The research behind mindset:

Wanting to change something and know where to start are different experiences. The research on the action plans studies this very step: connecting a recognizable situation to a precise gesture can help to translate an intention into behavior. It is the logic of the plan if... then...

A goal takes shape even when you support what might hinder it. Mental contrast studies suggest you keep together the desired future and the reality to be faced. In the app this becomes a path: choose a direction, recognize your resources, give a name to the brake and prepare a step that you can try.

The plan remains yours and can be revised. If a day changes, it also changes what is reasonable to ask: a useful gesture must find place in your life.

On action and mental contrast plans: Gollwitzer and Sheeran (2006); Wang et al. 2021.

When a thought occupies the whole scene, looking at it from another position can open up a possibility. Some studies have explored the way we talk during stress situations: using your name, for example, can favor a more spaced perspective. mindset: exercises invite you to try this change of viewpoint and observe what changes for you.

The body also enters this space. Research on breathing practices offers useful indications for building short guided breaks. The results depend on practice, people and context: breathing is a possibility among the available tools, which you can adapt or interrupt.

The common thread is to recognize what you are experiencing and to choose how to respond. At some times you need a break, in others a different question or a small gesture. The app offers a path; you can choose what you feel most useful.

On inner dialogue and breath: Kross et al. 2014; Balban et al. 2023.

An attempt becomes more useful when you can go back on it: what have you done, what has helped you, where have you stopped? The research on monitoring progress indicates that observing and recording your path can support the achievement of goals. It is one of the reasons why mindset: puts next to the plan a budgetary moment.

The words you write become a reference point. A successful thing can remind you of a resource you forgot; a stumbling block can suggest how to prepare the next attempt. This is the proposal of the app: make your experience available when you come back to choose. Its practical usefulness must be verified with the user.

Continuity leaves room for interruptions. The formation of habits follows different times for people and different behaviors: to resume after a break is part of the path. The most useful comparison remains with what you have experienced.

On monitoring and habits: Harkin et al. 2016; Lally et al. 2010.

The way we talk about commitment, difficulty, relationships and change also depends on the context in which we live. Therefore we look for sources from different countries and traditions, including research in languages other than English. We are interested in understanding which people an idea has been studied and how reasonable it is to transfer it to another context.

A summary of the mental contrast conducted by researchers in China, for example, has looked for studies in both English and Chinese databases. It is a way of broadening the look we take as a reference. The differences between samples, tools and cultures remain part of the reading of the results.

Traditions can offer images, questions and ways of telling an experience. We keep them distinct from the tests of effectiveness: even a practice with a long history can have uncertain researches. The review on Morita therapy, of Japanese origin, is an example of this caution. In mindset: cultural richness inspires language; the solidity of evidence requires an own evaluation.

Research between contexts and limits of testing: Wang et al. 2021; Wu et al. 2015.

A good idea on paper must find an understandable and useful form in a person's life. Those who try mindset: help us to see what a project alone lets slip: a unclear question, too many stimuli, a path that asks more than it returns.

Those feedbacks have already directed a calmer entry and more essential paths. We continue to listen to them to review words, sequences and proposals. A report can bring out a concrete problem; to understand if a solution helps different people need further observations and verifications.

The same attitude applies to research. Let's check the sources, distinguish results, hypotheses and interpretations, and review the choices when limits or new tests emerge. To deepen an exercise, its "Why?" in the "app" collects the sources and the level of the tests. The documentation also distinguishes the entire readings from the information obtained from abstracts.

A simple promise can be very convincing: it takes twenty-one days to create a habit, or a precise posture to change one's hormones. When we go back to the studies, however, these certainties do not hold up: the times of habits vary much and a replica of the research on the power pose has not confirmed the effects on hormones and propensity to risk.

These are examples of the criterion by which we choose. A fascinating story must be able to hold up the comparison with the evidence. We leave out the promises without support; if a study is retreated, we stop using it as a reference. If a source is too incomplete to evaluate it, we keep the question open.

Also the product proposals go through this choice. The questions of mindset: are written to help you reflect and prepare an action. We don't turn them into diagnostic scores or judgements on who you are. The "Cymetery of Myths" in the "App" preserves some examples of abandoned ideas, with reasons and sources.

On the two examples: Lally et al. 2010; Ranehill et al. 2015.