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Reframe Your Mindset and Become a Successful Author
Do you have a burning desire to publish a novel but never sit down to write it? Have you started drafting your book, but instead of writing it, you get distracted and sidetracked by life?
Overcoming your writing obstacles and becoming a successful author requires that you master your mindset.
Struggling to finish a book is something all writers at all levels have experienced, and the culprit we often think is writer’s block.
But sometimes, our writing struggles go a bit deeper. Our struggles often stem from our thoughts.
Everything we do or don’t do in life comes down to our thoughts.
The famous quote by Henry Ford sums up the power of mindset – “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
You can spend all the time in the world trying to get over your writer’s block or doing writing prompts to jumpstart your creativity, but if your mindset is not supportive of your writing, then writing will feel like an uphill battle.
But there is a powerful personal development technique known as the Self-coaching Model that you can learn to instantly shift your mindset.
Keep reading to learn more!
What Does Master Your Mindset Mean?
Mastering your mindset means taking control of your thoughts and beliefs and, ultimately, taking control of your life.
It means understanding that your mindset is the foundation for all of your actions and decisions.
Mastering your mindset is about personal growth and success. When you master your mindset, you gain the power to create the life you desire by choosing empowering thoughts, setting clear goals, and taking consistent action toward them.
You become more proactive, resourceful, and determined to make your dreams a reality. When you level up your mindset, you can overcome challenges, embrace opportunities, and achieve your goals.
How Do You Master Your Mindset?
You master your mindset by learning how thoughts create the results in your life.
If you’ve struggled to start and finish your novel, it’s time to look into your mindset and limiting beliefs.
One of the best resources to quickly shift your mindset is the book Self-Coaching 101 by Brooke Castillo.
Coming across Brooke’s book and podcast and learning how thoughts really work was life-changing for me.
It was as if I had been living in the dark and finally turned on the lights.
Through Brooke’s self-coaching technique, one of the first things I learned is that a limiting belief is just a negative thought you keep thinking.
The good news is you can take control of negative thoughts.
To better understand how your thoughts may be affecting your writing, let me explain how your mind works.
In life, we have circumstances, thoughts, feelings, actions, and results.
Circumstances are facts.
Facts are things and events you can prove, such as your name, age, and occupation.
Circumstances are also things outside of our control. If you are writing a novel and working 9 to 5, that’s a circumstance outside of your immediate control, a fact.
A thought is an opinion.
A thought is a sentence in your head about a circumstance in your life. A thought is an opinion, not a fact. Such as “I work full time and don’t have time to work on my novel.”
Two writers can have different thoughts about the same circumstance: working full-time.
Writer #1 can think – “I don’t have time to work on my novel because I work full-time.”
Writer #2 can think – “I work full-time, but I can write for an hour before or after work.”
Do you see how two writers can have different thoughts (not enough time/I can make time) about the same circumstance (writing a novel while working full time)?
Feelings are vibrations in your body caused by your thoughts.
I don’t have time to work on my novel because I work full-time = Feels bad.
I work full time, but I can write for an hour before or after work = Feels better.
Do you see how each thought causes a different feeling? Do you also see that you can choose which thought to believe?
You take action or don’t take action based on how you feel.
Your thoughts and feelings determine your next step, so you must be aware of what you’re thinking and feeling.
For example, the thought, “I don’t have time to work on my novel because I work full-time,” causes you to feel bad.
Because you believe you don’t have time, you feel bad, and so you avoid working on your novel (the very thing making you feel bad).
So, as an example, you stay up binge-watching Netflix, which makes you feel tired the next day.
Results are the effects of your actions.
When you binge-watch Netflix instead of getting sleep, you feel less motivated to wake up early to work on your novel. Before you know it, days, weeks, and months have gone by, and you haven’t written anything.
Do you see how the result of not working on your novel proves the original thought – “I don’t have time to work on my novel.”
The whole negative cycle started with the limiting belief “I don’t have time to work on my novel because I work full-time.”
