Regardless of where I am, one part of my morning routine is setting aside a little bit of time to get my mind right. Seriously!  But, it wasn’t always that way….

I used to think my morning work – out was enough, but it turns out conditioning the mind is just as important as conditioning the body. For me, I choose to write it out. I have always found such power in writing out exactly what I want in terms of my goals, desires, new adventures, relationships, everything – right down to the final detail. If you read my post about Cravings, you know what I am talking about. As life happens, sometimes it is hard to stay to committed to just a few minutes a day, but it really is a game changer in the outcome of so many things, especially personal growth. Soooo….maybe writing isn’t your thing, that is OK, mindset work is not a one – size fits all type of thing. For some, simply speaking out loud is enough, reading, listening to a podcast or catching a video from a mentor or leader is enough to condition & strengthen your mind on a daily basis.  The power behind the action really sets the intention and tone for the day. The important thing to remember and that is the absolute necessity is to chose what you want to do and do. it. daily.

If you have ever trained for an endurance event or even a 5K, tri, bi – Athlon, etc., you understand muscle memory and what if feels like to condition the body. One just can’t expect to roll out of bed and bust out 26.2 miles without preparing first. The prep work is what challenges the body to build a strong foundation and continues to grow stronger with every work – out, with every day you stay committed, with literally every action of the way. There is SO much to be said about the process. I tend to think of the mind with the same concept. It is a muscle that needs to be worked to keep expanding, to continue to think broader & deeper. It is absolutely normal to have negative thoughts daily, actually it is more common than to just have positive thoughts swarming in, at first. With time and conditioning, those thoughts, the thoughts we all have the choice to control become stronger and more empowering. We are adaptable as humans and can quickly learn how to recognize a negative thought and that’s it, move forward, let it go. If we choose to stay in it, to dwell in the negativity, it only spews over to other areas in our life and literally infects everything we do, say, and react to like a horrible virus.

One of my amazing mentors, Olivia Charlet has taught me so much about mindset and the absolute power we do have over those thoughts. She is a mindset Coach among many other things and is absolutely incredible. So what are a few things you can start to do today to shift your mindset and begin to condition it….

1. Make a choice from this point forward that for every dis-empowering thought you have (ie. I’m not good enough, I can never do that, I will never be that successful, I am so messy, bad things always happen to me) you promise to acknowledge the thought / feeling and release it. This is the catch though, when you release it, replace it with an empowering thought (ie,  I AM good enough and resourceful enough to do “X”, I have everything I need in ME to be successful, I choose from this point forward to believe positive, amazing things happen to me all of the time). It may feel strange or awkward at first, but stay committed, daily. It will eventually feel SO natural, SO empowering and be aware of the change in your life as the positive mindset unfolds.

2. Set a few alarms daily and put a title on them. Mine is labeled, Tap into the energy of trust. No pressure, no stress, just trust. This reminds me that at all moments, I am exactly where I need to be and need to trust the process instead of trying to control it. When the alarm goes off, stop, assess where you are in your day and if your mind is not strong, empowering & positive, shift your thinking. Doing this daily will help to condition your mind to stay on track. Pick a tone you like, not an annoying one. 😉

3. Write out daily affirmations on post – its, your screen saver, your calendar reminders about how freaking amazing you actually ARE.

4. Set a time to decompress at the end of the day. Again, whether your choice of tool is to journal, meditate, or just verbally let go of the challenges of the day, clear your mind, clear the slate and celebrate your small wins for the day. Then, sweet dreams.

5. Make a vision board. Virtual or / and tangible. Have fun with it. Put things on it that you have ALWAYS wanted to do, achieve, see, accomplish. Make it come to life by owning it and look at it daily. Let your creativity out, NO BOUNDARIES! Let go of the HOW!

6. Don’t quit. When you make the choice to condition your mindset, keep with it. Like anything at first, growth, training, change can be a little uncomfortable at first. But hang in there, without that phase we would never appreciate the change as much as do on the other side. Even if it is just for two minutes of mindset work, some days — stay with it. You will thank yourself.

7. Be proud of every single choice you make to deal with a situation in a positive light. Life can throw some major curve balls at us, daily. One of the best surprises I got from doing this work is actually how much easier it is to deal with things that challenge me, daily, on every level.

8. Take it minute by minute. Just because your day started off great in the morning, went completely haywire by lunch — reset. This is the time you really strengthen that muscle during the most crazy of times. Reign it in, reset, regain control of your thoughts and own it.

9. It really comes down to two choices. You can let your thoughts run wild, get away from you and just randomly happen and you can respond OR you can choose how you think about things in a more empowering way and react accordingly.

10. Life is short — choose happiness. Surround yourself by people who support you and who you love to support. We have one book of life and you get to write the chapters, daily.

While we cannot control everything, we can control and choose our thoughts that are a DIRECT result in our actions & reactions. Does this mean some mornings are crazy early, absolutely, but it is so worth it.

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You’ve got this!

xx