4 Reasons Why Obstructive Habits Impact Your Success

by vanessa | Jan 29, 2020 | personal development

4 reasons why obstructive habits impact your success

These are the four reasons why obstructive habits can impact your success.

Most of us have no idea how obstructive habits can impact our success because our ideas on success and habits don’t align. I used to think that you had to be someone special in order to be successful then I realized that wasn’t the case. It all comes down to our habits, these are the building blocks that we require to be successful and that is why they say that anyone can be successful.

That is true. You don’t need to be someone special in order to be successful. What we do matters and the habits we have can impact our success. I had an English teacher who told me that success is subjective and it depends on how we perceive life. At the time, I thought it was a joke, but you know what they say about certain things. It took a while for me to understand that what was keeping me from being successful wasn’t because of anyone but me. I had obstructive habits that were stopping me from following my passions and realizing my potential.

It was a harsh reality I had to wake up from when I realized that all this time I was the one stopping me from realizing my potential. In this blog post, we will cover four main reasons why obstructive habits are impacting your success. When you know what the problem might be, it is far easier to deal with it than you never knowing the reasons.

Your mindset

Okay, I never thought mindset affects what you do in life. After all, if your actions are positive than does it matter if your mindset is negative? I had an awakening when I discovered that mindset affects actions. What ever you think you start acting out. It took me a long time to change my mindset and adopt a positive one. This obstructive habit will impact your success.

There’s no way you can run away from it, even if you really want to. Sometimes it is hard admitting that our habits shape us into who we become and it can be a hard pill to swallow, but if you want this year to be yours then you have to change your mindset. You need to believe that you are capable of achieving more regardless of your weaknesses.

Successful people all battle with their own demons and they also have weaknesses. The trick here is not letting them mess you up or become an obstruction. That is the thing with obstructive habits, it can be difficult to change your life even when you want to. Not impossible, but it can be challenging.

Also Related: Is a Success Mindset Key to Success?

Sleep patterns

If you are like the majority of the human population then you enjoy your sleep. However, most of us have terrible sleep patterns. Your sleep patterns can be

obstructive habits that will impact your success. What I mean by this is if you sleep late and wake up late or are the type to sleep only for five to four hours

per day that can mess you up.

Sleep is important to success. If you don’t sleep enough that can impact your focus and attention span. If you are the type to go to bed really late every day, you will wake up late and that can also impact your success. Most successful people go to bed early and wake up early. When I first started doing it, I found it weird because when I woke up everyone was asleep.

However, I did get more done because there was no distraction and I got more done than I did when I woke up late. Here’s the reason why most people struggle in the morning, they are all racing to catch up with everyone. It is a competition from the time they get up and there’s not a lot of time to re-orient yourself so that you are ready to tackle the day. Change your sleep patterns and I guarantee this will change your life. This simple trick will make you more productive and effective. It will also change your life for the better.

if you want to become successful then you need to change your sleep patterns. I could talk about forever about how this obstructive habit can impact your success, but it is important to remember that if you want to achieve more in your day wake up early.

Stop being hard on yourself

I learned about this the hard way. I used to be so hard on myself, I get it we all need a kick sometimes, but not to the point where it becomes an obstructive

habit because that can impact your success. If you are wondering how that can happen, it is simple. Sure, we need someone to tell us the truth, but you also

need to appreciate the milestones.

it is human nature to see things in black or white. You either are your own cheerleader or your own critic. You can’t be both. What I mean by this, a cheerleader will cheer you up, but they will also point where you went wrong. Not in a way that will make you want to crawl under a rock. A critic, on the other hand, has one job and that is to point out everything you did wrong.

You have to choose what you need in your life. A cheerleader or a critic. When I learned how to stop being hard on myself, I realized all the things I did right. I started appreciating every small moment of victory and started working towards bigger goals. I was more fearless. This obstructive habit will impact your success and stop you from progressing forward.

Not taking any risks

Any successful person will tell you that success is a straight up gamble. You need to take risks that will push you out of your comfort zone. Is it worth it? Many will tell you that it is. Those who never took those risks will tell you that it isn’t. If you want to play small, you will make small bets, but if you want to play in the big leagues then that requires taking risks.

This obstructive habit will impact your success because you will never know what may happen if you never take any risks. I know, easier said than done, but it is true.

You need to take risks to achieve success. It is that simple. Many successful people had to contemplate their fears and the reasons why they didn’t want to take any risks. They ended up taking risks because the benefits outweighed the negatives.

