Overcoming Your Limiting Beliefs

by Lisa OberbichlerConfidence, Goals, Habits, MindsetPosted on No Comments

LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE HERE -> https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/8Rnx0ShOvwb

In today’s episode of the Inspiration2Grow podcast we are exploring ways that you can implement to help you overcome those nagging, negative limiting beliefs that are holding you back.  They are getting in your way of moving forward and creating wins or success in your life.  These sneaky beliefs show up in our personal as well as in our professional lives and I’m sure you’d be surprised to what extent they actually influence your actions on a day-to-day basis.

“It’s not what you say out of your mouth that determines your life, it’s what you whisper to yourself that has the most power!” ~Robert T. Kiyosaki   And, with that food for thought, let’s dive straight into conquering our limiting beliefs…

No matter what type of person you are, whether you think of yourself as confident or insecure – most of us have self-limiting beliefs stemming likely from your childhood.  If you want to achieve your maximum potential, you will have to overcome your limiting beliefs, which have been embedded in your mind for a very long time. 

There is good news and some less good news regarding these beliefs:

The less than great news is that for some people it can be very difficult to override and shift these beliefs.

The silver lining is with some effort, guidance and awareness of these beliefs, there are steps you can start taking today to conquer your self-limiting beliefs when they arise from the depths of your mind.

I just want to preface today’s talk by briefly looking at what a limiting belief is or could look like for you:
A limiting belief is…

-> A judgement you have about yourself that restricts you in some way. For instance, you might think you’re no good at writing, so you never try to put pen to paper and write that novel you’ve dreamed of getting out into the world.  Or, you might think of yourself as unattractive, so you never try to find love.  Thinking of yourself as untalented and not at all artistic, will hold you back from attending art class. Believing you are too old to start a business or change careers is keeping you in a job you’re not 100% excited about. These are some common self-limiting beliefs.
-> A state of mind or belief about yourself that restricts you in some way. These beliefs are often incorrect accusations you make about yourself and can cause a number of negative results. For example, if you feel you are bad at public speaking, you will likely decline any chance offered to you to take the stage and share your knowledge and brilliance.  Or, if you do take the stage, you think that you are likely going to be a huge flop.  You have preconceived notions about your ability to do this and this belief limits your potential.
-> Keeps you in a negative state of mind holding you back from new experiences and opportunities.  It plays havoc with your mental health and that’s why it is so important to work on shifting these limiting beliefs.  Your self-awareness and self-esteem will drastically improve through the process.

So, in today’s episode we are going to look 4 important first steps to crushing your limiting beliefs, then we’ll look at the self talk or the language you’ve using and we will ‘flip the script’ on some of those.

Step One is to identify what your limiting beliefs are.  Remember, self awareness is a crucial part of this process. What is it that you want to work on and overcome?

Some common examples I often hear are:

·         I am not good enough.
·         I can never make money from my passion.
·         I can’t write a book.
·         I am not at all good at math.
·         I am too old to start lifting weights and working out.
·         I am not attractive enough to do …

Granted, it can be very difficult to challenge these beliefs.  However, if you’re reading this on my blog or listening to this on my podcast, it indicates that you do realize some of your beliefs might be holding you back in life and you’d like to work through them.

I salute you.  Congratulations!  You’re already making progress.

Step Two is about identifying the root cause(s) of those beliefs.

Once you know what your limiting beliefs are, it’s high time we uncover HOW these were formed initially.  WHO or WHAT planted the seed within you to think like this?
·         Let’s take the first common limiting belief – I am not good enough – as our example here.  If you find yourself feeling this way despite the fact that no one is telling you this, can you identify who said this to you as a child?  Who made you feel like you weren’t good enough?  Was it someone at home or at school?  What about now?
 
Allow me to share a story that dates back to my days at high school.  My dream was to become an architect, even from a very young age.  I would invite 2 or 3 friends over to ‘play’ but what really happened was that we occupied the upstairs bedrooms in our home.  My friends would have to be my secretaries (that’s what they were called at the time) and their offices were one of the four bedrooms.  I would set them up at desks, so it looked quite official.  My role was the designer who drew up elaborate floor plans mostly copied from any Architectural Digest that I could get my hands on.  Their job was to send our quotes and the plans to clients.  What a hoot when I think about it now.  There was definitely entrepreneurial blood running through my veins at the age of about 10.  Side note: these two friends who were hired to be my secretaries are still my best friends to this day.
 
But my dreams of becoming an architect came to an abrupt halt in Grade 12 when my physics teacher told me I was terrible at physics and I would never achieve the marks necessary to be accepted into a university program for architecture.  I was devasted, purely and utterly devasted.  Had I known then what I know now about mindset and becoming a no-limit person, I would have found ways of improving my marks, turning my situation around and getting into the course of my dreams. 
 
If someone were to ask me today, where or from whom I got the notion that I was terrible at physics, I would be able to tell them.
 
·         Let’s say you think you can’t make money from your passion OR you are too old to start a business.  In this case, start making friends with people who have successfully turned their passion into a profitable, revenue-generating business.  There are tons of them out there.  Learn from them; take on their good energy; ask and observe how things are done.  Surround yourself with people whose beliefs challenge your old beliefs in the best way possible.  This will slowly alter your belief
 
Step 3 is to challenge this belief.
 
So, now that you have identified your beliefs as well as the cause of them, we have to challenge those beliefs by finding the other side of the argument.  Quite often we surround ourselves with people who have the same beliefs as we do.  Thus, our limiting beliefs are reaffirmed and reassured.  This makes us feel right in having these beliefs and that it is essentially the only way to view the world.  But, this is absolutely not true.
 
We have to change the environment in order to alter our beliefs.  It is interesting to note that, we are a product of our environment, and our brain subconsciously mirrors the people and things we are in closest relation to.
 
·         If your belief is that you are too old to get in shape and work out with weights.  You will have to challenge this belief by seeking out an environment where people of your age are active.  This may be a local gym or fitness group.  Be sure to inform yourself at the gym about which classes are available and where you would best fit in to get started.  I don’t want you walking into the gym and be shocked to see the typical gym rats who are pumping iron and admiring their sculpted bodies in the huge mirrors.  I want you to find a class like yoga flow, easy spinning, etc. 

When I joined our local gym, it took me a few attempts to find my tribe in the classes I felt were good fits for me. 

Come to think of it, I had a limiting belief around spin classes.  I thought they weren’t for me because my level of cycling just wasn’t good enough. Funny story, I was quite intrigued by the concept of spinning and had never done it before. I thought spin classes were for hardcore cyclists and triathlon athletes who wanted a really strenuous workout.   

So, one day at the gym, I strolled down the hall toward the spinning room.  On my way there, I met Bill, who was very kind and understanding when I told him I just wanted to have a peek.  He was extremely welcoming and before I knew what had happened, I was sitting on a spin bike adjusted to my height and size and BAM, the class started.

Within minutes, I had fallen in love with spinning.  You might think this is a bit over the top, but it gives you such a great workout and gets your heart rate going more than other workouts do.  Needless to say, I was hooked.  But, had it not been for Bill’s persistence that I give it a shot, I would likely still be wondering whether spinning was something I could ever do.
 
Step 4 of this process is to record your thoughts & beliefs

We all know that changing habits is difficult, but changing our beliefs is even harder.  However, changing our belief will automatically change our habit.  The reason being…our beliefs are the foundation for our thoughts which in turn drive our emotions and our actions.

At first, it feels like you are forcing yourself to believe in something you do not stand behind or believe in the least.  Try to push that old belief out of your mind.  Instead, remind yourself of all the good reasons why the new belief is more believable.  Episode 14 of my podcast was all about ‘Taking Charge of Your Belief System’ and I offered some questions to ask yourself when a limiting belief arose. One of those being:  What else is true?  This allows you to list out the truths about the situation and inject positive energy.

Journalling about the thoughts that come up is a great way to keep track of when and where and how often the voices of self-doubt are trying to surface.  Pay close attention to your inner voice.  Observe and note all the little things in life that could help you reinforce the new belief (remember the question: what else is true).  Try to flip the script on your negative inner voice in the following ways:

Instead of saying:                                                            Try saying this:
I’m too old.                                                                  It’s never too late. I’ve got this!
I’m no good at it.                                                         I can get better. Just watch me!
I’m worried that I’ll fail.                                                I’m curious about what will happen.
It’s too hard.                                                                 It’s a challenge and I’m absolutely here for it!
I don’t know.                                                                 I will find out.
I’m not ready.                                                               There’s no better time than now. Let’s go!
 
Be reinforcing positive self-talk and flipping the script, which you hear me say quite often, you WILL adopt the new belief and you will feel like a brand-new person.  Your old beliefs will be long forgotten, you will feel liberated and you will soar to new heights.

Don’t forget that it all starts in our minds.  You have the power over your mind.  You just have to keep stretching its limits.
Food for thought:  “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”  ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
 
Identifying which beliefs are getting in your way, then identifying the root cause can feel empowering in a sense.  You are becoming aware of yourself and your beliefs.  That’s a monumental step.  Next we have to challenge this limiting belief head on.  Sure, so I have this belief, but what else is true about this particular situation?  Steps 3 & 4 kind of go together because we want to face these beliefs head on AND we want to shift them and the energy surrounding them.

  Ultimately, going from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset with a positive spin, can-do mentality, don’t mess with me, I’m a badass attitude.

It’s time to crush and conquer your limiting beliefs.  I know you can do it. 

In case you haven’t heard it yet today, let me be the first to tell you…
You are an amazing individual with unlimited potential.  I believe fully in you.  Now, go out there and show the world what you are truly made of.

