As reported by World Metrics, nearly 90% of people limit their potential because of a fixed mindset. Only 10% of people follow a growth mindset that helps them keep learning, deal with problems, and do better in life. Your daily actions shape your mindset. Some people move forward while others stay stuck, not because of luck but because of how they think. The way you see problems and handle challenges is all part of your mental approach.

In this post, we will share some smart and easy tips to change your mindset and make it strong, positive, and solution-oriented.

Table of Contents

What Is Mindset?

Mindset is like your inner lens. It affects how you see yourself, others, and what you’re capable of. These thoughts and beliefs shape your daily responses, actions, reactions, and personal growth.

On average, we have around 65,000 thoughts every day. These thoughts come from your internal beliefs and external surroundings—like your family, society, habits, past experiences, and things happening around you.

Some of these thoughts are positive, and some are negative. If you keep the good ones and remove the bad ones, you build a positive mindset. But if you focus on the negative and ignore the good, your mindset turns negative over time.

Positive vs. Negative Mindset

A positive mindset is a mental and emotional attitude. It’s about choosing how you respond to life. People with this way of thinking focus on solutions instead of getting stuck in problems. They stay optimistic and hopeful in every situation.

Effects: growth, learning, leadership qualities, productive lifestyle.

Negative Mindset

Negative thinking creates a mindset where problems seem bigger than they are. This mindset focuses on what’s wrong, blaming others, fearing outcomes, and doubting yourself. People with a negative mindset overthink and block their own progress instead of solving things.

Effects: low energy, jealousy, anxiety, stress, limited beliefs.

Positive: “I can solve any problem.”
Negative: “Why do I always face problems? I’m tired of my life.”

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

A growth mindset is the belief that your abilities, skills, and intelligence can improve with effort, learning, and time. When you face challenges, you see them as chances to grow rather than things to fear.

Example: A person wants to start a business but doesn’t know how. Instead of saying, “I have no idea what to do,” she decides to learn through courses and takes the first step.

Fixed Mindset

A fixed mindset means you believe your talent or intelligence is fixed. You don’t try new things. You fear challenges and stick to what’s safe.

Example: “I can’t speak well, so I’ll never be good at presentations.”

Quick Personality Test

Let’s compare two people: A and B.

Person A eats a lot. Even when he’s full, he keeps eating. He craves tea, coffee, or snacks every time he sits to work. His mind constantly thinks about food.

Person B eats with discipline. He follows a schedule. He eats mindfully and focuses on energy and health, not just taste.

Which one describes you best?
This simple personality check will help you understand whether you have a strong mindset or a weak one.

Strong vs. Weak Mindset

A strong mindset means having the mental strength to keep going and not give up easily, even when things get difficult. You stay calm in tough times and don’t let emotions take over. Instead of making excuses, you take responsibility. You learn from failure and look for solutions, not problems.

It’s all about growing, learning, and handling life with courage.

Example:
You wake up feeling low but still complete your tasks for the day. That’s a strong mindset.

Weak Mindset:

A weak mindset is the mental habit of avoiding effort, staying in your comfort zone, and giving up when faced with challenges. It means you often doubt yourself. You resist doing hard things because you fear failure. You blame others when something goes wrong and give up quickly.

Example:

You avoid applying for jobs because you believe you’re not good enough.

However, you can change your mindset. By understanding a basic science concept called neuroplasticity and doing simple mindset exercises, you can train your brain to become stronger and more focused.

What Is Neuroplasticity?

Neuroplasticity means your brain is always learning and adapting through your daily habits and choices. Repeating negative thoughts strengthens negative brain pathways. But when you start choosing better thoughts instead, your brain begins to form new connections that support a healthier and stronger mindset.

That means: if you train your brain right, you can build a new way of thinking.

Mindset Exercises

Here are 7 smart and practical exercises to change your mindset
1. Identify your thinking pattern
Take a moment to look at your current mental approach. Answer these three questions to find out whether you really need to work on your mindset or not.
Q1. How do you see successful people?
Do you feel jealous or demotivated?
Or inspired to learn from them?

Q2. When someone gives you feedback
Do you get upset and start overthinking?
Or do you stop for a moment and tell yourself, “Okay, maybe I can work on this”?

Q3. When you start something new
Do you give up easily if it’s hard?
Or do you remind yourself, “It takes time to improve”?

That’s the first step of self awareness. This activity helps you understand the real reasons behind your struggles.