The negatives were fear, the opinions of others and wondering whether they’d fail. You want to be successful then don’t allow this obstructive habit to put you in a box. Take risks and you’d be amazed by all the things you achieve because of it.

Also Related: Afraid to Take Risks: How To Be Bolder?

What obstructive habits are impacting your success? Loved to know. Comment below.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

7 Life Skills To Skyrocket Your Success

by vanessa | Nov 20, 2019 | motivation, personal development

7 lifeskills to skyrocket your success

These seven life skills will help you skyrocket your success.

I was talking to one of my friends a few years ago about what it takes to be successful. For the longest time, I had always seen success as this none starter. You either would become successful or you wouldn’t. It was as if you could be granted magic success powers and instantly figure things out. At the mention of a word or saying you would become successful.

“What do you think makes a person successful?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“I think it must be dedication,” she had told me.

I was desperate to know what really were the building blocks that I decided to ask my father. He had run two businesses and was a pioneer in his day, so my mother and siblings would joke about it. He was in the kitchen, concentrating on preparing breakfast and at the time I was in my second year of college.

“Dad, I want to ask you a question,” I asked him.

He looked up and stared at me. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I wanted to know, what makes a person successful.”

You think this is one of those blog posts where I tell you that the answer he gave me is the title of this blog post but that isn’t going to happen.

“That is a loaded gun question. It isn’t an easy answer, I do believe the difference is that successful people know what they want and they go for it.”

That was the answer, successful people know what they want and they go for it. Though, I wanted to know what it takes for them to go after what they want. I later discovered that successful people had better life skills than most of us. That was the answer I needed all along, successful people had better life skills and everything aligned and clicked. I knew that if I wanted to be successful I needed to have better life skills and I spent the next couple of years working on my life skills. These life skills will help you skyrocket success and it is important to understand what life skills will get you to the top a whole lot quicker. These seven life skills will skyrocket your success.

Dedication

Call it determination, resilience, persistence or devotion. Dedication is one of the life skills that will help skyrocket your success. People who don’t learn dedication tend to give up. Success is not an overnight thing, regardless of how many stories we hear of people who woke up and became successful. For the longest time that is what I thought.

I believed that these people were overnight success stories. How could one man make a million dollars in less than a year? If I could I’d pay top dollar to find out how he did that. The media wants us to eat these stories like cheese on a string. Why? Because they are in the business of selling stories and telling stories about wunderkinds or overnight success stories.

The truth is these people spent years developing on their skills, honing their craft and working on their dreams. There’s no secret ingredient to making someone successful. You can’t skip ahead. We all have to go through the steps required to become successful and dedication is the top life skill you need to skyrocket success.

Concentration

How many times have you found yourself staring into space or the walls? How many times have you daydreamed and wanted to shake yourself silly because you failed to follow-through. Life-skill number two to skyrocket your success is concentration.

For all those who struggle with concentration, I know the struggle is real. It doesn’t mean you can’t find a way to concentrate or focus on your tasks. This is the trick, you need to know yourself. I know we all hear that often, sometimes it feels as if it is slapped on a cheesy cereal box with motivational lines. “Know thy self,” it might say.

Though, it does work. You have to know the time you concentrate the best and that is when you use that time to work. I work best really early in the morning and when I start slacking, I drink a smoothie that helps me concentrate. But if I didn’t know what worked then I’d struggle. Life-skills can be learned and taught, but you need to be willing to put in the work and learn more about yourself.

Time management

When it comes to time management, most of us struggle to cope with it. The day, month or year goes by and we are furious we didn’t achieve as much as we

hoped we would. It all comes down to tracking your time and noticing how much time you spend on certain tasks.

It comes to being productive and using time wisely. If you master time management then this life skill will help you skyrocket your success. The reason why most people aren’t successful is because they don’t know how to use time wisely.

This is one of those life skills that we all know we should have, but we all suck at it in one way or the other. I have learned that sometimes we spend so much time thinking about what we want to do rather than actually doing it. That is why it is always important to know things in advance. For example, know what you want to work on you and work on it. Another thing is to know what you want to buy before you go into the shops.

Sometimes, wondering what we want to do takes so much energy and time from us. If you want to reduce that write a to-do list to help you do things at a

much faster rate than before.

Also Related: How To Make The Most Of Your Time?

