We probably don’t think much about how our mindset affects our life. We have always thought this way, either as a result of how we were raised or through other circumstances. Yet our mindset in fact does affect our life. By changing how we think we can improve our lives.
When we rarely feel happy and content and we realize that the reason is that of a negative mindset, it’s time to change to feel better about ourselves and attract more abundance into our life.
If money is part of that negative thinking and worrying, it seems like there can never be a solution. I know what that feels like since I was in that situation myself a few years ago. A good moment to change our mindset about money!
Table of contents
Do you know what kind of mindset you have?
Abundance mindset, scarcity mindset, fear mindset, fixed mindset, growth mindset, confident mindset and many more are all different types of mindsets we can have. Each unconscious and conscious belief affects our lives every moment.
Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck has written several books about mindset. For instance: Mindset: Changing The Way You think To Fulfil Your Potential. According to her research the power of our beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, have profound impact on nearly every aspect of our lives. Changing even the simplest of them can transform a lot.
Once we alter our mindset we become more creative, more artistic, more intelligent, more successful, more athletic, and more fulfilled. When we are satisfied by what we have, we will feel richer than ever.
When comes the time to change?
How do you know when it’s time to change your mindset? After all, you’ve been thinking the same way for as long as you can remember.
When you start having more negative days than good ones, then that would be a good time to change. When you are often bickering at how expensive everything is, that money doesn’t grow on your back. Or if you are fed up by your spiraling thoughts that go nowhere.
The attitude that shapes our thinking which controls our actions and how we feel about things. If you have a negative attitude, then your thoughts start blaming and thinking the worst.
When you have positive or healthy thoughts, you create a better environment for yourself and those around you.
These are some reasons you may want to change your mindset
Always focused on failure instead of success.
You feel angry and disappointed over every failure without celebrating your successes. You constantly see yourself as a failure, unconsciously sending negative messages to your mind that you will fail at what ever you try to accomplish. Instead, keep a success diary acknowledging every success each day, no matter how small.
Having a victim mentality.
You’ve been a victim of bad experiences or been hurt by others you love. Or you were traumatized from some event. You’re still holding onto those moments. Instead, forgive and let go of the past.
Social media envy.
You see the unnatural glamorous lifestyles of other people online, and it makes you feel worse about yourself. You devalue what you have. You focus on what you don’t have or aren’t doing. Instead: Think about what you do have and be grateful for it. There are billions of people on this planet and at least a billion would love to have your life.
Work is a chore.
Work can be a job, housekeeping, or tending to the garden. You dread it, complain about how it always has to be you, or feel like it’s a burden. Instead, view your work as a means of providing value to others and as having an impact on you and others around you. Being able to work gives you the opportunity to contribute to your loved ones and society.
Obsessed about things you can’t control or change.
You complain about what you can’t control like the weather, government, traffic and other people. Your mind is filled with everything you don’t like, rather than what you can control which is yourself. Identify how you can change and control your own actions and thoughts to make the experience more positive. Stop complaining and start taking actions that will bring you a greater sense of accomplishment and abundance.
No gratitude for what you have.
You focus on what is wrong with things or the world, or the inadequacies in yourself and others. Instead, acknowledge that no one is perfect, and everyone learns lessons as they go. Focus on identifying the positive things you are grateful for every day.
Envy of the richest 1%.
You think everything would be better if only you were as rich as the 1% who own much of the world. You catch yourself thinking “I can’t buy that” a lot. What you think about a lot, you will attract. Focus on what you have. Ask yourself if you really need all the stuff you get so excited about and would like to own.
Ways to change your mindset to an abundance or growth mindset.
You aren’t afraid to step out of your comfort zone.
Changing your mindset to one of growth allows you to see the many different paths available to you in whatever you are seeking. Progress, creative outlets or something more personal. This allows you to move forward rather than being stuck in the same place.
Develop an eye to see resources everywhere.
