How to Form a Strong Mindset and Create Unbreakable Habits
What is Mindset?
Your mindset is a set of attitudes and values that you hold yourself to. Think of it as a set of assumptions, methods, or ideas held by one or more people.
There’re a couple of mindset types — Fixed and Growth.
Many successful entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Naval Ravikant have continuously fed their mindsets, strengthening a tool that we all have the ability to control. These individuals, and many others, have created and improved their mindset through the cultivation of habits that help them achieve success — we can do this too!
What is “Mindset?”
Your mindset is a set of attitudes and values that you hold yourself to. Think of it as a set of assumptions, methods, or ideas held by one or more people.
There’re two kinds of mindsets — Fixed and Growth.
Fixed Mindset
A person with a fixed mindset would be someone who believes that people are born naturally talented. Their mindset makes them believe they aren’t capable of becoming good at a something because they weren’t born to — fear of failure is what really stops these individuals.
Growth Mindset
A growth mindset is developed over time and is a belief that someone has in themself, no matter who they are or what limits they have.
To change your mindset you have to build a sense of purpose in yourself, then begin to embrace failure as an opportunity.
Failure is a part of human nature, so is accomplishment!
THE NEW MINDSET FORMULA
This formula will help you take control of your future.
X + Y + Z = NEW MINDSET
How To Change Your Mindset
Our mindset is influenced by our habits.
Our thoughts are shaped by the collection of beliefs we have. The thought habits we have affect how we think, what we feel, what we do, and what we consume. Our understanding of the world is based on the mindset we have in it.
Remember: You have the ability to create the life you want and deserve.
The mindset is more powerful and beneficial to us than we think, it heavily influences the way we act toward the world. It’s why we have either fight or flight behavior or tendencies.
Mindset determines if you are an actor/doer: someone who puts in action for answers or a reactor: a person who doesn’t plan ahead and panics when needing to find a solution.
THE NEW MINDSET FORMULA
The first step is to decide to change.
DETERMINED MINDSET + Y + Z = NEW MINDSET
My 5 Favorite Mindset Habits
What is a “Habit?”
Habits are behavior that is repeated consistently. These habits start to occur subconsciously because your subconscious mind is so powerful, nearly 95% of the things our body does is done subconsciously. From operating memory, breathing, eating, digestion we have strength on our shoulders!
So, how do we improve the subconscious? We improve our mind through habits and iteration.
To start your training, you will need to know which habits can improve your life. Here is a list of life-changing habits that make our subconscious stronger.
Meditate
Meditation lowers the brain waves for you to redirect your attention from what is going on externally to what is happening internally. This access to your subconscious can only happen when you meditate.
Your first step in harnessing the power of the subconscious mind is to eliminate the thoughts loaded with negative emotions. You also need to stop the negative self-talk or at least make sure that it is not loaded with emotions. Your fears often tend to come true, especially when you are very emotional about them.
— Gil Mayer
This process will help you identify the negative thoughts that you have, and begin to remove them to gain control of your cognitive impulses.
Read
Reading helps us learn and understand.
It improves memory, increases brainpower, capacity, and even enhances your ability to better understand others.
WARNING: Reading will affect your personality.
Researchers have found that reading teaches you to analyze and understand alternative perspectives.
Write
Writing has been a form of art and expression for thousands of years.
Developing a strong mindset requires you to understand the way that you think, express yourself, and reflect. Writing your thoughts on paper can help you see and interpret them.
This is also where your creativity is found. Research shows us that your personality can be found in the words you write. For example, if you write words slanted to the right you are likely open to new experiences and enjoy meeting new people.
Journal
Journals are perfect for tracking progress. If you’re setting a new habit or just looking to reflect on the day, journaling gives us the ability to retrieve material and thoughts from our subconscious.
Journaling allows us to control and calm our fleeting thoughts, sensations, and inspirations. So if you are eliminating a habit, you can use the journaling method to document your habit-breaking journey.
