Hello Everyone and happy weekend! I want to talk today about something that's been bothering me for awhile now. A few months ago I joined a group of women who opened my eyes to how destructive my mindset has been for most of my life. I have grown up believing I have only one path ahead of me; a path that has limited me and limited what I am truly capable of in this life. The truth is, many of us are born into the world having one perspective: our own limited view of the world. We are programmed from childhood to follow social norms, to follow the crowd, to NOT stand out... and because of this way of thinking we create habits that center around this mindset. Because of this outlook on life and the limitations we have created in our minds, we start to believe that we have only one option in life; that we have limitations based on our circumstances and that this is just the way life is and we better accept it. This is the biggest form of self-sabotage we can inflict on ourselves. It is accepting a fabricated image of ourselves that we've created based on nothing. It is opening the door to a hopeless life and perpetuating that lie through habits and behaviors that we've inflicted upon ourselves. Who told us that we couldn't be a great writer, or a great athlete, or a savvy business owner? A lawyer, a doctor, an artist, a singer, dancer, etc... whatever it is that we've always hoped to become, we are as capable of achieving as anyone else out there. When we start seeing ourselves as limited and creating behaviors that perpetuate the lie than we become what we have limited ourselves to be. If we focus on what we can't have or the negative aspect of something, like losing weight rather than becoming fit and healthy, than we will always keep ourselves in that mindset of 'I need to lose weight,' or 'I need to find the perfect partner' or 'I want the dream job,' etc... Instead of focusing on what habits we can create to make us worthy of that goal. I want to be honest and say that, after years of living in one frame-of-mind, it is so very hard to change that mindset and that way of thinking. I don't want to make it sound like it's as simple as flipping a switch, because it's not. Once you start changing the way you think it may actually be uncomfortable, like living outside your own skin. Because, after living and thinking a certain way for an extended period of time you begin to love the misery it brings and become comfortable in it. People tell me sometimes that I'm lucky to be thin, but the truth is, I've created a lifetime of habits that have made me thin. I have given up a lot of time with friends and at social events and parties because I needed to get my workout in. I've lost out on friendships because I put exercise first. I have spent a lot of times in the rain and awful weather to get my run done every day. I've relaxed a lot more the past few years, but its that type of mindset that shapes us into the people we need to be, in order to create a more fulfilling life for ourselves. I'm trying to figure out how to transfer this mindset into other areas of my life, in areas that I have put on the back burner for years and which are making my quality of life suffer. In what areas of your life have you put on the back burner? What areas do you feel you have succeeded in creating a winners mindset? How have you perpetuated the lie that you're not capable of greatness? How have you limited yourself? Share your story!
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