20 Mindset Hacks & Tools as We Head into the New Year (Series Four: 16-20)
If you’ve read my previous three blogs on mindset hacks & tools, and now you’re here reading the fourth & final one of this series, thank you for being on this journey with me. If you’re catching this blog first, welcome! Either way, I’ll review & reference what we’ve covered over the last month below.
Again, my context of mindset comes mostly from my personal, client, and teammate experiences regarding physical & financial goals. While these two categories make up most people's resolutions, even if your goals don't fall within these spaces, I think you'll find value in at least one of the mindset hacks & tools I’ve shared over the last month. The following is a ‘brain-dump’ regarding my 5-year mental arsenal of personal development exposure & practical application. I've done my best to cite sources, and then I add my personal take. If a concept doesn’t have a source attached to it, I do not necessarily take personal credit for it.
Call to Action:
Again, I invite you to try another one or two mindset hacks & tools on for size. Not everything is for everyone, but perhaps at least one concept will make the difference for you in 2020!
Review and for further reference:
1-5:
1. The fact that something has occurred a certain way in the past, may have little to do with how it can/will occur in the future.
2. Consider what truly happened (facts), how we fill in what didn’t happen (stories), and then how we treat those stories as facts.
3. Who do you have to be (what traits & habits must you possess) to get what it is you need/want?
4. Action… just start! Procrastination is the thief of joy.
5. Accountability partner(s) are a powerful tool in reaching our goals.
6-10:
6. What you truly believe matters.
7. Start with WHY you want/need something.
8. Many people are afraid of success because it’s unknown and unfamiliar.
9. Who you surround yourself with matters.
10. Self-Talk.
11-15:
11. Ask yourself, What’s the worst thing that could happen if I do XYZ, that I’m afraid of or apprehensive of doing?
12. Try and try again. Start over. Just don’t quit.
13. Verbal affirmations... Our spoken word is powerful.
14. If you feel personally disempowered, encourage someone else.
15. Write your goals down daily.
Mindset Hacks & Tools 16-20:
16. Confidently share your goals with at least 10 people.
This very action turns an idea/goal from merely existing in your head to a real future possibility. It also becomes a form of personal accountability (see mindset hack/tool #5: Accountability Partners) and can be a source of encouragement. That said, if you don’t want feedback upon sharing your goal with someone, simply say, I’d like to share my goal with you… please just listen to me. The more people you share your goal with, the better! Communicate confidently; allow no doubt to creep its way in. If you want, you can also share the steps you’re going to take to reach your goal and by when you plan to have achieved your goal. When your goals exist in the minds of others as well as your own, it’s even more powerful.
17. Start a gratitude journal, and journal regularly.
Gratitude is like magic. We can’t truly experience a negative emotion and truly experience gratitude at the exact same time. However short-lived, try it, it’s impossible! Secondly, you’re more likely to experience more of that which you’re grateful when you regularly focus on it. I am so grateful for my wellness business. When I haven’t had the most fulfilling day, I reflect and write down on all the things for which I’m so grateful since I was able to take my business full-time. I’m grateful for the flexibility, for my level of contribution to people’s & family’s health, for the money I’ve earned and helped other people earn, my personal growth, the incredible people I’ve met, my team… And before I know it, that “no” or naysayer person or thought is long out of my mind, and I know I’ll have more of that which I’m grateful coming my way.
When I’m working with a weight loss client, we find gratitude in the wins along the way. If they share with me that they’re also sleeping better, have more energy, or more mental focus, I encourage them to find gratitude in the holistically healthy body they’re creating on their weight loss journey. Gratitude can also be paired with Verbal Affirmations (mindset hack/tool #13): “I’m grateful that I am strong,” as you work toward a goal of becoming physically stronger. A gratitude journal becomes sacred, a form of therapy, a friend, and a method to have more things for which you’re grateful coming your way.
18. Visualization is a real thing.
Close your eyes and truly visualize how it feels to have achieved your goal. I’ve talked about feelings a few times in the last few weeks. Our feelings are powerful. Feelings train our thoughts and our thoughts determine our mindset. Vision boards are an incredibly useful tool in visualization. Rather than just looking at your vision board, visualize and feel the feels of that goal occurring. This is why I prefer images to words on vision boards. For example, an image of a tiny home is on my current vision board. When I look at that tiny home image, I see my family freely traveling around the country, eating delicious foods, meeting different people, enjoying new experiences together. I also see me taking solo trips in my tiny home, benefiting from solitude, feeling refreshed & renewed. I smell fresh air and I feel the sunshine on my skin as I practice yoga outside, wherever I’m parked. I feel contentment, peace, and joy. (Was anyone else in that ‘space’ with me just now?!) See, visualization and feelings are powerful! As I’ve said before, we must also be in action toward what we visualize for our lives. Our mindset is the other piece in achieving what we want. Get into action and visualize how your life would be (look, smell, sound, feel) when you achieve your goals.
Source: The Secret Documentary
19. Go for a Big Hairy Audacious Goal.
Short of something silly: “I’m going to earn a million dollars tomorrow by doing absolutely nothing,” shoot for a BIG goal. If you get even halfway there, you’re that much closer than when you started. In the process try not to get discouraged, rather look at all you’ve accomplished along the way! When I set out to hit 3-Star in my company… a Big Hairy Audacious goal from where I was in business at the time, and I hit 1-Star instead, I still made double the bonus I’d made previously! When I got that bonus, I was so excited I wasn’t even thinking about my goal of hitting 3-Star. What’s important is that you’re inspired by your goal, you believe it is possible, and you’re aware of and willing to put in the work.
Source: My Isagenix mentor, Lisa Vanderspek (a quick Google search tells me the original source may be a Jim Collins)
20. The thing about a goal is, it’s the process that matters the most… who you become when you do what it takes to reach a goal.
When I first heard this I was like, “Yeah, but I want to actually reach my goal too.” Life can be looked at like a series of goals, small & large. If we don’t stretch, fall, and learn… what’s the point anyway? Business goals, personal goals, family goals, community goals… there are so many types of goals we commit to every day, let alone in a whole year. Some we’ll achieve, some we won’t (and maybe it will end up being a blessing that way), some will take longer than anticipated or turn out differently than we originally expected. How we grow and who we become along the way is what life and setting goals is all about. The next time you set a goal, surprise yourself… don’t quit, find an accountability partner, create a vision board… expand yourself, develop, and grow as a human being. Whether you reach the goal or not, expect to have picked up different, better qualities & characteristics along the way. These new qualities & characteristics will likely support you in the process of reaching the next goal you set.
Source: Hal Elrod, Author of The Miracle Equation
Summary and Call to Action:
Out of these five mindset hacks & tools: 16) share your goals with others; 17) gratitude journal; 18) visualization; 19) go for a BIG goal; and 20) know that it’s the process that matters, choose one or two when reaching your goal(s) or your new year's resolution(s). Thankfully, there's not only one way to do something.
This certainly isn’t an exhaustive list of every hack & tool having to do with mindset, but there’s a lot of information here. My hope is that you feel inspired & equipped to take on and reach your next goal! If you have a wellness resolution or goal, please feel free to connect with me. I’d love to support you using mindset and what I believe to be the best nutritional support there is! Please email me at wellnessbymonicabstaley@gmail.com to schedule your free wellness consultation.