Tag: growth

Self-Sabotage Is Holding You Back

Self-Sabotage

Self-sabotage is when you set yourself up for failure. You become unconsciously satisfied with being your own enemy.

It seems backwards – don’t you want to be successful? Why would you run away from accomplishing your goals? Who doesn’t want to work towards a good life?

Your Level of Confidence

Being your own downfall begins with your self-esteem. Throughout life, you’ve become used to coming in last, being in the background or just being non-active.

Some people are born into environments that are anti-productive. This is a situation where you can respond one of two ways: you can become the opposite of your environment, or you can fall into it’s trap.

It’s difficult to go against the grain to become who you really want to be. When your surroundings don’t reflect a path to your vision, it becomes a challenge to fight against it. Even though gravity is pulling you down, you make an intentional effort to pull yourself up.

On the other hand, it’s easy to give in to what’s around you, good or bad. When you live in an unproductive environment, it starts to look normal. It weakens your self confidence and you accept the loser mindset. Your actions begin to mirror your poor self image and it causes self-sabotage.

Leave The Past In The Past

People make mistakes and bad decisions in life. Things can happen out of your control, but it’s your choice to either react or respond.

Another thing that causes self-sabotage is holding on to the past. Whatever happened may have been terrible, but you’re only hurting yourself when you constantly relive the memory and allow it to take up valuable space in your mind.

When you forgive, you’re not giving in to the person that hurt you, you’re allowing yourself to let go of the pain and move forward. Replaying the hurt as if it happened today is what holds you back. When you forgive someone, you free yourself – you take your life back and start to breathe again.

Holding on to the past contributes to self-sabotage. You’re prohibiting yourself from making progress because you’re stuck in that place. This leads to blaming others for your position in life, when really, all you have to do is let go and move on.

Forgiving is not as easy as it sounds, but it’s the only way to give yourself peace and reclaim your life.

Self-Sabotage Can Be Prevented

These are just a couple of ways that self-sabotage can destroy your progress. It can sneak in through various forms, but if you can recognize and prevent it from occurring, you’re one step ahead.

Instead of going with the flow with everyone else, think for yourself. Your choice may not be the most popular, but at least you know it’s how you want to operate.

Do the impossible. Always reach for goals that seem right outside of your grasp. Use your energy to stretch yourself to your potential. Don’t let anyone talk you out of your dreams – continue to increase your confidence (trust yourself), strengthen your mindset (listen to motivational speeches/podcasts and read inspirational books/blogs) and take productive action (learn from your mistakes and setbacks).

Don’t allow self-sabotage to take over your life. As you can see, some people live with it, yet, they don’t know why their lives are miserable or unlucky. When you decide to leave the past in the past, you can level up your surroundings, let go of what happened and create the future you dream of!

#TBT: Live Your Life Today

#TBT: Live Your Life Today

Whatever it is you want to accomplish in your life, do it. There may not be much time for you to contemplate.

Everyday is a chance to do what you want to do and make progress. Even if it is uncomfortable, the opportunity is there for the taking.

We think so far into the future, that we forget to do something today. Overthinking takes over our mental space and we end up doing nothing. Planning is essential, but starting is just as important.

If you knew what day would be your last, you would do everything you want to do, within that amount of time, especially if it was soon. That’s what makes time so precious because we don’t know how much of it we have left.

And that’s the catch – you don’t know when your last day is. Therefore, you must do your best today, as if tomorrow may not come.

So what if you mess up? So what if it didn’t turn out right? So what if only one person showed up? How many times are you going to let an outside force, stop you from reaching your goal?

The trolls, the gossip, the weird stares – none of that matters in the end. Don’t waste time thinking about that insult. Stop saying ‘yes’ to situations that allow you to float through life. Hold yourself accountable and do what you want to do. No one can live your dream the way you can because your dream is in your control.

We think so small of ourselves and give so much consideration and power to what other people think. Instead of praising others, praise yourself. Stop thinking that other people are always successful, you are successful, too! Stop thinking that good things only happen to other people, good things happen to you, too!

None of us are any better than the other – we are all human and we all have the ability to do something great. Some of us leave it up to other people to be great, but the capability is there. You just have to get up and do the work that it takes to be great.

Don’t let your time run out without making your mark. Put forth phenomenal effort daily. Regret is a painful feeling that no one should have to experience. The only way not to, is to live your life, everyday.

#BeGoalden

#TBT: Why Consistency Is Key

#TBT: Why Consistency Is Key

Consistency is key when it comes to making progress in life. The daily habits you develop play a major role in being consistent and can help with making incremental improvements over time.

