The goal today is to bring into focus just HOW powerful our thoughts are when it comes to making a lifestyle change. They will either MAKE you or BREAK you.
Your thoughts WILL determine your success.
I read a quote the other day that really stuck with me…”When there is no enemy WITHIN, the enemy OUTSIDE can do us no harm.” AKA, you are your own worst enemy. Or rather, your THOUGHTS are your own worst enemy.
Your mind is the most powerful force that you will ever face. Not your busy schedule, your distaste for eggs, or your spouse eating ice cream in front of you.
It’s your mind that will tell you lies, convince you that you can do this or that, or that you weren’t meant for the other thing. All those thoughts that you’re not good enough, or can’t keep going, or don’t have the time or energy come from your mind.
These are all THOUGHTS. Thoughts are not always TRUTHS. They are MOSTLY opinions. Now, if these thoughts are HELPING you achieve great things, by all means, keep following them.
For example, how many successful people have you heard tell the same story? Someone told them they weren’t good enough, and they said, well that’s what YOU think, and went on to prove them WRONG. Leo Messi — for those of you who don’t follow soccer — is one of the GOATS, and he is only 5′ 7″. He was told over and over that he was too small to play soccer.
I’m sure the people who said it really believed that. Good thing that HE didn’t think their THOUGHTS were truths. I’m sure those thoughts crept into his mind from time to time and he just dismissed them as an unhelpful OPINION and continued taking ACTIONS toward his goal.
If your mind tells you unhelpful thoughts, you must thank it for its opinion, dismiss it as a bad idea, and carry on.
The only LOCKED doors that exist are in OUR own mind
MOST doors are open, or at least can be opened with some work. It is up to us to do the work to open it. And to actually walk through it.
We have to quit talking about the doors being locked, like it is a big mystery on how to get through it. We already KNOW what to do to get through the door. We aren’t stuck because we don’t KNOW what to do.
You KNOW WHAT to do to move the needle, and you CAN do those things. The INFORMATION on how to do that is everywhere. The steps that you have to take are fairly SIMPLE to execute and don’t require natural TALENT. Anyone can learn them. That’s not the hard part.
The hard part is to actually TAKE the actions. Most of us get stuck in the thinking process, and we OVERTHINK. We think WAY too much and talk ourselves out of just taking the action.
THINKING isn’t going to change your life
The ONLY WAY to change your life is to just do the thing — over and over and over.
We are not victims of LIFE. Life happens in some way, shape, or form to EVERY SINGLE PERSON. We are PART of life — we PARTICIPATE in life. You know what we have become a victim TO? Ourselves — we are trapped in our thoughts because we bought into the lie that our thoughts are universal truths. We just accept them and stay stuck. They hold us hostage.
And the only reason you feel like a HOSTAGE is because you WANT to be somewhere different than you are. And the ONLY way to get somewhere else is to take different STEPS in a different DIRECTION. And that does not happen by THINKING about it. It happens by just DOING it.
There will be moments that pop up that require ACTION, but instead, we get into our heads and start THINKING. We start talking ourselves out of taking the actions that we need to take.
I bet at least some of these sound familiar:
- I don’t have time
- I can’t
- I don’t really need to do this
- I will do that later
- I don’t really like doing that
- It’s too hard. I will do it when it feels easier
- I will start over Monday
Those are all THOUGHTS. And EVERY single one of those THOUGHTS is going to stop you from just doing the thing that you need to do to just get the job done. These are all thoughts that lead you back into your “comfort” zone. I put that in quotes because it only provides comfort IMMEDIATELY because it saves you from doing the “hard” thing. But after the moment passes, it doesn’t feel comfortable there anymore.
I want to encourage you to stop OVERTHINKING and just work on taking MORE action — in the right direction.
That’s what this boils down to. Just get the job done, no matter how it FEELS. No matter why you SHOULDN’T. Just take the action and get it over with. Then move past it and on with your life. Quit sitting in front of it THINKING about why you aren’t going to do it, but you WANT to do it, but you CAN’T because of the 25 reasons that I am letting myself come up with as I sit here NOT doing the thing.
