Do These 6 Mindset Hacks for a Radical New You
LAST UPDATED: December 14, 2021
Affirmations. Positive Thoughts. Changing Your Mindset.
These may sound like buzzwords, but they’re really part of a growing and inspirational culture that wants to change their life.
If you’ve ever been stuck in a mindset, stuck in a rut, and can’t change a habit, then you would benefit from changing your mindset.
However, changing your mindset is super tough.
Or is it?
Let’s dive into what a healthy mindset is, and why a healthy mindset makes all the difference. Then, take on these 6 mindset hacks for a radical new you!
The Difference a Mindset Makes
So what exactly is a mindset, and why does it matter at all?
A mindset comes from a theoretical background, and it refers to a set of assumptions, notions, or methods that a person or a group of people might have. A mindset might relate to someone’s worldview or philosophy on life.
More relatably, a mindset typically refers to the type of thoughts you might have on a daily basis, the attitudes you might experience, and they may even be reflective in the behaviors that you perform every day.
Some people believe that there are two types of mindsets: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.
A fixed mindset thinks that qualities, like talent or intelligence, are something you are born with.
Comparatively, a growth mindset thinks that your basic abilities can be developed through resilience and learning.
So what do these types of mindsets mean?
If you were to believe in the fixed mindset, then you believe that what you were born with was all that you were capable of. Unfortunately, it’s hard to determine the attributes or traits that humans are born with in the first place.
There may be things that are fixed, like genetics, but this does not mean that how your brain processes things are fixed. There are genetic markers for your eye color and the shape of your thumbnail, but neural pathways created in the brain can grow, and they change based on our habits and behaviors!
It’s pretty darn cool when you think about it!
Every day neural pathways are growing and changing, and humans are continually changing their mindset, even on the littlest things!
Choosing the Growth Mindset
Now—why does the growth mindset matter?
A growth mindset gives hope that someone can change from doing one behavior repeatedly to maybe not doing it again.
Consider your diet, as an example.
Sure, you’ve tried to lose weight for what feels like forever, but it just doesn’t stick. What gives! It can be so frustrating to be in this position.
Someone with a fixed mindset would approach this scenario with frustration. They might say things like, “I will never lose weight. I will never be happy in my body. I am such a failure.” And, the sad thing is, a person with a fixed mindset believes it! While this is not only untrue, it is also devastating to your personal morale and self-confidence!
Scientific studies show that there are genetic barriers to physical and nutritional health, but belief in the fixed mindset is too radical. This is suggesting that we, as humans, can never change our behaviors! This is simply wrong!
Changing your mindset to a growth one could be the difference between deciding to go for a walk rather than sitting on the couch all day. Or, it could be making smart choices with the supplements you put in your body, rather than taking products that are bad for you.
Mindset hacks can make all the difference!
Now, here’s what you can do to hack your mindset!
6 Mindset Hacks for a Radical New You
These mindset hacks can show you the world from a different perspective, and you may be surprised at what you see!
1. Become Aware of Your Thoughts
Taken from Tibetan Buddhism, thought awareness is one of the first steps towards personal peace and enlightenment.
Thought awareness means that you are looking at and acknowledge the thoughts that come across your brain every so often.
Now, there can be millions of little thoughts that you experience every day. Noticing them does not mean that you are acting on them. And, if you are experiencing millions of thoughts a day, then this could alert you to something about yourself that you weren’t in tune with before.
Tricks for tapping into thought patterns include meditation and controlled breathing. By sitting in a soft comfortable spot, closing your eyes, and focusing on your breathing, you can slow down your heart rate and your brain.
In these quiet moments, look at the things that come across your mind. Do nothing but look at them. Do not engage with them (unless you are journaling later, then recall them later when you journal).
By looking at your thoughts, you can become more aware of common thought patterns and you can even begin to categorize your thoughts.
2. Journaling
It might be a good idea to journal some of your thoughts around your mindset hack journey.
Why should you bother with mindset hacks? Journaling can help document this process.
Journaling helps you to create some space between your meditation time and the time to dive into your mindset hacks so that you know what you want and want you to want to change.
From your journal entries, you may notice that you have repeating negative thoughts or continued fixations.
Journaling can help solidify what is going on in your head and show you the things that you want to change.
3. Get Goals
You should also establish your goals. Great goals include:
- Being happy more often
- Drinking more water
- Being more patient
- Quitting a bad habit
- Spending more time with family
The goal that you decide will ultimately lead you to mindset hacks that work for you.
Goals also deal with intention. If you set your intention that you want to be a better person, then that’s great. Dive more into what that looks like and how you want to feel.
Intention also has to do with how you want to think. If your goal is that you want to think more positively about your body, then set these intentions to choose a happier, better you in your thoughts.
4. Use Affirmations
With your goals in mind, use affirmations. Affirmations are positive messages that can help you overcome negative thought patterns.
Tap into affirmations that address some of the negative thought patterns that you’re dealing with.
If you have regular negative thought patterns about your body, then you can use affirmations that try to dispel those negative thoughts.
Affirmations for self-love include:
- I forgive myself
- I am beautiful inside and out
- I am proud of who I am becoming
- I am a constant work in progress
- I am doing the best I can
- I am learning to love myself more every day!
Tell yourself these affirmations daily. You can get an affirmation journal or app for daily reminders!
5. Ask Brain Questions
You may find yourself asking questions that don’t make sense. Or, maybe you are consistently asking family or friends for help.
Why can’t I be successful?
Why am I so fat?
Why am I so broke?
Asking questions is a critical part of how humans learn. You just have to ask the right ones.
Ask yourself questions that you want answers to:
What do I need to do to be successful?
What holds me back from my health goals?
Where do I choose to spend my money?
By asking brain questions that you want to answer and questions that you can answer, then you may come up with the answers that will change your life!
6. Remember That You Can Believe Anything
This is one thing that truly changed our minds and lives.
If you were told that you can believe anything you want, would you believe that?
While there are rules that humans have to live by in the real world, this does not mean that you have to believe everything.
Belief comes down to who a person is. You can believe that humans are inherently good-natured even if they do bad things.
You can believe that you are happy with your body, even if your body doesn’t look like the picture-perfect model.
Belief comes down to you and what you want and what you want to believe. How you act upon that belief and how others act towards you is totally separate.
Now Run With These Mindset Hacks
If you’re reading this article, then you’ve already made some great steps towards becoming a new you.
Take some time with yourself. Figure out what you need and why you want to change your mind.
Taking time for self-care and mental health is crucial in this busy world. And these mindset hacks might make a difference!