New Year, New Mindset, and My Obsession With the Mel Robbins Podcast

It’s officially the beginning of a new year—2026. The season radiates fresh starts, bold resolutions, and renewed mindsets. There’s something refreshing about this time of year; it naturally creates a foundation where you can plant yourself and strive for real growth. Whether your goal is to move your body for thirty minutes a day or wake up thirty minutes earlier for quiet time before the workday noise begins, the resolutions we choose say a lot about where our minds are and what we believe our bodies need most.

Agree or disagree, this time of year often brings something else up for me: a tinge of seasonal depression, haha. The love-filled rush of the winter holidays has passed, leaving behind a lingering cold that interferes with the daily walks that have always kept me grounded. While I’ve grown to appreciate a cozy excuse to stay curled up on the couch, I think many of us are craving spring.

So in the meantime, while we wait for blooming flowers and sunshine, this season offers us something just as valuable: a chance to start the year strong and give shape to our goals. It’s easy to set intentions in January and slowly watch them slip away halfway through the year, or sometimes even sooner. Whether it’s “life getting in the way” or the need to shift our priorities, we often lose the determination to stay committed to our New Year’s resolutions.

For me, this reality highlights the importance of mindset—specifically, having one that’s intentional and aligned as you step into a year-long journey. Goals don’t fade because we stop caring; they fade because we lose the inner framework that supports them.

I realize I’m completely late to the party when it comes to my recent obsession with Mel Robbins. But her podcast is simply too good not to mention in this post. One guest she recently featured was Stanford professor Dr. Alia Crum, whose work I’ve quickly become fascinated by and eager to share. Through extensive research and multiple studies, she explores—and proves—the powerful science behind how our thoughts shape our bodies, our energy levels, and our overall health.

Dr. Crum describes mindset simply as “the settings of the mind”—patterns that develop over time due to external influences, experiences, and environments. What struck me most was her emphasis on the fact that while these settings may form unconsciously, we still have the power to change them. That idea alone feels so empowering as we step into a new year.

Bear with me here! One of Dr. Crum’s research experiments that completely captured my attention is known as the “Milkshake Study.” In this study, every participant was given the exact same 380-calorie milkshake. On one occasion, they were told the shake was a 620-calorie “indulgent” treat. On another day, those same participants were given the very same milkshake—but this time, they were told it was a 140-calorie “sensible” option: low-calorie and high in protein.

While participants drank the milkshakes, researchers monitored their ghrelin levels—the hormone responsible for signaling hunger and appetite—through blood samples taken via IV throughout the process. The results were so remarkable. When participants believed they were consuming the indulgent shake, their ghrelin levels dropped significantly, signaling fullness. When they believed they were drinking the “sensible” shake, their ghrelin response remained relatively flat, even though the nutritional and caloric content was identical in both cases.

Whether you’re interested in research or not, this is SO wild to me. To summarize it up, it is shown here that the mindsets we carry don’t just live in our thoughts; they can physically change the biology of our blood and our bodies. How cool!!!!!!

As an oncology nurse, I am first and foremost a believer in the power of medicine and evidence-based therapies when it comes to treating diagnoses like cancer–I see their impact firsthand. That said, another study stood out to me, led by Dr. Sean Zion, which explored how mindset can work alongside medical treatment.

In this study, a group of recently diagnosed adult cancer patients undergoing treatment was randomized. Half of the participants received a “Cancer Mindset Intervention” (CMI), which consisted of online modules designed to reshape how they viewed cancer in their bodies. The goal wasn’t to convince patients they would be cured, but rather to help them see their cancer as something that could be manageable instead of a total catastrophe, and to reframe the belief that their bodies had somehow failed them.

The results shared that patients in the CMI group reported significant improvements in adaptive mindsets, experienced positive changes in their day-to-day functioning, and, most interestingly to me, reported a decrease in physical symptoms of their cancer and treatment. It was a powerful reminder that while medicine treats the disease, mindset can influence how people experience the journey.

Sorry for nerding out on you all, but I hope you can see just how powerful the settings of our minds truly are, and how this awareness can be used to our advantage, not only for our health, but for our overall enjoyment of life. I’m just beginning to explore what these findings could mean for me and how I can apply them in my own daily rhythms.

My hope is that by sharing this, it might also inspire you to reflect on how your own mindset settings are shaping your experiences, and how shifting them could begin to maybe even change your daily life, beginning this very year.

Any nurse or healthcare professional reading this knows that mindset is—well—pretty much everything in our line of work. We operate in environments where burnout is incredibly present and easy to fall into for countless reasons (see my last blog post for more on that, haha). And of course, even if you walk into a shift with the most positive mindset, unfortunately, there’s still a chance you’ll experience one of your most challenging shifts yet.

But what we can take responsibility for are our mindsets—using them as a way to protect ourselves and foster resilience. Sometimes that looks like pausing the natural urge to complain in the middle of difficult circumstances (realistically, it rarely changes the situation). Other times, it’s choosing to let go of frustration, for example, when the unit is extremely understaffed. At the end of the day, why drain even more energy by getting hung up on things that are completely out of our control? In healthcare, our energy is already limited, so how we choose to spend it truly matters.

The mind–body connection is a powerful thing, and even small shifts in our thoughts can provide the energy needed to push through the final hours of a long day. Sometimes, simply remembering that what feels like an ordinary shift to us as RNs may be the worst day of someone else’s life can soften our perspective. That awareness alone can open the door to gratitude and allow us to radiate kindness once again–something our work place is deeply in need of.

Outside of work, during my four days off each week—when I focus on restoring my energy, moving my body, spending time with friends, and caring for myself—these mindset shifts take on a different form. 

When we look at the kind of mental reset that’s possible in order to reach our year-end goals and intentions, this idea becomes incredibly powerful. For me, that means stepping away from an all-or-nothing mindset and instead choosing one rooted in consistency, grace, and small, sustainable steps.

As I move into this year, I’m focusing on simple resolutions: reading my Bible daily and staying off my phone for an hour before bed and an hour after waking. They may seem small, but I’m learning that lasting change doesn’t come from perfection, but it comes from showing up day by day for a desired outcome.

Lastly, if you’re anything like me, stress takes up a significant portion of your mental space throughout the week—both at work and outside of it—and often for reasons that aren’t even that big. Mindset can make all the difference in whether stress feels like fuel or a heavy weight on your chest. The truth is, the stress we feel usually comes from simply caring about something in the first place. But the mindset most of us have around it treats stress as purely debilitating and pressuring.

What if we shifted that perspective? What if we began to see stress as something meant to empower us, to help us grow and adapt to the challenges we face? The actual “stressful” situation won’t change, but imagine how liberating it could feel to see stress as a signal that deepens our understanding, strengthens us mentally and emotionally, and encourages action. One way to approach it could be to first reconnect with what you care about most, and allowing that to guide your response. Personally, I want to experience this kind of freedom.

At the end of the day, as I’ve said before, we can’t change all the circumstances in our lives. But this isn’t about simply “thinking positively.” It’s about recognizing and updating the system in your mind—changing the way you interpret and respond to the same input or situation. This is a big focus for me this year, and I hope you can take what resonates for yourself as you start yours.

You don’t have to keep seeing the world through a lens that you’ve had the power to change all along.

Xoxo doseofbella

& HNY!!!!!

Crum, Alia J. “Brief Report: ‘Mind over Milkshakes: Mindsets, Not Just Nutrients, Determine Ghrelin Response.’” Mbl.Stanford.Edu, mbl.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj26571/files/media/file/2011_milkshakes_crum_et_al_health_psych.pdf. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.