Crafting a Mindset

Mindset. An often overlooked component to our lives. Many times we think if we just take more action, if we just implement more or better habits, if we hang around more positive people, if we do all the things, that we’ll get out of life what we want.

These are all things I’ve done in trying to craft the life I envisioned. Yet I never quite put the last touches on that picture of life I had in my head. Why not? Because I didn’t have the right mindset.

Why am I doing this?

I was too busy doing things without really believing in why I was doing them. Maybe ‘someone’ said I should do things this way or that way. So I’d try it. But deep down I needed to change my mindset. Trying new ways is perfectly fine, but without the underlying mindset, as soon as that new way doesn’t give you what you expect, it’s just another failure.

It doesn’t have to be that way. What if you looked at life with a different mindset? What if everything is a learning experience? What if the new eating program or the new exercise program you’re doing is just a learning experience and not necessarily the end-all-be-all of eating or exercising? What if you take from it the pieces that work for you and make a difference in your life? What if you try some of the new ways and keep the ones that resonate with you. Change can be hard, so don’t confuse change with ‘it’s not working’.

Believe in yourself

What if you set an underlying mindset to believe in yourself. Not just to say it. But to really mean it. Go to a time in your life when you really believed in yourself. What did that look like? How were you as a person?

What if you respected yourself? All of the different crafting experiences you’ve had, both the good, and especially the bad…..what if they were just all learning experiences. Things you tried and you learned from. You learned what worked. You learned what didn’t work. Don’t you need both to be successful?

I remember one of my earlier managers at my 9-5 job schooling me on the fact that I’d learn just as much from the bad managers as I would from the good managers. I’d learn the manager I did NOT want to be, as much as I’d learn the manager I did want to be. I think we forget that the bad experiences teach just as much and just as loudly as the good experiences.

Isn’t it the same in life? Even pursuing our passions or hobbies. Have you been dying to try a new craft, but you’re scared you might not like it or won’t be good enough at it? Try it anyway! Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you might just be great at it?

Failure as just a learning experience

When I created this blog, I vacillated between being good enough and being on fire. I had one foot in the “I’m creating a craft blog I love” and one foot in the safety net of not going all in ‘just in case it didn’t work out’. Then I met a blogging coach that completely changed my mindset — something I didn’t think I needed because, well I’m old enough to not need a coach (insert eyeroll) — about just going all in. To commit to myself. To chalk EVERYTHING up to a learning experience. And to not take failures personally. To truly know that failure is inevitable and that failure is required.

No toddler learns how to walk without falling. Heck, some days I still trip over my own feet!  Failure is part of the process and once you accept that, it makes trying new things so much easier. The failure is not about you failing. It’s just about something that didn’t work. And it’s all okay. You move on with life, unlike how I used to tally up ‘one more failure’.

I had to stop doing that. I had to go out and take actions in my life, with the anticipation of failing. Knowing ahead of time, and setting my mindset ahead of time, that failure was a real possibility and at least if I had some expectation of it then if it happened, it wasn’t a surprise or anything that made ME a failure. Don’t get me wrong, I still tried my best, but how many times do you not know what you don’t know?! Right? And so as Maya Angelou said “Do. And once you know better, do better”.

Final Thoughts on Crafting a Mindset

What is it in your life — new crochet technique, a new craft venture, etc — that you’ve been shying away from and just need to accept the idea that failure from it could happen? Commit to a new mindset. And go do that thing!

Leave a comment below on what you are going to try (and potentially fail at).  I’d love to hear from you. And you trying something, whether you succeed or fail, gives someone else the courage to try. So let’s do this together.

To new craft adventures…

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Did you know I also have a series that features new projects I try out from other crafty designers? If you are interested in learning more about my New Project Spotlight series read my New Project Spotlight series welcome article.

I’m always looking for new projects to feature. What is a new project you’ve tried and liked? Would it be a good one to shine the light on in my New Project Spotlight series? Are you an awesome crochet artist with a design you’d like to see featured here? If so, leave me a note in the comments.

In addition to several of my crochet boards on Pinterest, you might also check out my Made It, Did It, Tried It board, chuck full of a random assortment of projects, places, recipes and more that I’ve tried and liked.