediately to a certain situation, when you could have a positive outlook on it.
Let's say someone you know passes by you on the street. You greet them, but they don't respond. Why is that?
Some people will immediately take the depressive route and start saying things like "oh, they surely hate me" "have I done something to annoy them" "am I even loved" (ok that last one is kinda exaggerated but still)
That's the result of a constant negative outlook about things, which can sincerely break people's will to even be around you sometimes. If this person I quoted above had simply thought something like "oh, they haven't heard me probably" or "maybe they're worried about something and aren't paying attention", it would have been a lot less negative overall and you wouldn't be let down so hard.
I know this seems like I'm giving some really extreme examples, but I'll tell you: there are people who think like this. Maybe even some people close to you.
This was supposed to only be about games, but it really applies to every kind of activity you want to be good at, be it sports, drawing, making stories, gaming, the works. Having a positive mindset about things ensures you'll always strive to better yourself and improve in a healthy manner, by analyzing your mistakes and correcting them, instead of just lashing out at yourself and those around you because you can't seem to get something right.
I honestly don't even know why I made this topic, I'm really running out of things to say
All I can say is, stay safe everyone, and please, please, if you're struggling with bad mindset or general negativity, try your best to think differently. Or, if it's that bad, visit a therapist, seek help to someone. Just don't suffer alone.