I hope to have inspired you to grow.

Til next time,

Lisa
xoxo
 
 
 
 

Choose & Conquer Your Own Mount Everest

by Lisa OberbichlerConfidence, Goals, Habits, MindsetPosted on No Comments

LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE HERE -> https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/sgmElhSNvwb

In today’s episode of the Inspiration2Grow podcast, I am going to challenge you to choose your ‘Mount Everest’ and conquer it. 

I make my husband laugh all the time with my quirky ideas and plans.  All the things I have wanted to do during our almost 30 years together would fill several pages.

The problem will my huge, audacious plans was not only the scope but also the fact that I rarely ever followed through with them.  So, he would humour me by saying, “Sure, that’s great.  Good luck with that.”  Well meaning, of course, but knowing I would not likely last more than a few weeks if that.

Having been married so long now, it is not easy to surprise each other with our behaviour.  However, I did manage to truly shock him last summer when I told him out of the blue one day that I was going to train for a “Mount Everest Challenge”. 

As usual, I was on the couch scrolling Facebook when I stumbled across a post from a local chiropractor.  He had helped me recover from a bout of sciatica early that year and I knew from the friendly chats we had during his treatments and the photos lining the walls of his office that he took part in triathlons.  I proudly divulged that my husband was an accomplished Ironman, so we had a common topic to discuss at each adjustment.

It was summer of 2021 when Covid was still having a widespread effect on events of any size.  So, unfortunately, my chiropractor’s high hopes and plans to participate in his first ever Iron competition were crushed.  This led him to organize an event which was open to anyone who felt the need to take on a challenge.
The timing was perfect for me.  I needed something to get me moving, a real challenge.  The beauty of this rather informal event was that YOU had to devise your own “Mount Everest Challenge”.  You had to push yourself to do something – big or small – it didn’t matter.  The only criteria was that you felt you had accomplished …

My dream had always been to take part in a triathlon but certain physical injuries were causing aches and pains keeping me sidelined and frustrated with my own body for giving out on me when I wanted to be far more active than I felt I could be.  As soon as I saw the post about the “Mount Everest Challenge”, I knew this was my chance to prove to myself – no one else –  that I could do it.

So, the training began.  I only had two weeks to get myself in shape for the mini triathlon I set my sights on.  All the necessary equipment got dusted off even the swim cap my husband had worn in his Ironman race back in 2014.  Yes, I keep everything and my hubby thinks I’m a bit of a hoarder. 

Very nervous that my body wouldn’t cooperate, I modified my training to suit my physical limitations.  On the big day, I planned on starting with a 6.5 km fast hike, followed by a 20 km bike ride and ending with a 1 km swim.  Admittedly, I am a rebel and like to do things ‘my way’ but reversing the order just seemed more suitable for my body and in the height of summer, who doesn’t want to finish in the water?

My husband immediately took on the role of my trainer and was stoked to accompany me on this journey.  He also acted as my official photographer as I needed to send documented proof of my challenge in order to receive a coveted medal of completion.  Was it all about the medal for me?  Maybe, a little.  But the sheer fact that I could keep up with the daily training and follow through with the plan were the real awards for me personally.
 
So, the big day arrived.  The conditions were spectacular for my mini triathlon.  The crew – hubby and Charlotte, our Jack Russel Terrier – were ready to support me.  And off we went.  Hiking, biking and swimming.  What an amazing feeling to have: committed to the challenge, training every day, following through with each aspect I had planned to do and completing it.  It was only ME vs. ME. 

I was so thrilled with myself to have kept my promise.  I proudly posted about it, not to brag about my accomplishment but to encourage and hopefully motivate others to ‘climb their Mount Everest’.  The response was amazing and I could tell my people’s comments that deep inside they would like to challenge themselves as well.

This brings me to the actual point of this article.  It only took me 700 words to get here 😊

Everyone needs their own personal Mount Everest to climb.  We all need big, scary goals to keep our lives interesting.  We need to get outside of our far too comfy comfort zone and draw on our immense potential that we all possess. 

Too many of us are complacent when it comes to our dreams. 

Have you ever said, “One day I will …” 

Well, I can assure you that ‘one day’ is not going to be on any calendar.  ‘One day’ will never come unless you make it happen.

There’s a quote I stumbled upon the other day that went like this, “Our biggest regrets are not for the things we have done but for the things we haven’t,” by Chad Michael Murray

Many people regret not going after their dreams when they had the chance.  We will not be able to turn back the clock.  Therefore, we have to create our own opportunities before it’s too late.

So, I encourage you to find your “Mount Everest” and begin to climb it.  And let me be clear… it doesn’t have to be physical exertion.
It could be:

·         That book you have always wanted to write,
·         That language you have wanted to learn,
·         That hobby you’ve wanted to take up,
·         The new business you’ve dreamed of starting.
 
My next Mount Everest Challenge is biking the Tour de France at home in our basement on my stationary bike!  Crazy, right? To date, I have put 391 miles out of the entire length of 2200 miles behind me.  Every day, I aim to bike a certain distance and I keep track of my progress.  Little by little I inch my way along the imagined route.  For me, just like it is for the well-trained ultra-athletes each summer who participate in their gruelling race, it is a mental as well as a physical challenge.

The challenge you choose for yourself can be smaller or larger in scope.  It should take you outside your comfort zone and challenge you to the extent you choose to be challenged.

Sometimes, the true challenge is addressing/recognizing your limiting beliefs around something you’ve wanted to do but haven’t yet because your mind told you it was impossible.

Brian Tracy stated it so well in a nutshell, “You begin to fly when you let go of self-limiting beliefs and allow your mind and aspirations to rise to greater heights.”
So, are you going to rise?

Limiting beliefs will hold us back from achieving greatness.
Limiting beliefs will keep us small and comfortable in our predictable life.
Limiting beliefs will become the truths we tell ourselves.
Limiting beliefs will not help us reach our fullest potential.
Limiting beliefs will not allow us to rise above the rest.

These beliefs stand in our way and become our truths.  Overcoming these self-limiting beliefs and self-imposed limitations is one of the hardest things we, as humans, need to do in order to discover our full potential.

It’s time to confront them head on.  It’s time to squash/crush them proving to yourself that you can, indeed, overcome them.  It’s your time to rise above what you think you can/can’t do and re-write your story.  Your only competition is your mind.  It comes down to YOU vs. YOU.

Are you ready to face your fiercest competitor?  Namely, your mind.

So, when will your Mount Everest Challenge take place?

In case you haven’t heard it yet today, let me be the first to tell you…
You are the most amazing human and you are capable of achieving great things.  I believe in you.  Now, go out there and show the world what you are truly made of.
I hope to have inspired you to grow with today’s episode.
Til next time,
Lisa
xoxo
 
 
 

Put Your New Habits to the Test

by Lisa OberbichlerConfidence, Goals, Habits, MindsetPosted on No Comments

LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE HERE -> https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/wtc3zlnNvwb

In today’s episode of the Inspiration2Grow podcast we are going to take a test, an easy yet impactful test that will help you define and solidify any new habit you want to implement.

We are quickly approaching the end of the year and many of us will start reflecting on what we have accomplished throughout 2022 and start looking ahead to the new year full of possibilities.  Setting new goals and intentions is normal, however most people aren’t realistic or make these small promises to themselves on a whim without much thought.  I’d like to help you make lasting change by introducing new habits, but ones that will be ‘stickier’ than before. So, stay with me and let’s put our new habits to the test.

If you’ve been following this podcast, you’ll know I talk about habits a fair bit:  I did a whole episode on “micro habits” and 5 morning habits worth considering.  So, be sure to check them out after this one.

Why am I so obsessed with the topic of habits?

It’s simple.  Habits are the super glue holding our everyday life together. Consider of all the daily habits you perform without even thinking about it – brushing your teeth, washing your face, etc. Your life today is essentially the sum of your habits. Whether you are in shape, successful, happy – is the result of your own habits.

Therefore, habits determine the quality of our life.  By slowing things down and approaching our behaviour, we learn to develop an awareness of why we do the things we do.  As a result, our mindset shifts to support the development of new habits, which in turn brings about meaningful and lasting change.
With my clients, I focus on three levels of change in our coaching sessions:  behaviours, beliefs and identity.  We work on recognizing self-defeating behaviours as well as patterns and solidifying healthy habits that last.

I think we can all agree that implementing new habits and breaking old habits that are not serving us any longer isn’t always easy.

Just like myself, you may have heard different statistics on how long it actually takes to form a new habit.  I thought I would go right to the trusted source, James Clear, well-known author of “Atomic Habits” to get his take on this question.  He talks a lot about 21 days, however, he also writes about the data collected by Phillippa Lally, a health psychologist researcher at the University College of London.  She tried to figure out exactly how long it takes to form a new habit.
Her findings state, on average, it takes more than 2 months (the magic number sited is 66) for a new behaviour to become ‘automatic’.  Since the factors influencing the formation of new habit are wide ranging, such as a person’s behaviour, circumstances, and the individual herself, she concluded that it takes anywhere from 18 – 254 days for people to form a new habit.

Incredible, right?

Since this is Tangible Tuesday, I’d like to walk you through a test called ‘The New Habit Test’.  But before we do that, I’d like you to think of one new habit or change you’d like to undertake in your life.  Perhaps you’ve been thinking of learning a new skill, flexing your creativity muscles, getting in shape, writing your memoirs, decluttering the house, eating healthier, journalling or meditating, taking piano lessons.  The list is literally endless.  But no matter what it is, you’ll have to create a new habit around it and find time to dedicate to this new habit.

