How to build a Positive Mindset with a Personal Project

Coping with stress and maintaining good mental health is not always easy, and especially if you have a high-pressure job, it can be a challenge to dig deep to find positivity. However, the absence of a positive mindset tends to become a vicious, self-perpetuating cycle, which conditions us to think more and more negatively. This is annoying! 

Particularly since the pandemic, when a lot of us had more time and space to reconnect with personal passions and long-forgotten hobbies, there has been a rise in people looking to start anew. 

But rather than simply quitting your job to pursue your obsession with sourdough bread (although I wouldn’t blame you for it!), a more constructive, more engaging, and more exciting question arises: how can we bring a little positivity back into our lives?

Because guess what? What we do outside of work can help us to reduce work stress! 
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​Personal Projects as a Form of Self Care

Because guess what? What we do outside of work can help us to reduce work stress! 

One way to do this may be to embark on a personal project that is close to your heart, and that gives you a sense of purpose while enjoying your efforts. Having something enjoyable to focus on that doesn’t involve the pressure at work will also help to alleviate stress. 

If you are tempted by the idea, here are a few ideas that might get the ball rolling on your personal project. Remember, this should be fun and enjoyable! Do not put yourself under more pressure.

So, how do you start your personal project? I’ll touch on a few key points:

How do you align it with your own values? 

How do you define goals that make sense and enable you to feel a sense of achievement? 

​And finally, how do you make sure you can start now? It’s now or never!
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Positivity, Project, and Values (PPV): A Quick Recap

​Going back to basics, let’s first talk about what being positive means, what a personal project brings, and how we can align it with our own values to transform our lives and create some much-needed positive energy.
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​Building a Positive Mindset

By definition (thank you Dictionary), to be positive is to rest on a firm idea, “something, of which the reality cannot be doubted […] which takes account of realities, which has a practical sense […] which has an effect, a favorable result or which constitutes a stage in a progression”.

In order to build your positive attitude therefore means deciding to be positive in one’s approach. It means forging a personal and conditional conviction that a specific behavior will have a transformative impact on our lives.
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Promising, isn’t it?
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​A Personal Project

A project is something that we are committed to, and which pushes us forward in a desirable direction. It is something that may push our limits beyond what we thought we were capable of because it is an authentic creation of our very own.

For this reason, personal projects can bring us positive emotions, self-confidence, rigor, and a reason to get up in the morning. With each step in the direction of our ultimate goals - eg. baking that perfect loaf, or running up the third peak of the week - we inspire ourselves to continue along this self-created avenue of possibility. 

Projects can be a very personal expression of what moves us, motivates us, and creates in us an irrepressible need to move to change a situation that may be negative, unsatisfactory, uncomfortable, or uncertain.
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In other words, a project is a concrete and tangible way of putting into practice the desire for positivity that we have – that’s all there is to it. When we begin to see positive results, we are tapping into the power of positive thinking! 
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​Values which Develop myself Personally and Professionally

Finally, a successful project is one that aligns with our values.
Values are super important! 

If your project was a GPS that was supposed to take you somewhere, then your values would typically be the road signs that line up your route and define where you’re driving.

Never this way, never that way, always at the same speed… you get the idea!

So in order to know your motives behind your project, in other words, your driving force, you must firstly define what is important to you!

You might be thinking you’re not entirely sure what your values are. Don’t worry, they do exist, and it can be really helpful to clarify them.
Think about what contributes to generating positive emotions in your daily life. This is always an easy place to start.

What is your favourite part of the day? Maybe it’s coming home to your dog and taking it for a run, or perhaps discovering new restaurants excites you. On the flipside of this, what do you turn to when you feel anxious or have low energy? Perhaps you can focus on something that you know makes you feel soothed and easeful. 

Looking at this will help you make your project exciting and stimulating.

Another question is, how can you create a positive impact on your life or even the lives of others? Whether it is for three months, a year, five years, or ten years? It is no secret that being of service and helping others is incredibly fulfilling, and helps to create a deep sense of meaning and purpose for those looking to boost their positive energy.
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The questions are there – the rest is in your hands!
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To make the Momentum last, set SMART goals!

We described positivity as a way of thinking that creates positive conditioning.

To make the momentum of your project last, it is highly recommended to set up SMART goals in the short, medium, and long term!

SMART is an acronym that defines a good goal as being: 

1. Specific (because vague objectives lead nowhere)
2. Measurable (because there is no evaluation without prior measurement)
3. Assignable (an objective must be achieved by/with an identified person)
4. Realistic (don’t set yourself up for disappointment)
5. With a notion of Time (all goals have results within a reasonable time).

This point is essential to ensure that your positive mindset grows!

It allows you to formulate a clear idea of where you want to go.
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It allows you to put in place a clear plan of action for personal growth, and to measure progress.

It allows you to give responsibility to the parties involved in the project - including you!

It keeps your feet on the ground.

And it allows the project to enter a time dimension that you can control.

Put differently? Having a SMART project will allow you to gain confidence step by step while controlling the realisation and the ins and outs of what you have in mind. That’s positivity in a nutshell!
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So? What kind of positive energy do you want to produce? What positive impact do you want to have? Do you need a push from a Life Coach? ​