If the concept of Circumstances = Thoughts = Feelings = Actions = Results feels overwhelming, I get it.
It took me some time to grasp the idea, but it helped me accomplish my writing goals once I did.
I recommend you listen to Episode 1 of the Life Coach School podcast to understand the concept better. The information you will learn will be mind-blowing!
Mastering Your Mindset Requires Becoming Aware of Your Limiting Beliefs
Once you understand how your thoughts and beliefs create your results, it’s time to discover the limiting beliefs holding you back.
To master your mindset and reach your writing goals, you must address your beliefs.
Otherwise, your self-limiting beliefs will cause resistance and sabotage your efforts to accomplish your writing goals.
Brooke Castillo’s concept of a Thought Download is the best exercise I found to discover limiting beliefs.
If you would like a copy of my Thought Download template, you can request access to the Writer’s Library, where I share helpful writing templates and resources.
A Thought Download is when you free write your thoughts. You don’t filter your thoughts. You just write every thought that comes to mind. To help you focus, set a timer for about 5 minutes.
In our case, we want to uncover why we are struggling to finish writing a novel.
Set a time for 5 minutes, grab a piece of paper, and ask yourself – Why am I struggling to finish writing my novel?
Start the timer and just write!
Shift Your Thoughts
Once the time is up, put the paper down and give yourself a few minutes to breathe. Then take a look at what you wrote.
What you will see are the thoughts that are either supporting or limiting you. Chances are you will find more limiting beliefs than supportive ones.
But that’s okay because the first step to mastering your mindset is to be aware of your thoughts.
If what you wrote is primarily negative thoughts, be kind to yourself. It’s okay. You will learn to shift your thoughts.
Read through your Thought Download and pick the thought that stands out the most. Rewrite the negative thought into a positive thought.
For example, the thought “I am a terrible writer” can be rewritten to “Every day that I write, I become a better writer.”
Practice the new thought by rereading or rewriting it daily.
Repeat this process until the new thought feels good (you believe it).
You will likely find yourself with a list of several thoughts to practice. In other words, you will create a list of affirmations to support your writing.
If you are having trouble believing your new thought, create a bridge thought.
A bridge thought is a thought that takes you from your original thought to a thought you want to think but don’t yet believe. For example:
- Original Thought: I am a terrible writer.
- Bridge Thought: Every day I write, I become a better writer.
- Final Thought: I’m a great writer.
Work on affirming the bridge thought until you feel ready to believe the final thought.
Affirm Your New Thoughts
Using the self-coaching technique, you can instantly start shifting your negative thoughts.
To make turn these new thoughts into permanent beliefs, you will require daily practice.
But if you’re determined to change your thinking and finish your book, then make self-coaching a daily habit.
Additional Tips to Shift Your Mindset
Here are more tips to shift your mindset and support your writing goals:
1. Focus on success
2. Set a SMART Goal
Focus on Success
What you focus on expands. Track your writing progress. Make a list of what you accomplished that day, no matter how small, and pat yourself on the back.
Set a SMART Goal
Mindset is the first step to finishing your book. The second step is to set a SMART goal.
Having a goal will keep you focused on what you want to accomplish, but you need to get specific with your goal. Having a goal of finishing your first draft is not enough.
You must have a SMART goal that gets specific on word count, deadline, and monthly, weekly, and daily writing goals.
To learn more about setting SMART goals, check out How to Achieve Your Life Goal to Write a Book
Quick Recap on Mastering Your Mindset
To master your mindset and reach your goals of publishing a book, you must address your beliefs.
Otherwise, your self-limiting beliefs will cause resistance and sabotage your efforts.
If you can master your mindset, you finish your book and be one step closer to achieving your publishing dreams.
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Setting SMART goals and using the Pomodoro method has been super helpful in writing my current book. I’ve actually written the entire first half in just a week.
Great tips, thank you for sharing. That’s something I struggle with.