I chat about mindset very regularly and extensively on this blog because mindset is everything when it comes to being a creative entrepreneur. That’s why having some mindset tools in your back pocket is invaluable.
You could have the best ideas, be super passionate about what you do and be smart, capable, and organized, but if your mindset isn’t aligned, you won’t see the ‘success’ you so long for in your creative life and business.
The benefits of mindset work for creative entrepreneurs include:
- A reduction in your chance of burning out
- Thinking in new and innovative ways
- Cultivating a sense of resilience
In this post, I’m sharing my ultimate list of mindset tools that have greatly benefited me personally and enriched the lives of my clients. I have not shared any tools that I don’t personally use + love myself.
I recommend that you approach your mindset work and tools as a ‘toolbox,’ allowing yourself to add tools that feel good and align with you and simply discard the ones that don’t.
Approaching your mindset resources as a ‘toolbox’ offers beautiful versatility. Only certain ‘tools’ will be right for certain ‘jobs’—some days, a certain mindset tool may be exactly what you need, while another day, a different tool will better serve you. That’s why intentionally collecting tools for your toolbox is such a great idea.
1. Guided Journaling
I’m breaking the ‘journaling’ tool into 2 points because while there are many different ways to journal, it comes down to the broader categories of… guided journaling (using specific prompts) versus freewriting (journaling whatever comes to mind).
If you struggle to start or maintain a consistent journaling practice, guided journaling may be exactly what you need right now! Here are my favourite prompts to get you started.
Journalling doesn’t just feel good and nourish your creativity and mindset… it also helps with:
- Our ability to cope with feelings of anxiety, depression and stress.
- Our immune function.
- cognitive processing and memory.
- Fostering a sense of optimism
- Organizing our thoughts to boost productivity
- Raising awareness to our subconscious thought patterns so we can create sustainable change.
Explore the beautiful benefits of journaling + get a roadmap on how to get started in this post.
2. Freewriting
In the wise words of one of my personal favourite spiritual thought leaders, Byron Katie, “Once the mind is stopped on paper, thoughts remain stable, and inquiry can easily be applied.”
There’s something so incredibly powerful about writing down our thoughts. It can…
a) slow you down and stop a story you’re playing out in your mind. This allows you to take a moment and ponder if this thought is really true for you or if it’s simply a story you’re telling yourself (or an external narrative you have adopted)
b) allow you to explore the thoughts that are occupying valuable brain space for you
Julia Cameron also discusses a similar concept in her groundbreaking book and program, The Artist’s Way: Morning Pages. Morning pages are simply 3 pages of freewriting completed each day, ideally close to when you awake in the morning.
If you enjoy writing and wish to practice becoming less self-censored, perhaps exploring freewriting could support you and your mindset right now.
3. Meditation
Find a little bit of quiet time to really listen to the guidance that’s available to you each day. Intuitive guidance and universal wisdom are accessible to you if you can simply quiet your mind enough to listen. This is meditation.
This can look like a morning walk by yourself to gather your thoughts, a full meditation session, or a simple yoga flow. There’s no one way to meditate, which is a huge misconception.
If meditation is new to you, and you’d like to understand more about how to make it your own practice, read this post.
4. Inquiring Into Thoughts (Rather than Believing Them!)
When you’re caught in a negative mindset, it could be because you’re actually giving your thoughts too much attention or credit. We become attached to our thoughts and personalize them to think they’re US… but you are not the voice in your head. As one of my greatest teachers and mentors, Byron Katie says, ” If the voice in your head is you, who is the one listening to it?”
Katie’s “The Work” is a series of 4 questions that allow us to inquire into our thoughts before becoming attached to them and creating narratives from them that distract and don’t serve us. Those 4 questions have become absolutely integral to my growth mindset. “The Work” comes when you have a disruptive thought that is not serving you. You stop + ask…
- Is it true?
- Can you absolutely know that it’s true?
- How do you react when you believe that thought?
- Who would you be without the thought?
5. Rituals + routine
Having little intentional rituals and routines to bookend your day with (morning and evening), allows you to practice your mindset tools and techniques on a consistent basis, turning them into habits. A ritual is something sacred and personal to you… it could look like enjoying your morning coffee in complete solitude while you journal outdoors. It could be that you always light your fanciest candle to take your evening bath.
Rituals and routines are very underrated mindset tools considering they give us a sense of inner peace and security and allow us to foster deep self-care.
6. Cord-Cutting
Cord-cutting is a practice in which you imagine cutting a cord, tethering you to people, thoughts, or experiences that you are ready to let go of energetically. For many highly sensitive individuals(myself included!), this is a daily practice as it allows you to clear yourself of the energy of others that you regularly pick up on.
To make the experience more visceral, you could have a physical way of cutting the cord, such as a ball of yarn or twine that you physically cut. For myself, I use a selenite wand and imagine cutting the cord, but I physically move the selenite to ‘cut’ that cord.
7. Intentional Pattern Interrupts
Are you caught up in a negative thought loop? If you can, get up and move to physically distribute that energy from your body and intentionally interrupt the thought that isn’t serving you. Even getting up to do the dishes can do the trick! Intentionally stop what you’re doing and move as much as you can.