For this new habit to have sticking power, by that I mean, you will actually implement it, enjoy it and start to get better at it and eventually automate it … it will have to pass the test.

So, first off – Get Real With Yourself.  Be completely honest.

Choose one change or new habit you would like to introduce to your everyday life.  Just one and let’s use it as our example today.

Clearly define the change you’d like to achieve or define the new habit you’d like to incorporate in your life.
 
Here are just a few ideas from the most common categories:

Health
·         Start your day with a tall glass of water. …
·         Walk for 10 minutes at a time. …
·         Take a day off to take care of your mental health. …
·         Swap one takeout meal for a homecooked one. …
 
Wealth
·         Revisit your household budget. …
·         Tackle your debt. …
·         Consider investing in ways that matter to you…
·         Plan and start a side hustle in increase income
 
Relationships
·         Make more time for your partner in small ways. …
·         Make more attempts to show love in your everyday language through greetings and affectionate words …
·         Notice the positive in your partner and tell them. …
·         Be thoughtful in small ways for a big impact. …
 
Career
·         Schedule time for your own professional development. …
·         Make time each week to reflect and plan. …
·         Every day, identify your big three. …
·         Identify and limit distractions. …
·         Take regular breaks away from screens. …
 
Mindfulness
·         Take up meditation
·         Watch what you eat
·         Listen to people when they speak
·         Notice the world around you
·         Turn off your devices more
·         Practice gratitude

Giving back/helping others
·         Join a local charity group
·         Volunteer your time at a food bank
·         Set aside a certain amount for donating each week/month
·         Schedule a declutter of your home each season & donate the goods
·         Research ways of helping out within your community – aim to get involved in one activity
 
So, the time has come to run your new habit through the test.  This test is comprised of 10 questions.  First off, I’ll read the 10 questions and then I will repeat them adding in very brief explanations.  Trust me that taking action on your new habit right away is paramount for it to take hold and become sticky.  The other important ingredient for a successful habit is for it to be part of your day, which means you have to dedicate time for it. 
 
10 Questions to finally change your habits for good

1.        Is there a small action step I can take immediately?  No waiting, no hesitation, no putting off until “some day”.  Implementation right now is key for this action step.
2.       Am I willing to commit to this action step for an entire month?  New habits or life changes require time and commitment, so if you are not willing to see this task through for 30 days now, it likely isn’t important enough to you.
3.       If I do this every day, what change will I see and what will be the result? Remember that small action steps done consistently over time truly add up to larger results.
4.       Does this habit (and result) have major meaning in my life?  All new changes you implement must pass this test. This is often referred to as your WHY.  If you have a compelling ‘why’, your chances of succeeding are far greater.
5.       Does the pain or not doing it outweigh the fear of doing it? Quite frequently people don’t take action because they’re afraid of failing, not being good enough or possibly embarrassing themselves.
6.       Can I make this a small action step only requiring a few minutes to complete?  Unfortunately, many of us use the excuse of not having the time to complete tasks we want to.  However, breaking down the action/goal into tiny, doable chunks and seeing these small actions through on a daily basis will provide the necessary momentum.
7.       When will I carve out time? This is key to your success, and it must be on your daily schedule just like brushing your teeth.  Whether it is done straight away after waking up, or during midday break, or in the evening, it must be scheduled AND be done around the same time each day.
8.       How can I hold myself accountable? Having a person or means of staying accountable is pivotal during the month.  It could be a friend, family member, co-worker that you “report” to. Accountability cultivates the environment for your new habit to grow roots and succeed.
9.       Can I give myself early small successes?  There are many ways to reward yourself for sticking to your new daily action steps. I like to have a glass jar sitting in a noticeable place in my home, and each time I complete my action step, I drop a loonie or toonie (Canadian coins) in the jar.  Once the time period is over, I buy myself something new.  Depending on your tastes, fresh flowers or a new candle, day at the spa, or a relaxing day in nature could all be rewards – whatever makes you happy and excited to do is a perfect reward.
10.   How will I make sure not to forget?  Here too, there are multiple ways of reminding yourself:  send yourself a daily reminder text, sticky notes on the fridge, computer, bathroom mirror, etc., ask a person close to you for a reminder, alarms on your phone, and the list goes on.  Try, if possible and suitable, to do this new habit first thing in the morning so that the chances of your everyday life getting in the way of your success are significantly reduced.
 
Okay, did your new habit pass the test? If so, then your chances of being successful are good.  If not, then you might want to re-evaluate.

Good habits are a dynamic thing.  They facilitate change one step at a time, and they help you ensure that these changes become part of your life.

Forming new habits is important as they can play a crucial role in several aspects of your life, including mental as well as physical health, productivity, relationships and self-esteem. 

It’s always advantageous to revisit your habits and assess what is serving you and your health well and which ones aren’t.  Remember that both your mental health and your physical health depend on these habits.

One final note on habits…

Setting good habits is a powerful way to achieve your goals keeping us focused and organized.  Once a good habit is etched in your brain, you’ll be much closer to reaching your goals without even thinking about it.
 
Today, I challenge you to commit to a new habit for 30 days, carving out the necessary time, making it a non-negotiable item on your everyday to-do list. Get the momentum going now and don’t wait until January 1 to implement it.  There will never be an optimal day to begin.  The time is now, go after it!

That’s it for today, goal getters.

In case you haven’t heard it from anyone yet today, let me be the first to tell you…

You are an amazing human with so much potential and greatness.  I believe in you. Now, go out and show the world what you are truly made of.

Thanks for tuning in and I hope to have inspired you to grow.

Til next time,
Lisa
xoxo
 
 

The Fear of Change

by Lisa OberbichlerConfidence, Goals, Habits, MindsetPosted on No Comments

LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE HERE-> https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/BC9KZ2KMvwb

In today’s episode of the Inspiration2Grow podcast I want to challenge your fears, in particular your fear of implementing change in your life. 

Are you adverse to change?  Do you like things to stay the same, be predictable without any surprises?  Does risk scare the heck out of you?  Do you come up with all kinds of excuses why you can’t make a change in your life?

By the end of today’s episode, I hope to inspire you to adopt a new attitude towards change.

Change makes us versatile.  Change allows us to move forward in life and experience both new and exciting things.  Learning new skills or working on your inner self can bring about changes you never knew were possible.

If you don’t actively work on evolving yourself, life becomes stagnant.
  
So, let me ask you this question…

What do you think of when I ask you to imagine change?  What comes to mind?

Most of us think of the small changes in our everyday life, such as New Year’s resolutions, those little promises we often make to ourselves that help make our lives just a little bit better.  Get healthier, fitter, smarter, practice more self-care, spend more time with loved ones, read more, get more fresh air.  Some people imagine travelling more, cooking at home more and trying new recipes, working out more.

But, then we take a look at the other end of the spectrum of change…the huge changes that have impacted the world.

Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Mark Zuckerberg, Marie Curie, Leonardo Da Vinci, Mahatma Ghandi, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to name a few. These great names (and many more) have made changes which influenced all of our lives as we know it in some way.

So, if you could see me now, image my arms stretched out to each side or imagine my wingspan.  On one end you have the small changes and at the other end you have the huge, massive changes people such as the ones I just mentioned have made.

The Range of Change =>=>

                II———————————————-THE MIDDLE——————————————————-II
                                                                            

But what about the area in the middle of this spectrum?  This is where few of us dare to go.  This is where the scariest changes happen and the ones that affect our lives the most.  No matter how many small promises you make to yourself or no matter how many people join Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta-verse…it is these middle changes that have the most impact on our lives.

I’m referring to changes that affect you for the rest of your life; changes that set you on a completely different path; changes that are nearly impossible to un-do.
These mid-range changes are often dismissed by the following statements:

-> Oh, I could never do it.  It’s too risky.
-> I just don’t have the time for it.
-> Yeah, maybe another day.
-> Oh, I’m comfortable where I am.
-> I don’t need to do this.

Here’s the raw truth -> change is NEVER going to happen with this attitude.  Change means moving from point A to point B, but it’s the transition that really scares people.

What if we didn’t fear change at all?  What if we decided to go against the norm, get out of our comfort zone, and leave the safety net behind us?  IMAGINE CHANGE

Our lives are pre-determined for us in a way.  We are expected to attend school, then go on to college or university, only to secure a job, buy a house and start a family.  The hope most parents have for their children, at least that was the case for me.

I would like to tell you about my personal story, one not many people actually know in detail.
 
I like to think I was your average teenager.  At school, I excelled in some subjects and had to work harder in others.  In my spare time, I held down a part-time job to earn and save for post secondary education, however I enjoyed spending my hard-earned money on clothes and jewellery – much to my mother’s dismay. 

During the final two years of high school, it was time to get serious about career choices and university applications.  This meant doubling down on school to achieve the necessary marks for the programs I wanted to apply for.  The only two things that were clear for me was that I loved teaching and helping other people and I loved sports.  During this time, the pressure to do well, get the marks I needed, make all the choices that would define my future, please my parents, ended up being too much for me and I landed in the hospital.  After all the tests were done, a tumor was ruled out as were a few other scary options. 
Lying in the hospital bed, I made a decision that would alter my life significantly.  I didn’t tell anyone about my decision.  I kept it to myself returning to school going through the motions like all my soon-to-graduate peers were doing. While the excitement about moving from home to start the next chapter of their education was taking shape, my mind was filled with anxiety.

Finally, the time came to choose which university would see me on their campus proudly sporting their sweatshirt.  My parents were quite happy to know that I had received 3 acceptances from 3 well-regarded universities.  My future seemed pretty rosy from their perspective. So, the three of us, my mom, dad and I agreed to set around the table to discuss the options and financial aspects of my next four plus years at university.

