Talk of mindset has become quite a trendy topic and I’m all here for it! I have had a terribly negative mindset for many years. It wasn’t until a coupe years ago that I decided I was sick of it and I really needed a change. It wasn’t fast progress but it was progress none the less. I still work on my mindset daily, but now it is light years better than what it was! I am hoping today I can share some mindset hacks with you that will help!
What is Mindset?
Mindset is all we do and it is the state of mind we are in. It is how we operate and how we view the world. In essence, it is who you are. It is how we think and how we process information that comes into our brain. It dictates how we feel and how we present ourself to the world. It shows up, in one way or another, in everything we do!
Why Is It Important?
Since mindset is who we are and it shapes so much of the world around us, I would say it’s one of the most important things. Our whole experience on this earth is shaped and guided by our mindset. Using our mindset, you get to decide your own reality and build your own life.
You mindset also controls most, if not all of you happiness. If you allow your mind to drift to negative and anxious thoughts, you aren’t going to be a very happy person. On the other hand, if you control your thoughts and guide them into positivity, you’ll be much happier.
You might be thinking, “Well great, a lot of my thoughts are negative and I tend to get down on myself quite a bit.” That’s totally okay!! You will never have 100% happiness all the time and that is normal! The human mind still needs to experience a broad range of emotions to be able to create the life they dream of.
Also, take it from me, the mind can be transformed over and over again. So if you feel like you’ve tried this positivity crap before and it didn’t work, you might just need to find a different approach. Or you might have some limiting beliefs you need to get over. If you’re worried your mind is too far gone into the negative, you’re wrong. I use to have a terribly negative outlook on the world so trust me when I say if I can do it, you can do it.
Quick Disclaimer!
Now before I get into some mindset hacks, I want to give a quick disclaimer. This work is not easy. It’s some of the hardest work I’ve done for myself. It’s totally worth it, but hard. I’m not trying to put you off from mindset work, but I do want to warn you, it’s not a walk in the park. So, if you aren’t ready to commit, you can always save this for later and come back to it.
Also, this work is not linear. When I truly started working on my mindset I thought each day was just going to get better and better. Nope! I had good days, I had bad days, and I had days where I felt every emotion on the spectrum. This is important to point out because you’re always going to have bad days and you’re always going to have good days. Don’t let the bad days ruin the progress you have already made. Just remember, more than likely, some of the hardest days are ahead of you, but so are some of the best days too!
Okay enough of that and onto some mindset hacks!
Mindset Hacks
I want to share with you some mindset hacks that I have personally used. These are the things that completely changed my mindset and my outlook on the world. I really hope you find some value in these!
Gratitude is the Best Attitude
I will never stop talking about gratitude and how incredibly important it is. This is the single most important thing I did for myself. Even to this day, I practice gratitude intentionally twice a day and it flows through my whole entire day and everything I do! When your mind is stuck in a negative space, gratitude can be very hard. I know it was for me! Sometimes you just feel really down and it’s hard to see the good in your life, but with some conditioning, you can turn that around.
Every single morning and every single night I practice gratitude. When I arrive at work in the mornings, I write down three things that I am grateful for. This starts my day on a good note and my brain immediately starts to look for things to be grateful for. After my day is over and I am about to get into bed, I do a gratitude dump. When I do this, I write down every single thing I am grateful for that day and anything that made me especially happy. By doing this, I go to sleep thinking about what I am happy about rather than what’s stressing me out.
Gratitude can literally rewire your brain to seek out things you are happy and grateful for. When we begin the process of writing these things down, a message goes to your brain that finding things we are grateful for makes us happy. Since it makes us happy, we continue to search and search for things that make us grateful.
Pay Attention To Your Thoughts/Feelings
This is also something that I struggled with at first because you have to constantly be thinking about what you are thinking and then tweak your thoughts. It can feel like you are constantly on patrol of your thoughts. It also means you have to ask yourself a lot of questions. Like, “Why am I feeling like this”, “Why did that thought just come into my mind”, “Is this thought really true?”.
The best thing you can do is figure out what triggers these negative thoughts and feelings. When you know what triggers you, you can then start to understand where work needs to be done. For example, if you are looking at a social media account and you realize every time you do you start to feel bad about yourself, you know you should probably delete that account. While there is deeper work that needs to be done here, by deleting that account, you at least have helped yourself in the short run.
When I first started paying attention to my thoughts, I had to flip quite a bit of thoughts into positive ones. This can feel weird at first. It can almost feel like you’re faking the positive thoughts. Sometimes when you get stuck at every single red light, it feels silly to think, “Well at least I get more time to listen to my podcast”. I promise over time, it’ll get easier! It will start to feel natural. You just have to stick with it!
Consume Personal Development
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This one is pretty self explanatory. I love self development books. I am literally always reading one. They open my mind and make me a better person. Start reading them immediately! And make sure you keep an open mind! Check out my post here on personal development! My favorite personal development books to start with are:
- You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero
- Unfu*k Yourself by Gary John Bishop
- The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson
- Mindset by Carol S. Dweck
These are the ones that really hit home with me when I was first consuming personal development books. After I had read these ones and worked on my mindset quite a bit I found these books listed below so helpful!
- Outwitting The Devil by Napoleon Hill
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale
The last one on that list is actually a recording that you can find on Youtube. It is something that I actually listen to just about every morning on my way to work. It has such a powerful message!
Visualization
If you can not see where you are going, you will never get there. This is why visualization can be such a powerful tool. For me, I like to write out what I want as detailed as possible. Something like what my life would look like if I could wave a magic wand and have everything I want. I write that out in as much detail as I can and then I read it as many times as I need so that I can visualize it.
When you visualize what you want, it forces your brain to find ways to acquire those things. Your brain is conditioned to find problems and to solve them. So when you brains constantly notices that you don’t have something you want, it will work to achieve that. To obtain those things faster, it helps to write out a description of your highest self, and then start working on becoming that higher self. That’s when you will really see things manifest!
Affirmations
Affirmations are a very powerful tool, but it takes a little bit of rewiring in your brain to use them correctly. You can repeat to yourself over and over again that you are confident, you are powerful, you are successful, but unless you believe it, your mind will see your affirmation as just a lie. I have to admit this is something that I am still working on myself. Repetition is great for rewiring the brain, but it can take quite a bit of time.
It can feel really silly standing in front of the mirror and saying “I am brave” when you really do not believe it. Affirmations should be repeated over and over again if you do not believe them. While I’m not the best at them, I have seen many positive effects from them.
Schedule Time for Yourself
This one seems so simple yet so many people have trouble with it, especially women! It can be really hard to plan out some intentional self-care time but it is so necessary! You can not pour from an empty cup! And furthermore, you are going to set yourself up for burn out if you don’t! Check out my post here for 50 Self-Care Ideas! I know many people will look at this suggestion and ignore it but I urge you not to!
I hope these mindset hacks help! Let me know if you try them or if you have your own mindset hacks you love!