November 2021 - Page 2 of 5 - The Future Mindset

How A Minimalist Mindset For Goal-Achieving Helps Avoid Distraction

Have you ever created a to-do list for your day that’s so long you never do it or planned multiple goals that pull you in all different directions? If you responded yes. Then this is the article for you.

When it comes to goal-achieving understanding the human brain is important. When the mind is at its best is when it’s singularly focused on one task. So when you have to focus on multiple goals you can end up falling short. Plus when you understand simple maths that when you concentrate on multiple goals you can only give a percentage of energy and time to it.

I too was this person having all the ideas and plans but never amounted to anything significant. The reason why is because I was overcrowding my mind with too much energy. Whist watching minimalist expert Matt De’Avella. It came to me that if I can make my goals and everyday tasks I do each day more minimalist. I could give it my full energy. Like anything in life when you keep it to its simplest form it normally has far-reaching results.

By the end of this article, you should be able to get all of the goals and things you want to do written down and then create a minimalist mindset for goal setting.

Why Minimalism Is Important For The Mind

The minimalist movement first started in the 1950s within the art world. It then expanded to homes and lifestyles. Where now it has become very popular with many youtube channels discussing the benefits of habits and productivity.

Studies have shown that when a human mind is cluttered full of thoughts and emotions it’s not very effective. That’s why journaling, forgiveness and gratitude exercises can be so effective at decluttering the mind.

For me when I have an untidy home or workspace I feel less likely to be productive but when I tidy up my mind feels focused and clear.

That’s why utilising the minimalist strategy to goal setting can help you become more productive and start to achieve your goals.

The most famous investor in the world Warren Buffet understands this approach. He uses the 5/25 rule. Where he writes down 25 goals he wants to achieve but then picks only 5 to focus on. This shows the importance of minimising your goals so you have enough mental capacity to focus on achieving your goals.

How To Create A Minimalist Mindset For Goal Achieving

Write Down Everything. The first task to find what goals and tasks you need to focus on are to have them all written down in front of you. I would get a fresh writing book and write down all your goals.

Bucket list
Career goals
Self-care goals
Skills you want to learn
Health goals
Relationship goals
Travel goals
Business ideas
Wealth goals

This is a great process to understand what you truly want out of life.

Create Your Headings. Once I have all my goals on paper I create the headings from the list above. This helps me to understand the areas of my life I want to focus on.

Pick 1 Goal For Each Heading. Now you have to ask your two questions.

What goal do I truly want to achieve?
What’s the timeframe to achieve this goal?

Both are important because one finds what you want to do and the other gives you focus and discipline to actually achieve the goal.

Get To work In Your Mind. Studies have shown that performing an action in real-time vs performing in my mind offers up similar results. By entering a meditation state of visualisation you can start to imagine the goal you want to achieve as already being done. As long as you believe it and feel it to be true your goal will be achieved.

This has worked countless times and you can see it in sport all the time. Richard Williams instilled this into his daughter’s mindset from an early age. His daughters were Venus and Serena Williams.

Daily To-Do List. When you’re setting up the daily goals you want to achieve all you have to is pick 1 goal that will help you achieve the overall goal you want to achive. Again just one. One is manageable, one is doable, one is motivating.

Minimalism Creates Productivity & Focus

By following the plan above. Achieving your goals will become the norm. The days of procrastination over what goal to do or perfectionism of not starting at all over the fear of not achieving any goal will start to decline rapidly.

You will have your mind back clear and focussed and back in the driving seat of goal achieving.

Final Note – When you achieve your main goals from your headings. Go back to your notebook and write all the other goals that you can add to your list and start the whole process again.

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in my Mindset Monday email newsletter. Each week, I share amazing content that will develop your mindset into the best version you can be. Let’s build an amazing community Enter your email now and join us.

How No TV And Junk Food Has Changed My Child's Mindset

We live in a world now full of distractions and junk food all around us. The pull TV and film have on us is unprecedented in human history. There are still people alive who grew up as children who never had these dopamine heavy hitters pulling on them.

I have noticed in my children how TV and junk food has a spell over their actions where the need to have them is similar to an addict craving their next hit.

The art of being bored is becoming lost with every generation and as an adult, I can see the challenges in this let alone a child dealing with these new impulses.

Wanting the best for our children’s health. We made a parenting decision to ban all junk food and reduce TV time to just 20 minutes a day.

Here’s what I found. The results are amazing.

How No TV And Junk Food

1. We Talk More

Without distractions from TV, I have noticed we defiantly talk more as a family. It’s so easy to have Netflix streaming all their favourite programs to give a parent rest bite or so they can focus on their work. But the only person that’s benefiting is you. Building a strong relationship with your child is the bedrock of a healthy child. The bond between parent and child is one of the strongest relationships there is. Nurturing this through quality one on one time without distraction is important.

2. Creativity Is Unlocked

Our first child never watched much TV when he was little. The creativity of a child is wonderous and the amazing things he created always impressed me. Since we reduced TV time he’s creativity has gone through the roof. Now he’s building his lego and creating playful games with his imagination. Creativity plays a major role in someone’s life and developing it in childhood is a great place to start. Without TV pulling him away from creativity, it’s now unlocked a part of his mind he can utilise more easily.

3. Become Calmer

The effects of sugar on a child’s brain are apparent and the need for a child to watch their TV shows. We started to notice a demand for sugar and tv that was making them emotionally unbalanced. After the second day, we noticed a profound calmness in our children that was amazing. They still asked for sweets and extra TV time. But when we said no it was more understood and overall their energy became less erratic and much calmer.

4. Mealtime Is Relaxed

Getting any child to eat their greens is a chore. We found it difficult getting our children to eat food with TV distracting them and eating healthy food when they have had sugar throughout the day. Now without TV, the food is eaten without having to tell them to eat. The tastebuds are changing to like healthier options more. Overall mealtime has become a resounding hit. Where we eat food without distraction building stronger connections with our children.

5. More Time For Learning

Every parent wants the best for their children and we are no different. But getting our child to do extra work at home was always met with sighs. In his mind, all he wanted to do was watch TV or play his games all day. This became a too and throw battle every time it was brought up and became tiring for both of us. Since TV time has been reduced it has become a lot easier to focus on his education at home. We have seen an improvement in his Maths and English writing and now he even looks forward to doing it.

6. Time Alone With Their Thoughts

Being happy to spend alone time with yourself is so important for everyone’s mental health. It always saddened me when my child hated to spend time alone and the need to be distracted compelled him. I’m happy to say this has now changed and the skill of being able to spend time with his thoughts happily is here. Now he’s developing his ideas and wants in life. He’s also becoming more independent and wanting responsibilities. Lastly, he is happy to spend time on his working on his projects happily. Without distraction, there is more time for mindful thoughts.

The Results

I’m so happy with the decision we made as parents. With the pull of TV, junk food, games and social media on children. It’s ever-important we educate ourselves on the danger this could have on a child’s upbringing.

When listening to people who have created these platforms they don’t even let their children use them. Steve Jobs created the iPad but refused to let his child use it, knowing its addiction fully existed. The same goes for social media developers who have come forward to state the dangers these platforms have and their children will never go on it until they are 18.

Deep down we all know the impact technology and the food we eat has on ourselves and our children. It’s just waking up our minds to action. To put the rights structures in place and to not let them control your thoughts. Balance Is everything and creating that for your child is so important.

These are my findings and I hope they help you with your parenting in any way.

Want more on parenting tips? Read our articles on becoming a better parent.