I highly recommend reading Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Looking to start a journal today? Check this out!
Listen to Jazz
Listening to jazz is a sneaky good habit because it helps us develop a connection to our feelings. Studies say that jazz can improve your speaking ability, focus, memory, and mood. Whether it’s jazz or classical, improving mood and focus should be a goal for all of us.
These are 5 great habits to start developing if you want to form a strong, positive mindset.
THE NEW MINDSET FORMULA
Pair good habits with a determined mindset and you will have something special.
DETERMINED MINDSET + GOOD HABITS + Z = NEW MINDSET
Consistency is the key
Consistency is necessary to build great habits.
Here are 5 super quick tips to help you become more consistent:
Have a plan and stick to it.
Choose to remove distractions.
Challenge yourself.
Do one thing at a time.
Track your progress.
Habit journals can be great for people who are trying to break old habits and gain new ones!
THE NEW MINDSET FORMULA
The formula to change your future starts with you.
Decide to change, remove the bad habits, and stay on track.
DETERMINED MINDSET + GOOD HABITS + CONSISTENCY = NEW MINDSET
Here are a few quick tips to start a journal today:
Set Time Aside
When developing a habit for anything, consistency is the key.
If you can’t set aside daily time, then try to create a once or twice-a-week habit.
Try to write at the same time and on the same days, this will help to cement the habit.
Focus On Getting Something Down
One of my goals was to learn to write with my right hand just as I did with my left.
I’m not very motivated to practice and sometimes I get frustrated by how slow I write and how bad it looks.
So, I came up with a simple solution. I will write 2 sentences a day with my right hand.
Two sentences won’t make a lot of difference… at first. But they will help me to create the habit.
You can do the same thing with journaling or forming any other habit. Take small bite-sized pieces and complete them consistently over time.
In this article, we covered mindset and how your mindset influences your habits. We covered the different types of mindsets: the fixed mindset vs. the growth mindset. We answered how your habits influence your mindset, creating habits, and the different types of habits. Lastly, we discussed the importance of consistency and how it can be maintained through the use of a habit journal.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article and found something that you can take away to be applied in your life.
Sources
https://kaizenjournaling.com/5-ways-to-develop-a-consistent-journaling-habit/
https://rest-to-best.com/how-does-reading-books-affect-your-personality/#:~:text=Researchers%20found%20that%20Reading%20books,and%20well%2Dbehaved%20towards%20others.
https://www.mindperk.com/articles/how-to-do-automatic-writing/#:~:text=It%20works%20because%20you%20turn,where%20your%20creative%20genius%20lies.
A Letter From An Entrepreneur: Lisa Slook
Penned by a real entrepreneur, this letter is all about the emotional ride of starting and self-operating your own business.
If you are, or are aspiring to be, an entrepreneur I know you feel me here when I say, “Entrepreneurship is like riding a roller coaster.” Sometimes you’re up. Sometimes you’re down. You may scream, get butterflies, throw your hands up and may even want to throw up (maybe sometimes do!). All along the way is the thrill of the coaster. The feeling of breaking free and doing something that isn’t for everyone. But – You…Are...Doing..It. You are there, hanging in from the first climb, dip, and launch around a corner, into the first loop through the twists and turns to the end of the ride. Some maybe can’t handle the launch and retreat to the deck, some only hang on for one ride, while others ride this roller coaster until the end of days.
Hi! I’m Lisa and I freaking LOVE rollercoasters!
I took my first leap of faith as an entrepreneur a few years ago. I ventured out on my own with an idea after experiencing so much stress, frustration, and resentment in my day job. After a big breath and a solid support system, I went for it, had faith, and jumped right in. I fell forward. HARD. In my mind, I didn’t succeed and get to where I wanted to go.
It takes more than just an idea to propel you forward.
So I dusted myself off, learned a lot along the way, and went back to a “real” job. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the people I worked with but there was always an underlying pull of – this is really not what I should be doing. Do you know why things didn’t work that first time around? It wasn’t my purpose. It was something I was good at — as I have a knack for explaining really complex things to others — but it wasn’t my purpose.
