SHAKING THE TREE ... #22
What Got You Here Won't Get You There:
7 Tips to Cultivate a Positive Mindset
From time to time we all reach certain milestones or accomplishments that we’re proud of.
Paying off a mortgage.
Bringing in a dream client.
Getting out of debt.
Graduating from college.
Putting our kids through college.
Getting a promotion or a higher paying job.
But sometimes, as we achieve each goal, and despite our progress, we need to recognize that what got us to where we are may not be enough to take us to the next level.
To continue evolving and achieving our goals, we need to keep pushing. We need to be continually cultivating a positive mindset. Below, I’d like to share seven tips designed to help you hone a positive mindset and help you unlock your true potential.
Embrace a growth mindset:
The first step in developing a positive mindset lies in embracing a growth mindset.
This means understanding that your abilities and your intelligence are not fixed traits but that they’re things you can develop and enhance through goal setting, planning, commitment, focus, dedication, and effort.
Instead of seeing failure as a bad thing, when we embrace challenges as opportunities for growth, when we view failures as valuable lessons designed to help us move forward, we become more resilient.
The key here lies in believing in your capacity to learn, to adapt, and to improve as you open yourself up to new opportunities that in turn push you to do more.
Practice gratitude:
When we’re grateful, we lead from a spirit of abundance—both for ourselves and for other people.
Gratitude is a powerful practice that helps us shift our focus from what's lacking in our lives to what we already have. Scarcity thinking leads to awareness of what’s lacking in our lives, while gratitude helps us be thankful for what we do have.
It’s worth taking a few moments each day to reflect on the things you are grateful for, both big and small.
These things don’t have to be luxury items, they can be as simple as having somewhere dry and warm to sleep, or having food in the fridge, or having the love of someone special, or having a job and a steady stream of income, even if the job you’re in right now isn’t your dream job.
Cultivate an attitude of appreciation for the blessings in your life will help you maintain a positive perspective and foster a sense of modest, mindful abundance that helps keep you grounded and that helps you become a nicer person to be around.
Challenge negative self-talk:
If you regularly tell yourself you’re an idiot, or that you’re clumsy or lazy, I want you to take stock of what you’re telling yourself because talk like that is ripe to set you up for a litany of constant negativity to such a degree that even though none of those things are true, in time they become true, simply because you repeat them so often.
Negative self-talk is detrimental to our mindset and self-esteem, and it’s long term impacts take a toll on our physical health as well as on our mental health.
We’re all too hard on ourselves, but for some of us, particularly if we’ve come from a background where we’ve been bullied or in which authority figures have instilled these kinds of beliefs in our thinking in order to control and degrade us, the impacts can be especially damaging.
So when these thoughts come to mind, take a moment to step back and to observe them as an outsider.
Become aware of the negative thoughts that arise in your mind and challenge them, either with outright questions including “Are you sure about that? Where’s your evidence? Who says so?”, and with positive affirmations that build you up rather than drag you down.
The more frequently your challenge your own thinking and the more affirmative you are in those challenges, the sooner you’ll find your mindset shifting so that you gradually find yourself replacing downward messages of self-doubt with upward messages of self-belief, self-compassion, and self-awareness.
In effect, you will replace fear and negativity with positivity and courage.
The more you can treat yourself with kindness and the more you can speak encouraging, uplifting words to yourself, the sooner you’ll become stronger as a person.
Surround yourself with positivity:
Dovetailing neatly with our last point, the company we keep greatly influences our mindset.
When we hang around with or associate with negative, moaning people, over time we tend to absorb those same traits; we become negative and we tend to moan more to match the moods of those people.
We do this gradually and for the most part, we do this in order to fit in and in order to be validated by these people.
This is especially true if the loudest voices in these groups have the biggest and most magnetic personalities.
But sometimes, those large personalities hide the fact that really, we’re not dealing with someone reasonable and even keeled and that in fact we’re dealing with a controlling, gas-lighting, manipulative narcissist.
This is how the leaders of clans and cults suck people in and how those leaders then make it difficult if not impossible to get out of those groups. And yet, if we’re honest with ourselves, where’s the sense in belonging to a group that does all it can to control us and to bring us down?
The counter to this is to surround yourself with positive, uplifting, happy individuals who have your best interests at heart and who inspire you to be your best and who support your plans for personal and professional growth.
By connecting with people who lift you up and by engaging with groups and in activities that bring you joy and fill your life with positivity, you become happier. If that means seeking out motivational books, podcasts, and videos that nourish your mind and spirit, do it.
If that means investing time and effort in your personal growth, do that as well. Choose to be in environments and around people that foster your sense of discovery, explorations, optimism, and possibility.
Set realistic goals:
Learning to set realistic yet attainable goals is crucial for maintaining a positive mindset.
To avoid the possibility of finding yourself feeling burned out by large goals, break them down into smaller, more achievable milestones.
As you move toward each mini-goal, celebrate each step forward, no matter how small, and acknowledge your progress. Why? Because every step makes a difference. Every step gets you that little bit closer to whatever you’re aiming for.
While it sounds super simple, this approach will help you stay motivated, it will help you build confidence, and it will reinforces a positive belief in your ability to achieve your objectives, even if that means things take longer than you might have hoped.
Practice self-care:
Taking care of yourself is essential for cultivating a positive mindset. By engaging in activities that nurture your physical, mental, and emotional well-being you’ll find yourself feeling more relaxed, less stressed, and easier going. If So take mental health breaks.
Prioritize self-care practices such as exercise and meditation, and take time to get enough sleep. Make time for healthy eating, cut back on the amount of alcohol you drink, and take time for some much needed unplugging and rest and relaxation.
When you prioritize your own sense of well-being, you enhance your resilience and you create a more solid foundation for a positive mindset.
Learn from setbacks:
Inevitably, at some point, something somewhere will go wrong. You’ll fall behind, or you’ll miss something, or you’ll get something wrong. These things happen. Let them.
Nothing is ever perfect and at some point, your path will be dotted with setbacks and obstacles.
The key here lies in knowing what you’ll do when these things happen and in how you react when these things happen.
I know someone who is both well-respected and well-regarded in her niche who sees every minor anomaly as a catastrophe.
This person sees every minor error and every piece of inconvenient minutiae as a complete and unmitigated disaster.
And you know what? As a result, this person is horrible to be around: their attitude is as annoying as it is draining. As a result, this person has no real friends: no one close. They have acquaintances but they have no true friends. I’m begging you, don’t become this person. It’s not worth it.
Instead of viewing setbacks as failures, see them as opportunities for growth and resilience.
Embrace setbacks as valuable feedback and learn from them.
Adapt your strategies, refine your approach, and keep moving forward with determination. Each setback is a stepping stone toward success.
So, by developing a positive mindset you set out on a truly transformative journey that will require self-awareness, practice, and perseverance, all of which sounds like work, I know.
But, by embracing a growth mindset, by practicing gratitude, by challenging any negative self-talk, and by surrounding yourself with positivity and by setting realistic goals, practicing self-care, and learning from setbacks, you can cultivate a mindset that empowers you to reach new heights in your personal and professional life.
Remember, the power to shape your mindset and create a positive future lies within you.
Embrace these tips and embark on a path of growth, fulfillment, and extraordinary achievements.
As always, thanks for reading.
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P.S. Next time on Shaking the Tree …
Why You Need to Ditch Your Negative Baggage:
5 Ideas to Rid Yourself of Guilt, Shame, and Blame