By Rukayya Zamroon   Evolution is a process where any living organism is believed to have developed from previous snippets of history and its different kinds of forms. We can say that things today are constantly evolving, because you don’t see someone appearing the way they did ten years ago. While this can be counted as physical appearances changing according to age, throughout a period, one’s preferences and characteristics can alter according to what they grow to be more comfortable with, or what they feel would fit best for them personally. Changing individuals can lead to a changing society, which then proceeds to a changing environment. Your mindset is the initial key to how you perceive the world and make sense of the information around you; a set of beliefs that are your brain’s gaming console when it comes to playing with your behaviour. This mindset influences how you think, feel, and behave in any kind of situation thrown at you. When your mindset is fixed, your behaviour is shaped accordingly; if you believe that reading a book in your free time can expand your knowledge, you do just that. When it comes to evolving, the person develops according to their mindset. Therefore, your mindset can affect the way you evolve as a person. Sheep or herd mentality is where people in a group think and behave in ways that conform with others around them, unlike independent thinking. Most societal standards are formed due to sheep mentality. In today’s world, you could say we have a war mindset. With a war mindset, success comes at the price of someone else’s, and failure can affect one’s entire life. Society moves only when they think it would benefit them, and they stay put with their choices when they see a risk of failing. While this can be advantageous, it affects many individuals negatively. It can cause hurt, hate, victimisation, and pain. A country will wage war on another if the benefits of war outnumber the drawbacks, and if they see no other mutually agreeable solution. We have been at war for centuries, so we have got used to considering violence when intimidated. If war and violence are what we presume are the solutions to our problems, why do these problems keep coming back? Why do we keep getting problems we need to fix if violence is our answer? Violence cannot drive out violence – violence has lifelong consequences. The lifelong consequence when witnessing all this constant violence is toxic stress, which interferes with mindsets and brain development, which then affects the way we evolve. This toxic stress has been going on for as long as war has raged, which is why the way we evolved has not changed as much. How do we stop this to evolve into a better society? Firstly, it is vital to consider our ways of thinking, and accept that they need adjusting. When it comes to war mindsets, one does not consider long-term consequences. Developing strategic thinking focuses on the factors that affect one in the long-run, which is important because our environment changes daily. By incorporating strategic thinking into your life, you will be able to learn to either embrace or overcome these changes as an individual and as a society. Secondly, we need to identify our counter-mindsets; these are the mindsets that prevent us from achieving the results we want. These are negative thoughts like self doubt and limiting beliefs that can get in the way of our progress and can eventually lead to frustration and us making choices that can have adverse effects. We need to learn to change our counter-mindsets once we identify them. We need to think independently. Change. Shed the sheep mentality. Create awareness – educate others on how to change the way they think so they can implement rightful solutions instead of reaching objectives unethically. In society, this can mean reforming legal policies – carrying out changes in the legal system to bring out justice and efficiency. Encourage yourself to do good for the greater good, because you cannot drive out the dark with more darkness, but you can use the light of your evolved consciousness for a better world. You are a part of this society; it is time your perspective evolves.   PHOTOS © AWAKEN, HEALTH TECH CLUSTER, NETWORK IRELAND, S.O.U.L. DOCUMENTARY