Check Your Mindset if You’re Not Where You Want to Be

How often do you check your mindset to make sure you're not self-sabotaging your own success?

As I'm writing this blog post, it's Sunday. This is the day of the week I LOVE to relax the most.

Generally, on the weekends, I tend to mix a bit of hustle with a ton of chilling. This is mainly because my hubby is at home on the weekends too, so I need to balance my time with hustling on my side projects and business with spending quality time with him.

This week it was his turn to choose our Saturday night movie (we take turns) and he decided that Monsters University would be his movie of choice. We'd decided to stay in, rather than head out, so Netflix was our go-to option.

I love animated movies, particularly ones with strong messaging. But generally, I'm watching these with my nieces or nephews.

But whatever, right? It was his choice and our agreement was that we each took turns at choosing WHATEVER movie we wanted to watch and the other person has to watch it, regardless of whether they want to or not.

This is the stuff of great marriages 😉

Anyway, within the first five minutes of watching Monsters University, I knew that this movie would be a staple in our (future) children's movie-watching library.

Why?

It has some of the best positive messaging I've ever seen.

Check Your Mindset With Positive Quotes

Check out some of the awesome quotes from the movie below:

“Don't listen to them. You just need to keep trying.”

“Every dream begins somewhere. Some are born to greatness, and some find greatness on their own.”

“Dream big. Never let anyone tell you you're not scary.”

“Don't be afraid to speak out. Your voice is as good as anyone else's.”

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.”

Honestly, I could go on and on, but you get the drift. The writers really nailed it, don't you think?

This is the type of movie that everyone should watch, particularly when you're feeling blah or your go-to response when asked how you're doing, is “meh.”

Change Your Thinking

As great as those quotes above are, the one that really struck a chord with me was this one:

“We have everything we need to win right here.”

It got me thinking about how this could apply to myself and to my business by simply switching out a few words… “YOU have everything YOU need to win right here.”

Now, I truly believe this is the case. How many times have you been in a sticky situation and you've had no-one but yourself to rely on for help and direction? When push comes to shove, you've got your own back, amiright?!

If you're mindset has taken a bit of a beating lately (like mine has recently), then Monsters University is the pick-me-up you need right now.

Your mindset is the biggest key to your success. If your inner voice is filling your head full of “you can't do this” and “you're too old for this” or “you'll never be a success” then you are in drastic need of some monster love my friend!

If you BELIEVE in you, if your inner voice is telling you “you got this” or “you can do anything” then there is no way you can't win.

The thing is, if your mind and actions aren't in sync, no amount of hustle is gonna get you anywhere. You can try, and try, and try, but as Yoda said “Do or do not, there is no try.”

Now, you might be sitting there wondering exactly how you ‘check your mindset' and I've got a few resources that will help, particularly when it comes to your side hustle.

#1: Set your vision, mission, and values

Without a clear vision, mission, and understanding of your values, how can you understand why you're doing what you're doing?

You're why, your vision — is intrinsic to your business and to your belief in yourself. If you don't have this written down in a place that you can look at it daily, then your mind is going to fill your head with not-so-helpful thoughts instead.

Give it something positive to focus on, and it will help you stay positive.

#2: Create a dream jar

This is my go-to source of positive thoughts and vibes for when I'm feeling meh.

To create your own dream jar, follow these steps:

Find a jar. It could be a mason jar or a jam jar. Whatever floats your boat will work.

Decorate your jar (if you want). Here's what mine looks like:

On small pieces of paper (or a large piece of paper that you'll cut up), jot down all your dreams and goals. Now the key here is to write them down as IF you have already achieved them.

For example, one of my dreams is this: “I have been asked by 10 action-taking authors to run a weekend retreat/workshop in Greece, all expenses paid, by 30 June, 2018″

You'll want to add the following words to the end of this: “This or something better”

Once you've got all those dreams written down, fold them all up and pop them in your dream jar.

Read your dreams out loud every day and visualize them coming to fruition.

#3: Get some Headspace

Over the past 30 days, I've been learning how to meditate! It's something I've always struggled with because I just can't seem to stop thinking… and that's because you can't really stop your thoughts.

All you can do is not engage with them unless you can action them there and then.

This has been super profound for me.

To build this habit, I used the Headspace app. It's available for all smart devices and you can access the first 10-day foundational program for free.

Not only will help you with your mindset, it will also help you become more mindful and calm.

Now it's Your Turn

To check your mindset is to check in with yourself and make sure that what you're thinking matches what you actually want to achieve. It's to make sure that the actions you're taking are in-sync with your mind. If either is off course, it can cause major struggles in your life and bring on stress, fatigue, and unhappiness.

Check your mindset on a regular basis (I do these three exercises above daily) and you'll have no option but to succeed 🙂

And remember: Dream big. Never let anyone tell you you're not amazing!

If you need more support or you feel like your mind is against you, consider my best selling book, Mind The Chatter. Available on Amazon and other online retailers.