Mindset and Habits

     Things are not going to go your way. You will not meet expectations. You will get sick. You will get tired. You will fail at your attempt to win favor. Someone you know will leave you unexpectedly. The deal that you brokered will not go through. Someone you know will hate you for reasons you can’t understand.   The day of your parade it will rain. The person you love will decide not to love you back. Someone will steal from you and get away with it. Are you starting to get the picture? Life is going to throw some bad things at you.

       Knowing that some if not all of the items mentioned above are going to happen to you, how will you decide to react? That is an important question because with every one of those actions there will be a reaction. That reaction is yours to choose. It’s your life and because you are in full control you can react however you want.

How Would You React?

       You can decide to lash out. You can decide to cry and become depressed. You can choose to stop communicating and withdraw. You can curse. You can become violent. You can lose faith in all mankind and never trust anyone ever again. You can get revenge. You can quit trying. 
You can choose to do a lot of things that will not help the situation at hand.

       Or you can decide to learn from the failure. You can decide to forgive. You can decide to chalk it up as a loss and move on. You can decide to love harder. You can decide to be grateful just for the opportunity. You can decide to have empathy. You can decide to simply understand that it is a part of life. You can decide to take responsibility and try harder next time. You can also choose to do a lot of things that will help you get through the situation at hand.

You Get to Choose Now

     Hopefully you aren’t going through any of those situations at this moment. If you are keep reading because this still could benefit you today and in the future. Even though it may seem you have a choice at that given moment, you are actually making the choice right now. The reason you are making the choice on how you will react right now is because today you decided your mindset and which habits you would follow.

       Mindset and habits will determine how you will react to any situation. Technically your mindset will actually make the determination but your habits will influence your mindset. In case you were wondering per the dictionary the definition of a mindset is “the established set of attitudes held by someone.” Habit is defined as “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.” We all have a mindset and we all have habits. You get to choose your mindset and you get to choose your habits.

Did You Choose Your Mindset?

       Actually you don’t get to initially choose your mindset. You will be highly influenced by your environment during your early years. This influence will help build your initial mindset. This is also true of your habits. However, if you are reading this blog you are well past your early years. You have full control of your mindset and habits regardless of your early years. If you kept the same mindset and habits from that time of your life you have decided to do so. But once again the beauty of life is that you get to choose.

       So is the mindset you have chosen to have benefiting you? Don’t answer that because most likely you won’t be 100% honest with yourself. You will say you have a great mindset. It’s yours so why would you ever put yourself down. Your mindset has served you for years with great success. You are the best employee, the best friend, the best spouse, the best you name it in the world all because of your mindset. There’s no way you need to improve your mindset.

What About Your Habits?

       To avoid that discussion let’s talk about your habits. Do you have a habit of holding grudges? Do you have a habit of becoming angry? Do you have a habit of watching the news to see all the violence and tragedy in the world? Do you have a habit of talking about all the things that are wrong with the world and the people living in it? Do you have a habit of not appreciating the things that are right in front of you? Do you have a habit of putting everything into your work and neglecting the ones you love? Do you have a habit of not having confidence in your own ability? Do you have a habit of negative self-talk? If you have any of those habits they are impacting your mindset.

     Do you have the habit of forgiving yourself and others for things in the past? Do you have the habit of having faith in something greater than you? Do you have the habit of thinking about the abundance in the world and how you can access it? Do you have the habit of practicing gratitude and expressing your appreciation for the things in your life? Do you have the habit of taking responsibility for your actions and being intentional in the actions that you take? Do you have the habit of creating the things in life that you desire? These types of habits also have an impact on your mindset.

     Whichever set of habits you choose to practice will heavily influence your mindset. Your mindset will in turn determine how you react to the situations you encounter in your life. Your reaction will ultimately determine the success you have in life.

What are You Reflecting?

     Your success is a direct reflection of your habits and mindset. Look at your reflection. Do you like what you see? Could your reflection use an upgrade? Are your habits serving you properly? Is your mindset the right mindset for success? Take some time and determine the answers to these questions. In the meantime here’s a great habit to add to your routine that will help you have the right mindset no matter the situation. That habit is practicing Drew’s Reminders.

     The purpose of Drew’s Reminders is to help remind you to have a productive mindset every day of your life. You want to be successful and in order to be successful you have to make choices. You will have to make those choices Every Day. Choose to add this habit today. The world is waiting to witness your success. Your habits will create the necessary mindset to deliver. As always I wish you the best and remind you to enjoy the journey.

With Gratitude,

Drew