Little did they know, that I had much different plans for my life.  I had decided to do a complete 180 degree shift and chart a new path.  That was undoubtedly the hardest thing I have had to do – tell them their dreams of me attending university would not come true, at least not yet.

I can’t even tell you how much courage it took to look them in the eyes and say, “I am not going to university.  I am going to get out and see some of the world first.”  There was complete silence and disappointment on their part.  How could I give up the chances that were laid out for me?  How could I throw away my life like this?  How was I going to support myself was one huge concern of theirs? What does that even mean, see some of the world first?

If telling my parents wasn’t hard enough, explaining my decision to my closest friends and relatives was just as difficult. To say they were appalled at my decision was an understatement.  And then came the questions or assumptions… If you quit your schooling now, you’ll never go back.  You’re giving up an amazing opportunity by not attending university.  Travel the world, why can’t you do that later, after you’ve completed your education?
 
There certainly was pressure to re-think my decision and ‘get back on track’ with my choices.  But, with every opposing opinion and flippant comment about how I was not thinking straight, my resolve to push forward became even stronger.

Fast forward to today…

I don’t regret a thing. 

Before my fellow high school students had graduated their post secondary education, I had seen many European countries, learned a new language, came in contact with so many different cultures – all of which I learned so much from.  It opened my mind and educated my in more ways than traditional schooling can. 
After living in Austria for three years, I actually did attend university and got my degree in Innsbruck. From there, I opened my own learning institution and became a household name in the area I lived and worked.

So, no, I did not follow the path expected by society and my family when I was 18.  I was not complacent and didn’t follow the norms of the time, which dictated getting a post secondary education right out of high school was the way to go.  I challenged these unwritten rules or standards or expectations if you will, I challenged what my parents wanted me to do; I challenged what my best friends thought I should do.
 
My choice not to attend university but rather give myself time and see the world is one of those middle range changes I referred to earlier. 

It was risky, brave, unprecedented (at least in family and circle of friends), very difficult at times, but worth every second. 
It impacted my life significantly.
It increased my self confidence 10-fold.
It showed me how to take risks.
It allowed me to rely solely on myself.
It granted me open-mindedness and understanding toward other cultures.
It paved the way to a very successful and fulfilling career.
It helped me grow and soar to new heights.
It shaped my future in the most amazing way.

I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it wasn’t for the decision I made to go against what society thought my path and destiny should be.

So, I want to challenge YOU to imagine change.  Don’t allow yourself to become complacent with your life as it is currently.

I wish more people would fear complacency rather than being afraid of change.  There are numerous definitions of the term complacency, but I feel this sums it up best:

You are complacent when you have a feeling of calm satisfaction with your own abilities or situation that prevents you from trying harder.  You feel safe, secure without the need to get out of your comfort zone.

Food for thought:  complacency breeds mediocrity and steals potential.  And you know, I am all about helping others achieve greatness.  I am not interested in average, I aim for the stars and I want you to do this too.  Staying within your cosy comfort zone will not allow you to reach your full potential either.  Don’t you want to discover what you are truly capable of?
 
Remember… life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

So, I want you to try new things, set out of your comfort zone and I mean way outside not just baby steps, take risks, do things in ways you’ve never done them before, and become obsessed with the fact that you have but ONE go-round on this planet as the you that is you, and just realize how precious and important it is NOT to squander that.  (modified from original Jen Sincero quote)

I realize the middle changes are the scariest, and they are also by far the most difficult to carry out.

It also takes a lot of courage to imagine change when there’s so much judgement both online and offline.  We have to brush this off, become tone deaf toward this judgement. 

It’s your life and you make the decisions. 

In fact, this is the exact sentence I used as a come-back when friends and family told me I was crazy to turn down the chance of a good university degree.  I boldly and calmly explained, “This is MY life and what I choose to make of it is totally up to me. If I choose to go back to university, then I will but not before I am ready.” 

So, if any of you have gone through one of those middle changes in your life, I salute you from the bottom of my heart.  You have my deepest respect.
You are some of the very few that made the leap before you could even see the safety net.

For those of you who are contemplating a major life change, use my story as motivation and encouragement.  You will grow in so many ways, trust me on this.

The first step is to imagine change, the next step is to take action and pursue it.

So, what do you intend to do with this one precious life you have?

That’s all for today, and thanks for taking time out of your day to tune in.

I will leave you as I always do…
In case you haven’t heard it yet from anyone today, let me be the first to say it…

You are so amazing and capable.  The sky’s the limit and I believe in you wholeheartedly.  Now, go out there and show the world what you are truly made of.

I hope to have inspired you to grow.

Til next time,
Lisa
xoxo
 
 

Taking Charge of Your Belief System

by Lisa OberbichlerConfidence, Goals, Habits, MindsetPosted on No Comments

LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE HERE -> https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/312Std57twb

In today’s episode of the Inspiration2Grow podcast, we are talking about how we can take charge of our belief system and our minds based on a question I received on social media. 

The question goes like this:

How do you keep your confidence high and know you’re on the right track when you’re not getting the results you want yet?

I love this question for a number of reasons, and I feel a lot of us can relate to this situation.
 
So, let’s jump straight in to a mini-mindset lesson to answer this question.

When you’re not getting the result you want, you need to watch the meaning you create and the story you’re telling yourself about what’s happening.
What is the story you’re creating if you’re not getting the results yet?

For example,  I’m not getting the results, so…

-> This must mean it does not work.
-> This must mean it will NEVER work for me.
-> This must mean the strategy is outdated.
-> This must mean I am not as good at this as I thought I was.

The fact is, you’re telling yourself these very elaborate stories AND choosing really terrible meanings.

You tell yourself a story (oh, I must not be any good at this) and what you believe to be possible shrinks down and your inspiration or motivation to do what you want to do also decreases.  Then you don’t get the result.

Every action you take is influenced by this negative energy.  It also means your potential gets diminished.  You adopt an identity around not being successful due to the lack of results.

You tell yourself, “Oh, this validates what I thought in the first place; it affirms the belief I have.”

Ultimately, you are creating a negative, downward spiral in your mind with these stories. Each non-result or lack of result seemingly underlines what you thought from the beginning, i.e. it will never work for me.

So, what do you do in this situation?

You have to shift the meaning or the story you are telling yourself.

Flip the script with these 2 questions:  What else can you say to yourself about the situation?  What else is true?

With these two closely connected, powerful questions you can reframe how you view the situation and inject new energy into it.

So, what else it true?

* It’s only a matter of time.
* Every time I get better at it.
* It’s not a matter of if, but when.
* I’m going to keep trying until I make it.

AND, the moment you say this to yourself, all of a sudden you feel this surge of energy.  Why?

Because you feel like you are back at cause.  Because you feel like you are back in control.  You are in the driver’s seat instead of the emotions overruling you.  Now, you’re inspired to take action.

You, then, create a new meaning or story.

I want you to say the things that will actually motivate you.  Create the beliefs that are actually going to support you on this journey.

Let me take my beloved example of someone on a fitness journey as an analogy. 

She wants to lose weight, tone her body and gain new strength through her workout routine.  But, it’s hard finding the time each day, hard staying consistent, hard sticking to a calorie-reduced nutrition plan.  It’s just HARD. She starts and stays with it, but isn’t happy with her results or lack thereof.  She questions whether she’s on the right track and whether to throw in the towel.  The bit of confidence she had at the beginning stages of this new routine are waning very quickly.  Is it worth it?  She wants to quit on herself, yet again.

My response to her:

At the beginning of this journey, you were ALL in, fully committed to go on this journey.  You are going to see it through because every time you give up on yourself, you are chipping away at your confidence AND losing integrity momentum (I explained what this is in Episode 13, so check it out).  With every new attempt, you will have to gear yourself up again both emotionally and energetically. So, by all means, keep yourself in the game even if things aren’t progressing, you’re still on the right track.

And, I would ask her…

So, what else it true?

-> It’s only a matter of time.
-> Every time I get better at it.
-> It’s not a matter of if, but when.
-> I’m going to keep trying until I make it.

We humans are meaning-making machines.  We constantly create meaning and stories about what has happened to us and create beliefs that do not serve us.
Every time we have a new experience, we create a meaning/story that is either going to support and serve OR hurt us. 

This is where I say – YOU HAVE A CHOICE.

Flip the script, take control and shift your thoughts for the better! 

I want you to internalize this:

~ I am going to create empowering stories.

~ I am going to redefine the meanings that are actually going to serve me and send/move me in the direction I want to go.

This is what is really, truly going to make the difference.  It’s all about mindset and beliefs.

We must take charge of our belief system and our minds.

Hopefully, this mini-mindset lesson will be useful.  I urge you to listen to it whenever you feel the need, jot down the powerful question as well as the two phrases to remind you of the new, empowering stories you will create in the future.

I will end today’s episode as I always do..

In case you haven’t heard this yet today, let me be the first to tell you…

You are amazing, capable and extraordinary.  I believe in you.  Now, go out and show the world what you are made of.

I hope to have inspired you to grow.

Till next time,

Lisa
xoxo
 

Strengthening Your Integrity in just 5 Minutes a Day

by Lisa OberbichlerConfidence, Goals, Habits, MindsetPosted on No Comments

LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE HERE -> https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/1b0ld246twb

In my work as a life coach, I help people shift their limiting beliefs through strategic mindset work in order to create transformation in their lives – whatever that means to them.  Some clients desire transformation in the area of their health and fitness, others in their relationships, some in their work situation, while others need to break down their long-held limiting beliefs around money or their new business.  But, in all cases, it all boils down to shifting their beliefs in themselves and their abilities.

