“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” George Bernard Shaw
How do you feel about your life? Are you happy and fulfilled or does it fall way short of that?
What do you tell yourself each day? Are they things that motivate you to keep moving forward, learning and growing, or are they negative and critical? Do your thoughts inspire you to dream big and go for it or do they make you set low expectations and keep you stuck in mediocrity or worse?
Chances are your life is a reflection of what you think because your thoughts influence your actions and emotions. They dictate where your time and energy are focused. They determine what you believe is possible and they eventually create your reality.
If your thoughts sound anything like the following:
‘I’m not good at…’
‘I’m not the kind of person who…’
‘I’ll never be…’
‘Only really clever people…’
‘I’m not good enough…’
‘I’m too old to…’
They could be limiting you and your life.
For many of us these thoughts have always been around. It’s only when we become aware of them and how they influence our behaviours, actions and eventually our outcomes that we realise we’ve been sleepwalking through life.
Believe me, I know first-hand. I’ve been pretty goal-oriented all my life and yet it was only when I hit my forties that I started to realise how many of these types of thoughts were playing on repeat in my head. Thoughts that reflected my fixed mindset about a number of areas in my life. It was sobering to realise that although my life seemed fine, somehow I had ended up in a place that I hadn’t imagined ever being. A place that was a long way away from what I truly desired and where I was living way short of my full potential.
But as the saying goes, ‘Better late than never’ right? Once I realised it, I was able to challenge my limiting thoughts and replace them with more empowering ones. I became way more intentional about the actions I took and as a result changed the course of my life.
I believe the same is possible for us all, at any age.
Change your thinking and you change your life
So here’s my challenge to you!
What if you changed your thoughts about who you are and what is possible for you? What if you decided to break those patterns that you’ve followed for so long and do something different starting today? Imagine if you decided to reinvent yourself and create the life of your dreams?
Does that sound like pure fantasy? Something you read about in books and see in the movies. You know, the ones about people who you think are smarter, prettier, richer and luckier than you could ever be?
For things to change for you, you’ve got to change. Jim Rohn
But just think about it for a minute. What if it truly is possible for you too? And all you have to do is:
- Identify one area in your life that you want to change.
- Paint a picture in your mind of how you actually want it to be and why it’s important to you.
- Figure out who you have to become and what it is you need to do to get there.
- Take the first step towards that new destination.
- With each action start to unlearn the habits of the ‘old’ you and acquire the habits you need to create the ‘new’ you.
- Keep going.
Imagine taking those actions day after day, consistently and repeatedly, and rewiring your brain. After some time guess what happens. You realise one day that you’ve become that new person you wanted to be. The life you envisioned that day long ago is here, your current reality.
Amazing to imagine but isn’t it worth trying to find out if you really can make it happen?
Who could you become and what kind of life would you create?