Stop trying to talk yourself OUT of the thing
If you don’t take away anything else from this blog, write this one down. NOT EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE IS GOING TO FEEL GOOD. Not every meal that you eat is going to be a 5 star dinner of explosive flavors. In fact, the VERY THINGS that will help you change from where you are RIGHT NOW to where you are TRYING to go are probably NOT going to feel good at first because you aren’t USED to them. They are UNCOMFORTABLE. They aren’t what you NORMALLY do, and that is why you are where you are right now.
It’s ok to be where you are RIGHT NOW…but the goal is to move forward. So that means some things will have to change. The things that FEEL good and taste good ONLY feel good and taste good BECAUSE they are your norm. They are the things that you like right now, at this stage in your life.
When I was in my early 20s, I ate bread that tasted like cardboard with sugar free jelly and spray butter on it every single morning of my life. I LOVED it. I was also falling asleep sitting up, had zero period, and had TERRIBLE skin. I was a REAL BITCH if I couldn’t workout twice a day! I guarantee you that I would want to spit that out now. My palate has changed SO MUCH. My MINDSET has changed so much. Because I LET it change. I WORKED on it. I put my focus on moving FORWARD, not constantly feeling bad for myself because of what I was leaving behind.
There is a door to change right in front of us at all times
We can see the door, and we know HOW to get through the door. In fact, most of us even walk through the door. But the thing about change is that it requires consistency. You have to walk through the SAME door, over and over again. It’s really a series of doors that look VERY similar, one right after another. You are moving forward, but it FEELS repetitive. You ARE making forward progress.
But this is where most of us start to have a problem.
We are fine making temporary changes to achieve a goal. What most of us fight is making LONG TERM changes. We have a hard time with the acceptance part of making lifestyle changes. And it all comes down to where we put our focus and how we THINK about things.
The problem so many of us have is that we get bored with this door. I have gone through this door a bunch of times! I am ready for a different door! Can I get my old door back now, so I can ENJOY walking through a door for once? We are walking through this new door, happily at FIRST, but then we start to THINK about the old door. We start to OVERTHINK every single action again.
Now remember, when you started this journey, remember how sick and tired of that door that you were. You felt STUCK going through that same door over and over because it led you somewhere that you didn’t WANT to go. You were NOT making forward progress.
Now here you are, going through a new door, which is leading you to where you WANT to go, but you find yourself THINKING about that old door. You miss the comfort of the old door, instead of finding COMFORT in the new door.
Instead of looking behind you at the old door and reminiscing about the good ole times, turn your attention and focus on this new path forward. Learn about it, build skills around it, and re-prioritize your life so that this door FITS and BECOMES part of your day-to-day life.
So many of us walk through the door and we stand in the doorway, one foot in and one foot out. I get it, at first, walking into a big new room feels overwhelming. However, after some time, when the entryway starts to feel BORING. Walk into the new room further. I promise, there is SO MUCH there.
If your easy go-to recipes that you used in the beginning are getting boring, work on your cooking skills. Add WHOLE FOOD variety into your day. Try new recipes.
Our signature program, MYLF Monthly, includes access to an ever-growing library of recipes, with 400+ nutrient-dense and easy to make dishes to feed a crowd.
If your daily walk becomes boring, find a NEW form of movement that challenges you more. Don’t retreat back to the couch.
That should be your focus. I am going to get COMFORTABLE HERE. I am going to get acquainted with all that is behind this new door, until I get COMFORTABLE in this big new room. Let this become your new normal — your day to day. It’s just who you are and what you do:
- Even when you are busy
- Even when you are stressed
- Even when you are going through a challenging time in your life
STAY HERE, in this NEW room, until this becomes your comfort zone.
When that happens, it’s time to find the next NEW door and push yourself a little bit more, get outside of your comfort zone, and grow a little bit more. You don’t return to the old door. It’s so far behind you that you don’t even see it anymore. You don’t THINK about it anymore. It’s not even part of your life anymore.
Your comfort zone NOW is WAY healthier than that first comfort zone, but now you are ready for the NEXT growth phase. And THIS, ladies and gentlemen is a MYLF Mindset.
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