Side note:  Yesterday’s episode on Sara Blakely’s mindset shifts and development, that helped her make millions with her company Spanx, are great examples of how a growth mindset makes you unstoppable, tenacious, accepting of failure as a means to learn and grow.  If you haven’t listened to this episode, be sure to check it out.

So, let me just say…

Mindset is 100% of the equation.

Today, I’d like to show you how beginning a new habit for just 5 minutes a day will strengthen your integrity and restore your faith in yourself and your abilities.
As an example, I am going to take working out for just 5 minutes a day to demonstrate how such a short period of time and commitment will restore your integrity and dignity in yourself.

However, if you prefer a 5-minute practice of journalling, meditating, creative writing, even reading, that’s fine and this mini-mindset lesson will work perfectly for any habit you’d like to start and gain some momentum in to create change and transformation in your life.

So, find one small way to show up for yourself each and every day.  It’s something that must be doable, realistic, and attainable.  And remind yourself, if you are doing 1% better today over yesterday, then YOU ARE WINNING. 

Your expectations must be realistic because I’m all about creating REAL habits that create REAL results.

The transformation will happen in both your heart and your head.  We want to generate an internal change about how you feel and love yourself.  Our intentions and actions will impact our hearts, minds, and ultimately our souls.  This will become clearer as we dive deeper into the episode.

You see, creating change from the inside out is essential for any habits to take hold and become part of you. Far too many times, people fall into the traps of not creating internal change first before diving into a new habit on only a surface level.

5 minutes a day is everything.

As humans, we try and fail, try and fail, try and fail to the point where we feel we aren’t worthy or valuable.  We believe that we can’t accomplish anything and begin to hate ourselves.

You might be here right now.  You have quit on yourself far too often giving up after a short period of time labelling yourself as a quitter.  Self-sabotage has become your M.O.

In such cases, we are lacking the most important thing in our lives.  We are not yet aware of the sticky glue that will hold our lives, goals and commitments together.  We don’t yet know the key to success in any area of our lives.

What is the magical ingredient?  INTEGRITY

Integrity is doing what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it.

You might be one of the millions of people who are struggling with their own integrity.  We are all humans; we all struggle with this.

But the truth is until you figure this out, you will continue to struggle to reach your goals.

You can accomplish anything you put your mind to. You can set your mind to something and do it – even the big things, not just small things.

The problem is quite simple.  If you stopped and asked yourself why you’ve started and failed so many times, you could figure it out.

You’ve spent your life taking on way too much, so many commitments at once in order to create the change you want.

Going back to my example of working out and becoming fitter.  You may have spent hours at the gym, taking all the classes, running or walking, cycling or spinning. You’ve put yourself on a restrictive diet, depriving yourself of a lot.  

You literally want to take on any and all possible commitments so you can get to your goals faster, but that’s just not sustainable.
This is a recipe for disaster and self-sabotage. 

I promise if you continue to take on more than what it sustainable for you, you are bound to fail. 
There is a silver-lining though.  You can do something about it!

So, many clients ask me, “How is 5 minutes actually going to help me, Lisa?”

When you take a leap of faith, you trust me and start small, you’re actually going to start playing a big game.
Instead of committing to everything at once, which we know now is a recipe for disaster -> commit to 5 minutes a day.

What will happen?  You actually start doing what you said you were going to do.  You start having that thing called integrity show up in your life.  And when you have integrity, you build dignity, which is the love you have for yourself.

You actually start to LOVE yourself. How amazing would that be?

Then you start to realize you are good enough and you can accomplish anything.  Once you know this, you say to yourself, “If I can do this,…”  “If I can actually make and keep a promise to myself, what else can I do?”

Then the world becomes your oyster.

This is what I call “Integrity Momentum”.  You may have heard of the Law of Inertia in physics classes.  Well, it tells us that an object in motion, stays in motion.  Whether good or bad, whatever we have going on keeps going on.

So, now that we have integrity going on and dignity going on, we love ourselves and it can keep going.

When you cross something off your to-do list, how does that feel?  I know for me; it feels pretty good.

How does it feel when you complete something you said you were going to do?

These are all wins.  And after a handful of wins under your belt and days of keeping the commitment to yourself, this is a powerful feeling and has massive value for your mind and soul.

You won’t be able to ignore the thoughts running through your head.  We have to shift our thoughts to:
->  I am a promise-keeper.
->  I do what I say I’m going to do.
->  I am the most important person in my world, and I will value & treat myself as such.

This is INTEGRITY.

After you’ve proven to yourself that you’re a promise keeper, you will start setting your sights higher, deservedly because you CAN and SHOULD.
Before you know it, you’re going to be accomplishing things you never ever thought possible AND faster than before.  Much faster than the time when you thought you had to take on the whole world at once.

You see, what I am going to say may seem very counterintuitive but…

You have to slow down to go faster.
 You have to do less to accomplish more.

And it all starts with just 5 minutes.

Remember that it’s all about showing up and making commitments that are ridiculously simple, so ridiculously simple in fact, that you can keep them and show up no matter what the day throws your way.

The goal is to keep yourself winning, each and every day.

In case you haven’t heard it from anyone yet today, let me be the first to tell you…
You are an amazing human being, so full of potential.  I believe in you.  So, now go out and show the world what you are truly made of.

I hope to have inspired you to grow.  

And, til next time.

Lisa
xoxo
 

The Making of a Billion Dollar Mindset – feat. Sara Blakely

by Lisa OberbichlerConfidence, Goals, MindsetPosted on No Comments

LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE HERE -> https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/kGzl6BC5twb

In today’s episode of the Inspiration2Grow podcast, I am going to zero in on 3 major shifts in Sara Blakely’s mindset that helped her take her company, Spanx, to great heights and be listed on “Time 100” – a list of top 100 of the most influential people in the world.  She was also granted the title of the world’s youngest self-made billionaire by Forbes in 2012.  I think you’ll find this episode very enlightening.

Sara Blakely’s story is one of failure and grit.  Surprisingly, the founder of Spanx doesn’t attribute her phenomenal success to goal setting or self-discipline as many might assume, but to her mindset, which began to shift and develop at the young age of 16.  Things changed for her when she began listening to personal growth audio cassettes in her car for hours on end. 

The first and likely the most powerful mindset shift that Sara experienced was taught to her by her father.  As they were gathered around the table for dinner, he would post the question to her and her brother:

1.        What did you fail at this week?  Sara’s father would give them a high 5 when they told him about something they attempted but it didn’t go so well, or they may have been terrible at.  Instead of coaching or correcting them, her father celebrated their effort.
 
Sara claims this reframed her definition of failure stating, “Failure for me became NOT trying, versus the outcome.”

Don’t focus so much on the outcome because you are then afraid to fail.

This mindset shift helped a lot when it came to the 7 years of door-to-door selling that Sara found herself doing after college.  Many doors were slammed in her face along the way.

Develop the ability to:  get up, dust off and try again.

We have to learn to take full responsibility for our actions and realize every failure or less-than-stellar attempt at doing something provides us with a huge opportunity to grow and learn.  This is where mental resilience comes into play.  Sure, we get knocked down but can we get back up, dust ourselves off and take on the next attempt with re-newed vigor.

The acronym F.A.I.L. stands for ‘first attempt at learning’.  We should remind ourselves of this and embrace failing as a means to learn.  This ties into the growth mindset nicely, which is all about learning HOW to fail well, and knowing that learning from failure is what leads to eventual success.  This is summed up in the sentence I encourage everyone to adopt, children, teens and adults alike, “I can’t do that…. YET.”

The best success stories often begin with failure.

Failure paves the path to success, but as we all know, failure can be quite a lot to handle at times.  It can get you down and start a pity party or back you into a corner of despair, hopelessness and low self-esteem.  In short, failing at anything is daunting no matter how you look at it. But, if you’re ever feeling down about a failure, I want you to remember that the best success stories often begin with failure. And, great women such as the likes of: Oprah Winfrey, J.K. Rowling, Lucille Ball, Vera Wang, Arianna Huffington failed many times before they ultimately succeeded in their respective fields of brilliance.

Fear of failure makes you fail … because you won’t even attempt things you’d like to do.
 
I think society needs to start redefining failure as they did at the Blakely household.  There is a very negative stigma associated with the words:  fail and failure. The fear of failure often stems from a deep-rooted fear of experiencing shame or embarrassment.  Failing can trigger feelings of worthlessness, so avoiding trying to do the activity in the first place serves as a means to protect oneself from sadness, regret, disappointment.

So, let’s flip the script on failure and start asking the question of yourself and your family… What did you fail at this week?  Celebrate the efforts in trying new things. 

2.       The second mindset shift that helped Sara Blakely especially when she was starting her new company was, “Do not care what other people think”.  This was a huge piece of her mindset that she says, still to this day, is important and takes constant work.  However, she comments, adopting this attitude is extremely freeing because you no longer care what others think of you and what you are doing, and you take more risks with this mindset.
 
“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.” ~Lao Tzu
 
Unfortunately, we live in other people’s heads.  Let me give you a few examples of what I mean by this.
 
Ø  We carefully choose what we wear to the gym to look our best in the eyes of the other gym goers.
Ø  We beat ourselves up after a meeting at work going through everything we said, worried about what coworkers think of us.
Ø  We post the absolute best photo out of 35 plus selfies we took, adding a flattering filter to gain more likes and approval from others that we are attractive.
We live our lives worrying far too much what others think of us.  This makes us judge ourselves even more harshly.  It causes us to feel uncomfortable in our own bodies.  It causes us to feel apologetic and makes us live according to OUR perception of other people’s standards.  It results in feelings of: anxiety, lower self-esteem, being inauthentic, I’m not likable enough, I’m not intelligent enough, I’m not pretty enough.