Patience

Patience is one of those life skills necessary to skyrocket success, but many of us struggle with it. Human beings aren’t patient, it doesn’t come easily for us especially when compared to the animal kingdom.

Though, we need patience if we want to be successful. If you aren’t patient, it is so easy to make the wrong decisions because you want fast results. It is easy to give up when you are not getting the results you want.

It is frustrating working on something and you still haven’t made any money from doing what you love. it is annoying working night and day on your business and a zero balance is reflecting in your bank account. You need to know often at times you can’t see the milestones you achieved because we are so interested in seeing the bigger picture if it has been finished.

Patience is more important than you realize and it is alright if your success breakthrough is taking longer than you expected. Sometimes, you have to be a little patient and willing to wait for the results you desire.

Self-confidence

Self-confidence is a life skill that we talk about often as one of the best ways to skyrocket your success. The people who aren’t self-confident tend to doubt themselves more and make more mistakes. Making mistakes is part of life, but when you are self-confident even when you make those mistakes it doesn’t break you.

When my self-confidence was low, I made a ton of mistakes and I used to be so furious at myself for making them. It was as if every time I made a mistake, I thought I ruined an opportunity. That didn’t help with my self-esteem. I learned that mistakes are okay. Making them doesn’t mean you are a failure, but that you are learning.

Successful people learn from their mistakes all the time and that is how they grow. It is part of life to make blunders and then move on from it. How many times did your parents make mistakes when you were growing up? How many times does your boss or coworkers or friends make mistakes? You have to be okay with the the heartache of the learning process.

Leadership

Every successful person has mastered leadership to a certain extent, but not every leader is successful. The difference here is how a person leads. Successful people inspire others to follow their steps.

Whereas some leaders just follow the orders of their boss and can discourage instead of inspiring. It is still important to master leadership because when you learn leadership you inspire people and that creates a chain reaction. You also inspire people to look up to you and if you are seen as trustworthy they will want to learn from you.

This is what most people are missing. Most online marketers or entrepreneurs are great leaders and that is why they make as much money as they do. If they weren’t great leaders, no one would buy from them. They wouldn’t be successful. The same can be said for other entrepreneurs like Tai Lopez, Mark Zuckerberg or Karlie Kloss. If they weren’t great leaders then their companies wouldn’t be worth as much as it is. The two are linked. People don’t work hard for those who aren’t great leaders or who don’t inspire.

It also all comes down to your message and incorporating that message into everything you do.

Also Read: How To Develop Leadership Skills in 4 Steps

Be willing to learn

This life skill is important to master and it can skyrocket your success. All of the ones, I listed do that, but this one can cut the learning process in half. You need to be willing to learn. Successful people read more books and watch programs that help them grow. Think more Shark Tank and fewer of the Kardashians. You need to find something that will help you grow.

Watch YouTube videos on starting a business, growing one and how to be more productive. YouTube has so much free content that you can learn and grow from watching it. This is what most successful people do and because of that, they stay at the top of their game.

If they don’t know about the investment they learn about it and even if they fail, they keep trying. They keep learning new skills. This is a life skill you need to master if you want to be successful. This can also change your life in so many ways. When I became willing to learn I started learning more, I developed my skills.

This is the last life skill you need to master to skyrocket your success. There are far more life skills out there that you need to master, but these seven will get you to where you want to go a whole lot faster.

What lifeskills do you think are important to master to skyrocket your success? Comment below.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

5 Reasons Why What You Want in Life Is Important

by vanessa | Nov 6, 2019 | motivation, personal development

5 reasons Why what you want in life is important

There are five reasons why it is important to know what you want in life.

Knowing what you want in life is important because once you do, everything lines up and you will achieve more at a faster pace than you anticipated. When we were children, we knew what we wanted and we weren’t ashamed to let anyone know. Our dreams were ridiculous, but that didn’t matter, what mattered was letting people know we what we wanted.

If we wanted cookies then we would take cookies. Sure, the whole I will take what-I-want-attitude is a little weird as an adult. But what I love about children is that they allow themselves to dream, to imagine the world as they want it to be and not as what it is. Knowing what you want can make the difference between a fruitful life or one where you have chosen to settle.

Everything is possible for eight, nine or twelve-year-old Johnny or Suzie. Every possibility is an opportunity for them to explore their surroundings. If they want to be Indiana Jones in the making then they imagine themselves becoming one. They say with so much conviction who they want to be and what they want to achieve.

