Self-belief, hard work and perseverance

Growth mindset affirmations - based on the work of Carol Dweck

The following information is written mainly as affirmations.

Here goes: Words have power over the way I think, and what I think shapes my reality.

Option 1 – When I deem success to be resultant of talent only, and I then face a challenge – my brain freezes.

Option 2 – When I am stretched and I believe I can meet the challenge, my brain lights up – ready for anything.

I believe that self-belief, hard work and determination eventually lead to success.

• Self belief – I believe I can improve and change. When I decree a dream, or want to attain something that I value, I figure out how to do it. When I face a challenge, I find ways to get through it, or work around it. Determined by my choices, there can be no hurdle that is insurmountable. I am focused, and I pursue my dreams relentlessly. I follow passion and it becomes my occupation.

• Hard work – I put forth relentless hard work, the result of which is achieving worthwhile success – success as defined by my values. I focus on and work at the objectives – I work hard to make it happen. It is never easy, yet – it is spell binding – interesting and satisfying.

• Determination – this quality solves the problems of the human race. I hold firm to the willingness to persist in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges - temporary setbacks and obstacles. I keep hope alive against the odds. There is nothing that can prevent me from persisting in my efforts.

I believe that I can actually improve. I believe that I have or can develop what it takes to succeed – eventually. I believe I can improve, I can persist in the face of obstacles and learn from failure. I do not praise talent – none of my abilities, skills or qualities are carved in stone – and anyhow – success doesn’t happen in an instant, snap-your-fingers kind of way.

When I falter and feel a little dejected or defeated, I do-not-give-up - I pull my socks up, I chuck out any beliefs that do not serve me and I build a belief that I-can,-eventually, succeed through hard work and determination.

I am on a learning curve. What I can’t YET do, will eventually be done – on my curve and path into the future. Because - I love a challenge and I believe that I can, over time, improve and, one day, overcome the challenges – and reach the goals and attain those things that I value.

It is MY mindset that determines what I see in the world – I see that I can improve, to eventually be able gain the skills and abilities to do the things I dream about and become really good at it – to achieve my own personal best.

I intentionally cultivate my mindsets to see difficulties as challenges to overcome and to learn from them. My brain fires up, and I engage every day – so over here, growth is a daily activity. My abilities are developing constantly and there is much I have yet to learn – an exciting and intriguing prospect – to be YET to learn something about this or that.

I keep increasing resilience to failure – I even engage with failure on purpose, by experimenting – because every time I fail, I learned something new. It transforms all aspects of my life. I keep inching closer – by overcoming, by improving, by learning. One failure – and experiment – and success – at a time. And thus, time passes and efforts are exerted.

Details for going forward are yet to be worked out. Estimated time of arrival is yet to be revealed for each stop-and-go along the journey. The sun has yet to rise and the flowers are yet to show themselves – and I have yet to improve with this or that – there are things I have yet to improve at a future time. I am reinforcing my resilience to have what it takes to persist so hard that it persists even into unpredictable future experiences.

When I struggle with a challenge, I know that as I go along, I will get new insights, I will use some of the techniques I already know and I will learn new ones. I focus mostly on trying my best and on refusing to give up. I want to make as many attempts as it will take to have a breakthrough, to come up with a solution, to surprise myself. I try to look at the challenge from other angles, and ask myself:

What am I missing?

Making mistakes help me to learn and improve. I guess it is like when a super hero discovers their super powers, remember spiderman honing his web-shooting skills?

I enjoy learning new things – I keep trying, which requires time and effort and making mistakes. Challenges and mistakes – these are the great opportunities for growth. I am proud of myself for trying, and trying again after failing. I believe that I will attain what I value – based on my self-belief, hard work and determination.

I am dedicated and work hard. When this or that is challenging, I never give up. I take on the challenges, and look forward to many more challenges.

I learn from mistakes – I apply the lessons and try again. By asking questions, accepting feedback and criticism I obtain another valuable learning tool. I plan and practice for becoming really good at what I do and to stick to it until it is done. Whenever and however I put forth effort, I keep improving. My capability of doing difficult things keeps expanding – you know – those neural connections get stronger.

Changing limiting beliefs

When I am present and observe my thoughts, I sometimes notice negative self-talk going on in my mind and I know it is time to change some of my limiting beliefs – or in other words shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.

I refuse to run away even from this challenge, or cheat, or feel threatened by the success of others or try to feel better by comparing myself with those who are doing worse than I am doing. When my brain freezes, and I run away by ‘cheating’ - I know that this would only prevent me from learning new things.

Therefor – Do I run from a challenges or failure? – NEVER.

There is nothing tragic, unforgivable or catastrophic about challenges and failures – this is how we learn.

Here are affirmations that are useful for chancing a limiting belief:

I believe that I have the ability to change my limiting beliefs - 

• I believe that my beliefs can change
• I believe that I can change my beliefs
• I belive that I can change my beliefs now
• I believe that I can choose to change my beliefs
• When a belief doesn’t serve me, I can eliminate it.

I notice and write down recurring negative self-talk statements, especially the ones that comes up just before working on desired improvements. I do not engage with self-talk, I just observe it.

• Write down counter statements.