Then, take the time to swap that thought with something more empowering that you would like to believe.
Stop + Swap, baby!
8. Oracle/ Tarot Cards
Card decks, such as oracle, tarot, goddess, or affirmation cards, are beautiful mindset tools for exploring one’s relationship with oneself, providing guidance for the day ahead, or simply providing a point of mindful reflection and redirection.
Want recommendations? My two favourite decks of all time:
BTW, I always offer an oracle or tarot card reading in my coaching sessions!
9. Gentle + Compassionate Self-Talk
Believe it or not, this is one of the most transformational mindset tools… Talking kindly to yourself. You may not even be aware of how harshly you currently are speaking to yourself, but we all have an inner critic within us… it’s just how attuned and attached to that voice that differs for each of us.
You are the only one who will traverse the entirety of life with you… why not be your own best friend?
I’m not saying that to bypass the real suffering and challenges of a growth journey or anything you may have traversed.
I’m saying that to offer a new perspective…
YOU are the one you’ve been waiting for.
When you catch yourself speaking harshly to yourself internally over a mistake, an error or really just anything you’ve been feeling down about, realize this:
When you’re mean to yourself, you’re mean to every version of yourself—even that little innocent child you once were. If you wouldn’t speak this way to her, why are you speaking this way to yourself now? She is you.
10. Mirror Work
Mirror work is a practice of using your own reflection for self-empowerment. When you look at yourself in the mirror now, you likely first spot your perceived ‘imperfections.’
11. Affirmations + Mantras
Affirmations and mantras are empowering phrases to help you rewire your beliefs about yourself and the world. Tried them before and not seen any results? The real ‘secret’ to making affirmations and mantras work for you is to make them specific and unique to you, rather than just repeating what you hear others saying or suggesting.
Think of one of your core beliefs that you’d like to change. It could be about yourself, such as feeling worthy of what you most desire. It could be about the world, such as your beliefs about abundance that are scarcity-driven. Create your empowering mantras based on what you want to actually believe, that feels like a good stretch but not unachievable!
12. Reframing
What is the story you are telling yourself? When caught up in a negative mindset, consider this… then consider how you could look at this differently.
What else could this mean? Consider all the possibilities.
Then ask yourself… what is the most empowering for me to believe now? What’s key to this process is to zoom out and consider the bigger picture of what this situation means to your entire life…
This is how you can reframe your current narrative into a new, more empowering one.
13. Evidence “Collection”
When we are falling into a disempowering belief about ourselves (typically it comes in the form of, I am not _____ enough), it’s because that belief is comfortable to our brains. No, I know – it doesn’t feel comfortable to think this way about yourself! But it’s comfy for your brain because it is FAMILIAR – your brain has been gathering evidence for this belief, likely for many many years of your life!
That’s why, when choosing to move away from a limiting belief pattern, we need to gather evidence that the opposite is true, eventually outweighing that old disempowering thought!
So say you believe you’re “not strong enough” to run your own dream business and do the work your soul is calling you to do. Your brain has countless examples to prove this, whether they’re true or not, from your past. So now, it’s about proving (only to yourself) just how strong you are.
Write down any and all examples you can think of and continue to add to them over time!
Keep this list at your workspace or somewhere else close at hand.
The next time you think you’re not strong enough – you have the evidence to show yourself just how strong and resilient you are.
14. Gratitude Collecting
Start every day by making a list (with actual pen and paper!) of 10 things you’re grateful for. Avoid writing down the same 10 items every day. This will be challenging when you first get started… but the more you do it, the more gratitude you’ll begin to feel.
It’s so important to do this every day because we’re really taking the time to train our minds to make gratitude our default state of mind.
Many mindfulness experts and spiritual leaders also say that gratitude leads to abundance and truly attracts what you want more in your life.
Another beautiful thing about making gratitude your default state of mind is that it truly gives you something to turn to when you need it most.
Think of those challenging moments we all face as online entrepreneurs … imposter syndrome, doubt, feeling like giving it all up. Instead of focusing on what isn’t working, our gratitude practice allows us to focus on what is already beautiful and good in our lives. This will enable us to exit that spiral and get back to doing what we love to do!
Plus, there are extra benefits of gratitude, such as a reduction in stress and improvements in sleep, relationships and self-esteem.
15. Personal Development + Mindset Books
One of my favourite ways to align myself back into a growth mindset when I’m feeling off-track is to read something motivating and inspiring. I absolutely love that reading is an endless adventure, and there is always more we can learn about ourselves. Some awesome titles you can explore…
- Daring Greatly, Brene Brown
- The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho (technically a work of fiction, but its’ message is truly one of personal development!)
- Awaken the Giant Within, Tony Robbins
- Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert
- The Universe Has Your Back, Gabby Bernstein
Need another suggestion? Here are my personal favourite personal development books ever!
Take Your Mindset DEEP with Daily Journaling!
Guided prompts and this ready-to-use journal make it easy to take your personal development and mindset journey to the next level. There’s no better mindset tool than building awareness and questioning your auto-pilot thoughts and beliefs… that’s what journaling helps you do.
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