When we talk about mindset, and how to develop a strong mindset, it sounds theoretical. Sure, you can have step by step solutions for how to develop your mindset, but how do you use a strong mindset in every day life?
The fact is, if you don’t see change in your daily actions and the outcomes from them, you won’t continue to follow the steps needed to build a strong mindset.
This post is all about how to apply your mindset in life’s everyday situations. We’ve outlined three, but there are many more – don’t limit yourself and your imagination about all the ways a strong mindset can help you.
How to use a strong mindset in everyday life
There are three areas we spend the majority of our lives in: home, work, and the gym. To show how to use a strong mindset in everyday life, we’ll take an example from each of these.
How to use a strong mindset at work
One of the biggest ways to stand out in your work environment is to turn positive when everyone else turns negative. How many days do you walk into work, and start hearing complaining from all sides?
“It’s so early!”
“This client is so frustrating!”
“Why don’t they understand this? It’s so clear!”
You know what is refreshing? Someone who chooses to not complain, but rather to turn these situations into positives. It’s early – true, but that means you get to knock your work out before having any distractions from the world.
Your clients are frustrating? Be glad you have clients! How can you help solve their problems and keep them as clients for the long term?
Someone doesn’t understand you? Great – it’s an opportunity to work on your communication skills. That is going to serve you well forever.
The mindset shift here is very simple, but challenging to achieve. You have to focus on all the ways things can go right rather than everything that is going wrong. You also have to put yourself in other peoples’ shoes. This doesn’t just make you better at your job – it makes you a better human being.
When you’re constantly solving problems, getting lots of work done, and learning new skills because every set back is an opportunity to get better you become one of your organization’s most valuable assets. This means more promotions, more pay, and more happiness in your role.
How to use a strong mindset at home
Family life can be the most challenging part of your day – because you know it matters and you want it to be great. You want to be an excellent mom or dad. You want to be everything to everyone, and this makes you forget about yourself. When that happens, you become unable to take care of others to the degree you wish.
Want to be a great family member? Fix what’s between your ears and take care of yourself first.
Here’s a familiar situation. You’re driving home from a long day at the office, and you pop your tire. It’s raining out. Changing that tire sucks, you get soaked, and now you’re going to have an expensive tire to buy. No doubt, that’s a bad part of your day. But it’s just PART of your day – not the whole thing! When you can recognize it’s just a bad moment and it doesn’t make your whole life bad, you can deal with the emotion and not take it out on your loved ones. You can still be happy when you get home, and still show up as you always wish – happy and supportive of the people who matter most.
How to use a strong mindset at the gym
We’ve all done it. We’ve all decided to skip the gym one day because the workout just isn’t our jam. It has pull ups, and you HATE pull ups. You can’t do pull ups. So you skip.
Guess what?
You’ve just resigned yourself to never, ever be able to do pull ups.
Ask any fitness professional and they will tell you cherry picking your workouts is one of the biggest mistakes you can make when trying to make improvements with your health and fitness. When you have a strong mindset you look at those exercises you hate with an attitude of getting better. You see it as a way to improve and you see it as one day closer to being able to do the movement you cannot right now. It is such an impactful moment in your fitness life when you choose to do this.
Not only do you stop skipping workouts you don’t like, but in that moment when you may normally slow down and make it easier for yourself, you choose to go deeper. You start looking forward to the hard part of the workout because you know that is where you really improve.
Once you go home, the improvements don’t stop, either. Instead of having to talk yourself away from the cake, you know you’re someone who is on a mission to get better. You may still want it for your taste buds, but mentally you don’t crave that treat. You want food you know will nourish your body and move you closer to your goals. In short, nutrition isn’t a challenge anymore; it’s a way of life.
Having a strong mindset improves all areas of your life.
The gym, your home, and your work are three big areas – but there are certainly others. We love hearing about how our community uses these tips and tricks, so if you have a great mindset story for us, share on social media and tag us at ISN Labs!
