Okay, real talk — my mindset shift didn’t happen in some Bali retreat or while journaling with a $40 pen. It happened in a Dunkin’ drive-thru in suburban Ohio when I was 34, hungover, and crying because my card got declined for a medium iced coffee. That was rock bottom, folks. Or at least rock bottom adjacent.
I’d spent years telling myself “I’ll be happy when…” When I lose 20 lbs. When I make six figures. When someone finally loves me back the way I deserve. Classic American delusion. Anyway, that morning I just sat in my 2012 CR-V with the cracked dashboard, staring at the little screen that said “insufficient funds,” and something in my brain snapped — but in a good way? Like a mindset shift was forcing its way out whether I liked it or not. https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience/building-your-resilience
The One Small Change That Started My Whole Mindset Shift (It’s Stupid Simple)
Here it is, are you ready? Every single morning — no matter how depressed, broke, or late I am — I force myself to say out loud: “Something ridiculously good is going to happen to me today.”
That’s it.
I say it while brushing my teeth with my eyes half closed. I say it while spilling oat milk all over my kitchen counter in my stupid little rental in Columbus. I say it even on days when I 100% do not believe it.
The first week I felt like a complete idiot. Like, who am I, some TikTok manifestation girl? But I kept doing it because honestly I had nothing left to lose. My life was a dumpster fire with nice candles.
How This Tiny Mindset Shift Actually Rewired My Brain (Science + My Messy Proof)
Look, I’m not gonna pretend I understand the reticular activating system or whatever, but something wild started happening. My brain started LOOKING for evidence that good things were happening. https://positivepsychology.com/reticular-activating-system/
- That random $40 Venmo from a friend I hadn’t talked to in years? Proof.
- The barista giving me a free pup cup for my dog even though I didn’t order one? Proof.
- Getting a parking spot right in front of Target on Black Friday? OBVIOUSLY the universe.
Suddenly instead of my default setting being “everything sucks and I’m doomed,” it became “wait… is that good thing happening right now?” It’s the same life, same problems, same $47 in my checking account — but the lens changed. That’s the power of even a small mindset shift.
The Days My Mindset Shift Failed Spectacularly (Because It’s Not Magic)
Let’s be real — there are still mornings I say the words and immediately think “yeah right, bitch.” Like the day my car broke down on I-70 in the pouring rain, or when I got ghosted after the best third date of my life.
Those days? The mindset shift feels like a cruel joke. But here’s the weird part: even on the bad days, saying it out loud plants this tiny seed. It’s like telling my brain “we’re not going full despair today, we’re only going 70% despair.” Progress, not perfection, baby.
Why Your Mindset Shift Doesn’t Need to Be Big or Instagram-Perfect
We’re sold this lie that transformation has to be dramatic — quit your job, move to Thailand, become a digital nomad with perfect teeth. Nah. My biggest mindset shift came from a $2.19 coffee crisis and talking to myself like a crazy person in my bathroom mirror.
You don’t need a vision board. You need one dumb little habit you do even when you feel stupid. That’s it. That’s the secret nobody wants to tell you because it doesn’t sell courses. https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
So Here’s Your Permission Slip for a Mindset Shift Today
Start tomorrow. Or right now, honestly. Say something ridiculously good is going to happen to you today. Say it out loud even if you’re in a cubicle and Kevin from accounting might hear. Say it while crying in your car if that’s where you are (no judgment, been there).
Because I’m living proof that one small, consistent, kinda cringey mindset shift can take you from crying over declined coffee to… to writing this post from a cute Airbnb in Asheville, drinking actual good coffee, feeling cautiously hopeful about the future.
Your turn. Tell me in the comments — what’s the one tiny thing you’re going to start saying or doing? I actually read them all (yes, even the mean ones).
P.S. If you think this is bullshit, that’s fine. I thought so too. Keep scrolling. But if something in you whispered “maybe…” — try it for seven days. Worst case, you feel silly for a week. Best case? You get your own mindset shift story.
Something ridiculously good is going to happen to you today. I’m serious. 💛
