Changing Your Mindset: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE

Are you someone who wants to be a certain way but never end up achieving the goals you set? It can be difficult to act on goals that seem out of reach, but by changing your mindset those goals won't seem so hard to conquer. The root of the matter is your inner ego telling you all the reasons why you shouldn't do something. For example, you want to start going to the gym but your inner ego is telling you "a membership is too expensive" or "you'll feel uncomfortable at the gym because you don't know what you're doing". So instead, you decide against that gym membership and make it your goal to workout from home, but never end up following through.

The reality is, that inner ego talking, is your insecurities coming out that are holding you back from an unknown opportunity. The things you come up with in your head are almost always avoidable and unrealistic. Sure, these counters to going to the gym may seem to be valid reasons why you shouldn't go; but in the grand scheme of things if you really want something nothing else matters. "A gym membership is too expensive" is easily avoided by finding a gym that is within your budget, and maybe that means cutting back on buying that Chipotle bowl you have once a week. "You'll feel uncomfortable at the gym because you don't know what you're doing" is an insecurity that every beginner has. In reality though, everyone has had their first day at the gym or at a new event of some kind, and has had no idea what they're doing. If you think about this rationally, everyone is there focusing on themselves and no one else. No one is focusing on you or anyone else, which is why this is irrational thinking.

The unknown can be scary, but starting something new, getting that bittersweet feeling that something is about to be really good or really bad, is what life is all about.

To avoid holding yourself back from new opportunity, you must change your way of thinking.

Altering Your Mindset

To change your way of thinking you have to recognize when your inner ego starts talking in your mind. Acknowledge that when this happens you feel incapable of achieving some goal. In addition, this inner ego brings on and uneasy feeling associated with what you want to do, sometimes causing anxiety. If you can recognize when this happens and understand that this is not actually you talking, you can control it. You can accept that your inner ego is there but you do not have to listen to it.

Take on new experiences with confidence that you can do anything you put your mind to. I know that sounds cliché but you will realize how true it is when you succeed at something you truly worked for. Nothing in life is simple, but hard work can be made to feel like it's easy if you think about it the right way. Start everything you do with a positive thought, even if you're completely dreading something. Think of three positive things that will benefit you by doing something, and you will find your motivation to do it.

- xx Alyssa