What is mindset anyway?
Mindset is a mental framework.
It shapes a persons beliefs, leads to how one behaves, expresses emotions and how one perceives life’s challenges.
It’s basically how you choose to think and live your life.
There are 2 different types of mindsets; fixed and growth mindsets.
Fixed mindset; is when a person believes that their skills, traits, and abilities are innate and they cannot be changed.
Growth mindset; is of the belief that regardless of challenges and setbacks, one can persevere and fight through.
A person with a growth mindset believes that through hard work, dedication and practice, they can accomplish anything.
People who adopt growth mindsets can overcome challenges.
A person who demonstrates a fixed mindset believes that they have reached a limit to their potential and they see a limit to their abilities.
Most would agree that a growth mindset is definitely the way to go.
According to Carol Dweck, American Psychologist; it has been proven that we can shift our mindsets. We can shift ourselves from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.
Here Are 8 Tips That You Can Implement Today To Help You Adopt A New Mindset:
1. Reflect On Your Current State
In order to make change, you must first reflect and gain an understanding of where you are in your life currently.
Take time to evaluate your current beliefs, values, and assumptions, and how they might be limiting your potential.
Sometimes we act in such a way, or we think in such a manner, and we don’t even know why. And sometimes those thoughts and actions become counterproductive.
Reflecting on your current state can help you evaluate what you believe and it can help you make changes to improve your current mindset.
In order to reflect, you must spend time alone. You must find time throughout your day where you can sit back and audit what worked for you and what worked against you.
2. Identify Your “WHY”
If you are going to make a shift within your mental space, you must know WHY.
Take a few moments to grab a piece of paper and a pen….once you have those two things— write down a few reasons on WHY you want to make a change.
Developing your WHY is going to help you become a better person by providing you with fuel to keep going during those moments where you might veer off track, or feel like giving up.
Making true lasting change is extremely difficult. Some will argue that you will never change. You will always be the same person no matter how hard you try. This is a great example of someone who possesses a fixed mindset.
As we touched on earlier, a growth mindset is all about knowing that you can change, you can adapt, you can grow and overcome anything!
Having your WHY written down somewhere that you can have direct access to is going to aid you in making lasting change.
3. Journaling
Journaling is a powerhouse practice that everyone should adopt.
Most people will write this one off and not even spend a second on it. I would urge you not to be this person.
Journaling is a practice that is cultivated over time.
People want results in 5 seconds these days. If it is not yielding results immediately, it becomes a waste of time.
Here is where you force the mind to slow down and start slow, as time progresses, you work your way up.
Begin by purchasing a journal and simply writing a few sentences each day.
Then, gradually, build those sentences into paragraphs as time passes you by.
Slowly work on your journaling process, just as you would anything else.
It’s like driving a vehicle…
When you become eligible to begin learning how to drive a vehicle, you don’t just jump in your first time behind the wheel and head towards the turnpike and begin speeding down the road. No. That would be ridiculous.
You first begin by learning how to turn on the vehicle. You learn how to adjust your seat. You learn how to adjust your mirrors. You learn how to shift into gear. You learn the rules to the road.
Then, gradually, you work your way up to driving on the expressway and parallel parking.
The same goes for life.
The same goes for journaling.
4. Develop A New Routine
Routine is big when it comes to reaching any level of success.
Tony Robbins, world leading motivational speaker, has a saying, “Show me your calendar and I will tell you how successful you will become.”
Your schedule, your calendar, your routine is everything. It is how you compound success day after day.
What you spend your time doing, will eventually yield you a result.
If you are just free falling through life and living the YOLO lifestyle, you will most likely stay spinning wheels for a long time.
However, if you have a detailed plan of action, you can now execute on that plan by implementing a daily routine that will help you reach your goals.
A routine will not only help you reach your goals, but it can ease anxiety and depression and improve your mental health by helping you stay on course with all of the things that actually mean something to your soul.
5. Challenge Your Beliefs
We grow up in an echo-chamber. The people closest to us are always spreading their thoughts, motives, beliefs, and behaviors.
Over time, we begin to emulate those characteristics and they become our beliefs.
But some of those things that we absorb through osmosis are not always correct or conducive towards our betterment.
In order to develop a new mindset, you must first challenge the beliefs that you have.
Ask yourself, if the beliefs you have adopted over the course of your life are based off of fact or opinion.
Look for evidence that will challenge your current beliefs and remain open to new perspectives.
6. Surround Yourself With Positive Influences
The company you choose to keep is vital to the overall development of your future.
Too many people are keeping company that does not serve them.
The same way you should lead your life with a sense of service to others, you should look for others who want to be of service to you.
Surrounding yourself with like-minded people, people who are looking to move in a positive direction, is so important for your mental health and your mindset.
Do not spend time with people who are not dedicated towards serving others. Do not bother spending time around people who talk down to you or try to deteriorate your vision and goals.
Learn to surround yourself with people who will encourage you to be great each and every day of your life.
7. Practice Patience & Self-Love
Developing a new mindset is not easy, in any way.
If you are growing and maturing and you are realizing that your current mindset is not serving you, seek change.
Lasting change can happen, but only if you are a person who can practice discipline and patience.
You must have the discipline to execute on these practices each day, and then you must have the patience to see it all pay off.
If you are one who is seeking immediate results, I am sorry to say that even if you do reach some change, it will not be lasting change. You will revert back to your old mindset, eventually.
That is not what we are trying to achieve here.
We want lasting change.
Change that is real.
Lasting change comes through after years of hard work, dedication, and self-love.
You must love yourself enough to not beat yourself up when you fall down, but pick yourself back up and keep chugging along.
8. Celebrate Progress Along The Way
You’ll want to stretch and challenge yourself to celebrate your progress as you hit new personal records along your journey.
Celebrating your progress along the way can help you reach a point of gratitude, which is valuable.
Gratitude helps us to stay centered and thankful for everything we have in life and for everything we are able to accomplish within our health.
Celebrating progress is also a great way to spark motivation.
Rewarding yourself for the progress you have made along your journey can help provide a sense of accomplishment and help increase encouragement to keep going.
