New Year Mindset

“Changing the game is a mindset.”- Robert Rodriguez

We are having another fresh new year. What is the point of living the same year 75 times and calling it a life? Shouldn’t we try new things in life, trying new foods, new experiences, traveling to new places, meeting new people, etc.? If you do the same thing day in and day out for every day of your life then you will fall into this rut. You may end up having a tedious life. I doubt anyone has ever said on their deathbed, “I wish I had traveled less, made less friends, spent more time at work and less time having fun, and had fewer interesting experiences in my life.”  No. I bet the ones who have the most regrets at the end of their life are the ones who did nothing new, nothing exciting, nothing interesting. I bet those are the people wishing they had spent more time doing different things.

Therefore, my humble suggestion is to make a list of things that you have never done but find interesting. Like maybe a list of places you would like to visit or foods you would like to try. Make a list of activities that sound interesting to you.   As a matter of fact, enjoy your life and do not just let your days blur together as they tend to do when every day is the same. You do not always have to be jumping out of airplanes or running into burning buildings to save children and puppies on a regular basis (or at all, really) but just throw a little excitement into your life from time to time and you will find yourself to be a much happier person overall. Good luck to you with your studies, your work, and your life. And remember that you only have one life. So might as well make it a good one. 

On the other hand, at times we tend to act negative. We keep blaming our parents, teachers, politicians and society as a whole for the kind of sufferings we face or the difficulties we experience. We blame our fate too. While blaming others is nothing more than excusing ourselves.

Your life is the perfect mirror of your thoughts, beliefs and dominant mental attitude. Whether you realize it or not you are already creating your reality through your thought power. Every effect you see in your outside world has its original cause within you – no exceptions. To gain access to the greatest creative power at your disposal, you must learn to control the nature of your habitual thoughts and to align yourself with the one source of all power of which you are a part. Your thoughts create your reality – know, internalize and apply this truth and you will see your life transform in miraculous ways. The bottom line is that we need to change our mindset.

There is no denying that the “power of positive thinking” is a popular concept, and sometimes it can feel a little cliché. But the physical and mental benefits of positive thinking have been demonstrated by multiple scientific studies. Positive thinking can give you more confidence, improve your mood, and even reduce the likelihood of developing conditions such as hypertension, depression and other stress disorders. All this sounds great, but what does the “power of positive thinking” really mean?

You can define positive thinking as positive imagery, positive self-talk or general optimism, but these are all still general, ambiguous concepts. If you want to be effective in thinking and being more positive, you’ll need concrete examples to help you through the process. Here are some:

1. Begin the day with positive affirmations

How you start the morning sets the tone for the rest of the day. Have you ever woken up late, panicked, and then felt like nothing good happened the rest of the day? This is likely because you started out the day with a negative emotion and a pessimistic view that carried into every other event you experienced. Instead of letting this dominate you, start your day with a positive statement. Talk to yourself in the mirror, even if you feel silly, with statements like, “Today will be a wonderful day” or “I’m going to be amazing today.” You’ll be astonished how much your day improves.

2. Focus on the good stuff yet small

Almost invariably, you’re going to encounter obstacles throughout the day—there’s no such thing as a perfect day. When you encounter such a challenge, count on the benefits, no matter how slight or unimportant they seem. For instance, if you get stuck in traffic, think about how you now have time to listen to the rest of your favorite podcasts. If the store is out of the food you want to prepare, think about the thrill of trying something new.

3. Release humor in awful situations

Allow yourself to experience humor in even the darkest or most trying situations. Remind yourself that this situation will probably make for a good story later and try to crack a joke about it. Say you’re laid off; imagine the most absurd way you could spend your last day, or the most ridiculous job you could pursue next—like kangaroo handler or bubblegum sculptor.

4. Transform failures into lessons

You aren’t perfect. You’re going to make mistakes and experience failure in multiple contexts, at multiple jobs and with multiple people. Instead of focusing on how you failed, think about what you’re going to do next time—transform your failure into a life lesson. Conceptualize this in concrete rules. For example, you could come up with three new rules for managing projects as a result.