Adulthood feels so far away from childhood as a kid. There’s so much time left to plan, to dream and escape. What we never anticipate is adulthood comes faster then we thought as a kid. One moment, you blink and you are eighteen then twenty-five then thirty and then forty. But the pleasure comes from dreaming, from escaping the sheer reality of life.

The thing with life is it is unpredictable nature because we don’t live in a bubble. Our hopes and dreams are squashed due to the opinions of others and we spend the next couple of years trying to figure things out. Hoping that we will have an idea of what will happen next and where we will go next. That is why it is important to know what you want. Sure, you might say there’s time, but time is an invaluable resource that runs out quicker than you could imagine. I understand that one day you didn’t think you would be the age you are right now.

I spent five years figuring things out when I could have used that time to build the life I wanted. Truth is I had no idea what I wanted and therefore it took me a while to figure it all out.

You can work on your goals

It is important to know what you want in life because then you can start working on your goals. So, you might not know what you want to achieve in five years, but once you write it down, it is so much clearer. You can then see yourself in two or three or even ten years. As children, the whole idea of writing down goals sounded a little dumb, but it is helpful to know what you want to achieve.

When I was nineteen, I wrote down an experiment of what I wanted to achieve that year and I kid you not, I achieved half of the list. At the time, I had no idea how I was going to achieve any of it, but I did and I understood then how powerful writing down goals are. But you can’t write down your goals if you don’t know what you want. It is like going to a restaurant and staring at the menu for minutes, trying to figure out what you want to order. Eventually, if you are pressured you pick something, not because you wanted it, but you settled.

Most of the choices we make are because we chose to settle. At the time, we think it is the best decision that we made, but sometimes the choices we make when we are unsure come to haunt us years later. That is why you need to know what you want so you never have to feel like you are settling.

Also Related: How to Set Great Goals in 2019

You will be much happier

Whenever I accomplished something I really wanted, it feels like I won the lottery. Sure, in the larger scheme of things, I didn’t win the lottery. But achieving

something can have a lot of rewards and benefits. That is why go-getters are so much happier than most people. You don’t live in regret and you don’t feel as if you are wasting away.

It is a great feeling knowing that you are making your dreams come true, by going for them. It all comes down to though, that you need to know what you want.

It is normal for human beings to what a lot of things in life, but knowing what you want to change in your life is different than knowing what you want for breakfast.

The decisions we make as I said before are so important. Vital even to whether we go forward or remain behind, holding the glass door, wishing that someone would change in our life.

You become a go-getter

Knowing what you want will turn you into a go-getter real fast. That is because you will keep asking yourself how to get what you want and then take action. This is why writing down your goals is an important step to figuring out what you want. The next step after that is, of course, to go after what you want in life.

Knowing what you want is only half the battle and the other half is going for it. However, at least knowing what you want puts you at an advantage because you aren’t decisive and know what will make you happy. When I was in high school, I went from wanting to be a reporter to a psychologist to a pilot. Every month, I settled on a new profession. My friend’s minds were set, it was either they wanted to be a lawyer, doctor or accountant or scientist,

I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and because of that, people made the choice for me. Often that is life when we don’t know what we want, decisions are taken out of our hands. We are not sure we want to be in a relationship or not, but we find ourselves in. We are not sure whether we want to travel to another country, the decision is made for us. Sometimes, we settle because we are not sure or take the easy road.

When I made the decision to become an entrepreneur, life got simpler for me. I found myself gravitating towards anything that could help me accomplish my dream a whole lot quicker.

Also Related: How to be Fearless by Doing it Anyway

You will kick anxiety out of the door

The future is scary, as I am writing this it is literally a couple of years left until the next year. That’s a terrifying thought especially if you have no idea what you want to do with your life. It can get a little dark when you start asking yourself what have you truly achieved. Humans are anxious beings because on a daily basis there’s so much to be worried about.

So much to concern ourselves with and the list goes on and on. But when you know what you want it is a lot easier to take a deep breath. You don’t have to feel like a failure if something isn’t in the cards for you yet. You don’t have to be pressured into doing something you don’t want to do because you feel as though that is the the choice you have to make.

This is a lot bigger than knowing what you want to achieve next year. There are so many times when I was pressured into doing something because I felt as if I had to. The older we get, even though we become adults, we still end up doing things either for convenience or to escape shame, but that just makes us more anxious. This is why if you know what you want, you won’t feel pressured to do anything that you don’t want to do.

