If your goal is to live a better and more meaningful life you may have turned to minimalism
as a tool to help you do that. So did I. Which is good by the way, and it’s probably how
you found my videos here on YouTube.
But decluttering is not the be-all and end-all to creating a better life. And that might
sound crazy coming from a minimalist who publicly talks about minimalism but I strongly believe
that in order to get more of what you want out of life you have to change the way you
think more than anything.
So today I’m sharing three mindset shifts that I believe are more valuable to your life
than decluttering. And that’s a pretty bold statement, but I’m confident my words can
back it up.
Fear-driven vs. Agile
These two mindsets are by far the most interesting. In many ways they lay the foundation for the
other two mindsets I’ll talk about later on.
Now if we look at these two side-by-side. A fear-driven mindset is when our brain is
repeatedly exposed to experiences or messages that trigger fear. One big problem with this
way of thinking is that it stops us from asking questions, from learning, from trying new
things and growing in life. Fear is a very limiting mindset. It’s rigid and keeps you
trapped.
By contrast, an Agile mindset is about being flexible in your approach and adapting to
whatever comes your way.
This mindset is deeply rooted in the belief that you should embrace change, which is quite
the opposite of fear in many ways.
See when you’re armed with an agile mind your future is full of possibilities, but
how do you cultivate this mindset specifically?
Number one is you first have to recognize the true meaning of fear.
F.E.A.R. stands for False Evidence Appearing Real.
And the sooner we accept this truth, the sooner we can begin to suffocate our fear-driven
mindset and break free from the limitations it placed on it.
Number two is choosing to be more flexible. Truth is we unconsciously hold on to old ways
of doing things, old ways of thinking, and old ways of being because it’s what we’re
used to and it’s a habit.
But if we call it like it is, it’s because of fear. We’re just afraid to try something
new so we resist change altogether. But see the key is giving yourself permission to choose
differently.
To choose flexibility, to choose to challenge yourself, and to choose to suffocate fear.
And number three is to reframe your problems. Believe it or not, your perspective shapes
your belief so in order to change your belief you have to reframe your problems turn them
into challenges. This instantly gamifies it. And that small shift in your thinking is how
you turn challenges into real-life changes.
Something that fear has repeatedly and successfully kept you from doing.
Scarcity vs. Abundance
If we look at these two mindsets side-by-side. A scarcity mindset is the belief that there
is never going to be enough. Not enough time, not enough money, not enough possessions even.
People with this mindset tend to hold on to whatever they have now because it might not
come around later.
On the other side, the abundance mindset refers to the paradigm that there is plenty. And
rather than focusing on what you don’t have—which is what a scarcity mindset promotes—abundant
thinking focuses on what you do have. It allows you to see possibility, and this in and of
itself can shift your perspective in many ways.
Now one way you can cultivate an abundance mindset is by examining and rewriting your
beliefs.
A scarcity mindset typically stems from deeply rooted beliefs about yourself and how life
works. So shifting from a scarcity to an abundance mindset begins with becoming aware of your
beliefs.
Whenever you notice scarcity-related thoughts in your mind or feelings of fear and anxiety
start to cover you like a dark cloud.
Ask yourself are my thoughts and beliefs in this moment empowering me or disempowering
me. And allow your answer to guide you in a new direction. In this case away from scarcity
and towards abundance.
Another option for you would be to detach from expectations.
10 times out of 10 a scarcity mindset is laced with fear. And I know this because fear and
I have butted heads and exchanged words quite a few times in my life.
But a really important lesson that I’ve learned is that the key to an abundance mindset
is becoming detached from any expectations of how, when, and what will happen in the
future. And if you instead set your intentions for what you authentically want and detach
from the nitty-gritty details of how that’ll come to be.
You’re actually becoming more resilient in navigating the unpredictability of life.
So “when life happens” as people say, because of your abundant thinking and detachment
from expectations you’re quite frankly more equipped to find solutions while still trusting
that everything will work out for you, or as my dad would say: it’ll all work itself
out in the wash.
Now the final piece to this puzzle, at least when it comes to cultivating an abundance
mindset anyway, is to strengthen your trust.
And one way you can do this is by recognizing abundance in past life experiences. See the
thing about cultivating an abundance mindset is that it requires trust that there is always
enough. Which may be hard to do when coming from a scarcity mindset. So the best proof
is always personal experience.
For example, you may have had a situation in your life that didn’t work out as expected
but the outcome still lead to new opportunities or lessons learned—“a blessing in disguised”
is a phrase that's commonly used.
But finding proof of abundance in your own life makes it easier to see change as a redirection
versus a loss of something that's scarce.
Fixed vs. Growth
If we look at these two mindsets side-by-side.
A fixed mindset means you believe intelligence, talent, and other qualities like that are
innate and unchangeable. If you’re not good at something, you typically think you will
never be good at it. But a growth mindset, on the other hand, means you believe intelligence
and talent can be developed with practice, dedication, and hard work over a period of
time.
Now there is a time and a place where you can say someone just has raw talent—take
singing as an example. But that doesn’t mean you should feel limited to a fixed mindset
just because you’re not as naturally gifted at something as someone else is.
You’re still more than capable of achieving great things as long as you cultivate a growth
mindset. But how exactly do you put this concept into practice?
The first step is deciding that you will choose a growth mindset over a fixed mindset. When
you do something very interesting starts to happen. You start to challenge whether your
words, actions, and way of thinking reflect somebody who is learning something new or
staying stuck in the past.
And this self-assessment it’s quite literally the most honest feedback you can receive when
it comes to improving your life.
Secondly, I’d encourage you to focus on learning. A major life lesson that isn’t
always talked about is the fact that it’s ok to look silly, stupid, or whatever when
you choose to step outside of your comfort zone to try new things.
But the vast majority of us refuse to look silly or stupid. We fear judgment from others
and from ourselves so rather than embrace learning—we avoid it. Resulting in a fixed
mindset.
Thirdly is to enjoy the process. See the ironic thing about growth is that it feels awkward.
So when you choose to have a growth mindset you’re also choosing to enjoy the feelings
of awkwardness.
The perfect example of this is recording a video for YouTube. For many, it is extremely
awkward to sit in a room by yourself and talk to a camera as if it’s a person sitting
in front of you.
And it was definitely that way for me when I first started this channel. But because
I chose to enjoy the process and embraced the awkwardness that comes along with learning.
My skills and ability to talk to a camera grew and improved over time.
And lastly, I’d like to remind you that the gift is your growth. When embracing a
growth mindset, it’s really easy to get caught up in rewards that are given to recognize
achievements and milestones we reach. But at the end of the day as long as you’re
making progress, as long as you’re growing, as long as you’re improving by at least
1% every day than that in and of itself is a gift to recognize and celebrate.
Now if you’re curious about why 1% is relevant then check out this video here where I talk
specifically about the 1% rule, and how it’s a foolproof way to improve your life.
I hope you found value in this conversation and if you did comment below and let me know
which part spoke to you the loudest.
Keep growing, keep learning and always stay true to you.
I’ll see you in the next one.
Peace!