2. Start Observing Your Behaviour

The second exercise is to observe your thoughts. Every day, just pause for a moment and pay attention to what’s going on in your mind. What are you thinking right now?
If your mind keeps saying:
• “I can’t do this.”
• “I love comfort zones.”
• “I don’t have time to learn.”
• “What will people think?”
• “What if I fail?”
Then you’re stuck in a negative loop. Don’t try to change anything at first. Just observe. Once you become aware of how often your mind leans towards doubt or fear, you can begin to shift it.
Start switching to thoughts like:
• “No matter what happens, I’ll figure it out.”
• “Even if I’m not talented, I’ll build my skills.”
• “I am worthy. I will learn and grow.”

3. Start Journaling

Write down your thoughts for just 5 minutes a day. It clears your mind and shows you where you’re wasting time.
Example:

I set my alarm for 6 a.m. but woke up at 8. Tried to work but got distracted, then talked to a friend for an hour. Later, I scrolled my phone and went to bed around midnight.

A daily journal helps track your habits and shows where you get distracted easily. Over time, it helps you notice patterns and make better choices. You can also take help from ChatGPT — it can create a plan for you, answer your questions, and clear your doubts. With consistent effort, you’ll start noticing a big change in your personality.

4. Practice Positive Self-Talk

Self-talk is your inner conversation. It shapes your mindset and influences your ability to take action. Even in silence, your inner voice has the power to heal or harm you. You live with yourself 24 hours a day — no one understands you and your problems better than you do.

Whenever life throws a problem at you, pause for a second and talk to yourself. Ask yourself, “What’s one small step I can take right now?” Often, the answer is already within you.” Is the problem even in your control? If not, let it go. Seriously, don’t waste your energy. But if the solution lies with you, don’t wait—take action and don’t get stuck in the overthinking trap.
Your self-talk should include thoughts about your career, personal growth, future plans, money, spirituality, success, and investments. And if you ever feel like you have no one to talk to, ChatGPT is here. It can guide you and possibly solve your problem
Practice mirror talk: Instead of saying, “I can do this,” look into the mirror and say, “You can do this.”
• “You’ll figure it out.”
• “You’re smart enough to learn.”

5. Surround Yourself with Growth-Minded People

The company you keep plays a big role in shaping your mindset.. Growth-minded people believe in learning, evolving, and moving forward. They focus on progress, not perfection. When you spend time with them, you learn good habits and use your time better. Their stories and experiences can teach you a lot and help you avoid making the same mistakes. They push you to grow, support your goals, and remind you that mistakes are part of the process. Their energy is on another level — it lifts you up and keeps you motivated.
You’ll find them on:
• LinkedIn
• Book clubs
• Quora
• Webinars and workshops

6. Upgrade Your Mind

You often chase short-term gratification by scrolling for hours, watching random content, and releasing dopamine just to feel good for a moment. But this habit slowly drains your energy and leaves you feeling tired and unmotivated.
Instead of wasting time on things that don’t help you grow, replace that pattern with something meaningful.
1. Take a free 7-day course on personal growth.
2. Listen to audiobooks or read books like Ikigai that inspire new thinking.
3. Train your feed to recommend helpful videos.

Make it a weekly challenge:
Pick one skill every month— like selling a product, understanding the market, starting a business, or creating your own content.”

7. Track Your Daily Progress

This is the last step to completely change your mindset and it’s something I personally follow. I’ve created an Excel sheet where I track my habits and daily activities like eating, exercising, waking up, learning, and working. This simple habit has helped me become more consistent. (You can see the picture below.)

“This Excel sheet has helped me a lot. You may notice many ‘No’s in it, but my main satisfaction comes from completing 4 hours of focused learning. While waking up and going to bed on time do matter, I make sure that I dedicate 4 hours daily to learning or working. If this section is marked green, I feel like I’ve achieved my goal for the day. I try my best not to skip it. This simple habit has improved my consistency and brought noticeable progress in my routine.”

Secondly, I’ve developed a new habit of tracking every hour. you don’t need any fancy application. Your phone already has a Notes app. You can use it to track what you’re doing and when. This helps me understand exactly where my time goes and when I get distracted.

Ignore the grammar and spelling mistakes—what matters is that tracking my hours is giving me a clear analysis of my distraction time. I’ve started working on micro goals now, and it’s helping a lot. If you find this interesting, you can also track your habits and time. Trust me, you’ll start seeing amazing results!

7 Smart Tips to Change Your Mindset