Why is consistency so important? What happens if you don’t follow a certain pattern everyday? Will consistency enhance your life?

Daily Habits

We all have different daily habits that help move our day along. We perform most of these patterns unconsciously and it provides a foundation for the rest of the day.

Habits, such as brushing your teeth and taking a shower, are things you do from a necessity standpoint. If you weren’t consistent with these things, no one would want to be around you. Hygiene habits are critically important.

Other habits, such as folding your clothes or writing down your expenses, are things you choose to do to keep organized. No one has to do these, but it helps you on a personal level and allows you to promote your own development.

Consistency Has It’s Benefits

Being consistent naturally falls in line with your habits. Since you do them everyday, you’re already consistent with them.

Imagine if you didn’t brush your teeth everyday. What would happen? It definitely wouldn’t be in your best interest personally and it could lead to possible health issues. The fact that you brush your teeth consistently, is beneficial to the people around you and your health.

When folding your clothes, you are prepping for when you have to choose your outfit for the day. If you didn’t fold your clothes, you could waste time looking for something you need, as opposed to knowing where it is and putting it on right away. When you’re organized, you can focus on more important things and avoid draining your energy on the simple things.

The Power Of Consistency

Having a habit of consistency enhances your life, especially when you have productive habits.

If you exercise on a daily basis, you’ll see and feel the results throughout your body. Not only will you look good, you’ll feel good. This is a powerful habit that leads to being physically healthy, along with other advantages.

When you develop a habit and you’re consistent with it, you’re ahead of the game. Others who aren’t consistent with their good habits will have a harder time becoming more productive and won’t enjoy the perks from being consistent.

It’s a win – win situation. The more consistent you are with your good habits, the more progress you will make in your life.

The Key To Being Consistent

Don’t overwhelm your mind with how hard something is – if you do, it will seem hard and you won’t even begin.

The key to being consistent is to keep going. Start small and take action everyday. As time goes on, you will become better and it will allow you to put your mind power towards accomplishing your goals.

Consistency also helps with your confidence and puts you on another level. Because you take the time to enhance yourself on a regular basis, your confidence will rise, which prepares you for the next level of your life.

Unless you practice being consistent with the productive habits in your life, you will remain stagnant. Growth doesn’t happen where consistency is absent.

Develop some good habits and don’t allow any distractions to get in the way. You’ll soar beyond your potential when you continue to be consistent with the good, productive habits in your life.

#BeGoalden

#TBT: How Creating Better Habits Can Prevent Future Problems

How Creating Better Habits Can Prevent Future Problems

By not having strong habits in place, we can become our own worst enemy. Potential obstacles can be a challenge, but it can be handled effectively, beforehand, with the right effort.

Little things that we tend to overlook for too long, can become big distractions. If we aren’t careful, snowballs can become avalanches and spiral out of control.

Yet, some of it is in our control. There are many situations we can prevent from happening, but we must intentionally practice building our habits in a productive way.

Weak Habits Won’t Help

Building powerful habits can help you avoid falling into small, predictable traps. By procrastinating on the little things and putting them off, you forget about it and then it becomes a bigger issue that should have never happened.

Let’s take paying monthly bills, as an example. Most bills are due at the same time, every month. We know this, but we’re so used to the thought of it being due, that it slips our minds and we forget to pay it on time (or some of us just ignore it completely).

Before you know it, the lights have been turned off, due to our lack of attention. Now, we have to make phone calls and wait for the services to be restored. Late fees have to be paid and we may have to wait 3 business days before they can turn them back on.

Time and money have been lost, due to weak habits.

It Happens In All Areas Of Life

You know what needs to be done, but for whatever reason, you decide to procrastinate and do it later. It doesn’t just happen with bills – it happens in all areas of our lives.

The diet that was supposed to start today, doesn’t start because you didn’t prepare for it. You’re still eating entire pizzas and cheeseburgers for lunch and dinner. In your mind, you’ll start tomorrow, but you need just one more day.

Every weekend, you’re still shopping online and buying what you want. That’s fine for some people, but if you want to improve your life and you keep telling yourself that you’re going to save money, that’s not going to work.

How To Advance Your Habits

Everything seems simple in your mind, but it’s hard to do when it comes to taking action. If you want to make a change for the better, here’s what you need to do:

First, make the commitment. You’ve already done that part in your mind, but now, you must physically act on it. Your commitment to yourself should be held to a high standard. Give yourself consequences, if that helps. If you eat that doughnut, you must do 50 push ups. Think before you procrastinate.

