Most people are familiar with the placebo effect and how powerful our minds are. Whether you want to change your finances, career, or personal life, changing your mindset can have life-altering effects on your life.
Try these simple mindset hacks if your thinking limits you and prevents you from living the life you deserve. Shifting your thought patterns is not as tough as you may think.
Here are 13 Powerful mindset hacks to develop a positive mindset:
1. Practice Positive Affirmations Daily
Affirmations are one of the mightiest ways to alter your mindset. It may seem trivial, but repeating positive affirmations to yourself can change your attitude and mindset.
To increase the effectiveness of your affirmations, think of your insecurities, weakness, or limiting beliefs holding you back. Create affirmations that contradict these negative qualities about yourself and shine yourself in a new light.
For example, if you suffer from anxiety, a powerful affirmation can be “I am calm and centered.” By repeating these phrases daily, you trick your mind into believing them.
2. Look For The Positive In Every Situation
Seeing the positive in a terrible situation is not always easy. However, most situations are not as bad as we think. You can significantly increase your happiness by changing how you view them.
Instead of getting agitated the next time you are stuck in traffic, view it as an opportunity to listen to your favorite music.
The more you practice this, the more you’ll notice how much your attitude determines the outcome of a situation.
3. Don’t Underestimate The Power Of Breath
Your mindset is powerful, but so is your breath. When you fixate on the past or stress about possible future events, you prevent yourself from experiencing the joys of the present.
When anxiety creeps in, it can feel impossible to shift your thinking.
A few deep breaths can recalibrate your nervous system, calm your mind and reduce anxiety and stress, allowing you to think differently.
4. Accept That Failure Is A Part Of Life That Enables Growth
How often has a fear of failure stopped you from chasing after your dreams or trying something new? Or perhaps you’ve tried and failed, then abandoned the task?
Failure isn’t fun, but it’s an inevitable part of life. Failure is how we learn. Once you realize that failure is not your enemy, you can shift away from your fears.
You learn something new each time you fail. Focus on the lesson learned, and growth gained instead of the act of failing. And remember, you only truly fail when you give up.
5. Act How You Imagine Your Best Self Would Act
When you think of your dream life and the person you wish to be, how does that person differ from who you are today? What’s preventing you from living your dream life today?
Think about how you would act if you’ve achieved all your goals and lived your best life. How would the successful version of you dress, talk, act and behave? Practice behaving this way.
The wonderful thing about pretending to be a better version of yourself is that it only feels fake. No one, especially strangers, will know that you are not as confident or outspoken as you’re pretending to be.
6. Develop Systems Instead Of Setting Goals
As James Clear mentions in his book “Atomic Habits,” the key to building long-lasting habits and achieving your life’s ambitions is to shift focus to the process rather than the result.
Setting goals can help you achieve your dreams, but what happens after you achieve your goals? What if you never achieve your goal? We often tell ourselves we’ll be happy once we lose weight or achieve another goal.
However, when you shift your thinking to the process, you allow yourself to enjoy the journey. If your goal is to display your art at a gallery, shift your focus to painting more.
Chances are you’ll reach your goal anyway, but you will enjoy your life more until you do.
7. Express Gratitude Daily
Practicing gratitude in your daily life is a powerful hack to shift your mindset to one of abundance rather than scarcity.
While it’s important to have dreams and something to work towards, you should celebrate what you have today.
Express daily gratitude for the roof over your head, the food you have to nourish yourself, all your accomplishments thus far, and the wonderful people in your life.
Realize how lucky you are.
8. Avoid Using Negative Words And Language
One of the simplest ways to develop a positive attitude and mindset is to avoid using negative words or phrases.
Instead of saying, “I don’t want to fail,” try saying, ” I want to succeed.”
By avoiding negative language, you force yourself to think of positive words to replace them with.
With time, you’ll notice how naturally positive language comes to you, including your thoughts.
9. Think And Plan In Terms Of 168 Hours Instead Of 24
Finding the time in a day to exercise or enjoy a hobby can feel difficult. After all, there are only so 24 hours in a day. Luckily, you don’t need to try to fit everything into one day.
Instead, think of your life in weeks. There are 168 hours in one week.
If you work 45 hours, sleep for 56 hours and exercise 5 hours a week, you still have 62 hours every week to do what you please.
This mindset shift makes time seem more abundant.
10. Change Or Unclutter Your Environment
Sometimes, all you need for a fresh perspective is a change of scenery. Our surroundings have a massive impact on our mindset, and the easiest way to change it is to change the surroundings.
While a new space can transform our mental state, small changes can be equally effective, like adding a plant to your office.
If you’ve ever felt completely overwhelmed by life, only to feel significantly better once you’ve uncluttered your home, you know the relationship between your space and mindset.
11. Focus On Helping And Giving To Others
Helping others give us a sense of purpose and makes life meaningful. The next time you meet someone, avoid thinking of how they can benefit you and instead think of how you can help them.
By approaching life from the mindset of giving, you foster meaningful connections, and those people will help you in return.
Focusing on helping or providing value can also change your perception of your work. Are you an accountant for a company, or do you help it achieve its financial goals by providing your services?
12. Make A Habit Of Challenging Yourself And Your Beliefs
Challenges are valuable growth opportunities, but our comfort zones are not. If you want to grow and have a positive mindset, it’s crucial to constantly push yourself out of your comfort zone.
Many of the beliefs you have, including limiting beliefs, were learned from family or formed from past experiences.
Therefore, your beliefs are inaccurate and can be upgraded with new experiences. It is up to you to question yourself and challenge your thinking.
13. Learn To Love Yourself As You Are
Most people have insecurities or something they wish to change about themselves. Unfortunately, allowing your insecurities to get the best of you will limit how you see yourself and your capabilities.
Learning to love and respect yourself is the most powerful thing you can do to upgrade your self-esteem, self-worth, and mindset.
When you know your worth, it radiates into every aspect of your life.
Final Thoughts On Mindset
You now have 13 powerful mindset hacks that you can start using immediately to improve your life.
Just remember, it takes time and consistency to change your mindset. But if you stick with it, eventually, these new thought patterns will become second nature, and your life will be transformed for the better.
So what are you waiting for? Get started today on improving your mindset.