The truth is, and I really want you to internalize this, other people’s opinions of us are none of our business. Their opinions have absolutely nothing to do with us and everything to do with them.

                At the end of the day, YOU have to be in love with yourself.

                You have to admire the way you do things and be the best possible version of who YOU can be.

I realize it’s not easy to ignore other’s opinions about you but here’s where a bit of mindset work comes into play.  Set up some boundaries for your thoughts.

-> Know your core values and see them as a bright, shining light that is guiding you through a forest.  The brighter the light, the clearer the path.
-> Know that you have complete control over your feelings so don’t allow others to get you down. Stay in charge of your mind and reactions to others. 
-> Know that you are doing your best and feel great about it.  No matter what response you may receive for your well-intended actions, remind yourself of this and don’t take it personally.
-> Know that everyone makes mistakes.  Even though we don’t talk about it enough, we all make them, big or small.  The world will not come to an end.
The bottom line is: stop caring what other people think and live life on your terms.  It will change your life.  Sara Blakely is a testament to this.
 
3.       Become a No-Limit Person – At the age of 16, Sara Blakely received a set of audio cassettes from her father.  She listened to the voice of Wayne Dyer, creator of “Becoming a No-Limit Person”, for hours on end until she had completely memorized his teachings.
In a nutshell, these cassettes were all about taking back your power.  We’re living in a society in which we attribute the things that happen to us to others. We also put limits on how much we can accomplish in life.  What if…you decided there was no limit to what you could achieve?  How much more would you be able to accomplish in life?
Three key principles Dyer talks about in depth:
 
* Recognize your capacity for growth
* Everyone can achieve high limits
* Why complain over things you have no control over
 
These endless hours of personal development were so impactful on her, she even presented the idea of teaching this to her school principal.  Sara commented, “In school they teach us WHAT to think, Dyer and his cassettes taught me HOW to think.”  She continues by adding, “Self-education is so important to your development as a person and it’s the very thing that will set you apart from everyone else.”
 
She strongly believes the more you experience in life, the more you have to offer others. 

So, invest in yourself…it’s the most important investment you’ll ever make. ~Jim Rohn

With that quote, I will wrap up today’s talk.  I hope you enjoyed the examples from Sara Blakely’s life that shifted her way of approaching things like:  failure, limiting beliefs and other’s opinions. 

And, I will leave you as I always do…
Just in case you haven’t heard it yet today, let me be the first to say it…

You are an amazing human being, full of potential.  I believe in you.  Now, go out and show the world what you are truly made of.

I hope to have inspired you to grow.

Til next time,

Lisa
xoxo

 
 

5 Morning Habits Worth Considering

by Lisa OberbichlerConfidence, Goals, Habits, MindsetPosted on No Comments

LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE HERE -> https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/LPMfzsPZtwb

Have you ever come across the quote, “Win the morning, win the day”?  If we take a deeper look at this quote, it implies that a winning morning routine is the key to crushing the day.  What this looks like can be very different for each of us. I’ll talk about some valid reasons why you should re-think your morning routine and offer 5 habits to consider implementing for increased energy, productivity and self-care during the day.

I have only recently started rising before the crack of dawn to have pensive, quiet time for my writing.  There is a feeling of blissful solitude while I sip my morning coffee and the message is pouring out of my heart through my fingers on the keyboard.  After spending about 60 productive minutes working on my writing, I go to our basement gym and cycle my little heart out for about 45 minutes.  After accomplishing these two morning tasks, I feel on top of the world.  Not only because I followed my plan, but also because I could check off two of my MITs (Most Important Task) before anything could get in the way. My motto for the rest of the day —  Come what may, I have won the day!

Is it essential to start winning your day before the sun rises?  Not necessarily.  Everyone’s sleep routine and bedtimes are going to vary.  However, I will say this… If you don’t begin before 8 am, you had better be able to religiously carve out an hour or two eliminating ALL distractions that may occur from that point on.  You will have to be the master of setting boundaries during your ME time.  Life can get hectic at the drop of a coin and suddenly what seemed like a normal morning can take a turn for the worse quickly.
 
Some reasons why starting your morning before everyone else is advantageous:

1.        You will be uninterrupted because most people are still in slumber mode.  This allows you to move around the house in stealth mode to get your morning started in the best possible way.
2.       Your thoughts are fresh and clear after a good night’s sleep.  This means you can fully concentrate more on the task and do it with intention: meditation, reading, praying, moving your body, stretching, yoga, writing, journaling, lighting a candle and thinking about the day ahead, etc.
3.       Our minds are pure and not yet inundated with the day’s events. Our daily lives are made up of so many insignificant but also crucial tasks that require deeper thought and consideration.  Decisions must be made, plans must be put in place, strategies executed in order for the day to go well both at work and for the family.
4.       Our bodies are strong and rejuvenated.  We are ready to tackle the day, and this might mean early morning exercise for some people, which is easier to accomplish if the body is well-rested as opposed to being exhausted after a long workday.
5.       Jump starting your day in a positive state of mind will have ripple effects on all other activities throughout your day.

You owe it to yourself to begin each day in top form with clarity about your priorities, energized and jazzed, mentally calm to take on anything the day throws at you.

I believe that “Success leaves clues”.  It’s one of the most powerful ideas meaning, if you can learn the methods that someone else used to succeed, then you can do the same thing.

So, if we want to achieve more success in our lives, all we need to do is find a way to model those who have already succeeded.

With this in mind, I did some research, talked to some women and found a common theme.  Today, I would like to present the 5 most common morning habits successful women practice, and I have also started implementing a few of these into my own early morning routine. 

The tone we set for our entire day begins with our morning routine and the thoughts we feed our minds with from the second we wake up. How you set up and spend your morning will ultimately influence the rest of your day.

Having a winning morning routine, one that is suited to your needs and priorities, isn’t about adding more items to your already full to-do list.  It’s about establishing a solid morning routine which will boost your mood, provide you with much-needed energy to tackle the day, decrease anxiety, increase levels of productivity AND make you feel better overall. It also puts you in control of the day, it keeps you on track and puts you in the right frame of mind for the day.

Here are 5 morning habits worth considering:

-> Get up early  – Now, I do realize the sheer thought of rising and shining before the crack of dawn may be an absolutely daunting thought for some of you.  And, I am the first one to admit that it’s not easy.  But establishing new habits is never easy.  They only become more palatable once you begin to see a difference in your life.

Getting up early will help you set the stage for a productive, successful day.  There is something quite special about the peace and quiet a household offers in the wee hours of the morning when everyone else, your dog and cat included, are still slumbering and dreaming sweetly. 
THIS IS YOUR TIME TO SHINE AND WORK ON YOUR GOALS.

-> Leave your phone alone – Do a digital detox by switching your phone to airplane mode until you are done with your morning routine whatever that is going to entail and however long it will take.  Distractions such as text messages, calls, emails, etc. will derail all your good intentions and interfere with the sacred ‘me time’ you are trying to implement.  It’s also a good idea to leave your phone in the bathroom overnight as opposed to being close by on your night table.  Get used to time away from social media and being available 24/7. 

-> Workout early to get it done – You may have heard the saying, “Get your workout in before your inner bitch knows what’s going on and convinces you otherwise.”  This will keep you energized throughout the day due to the release of endorphins exercise brings.  I can’t stress how much moving your body sets you and your self-confidence up for an awesome day and whatever comes your way.

-> Write a priority list – This is fairly straightforward, but I think people underestimate the importance of listing out their must-do items.  Once you are aware of the priorities for the day, you can concentrate on accomplishing these.  If they aren’t in writing, left front and center for constant viewing, your day might get busy and hectic, taking your focus off what matters most.  One NEW priority I’d like you to consider is allocating ‘tiger time’, which is me time for you that nobody can take away.  Make yourself a priority! 

We have heard the term self-care being thrown around a lot but there’s so much truth in it:  you can’t take care of others until you take care of yourself first.  Tiger time might be a walk in the park, a cup of tea while reading a book, journalling, meditating, doing your creative hobby with NO disturbances.  Tiger time can be any length of time and can be scheduled at various times of the days.  But remember to be as fierce as a tiger when it comes to sticking to this much-needed me time during your day.
 
-> Meditate & Visualize – Take a few minutes to begin with if you are new to meditating.  Close your eyes and allow your thoughts to wonder.  Be free and open to explore whatever pops into your head.  You can turn on calming, quiet music in the background.  There are no right or wrong methods of meditating.  I simply want you to sit, relax and be present with your thoughts. 

Set the timer for 2 – 5 minutes to start with and work your way up to a longer time period if you enjoy it
Once your time of meditation is up, I would like you to keep your eyes closed and paint a picture in your mind of how you want to show up for the day ahead. I call this -> forward reflection <-
 
What will my new self look like? ~Polished and vibrant (new outfit, well put together)
How will she show up today? ~Strong and confident (stand tall, body language)
How will she speak to others? ~Eloquently and with conviction
How will she be a bold example to others?
 
With this short visualization exercise, you picture yourself, your new self, as the person you aspire to be. 
 
So, let’s recap the 5 morning habits that could have a hugely positive impact on your entire day, not just the early hours.
 
v  Get up early
v  Do a digital detox
v  Work out
v  Write a priority list
v  Meditate & visualize

But, a successful morning routine really starts the night before.

In order for your mornings to be a special time for you to carve out time for yourself and get ready for the day ahead, it’s imperative to put a few things in place the night before.