My other half, Allan, and I decided 4 years ago that we wanted to find a space to help other entrepreneurs grow while we grew the Real Estate Brokerage. YES! Now, this was my language! How many lives could we impact and change? Spent three years finding the space to have a beautiful office that we could not only run the Brokerage through but could also expand opportunities for other entrepreneurs in our community.
In 2020, we opened a coworking space, The Ant Space, powered by Atlas Red Realty in Sparks, Nevada.
Our purpose is to elevate others helping them achieve their goals and purpose. We are on a mission to help those in our community with a product, idea, or service expand their opportunities and businesses.
We provide the space, support, and tools necessary to launch and grow. From providing a business address to maintain the privacy of using your home address, to fully utilizing the space and connecting with others, networking, and maybe even birthing a new venture through those connections.
Our space is community-driven, open to those with a passion that is ready to be unleashed.
Future events are planned to draw the rest of the community in to explore the businesses of our members and discover artists by showcasing their work on our walls.
We created the space for people to connect. This is the space we dreamed of. We have a passion for service and are fulfilled when serving others. We are the support structure under the coaster car.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It took a huge leap of faith to take out a mortgage for an acre of land and 15,000 square feet of space to make this into a reality. Who am I kidding – it still IS faith we are relying on to get us to the next step. We have had setbacks, gains, celebrated, and shed some tears. You see, we went on one of those roller coaster loops over the last year hanging tight to our harnesses. COVID shut us down just weeks after we opened. We have never had an opening day celebration for The Ant Space, or an open house for the Brokerage. Soon friends, soon.
Not only do I still rely on faith and the knowing that we will be ok, but we know that what we have created IS needed as we come out of this pandemic – I am learning to “lean in” to myself too. Sometimes, it’s really tough to hold strong, to hold onto that faith, and then I teeter. Then, I grow.
I think that truly has been the lesson of the COVID year. It has been a year I used to “grow”.
Grow strength, grow my mindset, grow my faith, grow my trust in myself. We grew our faith in our strength as a couple too. I needed to grow and become more open before I could truly help others succeed. To be real here, to those still reading – thank you – you are part of the growth process. I have stepped out of my comfort zone (seriously) and grown through this writing.
We are still growing as a business and have a lot left that we want to implement in our space. We thought we had tackled every twist, turn, and loop in our business plan. HA! Were we wrong! And, you know what? Being wrong helps you grow.
So, if you think you aren’t “made” for the entrepreneurship roller coaster, maybe you’re wrong and just need to “lean in” to what makes you tick and what your passion is. You need to grow. Take that leap of faith, move off the deck and hop in a seat. Come along for the ride and enjoy yourself because there isn’t anything else like it. We will see you in the front of the coaster!
5 Tips to help you start a journal
Writing can be a form of art and therapy that can give you the freedom to express yourself and your ideas in a thoughtful way. I like using a journal to track some of my craziest business ideas, this way I can think about them and address the challenges they may face.
There isn’t really a technique to this, but there are a few keys to making your journal effective.
Last month a friend of mine asked me if journaling could be helpful for him. He is starting a business and is curious to know if the habit is really worth starting. I’ve read about journaling in the past, but I wasn’t comfortable enough giving my opinion until I’d tried it out for myself. This wouldn’t be my first time journaling, but it would be the first time that I decided to journal consistently. While it didn’t go quite according to plan, I learned a lot along the way.
I started my journey by picking a time during the day where I would sit down and write. I would write about my achievements, goals, or ideas from that day. I told myself, “this will be a reminder of what I accomplished, the failures I had, and the lessons I learned — one day my kids will use it to build successful businesses and change the world!” — Unfortunately, this didn’t last long.