Secondly, prep yourself. Put your bills on auto-pay. Get rid of the junk food in your house. Put internet controls on your computer to limit your lazy time. When you prep yourself, you put yourself in a better position to be successful.

Third, take action. Even if it’s not perfect action, do it anyway. The worst thing you can do is nothing at all. You learn along the way and get better as you go along. If you have to do it over, do it over, but don’t stop. Always move forward.

Always Think 2 Steps Ahead

Once you develop these productive habits and more, you’ll experience less of those ‘preventable’ situations. This part of your life can run on autopilot to your benefit.

Think prevention – what can I do so this won’t happen, again? Are there routines I can put in place to avoid these annoying interruptions? Figure it out before it happens.

By being a progressive thinker and action taker, you will be able to stay 2 steps ahead of the game. Reacting at the last minute, especially when you were capable of handling it earlier, places you in a better position to be more productive and ready.

Don’t wait for it to become a problem – position yourself to manage it ahead of time. When you think 2 steps ahead, you win back your money, time and energy.

#BeGoalden

Failing Is A Sure Way To Learn

Failing Is A Sure Way To Learn

People often take failing as a negative thing. Whenever you attempt to do something and it doesn’t work out, there’s no need to quit – the failure is guiding you in the right direction.

Yes, there are some instances where it’s time to hang it up and do something else, but for the most part, people are afraid. Your perspective has a lot to do with how you think of failing.

The Feeling of Failing

What happens to some of us when we fail on the first or second time we do something? We stop. There’s no data collected, no statistics to consider or any additional information to dive into. It didn’t work, so we stop.

This is what holds most people back. If you knew that you were supposed to fail, maybe it wouldn’t hurt so bad when it happens. Somewhere in life, we begin to equate things not working out with failing and progress is halted.

We’ve been taught to feel embarrassed when we fail. Others say, “I told you so,” or “I knew it wouldn’t work – that was a waste of time“. These comments come from people who never attempt to do anything, so they tell you that you’re unable to do it, too.

All of this negativity can be so consuming to the point where you actually believe it. You have more naysayers than you have supporters.

The most important thing to remember is that failing is nothing more than learning and correcting your mistakes along the way. Failing is where growth happens.

Failing Is Learning

As Thomas Edison once said, he didn’t fail, he just found 10,000 ways that didn’t work. This is how confident we should be in the face of potential defeat.

It can be overwhelming when you’ve worked so hard on a project and it doesn’t work out the way you planned. Who wouldn’t feel bummed out about that? Shift your thinking – you know what doens’t work, so try another way until it does.

When pursuing your goals, know that 99% of the time, it won’t go right the very first try. This is a time to learn and become more aware of how things really should work.

Failing should force you to do more research and find better ways to put it all together – gather the data, the stats and the additional information. You should feel relentless in the pursuit of your results. It should feel like you’re that much closer to achieving your goal.

Edison kept going with his inventions and he found what worked. He basically failed his way to success. Don’t allow your perspective to be warped by what others say and think. Failing is a sure way to learning and becoming successful.

Bet On Yourself

In essence, failing is learning. The entire process shows you the ins and outs of what should be done and how. You’re a lot smarter in the end, than you were when you first started. Develop the habit of resilience and keep going.

Your goals may take one day, one month or one year to accomplish, but never give up. You are closer to your achievement than you think. Take this opportunity to believe and bet on yourself.

You’re way ahead of the person who didn’t start at all and even those who started, but gave up. The journey to success isn’t an easy one, but as long as you keep learning through failing, you will find your goal in the end.

#BeGoalden

#TBT: How To Turn Procrastination Into Progress

#TBT: How To Turn Procrastination Into Progress

Procrastination occurs in many ways. Some people put things off at the suggestion of others, while some are stuck being comfortable.

With the internet, most things have become easier to access. Today, you don’t need to wait for anything to happen. Delaying any type of progress is a choice that you consciously make.

With that being said, how can you stop being hesitant? Is it possible to pull yourself out of that negative vortex? When is the best time to go from procrastination to progress?

The Procrastination Trap

Change can be as difficult as you make it. Sometimes, we tend to make things harder than they really are, especially if it’s outside of our confort zone.

Instant gratification is a procrastination trap. You’re so used to having things happen instantly, you begin to think that everything should happen right now.

When you come across something that takes a little more time to come together, you become anxious. Then, you decide to leave it alone, because it’s not happening fast enough.

