So much of how we feel, think and act has to do with our mindset. As a full-time, stay at home mum I find myself with a lot of time to think. Sometimes this is good and sometimes not so good as I get wrapped up in my own thoughts. But I have been thinking a lot about my mindset recently and how it affects so much of my life.

My body

My body is an area where my mindset is failing me. This is a topic you’ll see come up a lot on my blog; I’ve “struggled” with my weight pretty much for as long as I can remember. I was at my slimmest (and happiest with my body shape & size) leading up to my wedding and for the year after, until I fell pregnant with Tristan. But now I find myself 3 months pp and I am the same size & weight I was when I fell pregnant with Grayson. So, like all moms I am trying to lose some weight. For me. I want to feel more comfortable in my own skin. But as I sit here having just finished my new favourite lunch and I look around my kitchen, my senses are bombarded with food. 90% of it’s healthy – fruit, salad, lactation bars, etc, but my mind says “you want something more” even though my salad was delicious.

I’m no longer hungry nor do I have space for any more food, but my mind is a powerful thing. It says it feels like a little something more. Something like a tasty treat. So I’m having a cup of tea and I’ve got my water bottle in front of me. I need to change my mindset and learn to listen to the cues.

Head in the game

I am not going to lose weight until my head is in the right space. That involves accepting myself the way I am right now, lumps, bumps and all! Yes I’d love to be thinner but I also love food (I live to eat :-)) and I need to find the balance between the 2 and that’s a mind over matter situation. All I can do is take it a day at a time, even a meal at a time and, slowly, step by step I will (hopefully) be able to change my mindset.

My happiness

On the 6th of May this year I bought the book, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I read a few pages, got distracted and it landed up in my bedside draw! Until recently when I’ve found myself with an hour or 2 spare while Grayson has his long midday nap.

Shaun always says that I get so bogged down by small irritations that I lose my joy so quickly when this need not be the case. And he’s right, it’s just not something I find easy to change about myself. But it’s also to do with my mindset. And closely linked to that is my happiness. So I’ve started my own happiness project alongside reading Gretchen’s book. I’ve listed 10 resolutions I wish to work on in my life along with 10 ‘commandments’ for being a better version of myself.

What am I trying to get at here? That these 10 areas of my life (my resolutions) are all to do with my mindset and I want to take time to change them, better them, so I can be happier.

Let’s read

A few months back (it might have even been a year ago), my dad gave me the book, Mindset by Carol Dweck. To be honest, I haven’t even opened it to the first page! Shocking! It’s sitting in my bedside drawer! I’m not a great reader of self-help books, but I really need to actually make a start on reading this one!

Although the book is more to do with how we raise our children so they have the best mindset for life, it is still relevant to us as adults and how we can change our mindset over things so we can achieve more and fulfil our potential.

Have you read this book? Or have any thoughts on how strong our mind is over certain matters? I’d love to hear from you.

Much love xxx