Thriving Mindset
With the New Year fast approaching, it’s the perfect time to think about resolutions for the coming year. Being ready to chase your dreams and grow as a person is what we should all be thinking about. The new year brings fresh opportunities and so it is exciting to further develop ourselves to thrive using the tools we have been given to grow our performance, creativeness, and wellbeing.
Imagine the essence of ourselves with a clear mindset, completely and unconditional without fear or self-doubt in whatever we want to achieve with our dreams and career. But how are we going to encourage ourselves to make next year extra special so that we do prosper and flourish towards our future goals?
Firstly, we have to focus our disorganised thoughts and ideas into a cohesive and actionable plan for the future so that we can achieve our dreams. But before that, we need to understand what a thriving mindset is like.
Characteristics of a thriving mindset:
· Believing that achievements are down to individual effort, not just inherent talent,
· Believing our gifts can be further improved through training, practice and consistency.
· Being willing to learn from our mistakes and to find value in criticism, with resilience in the face of setbacks.
· Believing that our intelligence and abilities can be developed. Our brains are always making new connections. ,
· Believing that with consistency and self-discipline, it's possible to shift to a thriving mindset.
· Being willing to ask questions and admit when we don't know something, learning to adapt and grow.
· Seeking out challenging tasks and taking risks to complete them.
· Cultivating a positive attitude to life, so that we develop our own self-awareness and ability to change.
· Believing that by learning new skills, that these will become second nature.
· Believing that we can grow and improve our abilities to achieve ultimate success.
With a thriving mindset, we can take small steps each day towards our goals. Change doesn’t happen overnight, but by planning, breaking down our goals into small manageable chunks over the new year, building positive actions into our daily lives, we can turn them into essential habits. If we remain consistent, learn to grow out of our comfort zone, take on projects we have no experience of achieving, seeking out new perspectives, reading widely so that we learn about different viewpoints and ideas, and seeing the world with an open mindset. The perfect mindset is one that believes we can achieve anything we set out to do and not letting anything deter us, we will be well on the way to achieving something spectacular.
But first we must look after ourselves
It should be taken as read that putting ourselves first and foremost, by taking care of our health through exercise and healthy eating, going out into nature, going to a spa, should be our way of life and our normal routine, not a goal for the year. By growing a deep love for oneself, who we are, where we are going, should become part of us. By creating a safe, happy, and beautiful place to go to, where we can be ourselves to achieve our goals is essential, even if it's just a small desk in a corner of the room. Somewhere to chase your dreams, fill your well with ideas, grow your mindset. If we don’t put ourselves first, we won’t achieve the goals we set out to accomplish or be able to look after those around us that we care for.
In Scandinavian countries, they take care of themselves by embracing the coldest, darkest days of the year when we can all feel down and depressed. They dress appropriately for bad weather by going out for walks in the cold. They look forward to hot, warming drinks at home with a bit of spice and saffron (a mood lifter). They take the opportunity to swim out in the cold to revive their spirits and of course they enjoy wonderful spas. They slow down and cosy up for the winter, embracing the cold and dark, making it the most productive and positive time of their year. We can all learn to do this for ourselves, so that at this precious time before the new year, we can plan to achieve and be prepared for what comes ahead.
Ask ourselves difficult questions
Before we can plan and prepare that big goal for the future (whatever it may be) we must ask ourselves some difficult questions. If you are an artist, would you buy your paintings? If you are a writer, would you want to read a book you have written or have writting? If you are a cook, do you enjoy your own creations? As creatives, it is important to ask questions and not be afraid to be honest with ourselves.
Striving towards excellence should be our goal in making art you love, writing a book which we are fascinated in, creating food which we find delicious. By looking critically at what we create, will make us see things differently. We must believe intrinsically that we can create beautiful work that will be loved by the world.
Brainstorm your dreams and goals for the future
In order to get a working plan for the year to achieve your goals, brainstorm your ideas of what you are striving to achieve, through:
· Taking photographs, have a scrapbook of inspirational ideas
· Build an inspiration board, organise your thoughts into long, medium, and short-term goals
· Manage your energy, so you build in time to look after yourself
· Be a sponge, by continuing to learn and training yourself
· Start making a plan for the future
Turn your resolutions into meaningful goals for the future
My resolutions have always looked something like this:
· get fit and lose weight
· reduce alcohol and chocolate consumption
· be more sociable and make more meaningful connections
This year, those rather uninspiring resolutions will become part of my daily routine and wellbeing. I shall strive for bigger goals, for example, holding an art exhibition or getting gallery recognition next year. These would be far more tangible and worthwhile goals. Making our resolutions into something more meaningful, through working towards longer-term goals, is a far better focus. Writing those goals down on paper, will help to make them become real but still adaptable if need be going forwards. By maintaining a daily routine, building in weekly tasks, monthly and overall goals, will be encompassed as part of a step by step plan towards a bigger overall goal.
Making a plan
Our plan is our new year resolutions turned into meaningful goals to achieve over the coming year. By putting a name to them, they are given life, broken down into achievable, manageable chunks. Goals must be achievable so they cannot be too complex or impossible to achieve or we’ll soon give up. If more time needs to be built in to achieve them, they can be spread out over our plan, even if they spill into the following year. Don’t let set backs stop you from achieving your dreams. Plan the steps along the way to achieving bigger goals, as follows:
· Long term goal – what goal will be achieved at the end of 12 months, 24 months, 36 months.
· Mid-term goals – your half-way mark, what you need to achieve in 6 months (adjusting your plans as necessary)
· Short-term goals – what we achieve every month, towards our goals after 30 days
· Daily goals – daily tasks, one day at a time, the steps you take each day towards your goal
Through planning, we can begin reaching those big dreams, doing small things each day towards achieving them so, by the end of the year, we will be well on the way to attaining what we have dreamed of. And once achieved, we can set ourselves another goal to strive for, and the following year we are well on the way to achieving success.
Start planning your goals for the following year by filling in the form below. Once you have them down on paper, the focus shifts, things start to happen, and the magic begins.
Plan for the New Year
Long term goal – what goal will be achieved at the end of 12 months, 24 months, 36 months.
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Mid-term goals – your half-way mark, what you need to achieve in 6 months (adjusting your plans as necessary)
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Short-term goals – what you need to achieve in 30 days, your monthly goal plan
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Daily goals – daily tasks, one day at a time, the steps you take each day towards your goal. It might only be on task you achieve!
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Look critically at your plan and start to develop a thriving mindset. Remember, you can achieve anything you set your mind to do. You have something unique and beautiful to offer the world. Develop your own story, your journey, your inspiration, and signature style, with all its complexity, contrast, themes, and a beautiful colour palette. Each day you are developing through continuous training and learning, practice, and consistency.
Be happy to promote yourself and your work. Love sharing your process with the world. Explore different opportunities. Create a collection, a strong body of work, a portfolio, finish that book, or recipe ideas, get them published! And once you have achieved the impossible, you can start giving back.
Good luck!
‘Love, Joy, Create’ Blog – Please follow along with me and create your own inspirational art by learning about nature and the world around art@patriciajvalentiart.com
Patricia Valenti is a representational fine artist and life-long painter, based in Kent UK. Patricia began her artistic studies as a young girl. Her passion for nature and the beauty of animals and wildlife can be seen through her work, transforming familiar animals and wildlife into realistic interpretations with emotional impact. Her walks around the surrounding countryside near her home inspire her work.