Change Your Genealogy Mindset and Get Things Done

Have you ever sat down at your computer to do some genealogy and felt stuck? What made you feel stuck? Maybe you couldn’t find the records that you needed.  Did you felt disorganized and didn’t know where to begin. Maybe you didn’t feel motivated to do it right then. All of these have one thing in common. It has to do with our minds. Therefore, our mindset plays a powerful role when we work on our genealogy. It’s what I call our genealogy mindset, or what we believe about our genealogy.

How do you go from feeling stuck in your genealogy efforts to feeling motivated? Here are just a few tools that have helped me. In addition, this post about creating your genealogy goals is a great way to start changing your mindset.

Thought Download

This simple tool is not new nor does it only work for genealogy. However, it’s a powerful way to see what you’re actually thinking. Then you can keep those thoughts that are helping you feel motivated and you can get rid of those thoughts that aren’t. 

First, all you need to do is grab any piece of paper and set a timer for 5-10 minutes. Second, just dump every thought that comes into your mind onto that paper. Third, don’t judge your thoughts, just get them out of your head so you can see them better.  And last, I recommend doing this practice at least twice a week. 

Now look over your thoughts and see what ones are helping you feel motivated, kind, helpful, capable, etc. These are the thoughts you want to keep believing.  Next, there will be those thoughts that are keeping you stuck.  Thoughts such as “It’s too much work. I don’t have enough time. I can’t find anything for this person. I don’t know…” These are thoughts that are holding you back from feeling motivated in your genealogy journey.

Find your believable thought

Finding a new thought can be simple yet tricky.  This new thought has to be one that you can believe. If you don’t believe everything is all rainbows and sunshine, then don’t pick that thought.  What is a thought that you can believe that will get you motivated to do your genealogy this year?

Thoughts such as “I’m excited to see what I find this year. There is a way to figure out my genealogy problem, I just haven’t found it yet. I’m not done looking yet. Look how far I’ve come this year.” These are much easier thoughts to believe and get you motivated to do your genealogy. I recommend you make a list of new believable thoughts and put it somewhere that you will see it often.  

Take action to Change your Genealogy Mindset

Now that you have a new thought, it’s time to take action. Do you feel a renewed sense of motivation? If you don’t, then go back and find a different new thought. Your brain will try to tell you that your new thought won’t work, but don’t listen! Keep practicing your new thought and just keep moving forward. All of this practice is to help you change your genealogy mindset. Your genealogy mindset is the key to changing your actions and getting you better genealogy results.

Remember, our thoughts create our feelings, our feelings create our actions, and our actions create our results.  You can do this!

Good luck and happy hunting!

Tiffany

P.S. If you need more help with any part of your genealogy, then contact me through my website, Facebook page, or Instagram account all under the name Savvy Genealogy.

P.P.S. If you would like to learn more about breaking free from your limiting thoughts, then check out the work of Jody Moore and Brooke Castillo for further enlightenment.