Anesa Devi

6 LIFE-CHANGING Mindset Shifts

Your mindset and belief system can affect everything in your life, from the way you respond and react to the changes in your environment, to the way you approach the people around you.

I’m a firm believer that your attitude really does determine your altitude. The way you approach any situation in your life will ultimately determine the path you set yourself on. Having a “growth mindset” instead of a “fixed mindset” is really the game-changer here.

What is a Growth Mindset?

Individuals with a growth mindset then to be more open to learning new things. Their outlook is one where intelligence and talents can be improved through effort and learning, a belief that failures are temporary setbacks in the pursuit of one’s goals.

What is a Fixed Mindset?

Someone with a fixed mindset believes the exact opposite. They believe that if you’re not good at something, you’ll never be good at it. They look at failure as a whole rather than a fragment of the process and give up easily when they encounter difficulties. Fixed mindsets can lead to negative thinking, self-doubt and a general downward spiral.

1. I don’t know it but I’m willing to learn

Introducing a mindset of growth involves being open to learning new things, taking on challenges, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, and understanding that comfort is the enemy of progress. Be open to learning something new. It might be at your workplace, and you’re asked to do something that’s not part of your job description and something you’re not familiar with. Take on the challenge, learn how to do that thing, and embrace the fact that because you pushed yourself to do something you’re not familiar with, you learned a new skill in the process.

2. It’s not a bad day – just a bad hour

Too often we might find ourselves in a tough spot, someone said or did something that we don’t agree with, the line was too long, the car wouldn’t start… at some point, these things have affected your entire perspective on the rest of the day – and you decided “i had a bad day”. Rather than looking at that day as a whole, consider looking at it in smaller fragments – “this hour is not going so well, but what can i do to make the next one better?” Eventually you develop a mindset that you’re not having an entirely bad day – just a not-so-great-hour.

3. Find magic in the mundane

Having that mindset mentioned in the last point is a great way to introduce this one, because your outlook on the next simple moment in your day has a bigger impact on the way the rest of your day turns out. Being able to find those small moments, like making your morning coffee, or organizing your space, or even the drive home can change your mood entirely. Consider embracing those moments, as you’re in it, mindfully aware of what you’re doing, and find a way to make it more enjoyable – take in the scent of that coffee, as you stir it slowly, pouring your milk as your hands go higher and come back down, watching the milk dance with your coffee until they become one. Make that moment feel “extra” no matter how simple it is. You’d be surprised how easily your perspective can shift as you embrace the smallest of tasks that you otherwise wouldn’t have taken the time to appreciate.

4. Where attention goes, energy flows

The way we spend our days is really the way we spend our lives. If you spend more of your time on things that don’t help you achieve your goals, your’re probably not going to be able to move that needle very much. You’ll feel burnt out, exhausted and unmotivated to get your own stuff done. You’ll approach your goals as a chore, something you ‘HAVE TO’ get done rather than something you WANT to get done. When you learn how to focus your energy, amazing things happen.

5. Attitude of Gratitude

In all things, be grateful. This is something that was instilled in me from a very young age. I was placed in an orphange when i was 4. I was adopted when i was 6 and since then I’ve understood the importance of being grateful, no matter how difficult things are. This isn’t to say that god forbid you get hit by a bus and you’re lying on a gurny thinking “oh, I’m really grateful for this moment”, but if we train ourselves to look at life through the lens of gratitude rather than disappointment, we find ourselves happier and more at peace.

If you concentrate on what you have, you’ll always have more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you’ll never have enough.

-Lewis Howes

6. Everything happens for a reason

This one has always been major for me, because i was able to make a connection to every aspect of my life and realize if A hadn’t happened then B wouldn’t have, and i wouldn’t have made it all the way to V – Hope that’s not confusing but you get the idea – No matter what’s happening right now, be mindful that it needs to happen in order for something else to come about from it. It might be difficult at times to understand what the heck kinda good would possible come out of such a messy situation, but that’s not something anyone can answer except time. You really just have to be patient and embrace the moment as an opportunity to grow and learn. After all, think of all the crappy things that have happened to you in the past… did great things come out of those?