Do the visualizations, manifest your future, move energy with your will. Yes…definitely do all those things!
But also: show up every day and do the work. Because when you consistently show up for yourself, then you will reach your goals.
If you’re new here, this is Part 4 of a 4-part series where I walk you step-by-step through the process I used to create my dream life. Make sure you read Parts one, two and three of this series first so that you have the right foundation and then come back here.
Today I’m going to tell you how you can guarantee your success. Here’s the thing, a lot of people have dreams, but very few actually ever reach them. And I want you to reach yours, so let’s dive in.
There are 3 main things that keep people stuck in lives they hate: mindsets, habits, and environment. And these 3 affect each other as well. So, we have to understand how to handle each one individually, as well as consider how they overlap.
Mindsets + Beliefs
First, let’s talk about mindsets and beliefs. We went over a good bit of this in the post on Getting Real, when we talked about self-identity. But, you might have some beliefs about the world that you don’t recognize as part of your identity, yet they are still keeping you stuck. Here’s a few examples of these sneaky beliefs:
- Money is scarce and it’s difficult to make money. I need to protect the resources that I have.
- You can’t be successful quickly, it takes 5-10 years and 10,000 hours to become good at something.
- It’s better to be safe than sorry, so I need to stay in my safe 9-5 job, even though it’s making me physically and mentally ill.
And these are just a few examples. The first step to changing a mindset is recognizing that you have it. So, the next time that you do something that isn’t aligned with your dream life. I want you to take a few minutes to reflect on WHY you took that action. This is a judgment-free zone! No putting yourself down!
But, do start to consider the mindset or belief behind your action and if it’s a mindset that’s helping or hurting you. When you get rid of limiting beliefs and mindsets, it’s like removing the concrete barriers that were blocking the road ahead. Now, you can actually make progress and step into your dream life.
Habits
Next, let’s talk about habits. Did you know that roughly 43% of what you do every day is a habit?
Most people never think about this, but this chunk of habitual actions is why most people never achieve their dreams. We all live almost half our days on auto-pilot, so if you want a different life, you have to change the auto-pilot.
Pause for a minute here and really think about what’s in your auto-pilot.
For me, this is currently things like…
- Getting up in the morning, making a cup of Costa-Rican style coffee and enjoying the peace of the morning before looking at my cell phone.
- Making the same healthy thing for breakfast most mornings, to minimize mental energy spent on routine tasks
- Taking a break to check in with my physical and mental self every 1-2 hours during the workday so I don’t get too exhausted.
- Choosing vegetables and protein for most meals, because it’s what makes my body feel good.
Don’t worry, I still eat plenty of cookies and you can too.
But my auto-pilot used to be things like…
- Drinking half a bottle of wine right after work
- Staying up late binge-watching shows
- Eating an entire pizza without really tasting it
- Replaying the stressful parts of the day in my head instead of sleeping.
Those were all habits, and now they aren’t, because when I changed my auto-pilot, I was able to consistently move towards my dreams, and you can too.
Environment
The last major thing impacting your success is your environment. Environment is important because when your willpower and motivation are low, your environment will often determine what you actually do.
For example, if my social circle normally has an unhealthy dinner and a few drinks, followed by sitting around talking or watching a movie, I’m more likely to do what they do. But, if my social circle goes hiking, eats a healthy meal and turns in early, it’s easier to do the same.
Your environment can include a lot of things, such as:
- Who you spend time with every day or week
- The type of media you watch and listen to
- Your coaches, mentors, and support community
- What your work and living space looks and feels like
- Mental, spiritual, physical, and digital clutter
- Anything else that is around you that influences your daily thoughts, feelings, and actions.
On my journey, I had to make big environmental changes to reach my dream life. Here’s a few examples of big environment shifts I made to open doors and guarantee my success:
- Moved to a new city to take a job that led me closer to my dreams (I’ve done this twice)
- Got rid of all the alcohol in the house when I was working on breaking the “daily drinks after work” habit.
- Started listening to podcasts about business, marketing, entrepreneurship and success and following leaders in the field.
- Stopped watching or listening to negativity when I was working on building a positive mindset. This included media, people, and other sources of negativity.
- Let go of friendships with people that were going the opposite direction I wanted to go in life, to make space for people who were going the same way.
- Spent money on coaching, mentoring, and investing in community once I got serious about having a successful business.
It’s not always easy to do these things, especially when you start. But if you’ve done the first 3 steps in this series well, then this becomes a lot easier because your WHY is clear and you have already energetically stepped into that dream life. So, it’s just a matter of getting the physical to match up.
I hope you are excited to start creating the life of your dreams. If you’re not subscribed, make sure you go ahead and sign up so you can keep learning more about how you can become a 9-5 rebel this year, instead of staying stuck in a life that has you dreading Monday mornings.
