Changing your mindset can have an amazing impact on your life. It can help you get through tough times and get you to the other side feeling stronger and more resilient. But it’s not always easy, which is why I have compiled some ideas that will help you improve your mindset.
Mindset in a Nutshell
Your mindset is your attitude to life. It is how you see life in general, what you expect of it, what you expect of yourself in it and how you feel about it all. In other words, a mindset can be described as your beliefs and expectations about yourself and the world around you. Your beliefs are created when you are little, and they are influenced by the people that you spend time with. In most cases, it is the parents as they are often the first authorities in a child’s life. In my case, I took on their beliefs which became the dominant thought process in my life.
The thoughts that you are thinking right now can be derived from beliefs that your parents gave you. Although our parents tried to do their best for us, they too were being influenced by the media and their parents. So they were operating from a perspective of helping you to shape your belief using their beliefs.
But let me ask you a question.
What if the belief that your grandparents passed down through the generations was false?
One of the major beliefs I see most people have is either a dislike of other religions or other cultures. Now you are not to blame for not liking other religions or cultures as the belief has been passed down generation after generation. But why did you get this belief in the first place? That’s right, your parents were influenced by family, society and media.
Once we have this part all figured out, it’s easier to see just how important it is to have control over our minds and change our mindsets when needed.
The Three Dominant Thought Patterns
We have three dominant thought patterns– they are disempowering, empowering, and empowering the disempowered.
Disempowering thought patterns are negative thoughts that do not serve you in any way. These thoughts often manifest as anger, jealousy, hate or victimization. Another word for disempowering is destructive. You will only feel negative emotions such as sadness, depression, anxiety and anger. Have you noticed when you hear a news article about some war or threat, that it makes you feel anxious.
Empowering thought patterns are positive thoughts that positively serve you. These thoughts always manifest as positive emotions. Another word for empowering is happy. These positive emotions are often blissful and filled with happiness. Have you noticed walking past a flower in spring, and when you smell the fragrance, it fills you with joy and happiness?
Empowering the disempowered thoughts are thoughts that empower others or you can say give others peace. These thoughts are typically called one of the greatest gifts we can ever think of giving someone.
These thoughts help us to develop our positive traits, to turn the negative into positive, and to bring about positive change in ourselves or others. Have you noticed when you give another person a compliment, their eyes light up? This is what empowering a person is all about.
You have the ability to choose any of the three dominant thought patterns to use at any time during your day.
Changing your Mindset by Changing How you Spend your Time.
You change your mindset by investing in yourself. Rather than watching the news, invest time in yourself by doing something like meditation. Meditation is one of the best ways you can empower yourself.
If you meditate with the intention of connecting with source energy, it is like a computer rebooting. Over time, the more you meditate, the more you will begin to realise the beliefs were holding you back and what beliefs were empowering you.
With meditation, it is easier for you to focus on a thought and what caused it. This strategy can help you effectively uncover all the negative thought patterns in your mind and eradicate them. It is very similar to weeding the garden, I don’t like any weeds in my mind or my garden.
Changing your mindset by helping others
Helping other people is another great way to improve your mindset. People often have needs that need fulfilment from other people, but they may not know how to go about getting it. When you recognise what they need and you provide it to them, you will be helping them out and you will feel good about helping them. It’s a win-win, any way you look at it.
Here’s a simple example: making a friend feel good about themselves when they need a confidence boost is a good way of helping someone improve their life.
Changing your Mindset by Overcoming Adversity
Overcoming any adversity in life is never easy but once you have taken yourself out of a negative situation, you have the power and the know-how to change a negative into something positive.
For example, if you are in a dark place and feeling depressed and angry, you need to be aware of this so you can work your way out. Here are some ways to do that.
When I experienced anger and depression, at first I was lost, but after meditating for some time, I began to understand when I started to feel down and why.
I would then find ways to get rid of any negative feelings about myself so I can work on feeling good about myself again.
In my case, when I feel down, anxious, or depressed, I would play uplifting music or go for a walk. I found those are two of the ways I can feel good about myself again.
Changing Your Mindset when Facing Stressors and Challenges
When facing challenges and stress, it can be very easy to fall back to the default mode which is a defence mindset. But what if you could change the way you react to challengers and stress?
For example, if you have a project deadline, rather than feeling stressed and panicking, break the project down into smaller tasks so you won’t feel overwhelmed.
Also, managing your time well can help ensure you are able to get more done without stressing yourself.
Meditation can also come in handy in this example. Through meditation, you can change your baseline response that’s set to default and use reason and logic to break your work into bite-sized pieces that you can easily complete.
Changing your Mindset to Prevent Negative Thoughts from Ruling your Life
Preventing negative thoughts from ruling your life is not easy, but it is possible and in fact very easy to do. When you are aware of your negative thoughts, you can prevent them from ruling your life.
There are various ways you can stop negative thoughts dead in it’s tracks and one of the best ways is through exercise. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins that improves your mood and your resistance to depression. Furthermore, if you choose to exercise outdoors, you can boost your mood, creativity, and life outlook.
Another way of preventing negative thoughts is through gratitude. When you are grateful for the things you have in life, your thoughts are automatically positive and uplifting. Studies also show that people who practice gratitude live longer and better quality lives.
Changing Your Mindset Towards Success and Failure
In the beginning of the article, we mentioned how beliefs shaped the way we think. In line with this, I would encourage you to make a list of your beliefs about your health, wealth and relationships.
Write down your current beliefs, and then what you would like your new beliefs to be.
When I did this exercise, my old belief that ruled my life was that everybody had depression and parenting was hard work. I then wrote my new beliefs down and they were: Depression is caused by your thought process and you have the power to change it and parenting is easy.
The way this has helped me is immense. I now no longer think thoughts which harm me. I work from the belief that I am happy with who I am and I am the only one I have to please. I am a good parent and my children adore me.
Changing Your Mindset During Tough Times
Having the ability to control your mindset during tough times, is like having a superpower. After meditating for six months, I started to feel that I had the energy to withstand tough times. I stopped asking for other people’s opinions and made my own decisions on what I thought was best at the time. As I got older, I can see the decisions I made are starting to pay dividends. I am thankful I found meditation, I have no doubt, it is one of the things that has made me a stronger and more resilient individual.
Changing Your Mindset and Living a Healthier Life
Once I had improved my mindset, I started focusing on my health. I started walking more, I started eating healthy and I started to feel better.
If you feel tired and don’t feel like going out, consider that the best time to go for a walk. It might seem counterintuitive but by overriding your default programming, you can have more control over your mindset at any given time.
Conclusion
If you are in the process of changing your mindset, this article can be your handy guide.
If you need help with any other aspects of life, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me today. I’d be more than glad to help you out.