This leads to you procrastinating on many things, simply because it doesn’t happen right away. Realize that it takes time for some things to fall into place – all you have is time. Prepare yourself with patience and realize that everything doesn’t come about within a moment’s notice.

The Progressive Mindset

In order to make progress, it starts in your mind. Your mind is your first line of defense when it comes to obtaining information and processing it.

Your environment may be bad, your friends may be critical and your luck may not be going good, but you still have a choice. Don’t let the limitations around you affect your way of thinking.

When you think, think of positive things. Think about improving yourself, achieving that goal, having a good day, helping someone in need, or receiving good news. It may not turn out the way you think, but you learn to accept things the way they are and adjust, so you can make changes.

Progress happens when you’re able to shift your thinking and adapt to any outcome that may happen. Procrastination will hold you back from even making that first attempt, but a positive mindset will allow you to follow through and create a solution.

Procrastination Begins With Small Steps

Once you find a solution, you can begin to step into your life. As long as you don’t let procrastination stop you, you will eventually develop a productive habit.

When you get into the practice of actually starting, it’s not as hard as it seems. Begin with something small and easy to accomplish. This will have a snowball effect – the more you do it successfully, the better you can accommodate bigger tasks with confidence.

Taking small steps isn’t frightening. It’s small enough to begin, but big enough to get you going in the right direction, away from procrastination.

Outside factors can have an influence on how you move. Don’t let your environment intimidate you and don’t let small-minded people convince you to stay complacent. Starting small is better than not starting at all.

Beating Procrastination

Overcoming the habit of procrastination won’t be easy. It’s not something you can expect to happen within 24 hours. The best time to start is always NOW.

Like anything else, making progress will take time and effort to establish and maintain. There are many distractions working against you already, but as long as you don’t expect things to happen instantly, have the right mindset and take small steps, it’ll all come together.

Procrastination comes in many different forms, but you can handle it. With the right outlook, you can defeat the battle of putting things off and become more productive and dynamic with your goals.

#BeGoalden

#TBT: Are You A Worrier Or A Warrior?

Are You A Worrier Or A Warrior?

There’s obviously a difference between a worrier and a warrior – warriors are powerful and disciplined. Worriers are doubtful and full of fear. What separates a warrior from a worrier?

A worrier is what most people default to. They worry when they don’t know what else to do. It can be very stressful, but they’re the one who creates the stress.

On the other hand, a warrior is steadfast and strong. Warriors control the situation, not the other way around.

Worriers Are Common

Worriers are uneasy. When things go wrong, they don’t know what to do. They react to situations, as opposed to thoughtfully responding to them.

People who worry, react and make things worse. Instead of solving the problem, they add their own drama to it and magically place the focus on themselves.

Worriers create fear and doubt, naturally.

The only thing that a worrier does successfully, is waste time. They are not ready or prepared to handle tense circumstances. Everything is, “Oh, no!” and “What if (insert negative thought here)?”

Not only do worriers cause anxiety for themselves, they create an unsettling environment. It’s hard to change the energy from negative to positive, but it’s very easy to drag it from positive to negative. That’s what they do.

Worriers stop at no, but that’s where a warrior begins.

Signs of a Warrior

Warriors are people of strength, mentally and physically. No matter what happens, they will figure it out and make it work.

Unlike worriers, warriors bring peace to a situation. If they find themselves in a disturbing scenario, they have the ability to calm things down and develop a strategy to move forward.

Warriors turn their problems into challenges.

The best characteristic about a warrior is that they have discipline. They have the discipline to believe in themselves and to not make excuses. They have the discipline to feed their fears and starve their doubts.

Warriors can motivate and inspire the people around them. Others depend on them to lead and win in every situation. If they don’t win, they don’t accept defeat. They will find their fault, so they can do better next time around.

Being a warrior is a daily practice. It’s not something you’re lucky to be born with – it takes effort and constant development.

Today, being a worrier is common in our society. We have the option to be either one, but some of us don’t have the desire to be a warrior. We’d rather have someone else save us and hope things get better.

Making the impossible happen is what sets the warrior apart from the worrier. In the warrior’s mindset, wanting better leads to doing better.

You have a choice – will you be a worrier or a warrior?

#BeGoalden

Having Empathy Makes The World Better

Having Empathy Makes The World Better

Having empathy goes farther than getting temporary revenge, or becoming angry for the rest of the day. People will cut you off in traffic. Someone may have a hyper child in the doctor’s office. The cashier at the store was rude to you for no reason.