1.        Workout clothes and water bottle should be ‘grab-and-go’ ready. 
2.       Your outfit for the day should be planned and laid out. Whether that’s for work or home, think ahead and lay out your clothing so time won’t be wasted and decisions about this will not distract or side track you the following day
3.       In order to have improved sleep, I want you to set a notebook or notepad on your night table.  Do a brain dump before falling asleep on all the things you want to remember to do the next day:  appointments you have to make, groceries you need to pick up, calls you want to make, etc.  Having these on paper will allow your brain to rest better during the night and knowing what needs to be done will help you create your priority list the following morning.
 
So, that’s a wrap for today’s talk on reasons why you should start getting up earlier and squeezing in some much-needed quality time to set the right tone for your day and 5 morning habits of successful women, like you and me.

I’ll leave you as I always do…

In case you haven’t heard this yet today, let me be the first to say it…

You are amazing, capable and extraordinary.  I believe in you.  Now, go out and show the world what you are made of.

Til next time,

Lisa
xoxo

Being a Perfectionist is NOT a Badge of Honour

by Lisa OberbichlerConfidence, Goals, Habits, MindsetPosted on No Comments

LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE HERE -> https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/BTOQqk9Xtwb

I used to think being labelled as a perfectionist meant you were somehow better than the rest, meticulous and extremely detail-oriented,  always striving to produce perfect work and optimal results in all things.  It was like a medal of honour given to those who only handed in assignments, submitted completed projects, went after their goals when everything was ideal, perfect in all aspects, above reproach, or criticism.  Perfectionists were no strangers to massive success, accolades, credentials and positive outcomes.

Today, I know that being a perfectionist is actually holding people back from achieving their goals and feeling a sense of accomplishment because, for them, nothing is ever good enough, nothing is ever worthy enough, nothing is ever deserving of praise.  They are constantly striving for an unrealistic, unattainable standard and therefore, will never be content.

“At its root, perfectionism isn’t really about a deep love of being meticulous.  It’s about fear.  Fear of making a mistake.  Fear of disappointing others.  Fear of failure.  Fear of success.” ~Michael Law

In my preparation of this topic, I came across a definition of perfectionism that I feel is spot on.

Perfectionism is a set of mental and behavioural habits that insist upon unrealistically high standards for personal conduct and achievement.  Should a person not meet these standards, they may harshly self-critique.  This leads to low self-esteem, procrastination, burnout, and emotional disorders.

Perfectionists have an ‘all-or-nothing’ mentality.  For them, something is either perfect or a failure.

Let’s do a little test to see if you have any perfectionistic traits.

Perfectionists…

Ø  Are never done. Due to the impossibly high standards, a project is never complete because it doesn’t meet the criteria for “perfect”.
Ø  Are stressed and discontent.  They are constantly worrying about having/doing everything to such a level of perfection and this mindset robs perfectionists of feeling satisfied and fulfilled with their work.
Ø  Have stifled creativity. If you are afraid of failing or being less than perfect, your imagination, creativity as well as innovation necessary for positive change and success are greatly hindered.
Ø  Never take risks. Perfectionists have a deep fear of failure and therefore adopt a mindset of “If I can’t do it perfectly, then I won’t even try.”
Ø  Try to make everybody happy.  Always the people pleaser, always wanting people to think highly of them, the perfectionist views herself as “good” if others like her.
Ø  Are highly critical of others, not just of themselves. 
Ø  Don’t/can’t delegate tasks.  They feel that in order to meet their high expectations, they have to do everything themselves because their way is the only right way of doing a task.
Ø  Personalize everything. They believe in themselves when things are going well and people like them, but any negative feedback is taken personally and is an indication of failure.
Ø  Never take time to rest or play.  They have the attitude, “I will rest or play when the job is done.”  But for perfectionists, the job IS never done, IS never perfect enough, and this often results in burnout.

Perfectionism can be coined: the unproductive mindset.  Why?  Because perfectionists get a job 90% done but due to their obsession with perfection, don’t manage to complete it.  Or, they never begin a task for fear of not being able to meet their high expectations.

Perfectionism is born out of a mindset that requires working hard at all costs.  There is an illusion surrounding perfectionism, “If I don’t work hard enough and demand perfection of myself and my work, then I or my work will be mediocre, at best.”

So, let me refer back to my statement at the very beginning of this episode:  Being a perfectionist is not a badge of honour.

In fact, “Perfectionism is the lowest standard for humans because it doesn’t exist.” ~ Tony Robbins

It is a disguised label for “I am not good enough” and a deep-rooted fear of judgement that is holding us back.

I’d like to challenge you to shift your mindset from perfectionistic behaviour to a ‘go-for-it’ mentality.

For the purpose of this podcast, I would like to touch on 5 ways perfectionism affects our mindset followed by some ways to overcome perfectionism when it’s holding you back with some simple, effective exercises and a bit more awareness.

1.)    Perfectionists set unrealistic expectations.  Harbouring the belief that “you can be perfect at any task” leads to disappointment as well as frustration with the results you get.  Perfectionists believe they can always do better.  This means that the goal or end of the task keeps shifting no matter how they improve.
2.)    Perfectionists have a fear of failure.  Many perfectionists never even start with a new task or hobby for fear of not succeeding at it.  Their anxiety levels are far too high due to not being able to do the task well enough or up to their impossibly high standards.
3.)    Perfectionism causes procrastination.  The pressure a perfectionist puts on him/herself can make that person postpone tasks continually. For such people, the standard is always ‘perfection’ which makes is very challenging to begin or ultimately complete projects.
4.)    Perfectionist often experience burnout.  Being under constant pressure is exhausting. Perfectionists spend a lot of time worrying about the task rather than working on it.
5.)    Perfectionists suffer from low self-esteem. Having high levels of perfectionism may have a significant impact on your self-esteem because you are not appreciating your accomplishments, big or small, up to standard or not.  In these cases, it is very difficult to feel good about yourself.  Over time, this compounds and results in feeling of poor self-worth.

For example, let’s say you worked really hard on a project.  You submitted it and received great feedback, but YOU believe you don’t deserve credit for a job well done because you didn’t perform exactly the way you had envisioned.  Your ‘almost perfect’ project just doesn’t feel fulfilling enough or up to your standards. You aren’t satisfied with yourself and therefore, cannot bask in the glory of doing an awesome job.

Losing confidence in yourself and your abilities is the most detrimental effect of being a perfectionist, in my opinion.  I have seen it over and over again in my work as a mindset and life coach.  Being caught up in the vacuum of perfectionism can be stifling when you strive for something so hard and set the bar so high that you end up sacrificing yourself and your worth in the process.

Once you lose sight of yourself, you begin to feel unsettled and insecure.  In addition, your identity becomes tied to how well you perform tasks, big or small.

The truth is… no one really is perfect.  Everyone one of us has flaws.

Whether you classify yourself as a perfectionist or you are a recovering perfectionist, I would like to walk you through some simple exercises I do with my clients when perfectionism is standing between them and their success.

Step 1:  Becoming aware of your perfectionistic behaviours

If you feel yourself NOT wanting to move forward with something, e.g. your proposal for work is not good enough, your social media post/reel is not good enough, etc.

PAUSE and pay attention to your thought patterns.  WRITE them down in a journal.  RECOGNIZE which thoughts are holding you back, so that you can change the self talk next time it happens.

If I were to take my podcast as an example…
§  A perfectionist would keep pushing back the official launch date, never feeling ready or good enough. 
§  A perfectionist would criticize oneself and knit pick at all the small details, never being fully satisfied with any aspect.
§  A perfectionist would procrastinate about topics to talk about, never settling on one to start with at least.
§  A perfectionist would question the quality of the recordings and the sound of one’s voice, never accepting that things will not be perfect from day one.
§  A perfectionist will keep his/her creativity and message from the world because he/she cannot focus on making progress over having everything perfect from the get go.
§  A perfectionist will plan, dream, work on, hope for starting his/her podcast, but in the end, will not be able to put oneself out there to the world because there will be too many aspects that simple aren’t perfect.

I think you get the picture.
 
Allowing perfectionism to keep you from following your dreams and chasing after your goals is keeping you small, safe and protected in many ways. 

Step 2:  Start focusing on the positives.

If you find yourself wanting everything to be ‘perfect’, you will likely fixate on the negative parts of your work, your appearance or yourself in some way.  It is extremely important to make a conscious effort to recognize the good.

CHALLENGE yourself to identify 3 things you can appreciate for anything that pops up you are not satisfied with.

My example:  I really dislike my recorded voice.  My podcast script needs this to be perfect.
– I am pleased with my consistency in producing my podcasts.
– I figured the technical side out on my own.
– I love the process of writing and preparing for my daily podcasts.
– I never run out of ideas and concepts for podcast episodes.

Step 3:  Allow yourself to make mistakes

CREATE two cue cards with the following quotes:

* Mistakes are opportunities for me to learn, grow and do better.
* The world will NOT come to an end if I make a mistake.  Life goes on!

CHALLENGE yourself to take on a new hobby or sport that you will likely not be good at at the beginning. Rather than trying to be perfect at this skill, ENJOY the activity itself and be happy with your efforts in slowly learning to improve at it.

Step 4:  Ditch the unrealistic goal setting habit

Perfectionists oftentimes set goals that are completely unrealistic and unattainable to reach, only due to their impossible standards.

SET GOALS that are super simple, specific as opposed to vague, achievable, measurable, and can be completed within the time frame you set for yourself.

By achieving smaller goals, you will gain confidence and feel much less stressed in your abilities to reach them.

