Have you ever met a person that no matter the challenge set in front of them, they are always confident, courageous and phaseless in their pursuit of getting it done and will no doubt reach their goals before you? You might think to yourself; I bet that person has it all figured out.
However, contrary to what many of us believe, even the most confident person in a room is still fighting demons in some manner. They just figured out how to change their mindset. This is a scenario I believed in for many years. Till I found out this wasn't the case!
Changing a person's mindset can be a very difficult and daunting thing to accomplish, especially if you are going to do it on your own. It takes a lot of souls searching, admitting, and action for a mindset change. It is something that many people want to do but consider there is no time.
Whether it's your responsibilities as a parent, employee, or for yourself whatever the case, it's for many people hard to begin a mindset change that can help them reach their goals. And most of us, don't know where to begin.
The following information hopefully gives you some ways to take your mindset from small, depleted, and lost to strong, confident, and positive. A personal development process worth taking the time to research and can help you reach your goals.
Live in the now, accept your past, and start to create the changes
New challenges might be a little scary. Accepting the thoughts of this news and your feelings about it is necessary. Let your negative thoughts come and let them go, and try not to give them too much notice.
I practised this many years ago after being depressed and burnt out. I used to imagine that I put negative and condescending thoughts aside so they wouldn't disturb me and not nourish those thoughts even more.
And then, I practised the thoughts I wanted to have, like affirmations. I even wrote them down to be reminded. For me, at that time, my affirmations could be " I'm good enough to make this", instead of thinking "I will never make this...." as I used to think.
One of the first things that the so-called " gurus" will tell you is that you need to change how you think for an effective mindset change.
The fact is that we are all human; we have personalities that have been developing in us since we were children, and therefore it takes quite a bit of work and conviction to make those changes. And we have to be patient with ourselves and accept it will take some time.
What if I told you that most of the people you will ever meet in your life or career are shy? They rather stay in their hotel room all day long rather than have a mindset change and come down to a convention and meet perfect strangers.
But do they do that? Of course not. That would be career suicide. What they do instead is accept that they are shy or introverted and make a goal for themselves.
These personal development strategies may include creating goals such as "I will make it a goal to speak with ten people" or "I will get at least five contacts before I leave."
By accepting your thinking and moving on to what needs to be done, you can begin to develop a positive mindset that will lead you toward your goals.
Your brain always adapts to your thought patterns and directs your organs to act accordingly. So starting to take notice of how you actually are thinking and what feeling it gives you will also help you change your way of thinking.
How often do you have negative thoughts? "I don't know how to do it, I can't do it, or I won't make it."
These thoughts will make you continue on the same path, and you will never change. They have a ripple effect. To make things change, you need to change your way of thinking, and the rest will come so much easier. If you like challenges, read the book A Complaint-Free World by Will Bowen.
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world.” – Buddha
Understanding you Why
Understanding you're why is so incredibly crucial. It is necessary to spend time with yourself to find out what it is you want to do in life and how you want to live your life.
And what is your Why? Why do I want this? Why do I want to change? You can play the why game! Ask yourself why you want to do... a certain thing (your change or what it is you want to do).
Then answer that question, and you must be honest with yourself. When you have an answer, you ask again why to the next answer you just got.
That will give you a new answer, and you can continue the game till you have 10-15 answers, and it might be quite deep at the end. But this can give you the conviction you need to start implementing the changes to reach your goal.
Building your life is a bit like building a house. You need a drawing, a plan, and then build till it is finished.
If you give up halfway, you won't have a house to move into, and so the same with the life you wanted to live.
Simon Sinek, author of the book Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Finding Purpose, writes that it is only when you understand your “why” (or your purpose) that you’ll be more capable of pursuing the things that give you fulfilment.
It will serve as your point of reference for all your actions and decisions from this moment on, allowing you to measure your progress and know when you have met your goals.
Can willpower help you reach your goals?
Oh Gosh! I don't know how many times I've been there, late at night, thinking about your new plans and the changes you will make in life.
We will be fitter, eat a bit more healthily, and so on, and we feel so motivated and excited, but a few weeks later, we are back to our old habits again.
Many of us will create excuses. The motivation and willpower we once boasted in front of our planner are now gone. Our personal development process has officially closed for business.
The excitement is gone, and maybe we tell ourselves that we wouldn't make it work anyway.
You might think, "If only I had enough motivation and willpower like other people", But Willpower is something you need to develop!
Willpower is the greatest thing you can develop in life because with "will", you can accomplish anything you want. But if you don't use it every day, step by step, even though you can't see the progress right away and quit, you won't reach your goals.
Willpower is like a mental muscle. We can develop willpower like you build muscle in our body. So how do we do that? I had no idea until one day, and I listened to the Munk Dandapani. This is what he explained and how you can develop willpower
1 Always Finnish what witch you begin
2 Finnish it well, and do it beyond your expectation
3 Do a little more than you think that you are able to do
For example, you make your breakfast, eat it, you make the dishes afterwards, and tidy up in the kitchen. You get dressed, brush your teeth and so on. You develop your willpower muscle when you start with something and always finish it before you do the next thing.
If you practice this with everything you do daily, you will have tremendous willpower after a few months. But you need to be committed and do it. Otherwise, you won't develop any willpower, and it won't be for any help.
When your attention drives away, you can use that mental muscle and bring awareness back and keep focused on what you want to be focused on. So that\'s where energy will be flowing. And that's where things will be manifesting in your life.
So ask yourself what is it you want to achieve in life or change, and then focus on that. Put your energy into the things that are most important to you. To make yourself convinced of what you want to change, you can ask yourself, Why do I want to achieve this - again, the why game!
The next question can be; What happens or how would I feel if I don\'t make these changes? This can be a good start. Think about this daily and start your exercises to help you focus. And don't forget always think in terms: I can do this, I will do this. Or, I am doing this.
If you find it difficult to concentrate, you also need to practice concentrating. You can do this by only doing one thing at a time. When that is done, you do the next thing. And only keep the focus on what you are doing. This needs time and practice, but it will for sure help.
When you know what you want in life, take the powers of concentration and that finite amount of energy and focus It on what you want, which will start to manifest in life, and you will live life the way you want. The by-product of living your life the way you love Is happiness.