Mindset: it controls how we see the world

What is your mindset?

Basically it is what you believe and think. It affects how you react to various situations you encounter.

Experts agree that if you want to change your behaviour you have to change your beliefs. It is a bit like re-programming a computer.

Myrko Thum is an expert in that he has had a lot of success. You can read his post about Mindset for more details. It is well worth a look.

I followed the free tutorials by Myrko Thum. You have to sign up to get them but I found him very easy to understand and he had lots of practical advice.

Changing your mindset

Well, is it worth the effort? Does it work? I must say that based on my experience you can change your mindset gradually and begin to see the world through different eyes.

In order to change your mindset you have to uncover what it is that you believe deep down. I have many limiting beliefs that I am working on changing. How I viewed trying to lose weight was working against my goals. I hated the thought if not being able to eat all the foods I like.

This is what I saw when I thought about controlling what I eat

Before I learnt about limiting beliefs I had spent several months creating Positive Affirmations. I would do my morning walk and say positive things like "I deserve to be fit and healthy" or "I am fit and healthy". 

I wrote lots of short affirmations on cards and started to memorise them. I would then say them out loud as I walked each morning. 

This lead naturally to replacing my negative thoughts with positive thoughts. Things like 

"I'm never going to get any fitter" or "I can't stand up and talk on video" became 

"I will continue to walk every day. I have made a lot of progress increasing the distance I can walk" and "I will do my best at a video and upload it today" or "Every time I make a new video I improve".

How to discover your limiting beliefs

Once again I refer to Myrko Thum. Read what he writes about limiting beliefs. I don't have any affiliation with him but I like his stuff and it is easier to just go to one site and get as much out of it as possible.

He has a tip to find your limiting beliefs and change them around.

You write down 

I really want to do ________

But ___________________

Then you write the same goal.

I really want to do __________

Because __________________

I got lots of things for each section. 

The "BUT" list is your limiting beliefs relating to your goal or dream.

The "BECAUSE" list is your positive mindset thinking for that goal or dream.

What I did

Positive affirmations are future thoughts relating to how you want your life to be.

Positive mindset refers to how you respond to situations as they arise.

Some of my positive affirmations are:

• I am successful and self-confident
• I am fit and strong
• I am healthy and good looking
• I am a good role model for my daughters
• I exercise and meditate everyday
• I eat healthy food 80% of the time
• I am a famous designer

Some of my positive mindset thoughts that I refer to when I doubt myself are:

• I can do it
  (replacing "I can't do this, it is too complicated")
• I can't please everyone
  (replacing "I have to do everything for everyone")
• I have used my checklist to proof the file and done my best.
  (replacing "I hope there aren't any mistakes" or "What if there is a mistake?")
• I enjoy hearing from my customers and interested people. They must want to ask a question. (replacing a physical flinch first then "Oh no, that's a convo. I hope it isn't a problem")
• I have an eating plan in place. I will see results gradually the same as I do for my fitness. (replacing "I'll never lose weight")

I'm sure you can see that my limiting beliefs were almost paralysing me and I had to do something if I wanted to enjoy my pattern business and my life.

Start doing something today

It is easy to make excuses. One of my limiting beliefs was "People will think I am nuts trying to change who I am. I'll keep it a secret."

I think you can see that I have made some progress with the way I think about changing my mindset. I have had interest and encouragement from a few friends and family, showing me that what I thought before wasn't the reality, it was just what I believed.

To make it easier for you to do something positive I have created a Mindset Worksheet. You can print off one for each of the areas of life listed by Myrko Thum or use your own goals and dreams that you are struggling to achieve.

Download the worksheet

I know how it is when people say "Just write out your positive affirmations" or "Just write your positive thought for this situation" and you kind of think "What!"

So I have included the words and phrases that I have been using in a set of handy cards. There is a blank set so you can start collecting your own.

Download the handy cards

Create your happy life,

Val

Micro Tasks: An Easy way to Reach Those Goals

This is my desk after tidying. I can see my little foxy and I get more light.

A big goal I have set myself is to have a tidy sewing room in just over three months. The reward was there - space to work in and things in their place - but I didn't know where to fit the cleaning task time.

I thought about which habits are very strong now and here to stay. My morning routine is a series of tasks that are now like one big habit. I spent 3 months putting them in place. So what better way to create a 'room tidy habit' than to stack it inside my morning routine.

This is the journal desk before. The things I don't use every day went onto the book shelf
and I feel a lot less cramped.

I decided on just 30 mins a day and I have placed it directly after my morning walk and before my morning meditation. This has been working really well. Gentle tidying after my walk lets me cool down and the meditation after lets me relax after intense focusing.

I know exactly what has to be done. These free printables are from
the Business Bakery. I am keeping to track. The two I missed are
for the third wardrobe insert that I can't afford yet.

I broke every section of the room into micro tasks. I had to make them
even smaller to fit into the 30 mins. I spend 3 days at least on each task in this list.

I am doing the room tidy as a 100 days goal with some support from The Business Bakery. We are up to day 40 as I write this and I haven't missed a day. There is no pressure to work for hours making huge changes.

This second insert space had three boxes in it like the next space.

These are the boxes all emptied out. Well, they were all empty until I went to
Spotlight and bought several metres of fur. That box is stored under my desk now.

The second insert is in and starting to fill up.

I know that I will get pretty close to a perfect result at the end of the 100 days if I just stick to my 30 mins a day. Because I am not hurrying I take time to ponder where things need to be stored so I don't have to move them again.

I posted about my cutting table on Facebook. It is so nice to nearly have it back.

You can see that the top of the desk is my focus for now. The underneath is
a later task.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4. Emptied some drawers and put the stationery bits in little boxes in the wardrobe unit.

This is where I will keep the patterns I am working on instead of on the table.

This is a big job but I feel quite relaxed about it because it just seems easy to do a little bit at a time. I am so pleased with how the room is looking and I feel much better too.

I hope my successes will inspire you to do a big project a tiny bit at a time. It doesn't matter how long it takes, you just need to get started and do a bit at a time. You don't need fancy work sheets. Just get a lined pad and start writing tasks down.
What areas in your house could benefit from this type of makeover? Let me know in the comments.

Cheers,
Val