On a daily basis, I found myself procrastinating and pushing my scheduled writing time back further and further until it eventually fell off my calendar. I would try to get to it when I finished working for the day, but that never really happened. Instead of feeling good about journaling, I found myself with one more chore every day.
Something we all have in common is that none of us like chores! And it was in this mindset of misery where I finally decided to do some deep internet research on the science behind journaling. I needed to know why journals were so helpful for some - Leonardo Da Vinci, Jim Rohn, Steve Harvey — but so burdensome for others. Today, I’ll give you five lessons I learned while looking for an answer to this question.
What is a daily journal and why is it helpful?
A daily journal is a regular record of news and events of a personal nature; a diary.
In other words, it’s a tracker used to record your life. While researching the value of a journal, it became clear that the most important trait is the fact that it is made by you, and made for you. This means MLA format and complete sentences have no place in your journal unless that is how you prefer to write.
Writing can be a form of art and therapy that can give you the freedom to express yourself and your ideas in a thoughtful way. I like using a journal to track some of my craziest business ideas, this way I can think about them and address the challenges they may face.
There isn’t really a technique to this, but there are a few keys to making your journal effective.
#1: Start Small
One of the most challenging aspects of writing is not knowing where to start. Whether you’re lost for a topic or just not feeling it, we all struggle with filling up the blank page.
The Great Gatsby has a scene where the main character, Nick, is meeting with a counselor. Nick doesn’t know what to write about, and the counselor walks Nick through simple questions that eventually create the story. Your journal may not be a great journey of life today, but that journey can only begin when you decide to start.
#2: Use Different Journaling techniques
Ditch the pen and paper. A daily journal gives you the freedom to fill the pages however you want, and there are a ton of ways to track your life and journey. Use pictures, magazine clippings, a blade of grass! Explore the different forms of expression to fill your journal with life.
The last thing you want is for journaling to become a chore. Be free-flowing and unapologetically creative with each page. Your ideas pop into your head this way, so try not to box them in on paper.
#3: Add pictures of memories or draw A Memory
It’s difficult to write when you’re focused on others understanding your thoughts, this is why I hated papers in school. We attempt to help others understand our perspective by using metaphoric language and symbolic words that we hope will paint a picture for our audience.
Some people will prefer to write this way, and that is fine, but in order for me to remain consistent, I had to add a few pictures that triggered happy memories or add a quote to the page that inspired me on a rough day.
#4: Analyze the things that aren’t working
One of the coolest conversations I heard when researching — through blogs, online articles, and YouTube — was about the way to overcome writer’s block through the use of a small personal challenge. If you have ever been stuck on a blank page and can’t figure out what to write, I’m sure you were frustrated. Next time, try writing out a problem you currently have in your life, think through 5 different consequences of that problem, and then leave some space below for you to write out your solution.
Jim Rohn used his journals as idea nets and each page was meant to capture an idea and the challenges that it could face. This allows you to think through potential solutions and document them for use later.
#5: Keep your journal handy
I keep a very small, palm-sized journal with me as often as I can. This journal has captured many of the investment tips and tricks that I’ve picked up over the past 6 years. It isn’t full yet, but I’ve found that keeping it close by makes it easier to actually use it.
Your journal shouldn’t only be handy so that you can write in it, but it should also be handy for you to read and continue to learn from it.
Most people will find it hard to maintain the routine of journaling, but for the ones that fight through that beginning stretch, they will see the value that this form of thought can bring.
The First Step Challenge
At the start of next month, challenge yourself to track your own thoughts for 30 days.
“The most powerful thing I can do is decide.”
You may even see the therapeutic benefits that journaling can offer.
2 Quick Mental Health Benefits of Journaling
Keeps Memory Sharp. Journaling helps to keep your brain at peak efficiency. Not only does it boost your memory and comprehension, but it even increases your working memory capacity and your ability to process information.
Boosts Mood. A unique social and behavioral outcome of journaling is that it can improve your mood. More specifically, it will give you a greater sense of overall happiness.
SOURCES
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/feb/15/psychology-usa