10 simple tips for a more flexible mentality and improved content
Content creation requires powerful mental flexibility. To make it as a creator, you need to learn many things. And probably, you will change strategy multiple times in your career.
If you have never tried content creation, your intuitions will fail a lot in the beginning. And you will need to reframe your beliefs to boost your content and succeed.
But how can you improve your mental flexibility? And how could this help you with content creation?
5 Benefits of Improving your Mental Flexibility
Flexibility is an evergreen trait. People search for it in their job, relationships, and mental health. And there are many studies describing a direct correlation between flexibility and higher chances of success.
Flexible content creators adapt to failures easier. They are full of energy and less stressed, so their creativity works better. And they also build better relationships with other people, which helps them build supportive networks.
1 — Adaptability to failure
Adaptability to failure is the key reason you want to improve your mental flexibility.
Content creation is a complex work environment. And how you react to failures can make a difference.
If you give up at the first setback, you won’t probably get anywhere. But if you persist, acknowledge the failure, and modify your work ethic, your chances of succeeding will rise.
According to a study by T. Ramaci, psychological flexibility and mindfulness predict individual outcomes in work environments. So if you become more flexible, your career will benefit from it.
2 — Improved creativity
Creativity is the ability to search for answers and come up with solutions. Mental flexibility, instead, is the ability to use problem-solving to choose the best path possible. So the first one gives you multiple choices, while the second decides the correct one (apparently, at least).
Yet, if you enhance your ability to select paths, you will also ask for more solutions. So if you learn how to improve your mental flexibility, your creativity and content will also flourish.
3 — More energy
Mental flexibility can also be energizing. Solving an unexpected problem makes you feel motivated, strong, and purposeful. So every time your adaptability makes you succeed, a boost of energy triggers.
For content creation, energy is vital because, without it, you won’t produce anything. And finishing a piece of content that seemed impossible to make gives you the mental boost to keep going.
4 — Stress reduction
More power equals less stress. And being able to solve problems without too much trouble feels powerful.
On the contrary, if every setback brings you pain and makes you doubt yourself, your stress will increase, and you will lose confidence. In fact, according to a study led by Giulia Landi, inflexible people are more likely to experience distress.
5 — Deeper relationships
Mental flexibility also helps you build better relationships allowing you to make time for others and compromise if needed.
Everybody loves someone that can see their point of view and listen to their problems and worries. So being flexible makes you build a network of people that could support your content creation career.
10 Ways to Improve Your Mental Flexibility for Better Content
When dealing with mental flexibility, nobody has the correct answer. Not even the greatest psychologist will ever understand every human being on earth completely.
Everyone behaves in their way. And everyone reacts to changes differently from others. So even if there are more ways to improve your mental flexibility, it doesn’t mean each will work for you. Some of them will fit your personality and background, and some won’t. Just try them out, and see what happens.
1 — Think with purpose.
Having a dream makes you fight adversities until you find a way to succeed. And if you think with purpose, you will also become more flexible because you will bend your mindset to reach the destination.
Have you ever wondered why some people always hit the mark?
They don’t care about the best theories or systems. They have a purpose and are willing to do the impossible to achieve it. So sooner or later, they find a way.
Is becoming a content creator your life purpose? Then try anything to achieve it.
2 — Reframe failure.
Thinking with purpose and reframing failure are two inseparable skills anybody should master. There is no success without failure. And there is no failure without goals.
In other words, if you don’t try, you cannot fail. But if you cannot lose, are you even trying to win?
Stop seeing obstacles everywhere, and reframe them as opportunities and challenges that could help you upgrade your skills. This simple self-talk exercise is often more than enough to improve your mental flexibility and your content.
If your latest piece of content did not work, it doesn’t mean you are a failure as a creator. It means you failed at selling your work this time. Next time it might go better or worse. But at least you learned what does not perform.
3 — Align with your values.
Your values are essential in defining who you are and how you act. And if you want to improve your mental flexibility, you need to recognize your values and how they characterize you.
What is the reason behind your goals? Why do you want to become a content creator?
Is it for the money? Or is there something more?
Perhaps you want to help people improve their lives. Or maybe you hate working for somebody else and want to do everything alone.
You don’t have to judge your values. But you need to know them.
4 — Learn to stop.
When you create content, you don’t only need to take care of productivity — you also need to know when to stop. Otherwise, you might overstress your creativity, drain your energy, and burn out.
So if you want to improve your content and mental flexibility, learn how to take a break. Instead of continuing to work poorly, pause for a few minutes or even days if you need it. Recollect your thoughts and refocus. Your brain will keep working in the background. And it will find new solutions.
5 — Be reckless.
Another way to deal with failures is to learn to care less about anything. So achieve the mental state that makes you drop a project as soon as it fails you.
It doesn’t mean you have to renounce everything at the first setback. But thinking about projects as temporary might help you reach higher heights.
And even if you find success creating some content, it doesn’t mean it will always be successful. Online marketing changes fast. And it requires flexibility to meet its standards.
6 — Try out new things.
A fixed mindset is the death of any long-term plan. So if you are planning to make content creation your job, experiment with new things. Sometimes, it is better to produce content that fails than to have another successful piece.
- If you try something new, you will always learn a lesson, whether it fails or succeeds.
- If you keep producing what you find successful, you will never prepare for any necessary changes.
Also, trying out new things refreshes routines with new energy and points of view. So you will improve your mental flexibility by feeding it new results to analyze.
7 — Investigate your thoughts.
Efficient self-talk helps you improve your mental flexibility because you will be more aware of your state of mind. And if you analyze your thoughts, your writing skills will also improve.
By introducing a self-talk routine in your creative process, you can understand if an argument is solid or not and what changes it needs. Also, you will learn how to empathize with your audience to give them the best content ever.
8 — Apologize often.
Being flexible also implies knowing when you are wrong and asking for forgiveness. So if you want to improve your mental flexibility, learn to deal with mistakes.
The Internet gave us one of the best experiences of our kind — freedom of speech. But if you can say whatever you want, it doesn’t mean you can’t be wrong. On the contrary, you will be wrong most time. And you will need to ask for forgiveness.
Many see this as a weakness. But asking for forgiveness is a true sign of maturity, respectability, and seriousness. And the audience will always value those who inspire with attitude.
9 — Create a support system.
Content creation requires many individual skills, but you can’t do everything alone. Sometimes, you will need the support of those who believe in you — friends, partners, and family.
Your support system will help you when you need it, but it will also criticize you when you are being stubborn. It will force you to be reasonable when you are too rigid or strict. So your mental flexibility will benefit from it, as will your content.
10 — Have fun.
And lastly, you need to have fun. If you don’t enjoy the process, you will never become good at it. But nothing can keep you from reaching your goal if you have fun, deal with setbacks, and reframe your mindset for future adventures.
So every time you are not having fun, ask yourself. Why are you doing it if it doesn’t bring you joy?
Final Thoughts
Mental flexibility is a minimum requirement for the content creation game. You cannot get anywhere without the ability to change plans at the last minute and try out new things.
Adapting to new situations improves your ability to deal with failures, creativity, and energy levels. It reduces your stress, and it makes you a better relationship builder.
But learning to adapt requires thinking with purpose, reframing failures, and even searching deeply for your values. It isn’t a change you can make overnight.
You need to become more careless and try new options to see how they perform. You shall analyze your thoughts and understand what works. But you can only do that under one condition — having fun, always.
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Cover photo by David Hofmann on Unsplash.