Mindset is a powerful thing. As a young man long told he couldn’t succeed, I struggled with depression, homelessness and poverty. I simply didn’t believe in myself. Certainly, I dreamed of success and business ideas, but why would I be worthy?
Thoughts like this are natural for many of us. Especially those who have faced setbacks and negative pressures from teachers, family or friends. But teaching myself to shift the story, face my fears and focus on my high personal expectations changed everything. And it can work for you too.
If you can commit to a few small changes in your routine, reaching your goals will be easier than ever before. Today, I want to share the MindShift hacks that helped me go from broke to training Fortune 500 companies and signing my first billion-dollar business deal.
I was embarrassed and ashamed, so I was afraid to face others.
Don’t hide and retreat
When I was in my early twenties, I had a bad habit every time I faced self-doubt or a setback. My primal response was to retreat and hide. And I gave into it. At times like this, you couldn’t find me. I was embarrassed and ashamed, so I was afraid to face others.
If you’ve ever done this, you might have told yourself doing so was just a way to regroup. Create a new plan and have something productive to present to our friends and colleagues. However, too often, retreating only reinforces our struggles. We get caught in our negative headspace.
Start training yourself to reach out, not inward, in the face of adversity. At first, maybe you go out of your way to help a friend or spend an hour volunteering in your community. Surround yourself with positive feelings. Then go to the places where others are doing the work. Business meetups, online communities, a mentor or coach.
The positive energy of others, when we feel like there is nothing scarier than exposing our humanity, will help you rebound faster. They’ll remind you why you need to stay focused on the end goal.
Find a strategy that makes your promises real to you.
Create your personal promises
Goal setting is essential for every individual and Business Owner. But goals and targets are too impersonal. They are also easy to set aside or change when you get off-track. Instead, embrace the power of personal promises.
For more than 15 years I’ve sat down once a year to craft my top ten personal promises. The first step each year is writing a vision letter. Putting myself in the shoes of my ideal future self, I craft a letter explaining where I am a year from now. How is my business doing? Am I healthy? How much time am I spending with family and leisure activities? Get as detailed as possible to make that future version of yourself real.
Then, start to craft what steps you have to take to make that person a reality. What are your priorities? Where do you have to be in six months, three months or one month? Then narrow down the absolutely most important and make them fixtures of your life.
In my experience, writing them down wasn’t enough. I could ignore them. So, each year I type up my list, take it to Staples and have ten to fifteen copies laminated. These sheets are in my office, briefcase, car, bedroom and anywhere else I might happen upon them. That small extra step of laminating makes my personal promises real to me.
So find a strategy that makes your promises real to you.
Every morning I read my personal promises out loud.
Make positive mindset a non-negotiable habit
You know what you want, and you’ve committed to the most important promises to make your dreams happen. Now you need to feel as motivated and inspired as you feel right now every day. How can you harness this energy to keep you focused?
Establish a daily routine—specifically a morning routine. Make it completely non-negotiable. Remove the decision fatigue of what to do and where to get started each morning. You’ll start the day off right with your energy directed toward the things that matter most.
Every morning I read my personal promises out loud. Then, I write them down. Taking this one small action resets my mindset towards my focus. Next, I meditate. There are so many great apps for this on your smartphone to walk you through quick meditation practices. Learning to meditate takes time but is excellent for eliminating conscious and subconscious negative. Finally, I exercise.
Whether you have 10 minutes in the morning or an hour, you can craft a morning routine that works for you. Have both an extended version and a short version for those days when you have to rush out the door. But never let yourself roll out of bed with defeated, distracted or negative thoughts.
Our environment is more powerful than our will.
Craft a productive and inspiring environment
In my years of motivational speaking and coaching, as well as training my own mind, I’ve seen something important repeat itself over and over again. Our environment is more powerful than our will.
Work space matters. Even when we start in the right headspace, walking into a dark, depressing room can quickly get the best of you. So put together a playlist of classical music or upbeat songs that you always listen to while working. Don’t sit in your pajamas in bed or on the couch. Invest in great lighting.
If you work in a traditional office, get yourself a green plant or some small tokens to make your desk livelier. Avoid letting allow papers to pile up around you.
Creating a clean, positive environment smooths the road to a focused and inspired mind. Your energy is committed towards the pursuit of your goals rather than digging yourself out of a slump again and again.
Make a radical commitment to your goals
We all have things we desire in life. But less than 3% of people have actual written goals. Less than 1% review and rewrite their goals on a daily basis. If you want a life and business that only a few have, you have to be willing to do the radical things.
Make personal promises that matter, write them down, then rewrite them daily. Develop a routine of energy, motivation and self-confidence. Then go and live your dream.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the guest author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of MindShift.money.
Darren Jacklin has personally trained and developed more than 1 million people in more than 46 countries. He has mentored entrepreneurs and business owners on specific and measurable strategies that have increased income, transformed obstacles into cash flow and turned passion into profits. Darren has an uncanny ability to increase wealth and success by uncovering hidden assets, overlooked opportunities and undervalued possibilities.