Whether you are trying to quit alcohol or change something about your life, your mindset is the most important thing that governs how you change it. Whether it’s about achieving goals in life or you are striving to make something of yourself. The way in which you apply your mindset is going to help you accomplish it. But what does it take to get into the right mindset to help your life?
Understand “Counter Mindsets”
Our mindsets are formed through experiences and milestones in life, the mindsets that are not producing the results we want are sometimes known as counter mindsets. These would include limiting beliefs, negative thoughts, and self-doubt. When we have these automatic negative thoughts, we may not notice them but they will have a massive impact on our ability to thrive. We all have different automatic negative thoughts and we are allowing them to destroy our mindset. Sometimes, people are limited by a negative mindset because of their behaviors. For example, if someone has an addiction, it is easy to say that the addiction is creating the mindset or the lifestyle they lead results in these negative mindsets. When it comes to addiction, there are always professional routes around the problem, such as drug rehab centers, but we must remember that our mindset has a massive role to play in making us who we are, which is why we need to identify the counter mindset.
Accept the Fact Your Thinking Needs to Change
One of the hardest things to come to terms with is realizing that change is essential. If we want to achieve our goals, we have to take a long hard look at our mindset and acknowledge that we will need to work on this first. While a lot of people believe that they would benefit more from changing their skill sets. If you don’t have the right attitude i.e. the mindset to actually want to achieve the things you want, skill sets may not be beneficial in the long run. While skills are important, especially when it comes to getting a new career or setting yourself on a different path, more often than not, it is our mindset that needs adjusting.
Understanding How to Stop Negative Thoughts
There are many ways to learn to retrain your brain. In a professional sense, there are many practices such as cognitive behavior therapy, but one of the less expensive methods is to flip the switch. If you notice a negative thought creeping up, you need to shut it down. And one of the best methods is to distract ourselves. Much like people who have addictive behaviors and need to have something to focus on as a means of distraction. The same applies to those who are chronically thinking negative thoughts about themselves. You can think beyond a negative thought and understand that it is a combination of anxieties you’ve had in life or is a knee-jerk reaction, it can get you out of the situation initially, but it’s important to remember it is about long-term practice. There are other ways to make the change. These include:
- Positive self-talk
- Stopping the thought in its tracks
- Singing the thought or distorting it
- Sharing your thoughts with someone
There are a number of practices to become more positive. You don’t need to think that becoming positive results in you being hippy-dippy, lovey-dovey. But it is so important to remember that negative thoughts can be so damaging, not just in the moment, but in the long run as well.
Understand Why You Want to Do It
“Understanding you’re why” is just as important because we have to remember that changing your mindset takes a lot of work. Habits are not easy to break, especially if we understand that habits are established when we are younger and take a long time to undo. Starting all over again is about deciding on something that will make for a transformative change in your life. This could be about losing weight or being happier in your work situation. When you identify something that could have a massive impact on your life, this is your motivation for wanting to change it. When you identify why you want to change your life you need a constant reminder of it. Write it down on a piece of paper and keep it in your purse or your wallet and look at it once a day. This is going to be one of the most important parts of your motivation because you are constantly reminding yourself of what it takes.
Mindset Is Not Just About Willpower and Motivation
Willpower can deplete. It’s easy to see, such as those people just after the new year who have started working out again. But slowly lose the willpower to go to the gym and inevitably start blaming it on other aspects of their lives. But, rather than thinking of yourself as a failure, you have to remember that everybody has been through this. It’s not just about holding on for dear life, but about remembering that mindset is about one vital thing…
Starting Small
If you really want to change your mindset, you’ve got to start with the smallest, most achievable goal. For example, if you want to get fit and you have a massive journey ahead of you, one push-up is an attainable goal. And even if it is not, you can break that down to half a push-up. It’s so important to start small because rather than achieving your goal by making a massive transformation. You’ve got to understand that it’s all about making a positive step in the right direction. Additionally, when you decide that a tiny goal every single day is the bare minimum you need. You may feel more inclined to do more, which means you’ll end up overachieving which makes you feel fantastic. Rather than thinking it feels pointless to start so small if you really want to change your life. This is something that the biggest achievers in life understand.
