Assess Your Mindset With This Writing Exercise
Our first step in the journey of improving our mindsets is to first assess what our mindset even is to begin with. For me, the most effective way to do this is to have you write out your origins. This can be a writing or speaking exercise, though to analyze the text later, the speaking will require some transcription (which there is plenty of software to help with that!). The goal here is to create your story of self. Think something between what you tell a first date or a new friend when you are getting to know them and a more honest journal entry.
To begin: start recording your voice on your transcription software or take out your favorite writing instrument. If you aren't a fast typer or writer, I would suggest speaking to allow our natural storytelling take over. We will go through a series of talking prompts, allow yourself all the time you need for each one, but don't overthink or go back and edit anything.
1 - Describe your childhood. Were you a happy child? What were your favorite things to do as a kid? Did you have a best friend? What did you think you would be when you grew up? What was your favorite game, movie, or superhero? How did you spend your summers? Were you excited for school?
2 - Now let's get into your parents. Did your parents have money? Did they divorce? Are they happy together still? Was your mom or dad more strict? Did you get an allowance? What did you have to do for it, if anything? What were the holidays like?
3 - Now let's talk about teenage years. Where did you go to high school? When was your first kiss? First crush? What was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you? Did you skip class? Go to parties? Were you ever in trouble with cops? Did you play any sports or were you part of any clubs? What was the best day of high school?
4 - Now it is time for relationships. Who was your best friend? Are you still best friends? What has changed? Who was your first real relationship? How did it end? What did you do right/wrong in that relationship? If you are married, what made you know this person was the one? What do you fight about with your spouse now? How do you resolve it?
5 - Lastly, work. What do you do for work? Does it pay well? Do you love it? If you don't, what do you really want to do? Why can't you do that thing right now? What was your happiest day in the past year?
This should be a lot of exposition! You may need breaks or just tackle a number a day if you aren't one to like to speak long about yourself. Take your time and create a narrative that is true to yourself. Once you are done, it is time to start looking for keywords and themes. Do a quick find word search for the words: always, never, never should have, should be. Track how many times you used these words and highlight these sentences. Now the next part will require reading. We are going to code this self story the same way an anthropologist codes an interview. That is we are going to look for certain themes as they present themselves and start cataloging these themes either by different color highlights or putting these stories into their own separate documents together.
We are first looking for negative themes. Blaming someone else for something bad that may not be entirely fair, making yourself as a victim unnecessarily, calling yourself or others names and any other negative themes you find. After this we are going to look for the positives: times you realized that not one person is to blame for an issue, taking responsibility, this makes me feel language and so on. Once you have coded your interview you are ready for the analysis. Count out the amount of positive and negative themes that run through your life as well as how many examples of each of these themes you are guilty of. After looking at this analysis you should have a pretty good idea on where you stand in your mindset. If you are not happy with the narrative you are telling yourself, don't worry, we can change it! Knowing is half the battle. Check our blog at https://www.bullionite.com/blog-index for the next article on how to further revise your mindset. Reach out to us at info@bullionite.com with your comments and questions.