If you believed your greatest experiences are in front of you, instead of behind you... ° How would you show up for yourself? ° What decisions would you make today? ° How would you feel about your life? When we’re young, the belief that our greatest adventures are yet to happen, comes naturally to us. But over time we start limiting ourselves more and more. Approaching life with a sense of wonder gets lost over time. We become fearful of the unknown instead of excited by it. At some point, we decide that we should have accomplished certain things already and then we stop trying. Seeking out new experiences doesn’t have to end at a certain age. We can always find something to look forward to. We can choose to nurture our sense of excitement and allow ourselves to dream until we die. If you actively engage in introspection and personal development, you already have a lot of wisdom and experience you can draw from when you come across a challenge or a struggle. Often, it's not that you need to learn something new.
Rather, you need to remember how much you already know and utilize what you already have. How to do it: Create a list of insights, tools, and resources that you can lean on when you need guidance, advice, or a reminder. You can create a list in a notes tab or have a journal and keep compiling new tools. Managing our mind is one of the most important skills any business owner needs to master in order to be efficient, productive, and successful. Learning how to manage our minds means knowing how to silence the mental noise and to guide our minds so they work for us, not against us. When our mind is clear and unburdened, that’s when intuition can shine through and we can make our best decisions, achieve results, and be creative. The following mindset traps are common obstacles to growth and progress and they are massive time and energy suckers. If you notice any of these ways of thinking in your professional or personal life, don’t judge yourself. Understand your mind is doing its job (safety and predictability) and it will come up with all kinds of reasons to keep you in your comfort zone and prevent you from doing anything new or uncomfortable. 1. Overwhelm Many people use the word overwhelm to describe their internal state without much thought about what it really means. When people say they are overwhelmed, they feel as if they’re simply narrating the facts and that overwhelm happens to be one of those things that just happens to them. Overwhelm is not a circumstance that’s outside of us. It is not something that simply happens to us, it is something we create with our thoughts. For example, someone with 5 things on their to-do list might feel overwhelmed, while someone else might feel relief. The difference in feelings is based on what we think about the 5 tasks on our list. What to do instead: Ask yourself: What exactly am I overwhelmed by? List all of the things that come up. Now, you simply have a list of things that need to be attended to. Next, circle the parts of your to-do list that are within your control. Rank all the things you circled based on priority. Take action on the priority items and you won’t have time to stew in the overwhelm. Now that you know your next step is to take action, there is a chance that other mindset traps will come up as resistance to taking action. 2. All or Nothing Thinking It may sound like…“I don’t have hours to work on it, so what’s the point in starting” “If I can’t succeed the first time, I never will” “One bad thing happened, now my whole day is ruined” “I don’t have time to do it “the right way” so I’m going to wait.” “I’m not where I want to be, so it means I failed.” “I don’t have time to finish it, so why start.” Or any variation of giving yourself two (usually extreme) options. All or nothing thinking is a cop-out from trying. It is lazy thinking. It lacks flexibility and nuance. And the worst thing - it pretends to be useful (“I want to do it the right way”) but it’s leading to self-sabotage and stagnation. All or nothing thinking loses its power when we decide to focus on doing what we can do (no matter how small the step seems) instead of thinking about doing big things, but never acting on them because we’re waiting for perfect conditions. What to do instead:
3. Confusion “I don’t know what to do,” “I’m so confused,” or “I’ve never done this before,” are some flavors of confusion. Confusion is fear in disguise. At first glance, it appears harmless. It appears like a fact: “But I really don’t know what to do!” But as much as we may be saying that we don’t want to be confused, confusion is comfortable, easy, and passive. It is easier to be confused than make a decision and deal with its consequences. When we buy into the confusion, we are cutting ourself off from any possible solutions and creativity. We close the door to answers. And we are giving away our precious time, because confusion feeds off of our time and energy. What to do instead: Stop indulging in confusion by directing your mind towards finding solutions and being creative. You can do this by asking yourself a few question and letting your mind marinade in them. Here are a few to get you reflecting in a different direction: What can I do about this? What needs my attention right now? What am I overlooking? How would someone else think about this? What advice would someone who cares about me give me in this moment? These questions will get your brain going in more creative ways instead of sitting in not knowing. Pause and take a break. Get your mind off of the task when you notice that you’re not being productive. Your body and mind might be needing rest. Allow it. Get yourself out of your everyday space. A new environment may inspire different ways of thinking. Building a business is a long game, not an overnight success. Remember that successful business is built on putting ideas to practice, a willingness to be uncomfortable, and creating from a clear, focused mind. One of the best ways to start the day is by journaling. It's a form of reflective and grounding practice that connects you deeper to the truth of who you are. But for many who struggle with overwhelm, stress, and worry, taking the time to slow down and journal feels difficult. Interrupting the constant chatter in their mind may feel triggering and can bring up a lot of self-judgment. It may bring up thoughts like "I'm not good at it," "I don't have the time," I don't know what to write," "I've tried it in the past and in wasn't helpful," or "I have nothing to write about." None of these thoughts are actually true, it's your mind coming up with ways to make it complicated and task oriented. The key is to get started even if it's one sentence, a few bullet points, or even drawing. It can be anything you want it to be and there is no wrong way to do it as long as you're doing it. What are the benefits of a journaling practice?
What to write?
Accomplishing one thing is moving you forward more than wanting it all but doing nothing.
All or Nothing thinking is one of the biggest mindset traps and obstacles to growth and progress. All or nothing thinking is a cop-out from trying. It is lazy thinking. It lacks flexibility and nuance. It pretends to be useful (“I want to do it the right way”) but it’s leading to self-sabotage and stagnation. It may sound like… “I don’t have time to workout an hour a day, so I’m not going to work out at all” “If I can’t succeed the first time, I never will” “I messed up one time, so what’s the point of continuing” “One bad thing happened, now my whole day is ruined” “I don’t have time to do it “the right way” so I’m going to wait.” Or any variation of giving yourself only two options. Remember that completed is always better than perfect. All of nothing thinking loses its power when we decide to focus on doing what we can do (no matter how small the step seems) instead of thinking about doing big things, but never acting on them because we’re waiting for perfect conditions. Forget about doing it all, just do something. |
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April 2024
AuthorSladja Redner |