6 Powerfully Simple Ways to Transform Your Mindset

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”

— Michelangelo

by Tiffany Walking Eagle | 6-minute read

Whether or not we want to face it, our thoughts shape our decisions, and our decisions shape our lives. It’s easy to neglect the importance of our mindset and just keep plodding along, stuck in our negative thinking patterns and really getting nowhere.

If you do truly want to change your mindset, but you’re at a bit of a loss how to do so effectively, give these simple, actionable tips a try and watch your life change for the better.

Speak believable affirmations.

Speaking affirmations to yourself can feel a little silly at first, but do it anyway. Since our brains have been programmed over and over to stick to a negative way of thinking, sometimes it takes doing something kind of weird and uncomfortable to break out of the pattern.

I want to stress the importance of two things.

First, make your affirmations believable. In other words, don’t say anything to yourself that isn’t true; your brain won’t be convinced. For example, don’t say, “I am an accomplished marathon runner” when you couldn’t run a mile to save your life. Instead, say something to the effect of “I am able to run an increasingly longer distance each day and boost my endurance till I reach my goal.” Or, to give another example (since I personally hate running and maybe you do too) don’t say “I am super duper rich” if you’re scraping by every month. Say “Every day I choose to do ____ to push myself toward financial success.” (Fill in the blank. Apply for a job, build a side business, walk your neighbor’s dog, etc.)

Secondly, write out your affirmations.

Writing your affirmations out is just as powerful as verbalizing them, since writing thoughts out by hand forces your brain to fully engage. Your brain is sometimes too efficient for its own good, and it’ll throw out anything you don’t convince it is necessary. Taking the time to write something out forces your mind to engage with what you’re saying, so make your affirmations doubly effective by speaking and writing them.

Visualization.

Are you a daydreamer like me? If so, visualizing probably comes fairly naturally. I can easily picture myself super fit with perfect hair, traipsing around in stylish clothes, and driving my dream car—however, I’ve found that effective visualization includes a blend of the practical and the grandeur. For example, while I do picture myself looking tan on vacation, sipping a cocktail without a care in the world, I also visualize myself being able to log in to my student loan account online, select the “pay full amount” option, and wipe away a chunk of debt/stress from my life. How amazing would that feel?

So picture the crazy fun stuff you’ve always dreamed of doing, but also envision yourself crushing your mundane, adulting-type tasks too.

Take time for silence.

In our world filled with constant noise, give your mind a break from the chaos for a few minutes. Take even just five minutes to do whatever it is that helps you relax, whether it’s yoga, prayer, meditation, or just sitting in silence. You may be surprised how much of a difference it will make in your stress levels.

Chase inspiration.

Inspiration rarely falls in your lap; often you have to be proactive rather than waiting for it to arrive on its own. Whether it’s listening to a podcast that inspires you, watching a motivational YouTube clip, reading a book or blog, do what you need to do to light your soul on fire.

Related post: Why You Can't Find Happiness

Develop a morning routine.

I feel like a number of you might skip this one and think “Oh, well, I’m not a morning person.” Plus, everyone and their mother in the self-help world praises their morning routine as a reason for their success…but don’t you think there may just be a reason for that?

I know I was skeptical for a long time, but implementing a routine first thing in the morning has really skyrocketed my productivity. Instead of grabbing your phone and scrolling immediately upon awakening, spend the first minutes of your day doing something that will set the tone for the rest of the day. One thing that I’ve started doing is listening to a motivational podcast in the morning while I get ready, and that really gets me fired up for the day.

Here are a few things I recommend making part of your morning ritual:

Exercise. Whether you like to run a few miles, lift weights, or stretch for 15 minutes, get your body moving first thing.

Journaling. Write down your goals, your feelings, your fears, your mantras, your why…just write.

Reading. Maybe you love to read, or maybe you prefer audio—either way, just absorb some inspiring content. I highly recommend the Do It Scared podcast or basically anything from Mel Robbins or Gary Vaynerchuk.

Affirmations. Take time every single morning to write and speak your affirmations, even when you don’t feel like it.

Understand the importance of the little things.

It is so easy to get caught up in how giant and unattainable our dreams may seem. We tend to allow the grandiosity of our goals to overwhelm us and instead of taking action, we stagnate. The truth is, large accomplishments are made up of many tiny decisions made over time.

Think about brushing your teeth. You only spend about four minutes or so brushing your teeth every day (or you should anyway!), and once in a while you might miss a night. Okay, not brushing and flossing for one night won’t result in the need for a root canal, but imagine missing every night for a year. Your teeth probably wouldn’t be in great shape…which is why you generally take the two or four or six minutes out of your day to brush your teeth.

Now, imagine if you spent just one hour every day doing something that would push you toward success, whether your goal is financial freedom, physical fitness, or whatever-the-heck. If you take one hour out of your day today building your business, working out, creating content, etc., I can basically guarantee you won’t wake up rich (or super yoked) tomorrow. But let’s say you spend one hour of your day every day hustling for one year. That’s 365 hours of work, or roughly 30 hours of work per month toward your goals. Imagine if you cut down your time watching TV or on social media, and you spent two hours a day working on your dreams?! What would happen? But instead, we get so caught up in how insurmountable the task seems that we. do. nothing.

Put down your phone. Stop scrolling. Take a break from your Netflix binge. I promise you, success is a lot simpler and closer than you might think.

What has helped you shift your mindset? Let me know in the comments!

Want to keep reading? Check out 7 Ways to Realistically Reach Your Goals