4 Steps to Transform a Blocked Mindset into One that Thrives
Mindset can make or break a writing journey. Many writers don’t realize how much their personal belief system can impact not just the outcome of their projects, but the entire experience.
We are less likely to reach the vision of success if our mindset is not aligned with our end goal. Have you ever worked really hard at accomplishing a goal or a project only to feel really let down afterwards? Left thinking, “Huh, well that wasn’t as great as I thought it would be.” That’s because somewhere along the way, our mindset was off, it wasn’t 100% on board with the process.
However, if you’ve got a strong, positive, confident mindset throughout your process or practice—then the end result will knock your socks off. You will reach your personal finish line feeling (and knowing) that you put your best self forward and that you chose the path that best serves you and your goals.
Observing, identifying, and transforming your negative thought patterns will bring you relief, empowerment, and confidence through your journey.
If you like to journal, try this wonderful four-step exercise:
STEP ONE: OBSERVE
Commit one full day to observing your thoughts. This may take some practice because it’s not often we pay genuine attention to what we’re thinking—even though the average person has over 60,000 thoughts a day! The problem though is that most of those thoughts are riffs off of negative and limiting beliefs.
When we allow ourselves to dwell in negativity and low-vibe feelings, we will continuously search for evidence to support our beliefs. Have you ever found yourself asking, “Why does everything always happen to me?” or some other related complaint about your life? That question alone does nothing to help you because you’re willing to believe that you have a crummy life. And if you believe that, how easy would it be for you to see the blessings and gifts? Not easy at all. This is why when things are bad, they get worse.
So, make an effort to observe your self-talk. What kinds of things do you say or think to yourself? What is your immediate reaction to an event or an incident that is less than welcome? When you’re doing rote activities, pay extra special attention to what’s going through your mind.
If you find yourself forgetting that you’re supposed to be observing your thoughts, then set a timer on your phone for five minutes each hour to get yourself into the practice of mindfulness. That’s really what this comes down to anyway, and the hardest part is to be mindful with your thoughts.
Yep. Because if you suffer from limiting beliefs, then you’re not being mindful with your thoughts.
STEP TWO: IDENTIFY
List out all your limiting beliefs and fears. Go as deep and as far as you can. If you start feeling uncomfortable, take a break, but come back to the exercise. No one has to see this work. You may find that devoting some time to this on a regular basis is beneficial for your healing—this would go along with personal development work which, by the way, would impact any creativity work you’re trying to do. It’s not necessary, but don’t be surprised that, if by working on your writer self, your real-world self is affected.
What would be considered a limiting belief or a fear?
Any thought that doesn’t feel good. Any thought that tells you that you’re less than good enough. Even if you are convinced that you aren’t a good enough writer, or that you will never find an agent—those are still limiting beliefs because they’re blocking you from your ability to attract what you desire.
Often, limiting beliefs have been running the show for years. It might be difficult to get out from under that kind of tyranny, but with dedicated practice (like affirmations), it’s totally possible.
STEP THREE: TRANSFORM
After you do some deep-diving into your negative belief system, it’s time to turn things around. For every single fear or limiting belief you listed, write down the exact opposite statement.
For example:
Negative: I have no time to write
Positive: I have plenty of time to write
Be careful to always use positive language here. If, for example, one of your limiting beliefs is “I’m always interrupted”, then you want to stay away from using as your positive statement “I’m never interrupted” as the term “never” is considered a negative word, so it brings in a negative tone. Rather, say something like “I am free of interruptions.”
It’s important that you stay open and receptive during this third part of the exercise.
Reason being that once you get into the flow of positive statements, more positive statements will bubble to the surface, and they’ll be of their own accord and probably have nothing to do with any limiting belief you’ve listed. This is your writer self expressing its desires. Remaining open and receptive will allow all of this good vibe stuff to come forth—they are your creative center’s core beliefs and you need to write them down somewhere that you can see them every day.
Interestingly, many of our creative center’s core beliefs are things we might not even be aware of. We’ve stopped hearing them because we’ve been so focused on the negative stuff, and that ego (inner critic) is powerful enough to silence the good stuff if we let it.
But remember: If you keep yourself shut down and closed off or in a state of not-quite-believing during this section of the exercise, those core beliefs will not come forth for you.
Spend as much time and energy on this section as long as it makes you feel good.
Here’s my theory behind writing down a positive statement for each negative statement: If we’re going to give our inner critic / ego airtime, then it only makes sense to give our creative center the same amount of airtime as well. I’m all about Equal Opportunity. If we’re going to roil constantly in the negative headspace, then all we’re going to feel is negativity. But once you start balancing out the negative with the positive, you’ll start seeing more positive opportunities, more possibility, more creativity in your writing life.
Sure, that takes some focus and discipline—but in all reality, it’s an easy thing to do. I mean, you write because you want to write, not because you were forced into it. So…write. Stop getting in your own way.
STEP FOUR: EMPOWER
Put your new positive thoughts into action as soon as you can. You’ll feel wobbly at first, especially because there will be a lot of resistance that comes up for you. Your ego constructed those old stories to protect you, and now you’re sloughing them off and stepping out into the world. My God, you’re practically naked!
If you’re nervous or unsteady, good. That means you’ve got some new thoughts that makes your ego uncomfortable—which means it makes your spirit feel beautiful.
One of my favorite methods for empowering myself with my positive thoughts is to lace my day with affirmations. I start off every morning with intentional thoughts to help ward off the ugly thoughts that usually like to seep in first thing. I incorporate affirmations at other times throughout my day as well.
If you like the idea of affirmations but you’re not sure where to start, I created a deck called Positively Creative. You can check the cards out here on my site.
POSITIVELY CREATIVE
harness the magic of a positive mindset for joyful creative living
DO YOU HAVE LIMITING BELIEFS THAT GET IN YOUR WAY OF YOUR WRITING JOURNEY?
HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THEM?
HAVE A WRITERLY DAY!