Are people doing these things to be mean? Is it up to you to bring it to their attention or call them out on it? Consider using empathy as a tool to keep calm and carry on.

What Is Empathy?

Empathy is the experience of the feelings, thoughts or attitudes of another person. Instead of having a bad attitude right back at the other person, you understand where they are coming from and possibly why they did what they did.

When someone cuts you off in traffic, are they doing it just because they can, or are they in a rush to the hospital? Normally, we think of other people as being rude and obnoxious – they want things their way and they don’t care who they hurt in the process.

Having empathy allows you to make room for understanding. There’s no doubt that some people are just rude and obnoxious, but not everyone. Some people have a very good reason for speeding or breaking down at work. It’s not always the case, but let’s be more considerate before we judge and react.

Empathy Is Better Than Bitterness

One day, I was in the store with my mom and sister, in the checkout line. There was a lady in the front of us, rudely talking to the cashier. “If you didn’t want to be here, you shouldn’t have came to work! Your attitude is unacceptable!”

As we approached the cashier, we could see that she looked a mess, crying and going through the motions of ringing up our items. She didn’t greet us or look at us. She didn’t even tell us our total for us to pay.

As a child, I felt bad for her because she was obviously hurting and the lady before us didn’t help the situation by creating a distraction for others to see. My mom payed for our things and as we were leaving the store, the supervisor apologized to us.

“I’m sorry about that – she’s had a rough morning. She found out that someone in her family passed away.” That explains it all.

The cashier wasn’t being impolite or disrespectful on purpose. People handle grief differently – maybe she wanted to work to take her mind off of the death in her family. The lady before us didn’t help the situation by mouthing off and being rude.

Be Mindful Of Others

Make an attempt to be empathetic before judging. Yes, there are some people out there who do things just to show off or because they feel like it, but there are others out there who are dealing with more than we know.

The same way you want others to be considerate and have empathy for you, have the same consideration and empathy for others. Again, it’s not always the case that people have a good reason for doing something out of the ordinary, but it gives you peace for yourself, as opposed to being angry for the rest of the day.

Don’t waste your good energy, when you don’t know the whole story. It’s easy to judge, but it’s hard to have empathy. Let’s be more human to each other. People look for attention in the wrong ways – sometimes, all they need is for someone to understand and listen.

Be the example and show the world what true empathy looks like.

#TBT: Be Grateful For The Little Things

#TBT: Be Grateful For The Little Things

Taking the time to be grateful for the simple things in our daily lives is something that we tend to overlook. Between work and distractions, it can be easy to forget.

By being mindful of the things you are grateful for, it lets you work from a place of sincerity. Instead of different things ticking you off, you allow it to pass, without it bothering you or disrupting your day.

5 Simple Things To Be Grateful For:

  1. Breathing – It may seem simple, but someone didn’t get to wake up today, or they didn’t make it through the entire day. There are even people who have a hard time breathing on their own and depend on machines to assist them. Be thankful for the natural act of breathing.
  2. Challenges – We normally call these ‘problems.’ Yes, you should be grateful for your challenges, as well. Challenges may be difficult, but they allow you to grow and give you confidence. If you can make it through a challenge, you can do anything.
  3. Thoughts – Your thoughts give you the ability to be creative and think on your own. You can come to your own conclusions and set your own standards. Your thoughts are the blueprint to your life. As Napoleon Hill said, “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
  4. Family and Friends – You may not like some of your family, or you may be at odd with some of your friends, but no matter what kind of relationship you have, they had a part in shaping you. You picked up some good habits and some bad habits – you learned what to do and what not to do. Observing them helped you to become who you are.
  5. Freedom – Being free, you are able to do what you want to do. Unlike jail, you can wake up when you want to, go to work if you want to, or chase an opportunity whenever you feel like it. The choice is yours because you are free. There are some people in the world who are still being held captive against their will. Be grateful that you are free and have control over your own life.

Be Thankful For Life

We don’t know when our time is up, so make everyday count and be grateful for what you are able to do. Instead of putting things off for tomorrow (because tomorrow never comes), be productive and do them today.

Wherever your life takes you, be thankful for the experience. Life has a way of making us feel like we’re the only ones when terrible things happen. There is someone who has been through your experience and you’re never the only one who is going through that situation.

Even when things aren’t going great, continue to fight. It’s hard, but be grateful that you are operating from a place of strength and will come out more powerful on the other side. The hard times are what make us who we are.

Always remember to be grateful in the good and the bad times. It all comes together to create the perfect you in the end.

#BeGoalden