When you change your mindset, you see there is plenty of resources to go around. Even though there will be competition you will see the opportunities in every aspect of your life.
Start sharing ideas.
You become comfortable sharing ideas without feeling threatened or intimidated, which leads to better choices, environments and relationships. You aren’t afraid of being a part of a team and participating in group situations.
Life is abundant.
Changing your mindset to one of growth helps you build better personal, financial and romantic relationships. You realize people will always have differences. You learn that a relationship involves learning about and from each other, you grow together and develop skills to work well together.
Judge yourself and others less.
You won’t have time to waste on judging what others are saying or doing. Instead, you’ll be focusing on making progress in your life and attract people with another personality than before.
Develop a confident attitude.
When you have changed to a growth mindset you can accept constructive criticism for what it is and use it to grow from. The growth mindset helps you to be more confident because you won’t need reassurance that you’re doing it right.
Stop worrying.
You can change your mindset. And it will improve your life. Your skills can be cultivated, improved through practice, and grow. You no longer worry about what will happen. Instead you will commit to the process of doing, finishing and learning along the way.
Self improvement is worth working on
Changing your mindset helps you become a better person, improves your skills and helps you build relationships. You will step out of your comfort zone to go after what you want and believe you will get it.
There is more information like this, although more focused on actual handling money, in my free eBook Thriving after Pension with a Healthy Money Mindset. Download it.
Do you catch yourself thinking limiting beliefs? How do you solve it? Tell me in the comment box.
I absolutely love this post. Most of the people suffer from a poor mindset about money. Worrying about money won’t solve the problem , taking positive steps to change the mindset will.
Don’t wait until you know everything as you will never be ready this way. Get out of the comfort zone and think abundance.
Kind regards,
Yoana
Spot on, Yoana. 🙂
Thanks.
Hi Hannie,
Thanks for this article, I think the key is to be positive and only compare yourself with yourself yesterday. Most of the time, we focus on things we don’t have and forget to look back on how much we have or how far we go.
I used to have a few incorrect mindsets you listed in this article, but I practice day by day to ONLY focus on the good side of things around me. Everything gets brighter ever since, and my friends also discover that from me. It does need some practices to change the mindset, but I believe everyone could do that.
Cheers,
Matt
Thanks so much, Matt. And cheering for you that you too were able to change your own mindset. You are right, we are capable of so much more than we usually think we are. xxx
Woman of my own thoughts! Thank you for this website. I will be returning again and again. Possible I might even reference you on one of my blogs. I’ve been doing some financial advice writing myself lately.
Specifically about retirement and making sure your finances are in order to retire.
Thanks Kerry. Tell me when you reference me, because I’ll gladly return the favor of course!!
I love this post. It has so many gems of wisdom, and I can feel your passion for helping others grow into their highest potential. Changing our mindset is very important to realizing success and being happy in this life.
Thank you very much for this uplifting article, I really appreciate it.
That’s so sweet, Mikhail. I appreciate your kind words! 🙂
Hi Hannie, this is a wonderful post and I hope that it reaches many people. So many of us today (myself included), are quick to look externally for the issues and we do this because it is easier than taking responsibility and accepting that we may be wrong.
I can only imagine the positive impact this would have if everybody were to start thinking like this. When you criticize another person it can cause confrontation, but this is so peaceful.
Thank you for sharing and thank you for the reminder.
That’s so sweet of you to say, Catherine, thank you!! <3
Thank you so much for this highly informative article, Hannie! i completely agree with you that changing our mindset about money can make all of the difference in our lives. Our value is not dictated by how many commas we have in the bank; we are all fearfully and wonderfully made by the hands of God-we are loved and valuable beyond any money we could ever make. When we learn to be grateful for what we have, while still working toward our goals in a healthy and productive manner, great things happen. Success is more than just money-when we realize this, we’ll be a much happier, much better world. God bless you!