Step 5:  Lower the pressure you place on yourself

The person who pressures you the most is yourself!  Be kinder to yourself and give yourself some grace.

The minute you find yourself imposing unrealistic standards, flip the script in your head and remind yourself:  If you’re doing your best, you’re doing just fine.

This step reminds me of children or teenagers before writing a test/exam and after receiving the results back.

->During the preparation, all you can do is review, practice and prepare as best you can.  Whatever the situation is, as long as you are trying your hardest and doing everything in your power to get your mind and skills ready for the upcoming test, you are going to be fine.

->In the situation where you get back the test results and they aren’t as high as you had expected or wanted, you need to tell yourself that the world is not going to come to an end.  Putting in your best effort was the key.  Obviously, there is room for improvement, so find out ways of getting better.  Use this opportunity to grow and learn rather than getting down on yourself for receiving a less-than-stellar mark.

There is no such thing as ‘perfect’ but we can be proud of doing our best.
 
Step 6: Focus on Enjoyment over Perfection

SHIFT your focus to finding meaning and above all else, enjoyment in what you are doing instead of striving to be perfect.

Again, CREATE a cue card with the words:  As I work on this task (or hobby), I will enjoy the process.  I will relish the small increments of progress I make.  I will start loving the skills I am learning.  I will focus on the present task and do my very best.

If something brings you joy and purpose, it will no longer matter whether it is done with perfection or not.
There is much more fulfillment to be had in finding enjoyment along the way.

Step 7:  Stop the procrastination.

Perfectionists are notorious for procrastinating and finding every excuse in the book to slack off.  We all know the hardest part of any task, big or small, is actually starting.

I think back to my days at school and the pending essay I needed to complete for English class.  3000 words were waiting to be written, formatted, reviewed and checked thoroughly for spelling and grammatic errors, and then submitted for grading.

Here’s my tip for you if procrastination is a real thing in your life:

Just start by creating a rough outline of what needs to be done. Next, take one small action step.  Then, take another.  Before long, the momentum will grow organically and like a snowball rolling down a hill, more and more pieces will fall into place.  Before you know it, the task will be done.
So, there you have it.
… the first seven steps anyone can start doing to combat perfectionistic behaviour and those feelings of not being able to reach the high standards you put yourself under to much pressure to achieve.
Allow me to briefly recap:
 
As with anything of this nature, it takes a certain amount of conscious effort to realize perfectionism is what is getting in your way AND to take action to see change happen.

I’d really like to challenge you to shift your mindset from perfectionistic behaviour to a ‘go-for-it’ mentality.  Let’s flip the script…

“Don’t aim for perfection. Aim for ‘better than yesterday’.”

Personal growth is about progress, not perfection. ~Hal Elrod

Don’t let perfectionism paralyze you and hold you back from things you want to accomplish.  Strive for continuous improvement and be sure to show yourself some love along the way.  The efforts you are making are votes of confidence in yourself.
 
Just in case you haven’t heard this yet today, let me be the first to tell you…

I believe in you and I know you have the ability to do great things with your one precious life.  Now, go out and show the world what you are truly made of.

That’s all for today’s dose of motivation.  I hope to have inspired you to grow.

With love,

Lisa xoxo
 

 
 

Start Experiencing the Domino Effect in Your Life

by Lisa OberbichlerConfidence, Goals, Habits, MindsetPosted on No Comments

LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE HERE -> https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/ETejvfVWtwb

A new month has just started, and we are approx. 50 some odd days away from a brand new year.  Now, most people wait for the dawn of a new year to set resolutions and goals which they would like to achieve. People tend to get caught up in the hype around “New Year, New You” pledging to replace old habits with better ones.
 
And there’s nothing wrong with that at all. 

However, I would like to encourage you to start now, start messy and get the ball rolling toward positive change that you’d like to see in your life.  There’s nothing like having momentum on your side before heading into the holiday season.

There will never be the “right” time when all the stars align for you and your dreams.  You really have to put one foot in front of other, take one day at a time, keep one small promise you make to yourself each day in order to feel the momentum building, and with that comes self-esteem and confidence as an added bonus.

Today, I want to talk about how chasing down one goal will result in a ripple effect or ‘domino effect’ affecting other areas of your life and I will tell you about a real-life example which has had an immense impact on my life.

From our childhood, you might remember those small, rectangular black tiles divided in the middle with white dots in each half. Most of the time, we played a game in which we laid them on the floor and had to match them up end to end forming a long line of tiles.

Sometimes we set them up on their ends spaced a certain distance apart. If done right, once the first one was pushed the rest of the tiles would fall down activating the next one in a kind of chain reaction.  This was called the ‘domino effect’.

Can you picture how activating one tile would cause the others to fall one after the other?

Now, imagine how pursuing one goal of yours could have spin-off effects in other areas of your life? 

Before I jump straight into the example, I feel that setting the stage for goal setting is necessary. While this episode is not about how to set goals, it is closely related to the process of going after a goal.

So, let me start with an analogy that most of us can relate to.

When we first start out with goal setting

I like to tell my clients that setting their goal is the very first step, then mapping out the plan on how to achieve it with specific markers or points along the way indicating they are still on track.  So, essentially, we reverse engineer the road to achievement.  Isn’t this a lot like using your car’s GPS to reach your destination?

Prior to embarking on a road trip, we are all familiar with getting out our smart phones and typing in the name of the end destination.  Now, we also know there may be some detours along the way due to roadblocks, traffic issues, some side trips will come up and we may even get lost, which can be aggravating but not the end of the world.

It’s all in the planning…

Taking a road trip will involve some planning in terms of how far your destination is, how fast you’ll drive, where and when you’ll need to make a pit stop, what you’ll need to pack, your car may need to be checked out to ensure everything is in good working order, and you’ll also need important things like snacks and money for the trip.  Your plan is the map of how to reach your end destination and each way point or marker you hit, gets you one step closer to your goal.

Goal setting 101

The first rule in setting goals of any kind is they should be small and specific, bite-sized and doable.  Next, your goals should be measurable and achievable, something small you can do every day for a week or a month.  This allows you to establish consistency and builds a habit which turns into momentum.
 
Having momentum on your side, you feel accomplished and are more motivated to keep going. You might even accelerate as you come closer to your destination.  It’s like a set of dominoes.

If you intentionally set the path you want to follow each step of the way, it only takes ONE SMALL PUSH to create a chain reaction. 

Goal achievement is not one dimensional

Just like your path to success will not be linear, goal setting is not one dimensional.  That chain reaction is a ripple effect with positive side effects as well as numerous benefits. 

What do I mean by this?

A few months ago, I started swimming for fitness and health reasons.  There is no doubt that swimming offers immense benefits when it comes to fitness: it has increased my heart rate making my heart and lungs stronger, toned muscles, built strength and endurance, etc.  And the biggest advantage of swimming is you get a lot of ‘bang for your buck’ in terms of burned calories.  This activity torches as many as when running.  As a certified personal trainer and sports enthusiast, I was fully aware of all these perks.  What I didn’t know was that swimming would have so many spin-off benefits as well.

When I started visiting the local pool on a regular basis, I could barely swim the front crawl for a distance of 25 meters.  I could move about in the water doing my own version of three different strokes, none of which looked very elegant for onlookers.  But I was determined to learn and perfect the front crawl, the stroke all distance swimmers use to glide through the water making it look effortless.

I also kept telling myself if the other ladies, some of whom were 15 to 20 years my senior, were able to cut through the water with finesse, I could do it too.

I set the bar low to begin with and tried to improve by 1% each time I was in the water moving my arms and legs over the stretch of 25 meters in my lane. I knew that if I could improve a little bit each time, I would reach my goal of being able to swim 1000 meters doing the front crawl with a certain elan and athletic smoothness that I see other swimmers have.

Four months later, I have achieved my goal of being able to swim the 1000 meter distance in one go.

And, the positive side effects have been so amazing – both for my mind and body.  This is what I call the chain reaction or domino effect:

My original goal was to improve my overall fitness and be able to swim the distance of 1000 meters, but I reaped so many additional benefits on this journey, for example:

1. My overall mobility has improved, which means less pain in my hips and back when walking and sleeping.
2.My entire body feels more toned and stronger.
3.I have been able to significantly reduce the pain medication.
4. My sleep has radically improved each night. 
5.  My mood has improved, and I look forward to each swim session with excited anticipation about how I will challenge myself each new swim.
6. I feel extremely proud of my consistency and continuity in chasing this goal. 
7.I am very proud of my body for responding well to the new training it has to undergo. 

And, the list goes on. 

Of course, this is my story and my fitness journey.  But this is a real example of how starting where you are with a goal in mind, staying consistent, taking joy in the small wins along the way, attempting to improve by 1 % each time, following a plan all contribute to the success and ultimate achievement of the goal.  And, once this goal of mine has been achieved, I already know what my next one will be. 

The key is to start small and be consistent. Whether you are crushing small goals every day or chasing much bigger ones, the power is in the planning.  Be sure to take one little action every day to keep your momentum going and GO AFTER THE GOAL!

So, whenever you feel stuck or frustrated, remember that when it comes to achieving your goals, whether fitness-related or not, the benefits are never singular. Think of – the ripple or domino effect. Whatever you are doing will reap surprise and unexpected rewards.  So go for your goals, and when you do, remember there are a whole slew of new ones lining up right behind them.

Just in case you haven’t heard this yet today, let me be the first to tell you…

You’ve got this and I believe in you. You have the ability to uplevel your life.   Now, go out and show the world what you are made of, goal getters.

That’s all for today’s dose of motivation.  I hope to have inspired you to grow.

With love,

Lisa
xoxo