Thanks CN 🙂
Hi Hannie, I love your post, at this time I needed to read a post with possitivity touch like your’s. It gave me the boost I needed to have after receiving a bad news. Thank you for writing this post. I’m glad to have reading it.
Lyne
Ohh, Lyne, I am so sorry you had bad news. And on the other hand really glad that my blog could uplift you. Hang on to the good spirit! Take care <3
Hi Hannie, I love this post. After receiving A bad news, I just needed to read post like this one. It give me the steight I need to continue and beleive in what I’m doing. Great article here. Thank you
Lyne
Last year, I read “I can make you rich” by Paul McKenna. According to the book, “getting rich is an inside job”. In other words, getting rich starts with our mindset. At first, it sounded like a scam. But, now it makes perfect sense to me.
Your article explained the importance of our mindset to be rich. I agree with you that mindset is so powerful, and it is the guideline of where we are heading.
I believe in the law of attraction, as I have experienced it a lot of times.
Writing “a success diary” is a great idea. This habit will enhance our positive mindset. I enjoyed reading your article as I liked your positive attitude.
I just requested downloading your e-book.
Hope to read more articles by you.
Talk to you later.
Downloading my ebook is so nice of you, Jason, thank you!
Yes, journaling is a great idea 🙂
I love this post Hannie – because it really is so important to ensure our mindset towards money is right. My husband always tells me that if all the money in the world was distributed evenly just give it a few years and everything will be back exactly how it is right now. I don’t know who he is quoting but I believe that to be 100% true.
Yes, I also think that is true. Although it’s a pity, isn’t it?
Hi Hannie,
Great article about mindset. I talk a lot about mindset and how we need to change our mindset from negative to positive. As you have said, focussing on positive things, like what we have instead of what we don’t have, what can do instead of what we can’t do, who we have in our lives instead of who we don’t have in our lives. It’s about gratitude and being grateful for what we have instead of what we don’t have.
I am not a millionaire by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have enough to let me live. If I focussed on not being a millionaire then I would be unhappy. But because I am grateful for what I do have, I am happy.
Thank you for sharing and keep up the amazing work.
All the best,
Tom
Thanks Tom. And you’re right, we don’t have to be a millionaire to be happy with what we have. 🙂
This is an excellent post. I got great pleasure from reading it. The mind can be a many splendid thing if applied properly. Mine is 90% of the time in the positive and I practice gratitude daily. Once I started this my life changed dramatically for the better.
Thank you very much for sharing.
Lisa.
That is so great to hear, Lisa. It does make a difference, doesn’t it. 🙂
Great post Hannie, very encouraging.
I’ve sometimes felt that work is a chore, but I’m starting to change my views. When I sometimes feel down about the amount of work I still have to do I look back and see how much I have done so far. This goes for anything, whether it is gardening, at work, or a special project I am working on.
It is difficult though to look past the challenges ahead but if you look at what has been accomplished then hopefully that is enough to get you past that mindset.
Good approach, Owain. In the end we are all humans with ups and downs. And as long as we can deal with that, we’re fine, don’t you think 🙂
So true! Our mindset, or how we are programmed, determines all of the outcomes we receive in life. I was brought up believing that we have to work hard for money, so guess what? I spent many years working hard for money.
It wasn’t untill I read some amazing books on reprogramming my beliefs, and applying the principles that you talk about here, that I was able to begin working less and making more. Because of this information, life has become less stressful and more fun.
I like your advice to ‘stop worrying, and see abundance everywhere.’ It is so true.
Our life is a direct result of our habitual thought pattens, so if we want to improve our life in any way, we first need to change the thoughts we habitually have to correspond to the new life we wish to create for ourselves.
Many thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Andrew, and how good of you and for you to keep on investing in yourself. It’s good our parents tought us norms and standards, but it is equally good to – once grown up – we try to find our own way and make our owns norms and values. 🙂