You will learn so much from it

Life is full of so many lessons. It sounds weird, but the dedication you put into something when you know what you want is profound. Think about anytime you knew what you wanted. Where you relentless in your pursuit of it? Did you make sure you accomplished it? How much time did you put in working on it? I have a friend who knew that she wanted to start her own talk show and even though everyone said it was impossible, she worked hard at it.

Campaigned for it, found people who helped her get what she wanted and now she has her talk show. So, yes it is impossible to learn a lot from going after what you want. The secret here is you pick up skills that you never would have had if you didn’t know what you wanted. You learn so much from life because you understand what you want and are willing to break the barriers to get it.

Sure, it won’t be easy, but we all say that. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to go after what you want. You can use those skills to make a huge impact on your life and the connections you want will help you grow. It is a win-win situation either way. That’s what I have learned from knowing what I want. There are so many benefits to it.

Do you know what you want out of life? Loved to know. Comment below.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

How to be Fearless By Doing It Anyway

by vanessa | Oct 23, 2019 | personal development

how to be fearless by doing it anyway

Become fearless by taking on fear head-on

What is the true definition of being fearless? For some it would be getting rid of fear completely and that is unrealistic. As a child, I was terrified of heights I started having to deal with being mundane and knowing that one wrong step could lead to death. A little too heavy of a topic for a ten-year-old kid to deal with. Anything that was too high would freak me out and that fear stayed with me well into my adulthood.

I was nervous stepping on an escalator, going into an elevator and climbing hills or mountains. I would break out in a hive of sweat at just the thought of having to ask myself questions I really didn’t want to answer.

For the longest time like most people I believed that being fearless meant I wasn’t afraid of anything. People would chat about the topic and talk about fearless people. It was an elusive thing to be fearless, only champions could hold that card at events and I hoped I would be like that. Absolutely fearless andit took me a long time to realize that there’s no such thing as fearless people.

Yes, we follow our favorite celebrities of influencers, we watch them from a distance and they look fearless. That is how they became successful. Right. By being fearless. No, they fought their fear by doing it anyway. This is a new mantra I am learning to implement in my daily life. To do something despite the fear

creeping in.

We are all human, therefore we all have fears. For some our fears stop us from climbing new heights. For others, it freezes us in place and makes us contemplate our worth or value. Then there are others who ignore or listen to their fear. Choose to do it anyway, despite the fear lingering in the corners of their minds. How exactly can you be fearless?

What does confidence mean to you?

Even if we struggle with confidence, we all have an idea of what it looks like. When I thought about confidence as a kid it was a person who would smile even

when the world gave them a hard time. To be a confident person was one who lifted their head in adversity, worked hard even when they saw no result and

who understood their worth.

If you want to be fearless, you need to learn that you need to keep going for gold even when you feel as if you deserve silver. We all love watching the

Olympics and the thing is we all want our favorite to win the gold. Sometimes that doesn’t happen, but we do admire anyone who manages to make it

to the Olympics. In the beginning, when the Olympics were first starting out in Greece, those who were favored by the gods where the ones who made

it to the Olympics.

The thing is especially with the Olympics is there’s no guarantee that the people competing will win anything, but they still keep going. And that is what it

means to be confident. You have to do something even when the odds are not in your favor and there’s a likely chance you will fail. You need to do it anyway.

Also Read: Tony Robbins on The Importance of Being Fearless

Don’t compare yourself

Many of us fall into the comparison trap, maybe because of habit or to reassure ourselves that we don’t have what it takes. This is what stops us even before

we have even become. The problem with comparing yourself is that it never stops. To be fearless you need to learn that you will never be person X even if

you were to walk a day in their shoes.

Comparison is also the thief of joy, sure we do it because we think we have to it. But once we do that, we hit a slump. We start asking questions that put us in

a box and prevent us from stepping forward. Comparison is a confidence killer, because that is what it is created to do. Since, we were kids, we have been

compared to our classmates, neighbors and anyone else between. We have been taught to compare ourselves and that is how we figure out what our worth

is through comparison.

Sure, it won’t be easy to stop comparing yourself. If you want to be fearless, you need to understand you can’t change who you are. Our experiences,

relationships and mistakes make us who we are. If that is the case then unless you have the same exact experiences, made the same mistakes and have

had similar relationships to the person you admire you will never be that person.

Tell your inner critic off

Many of us are our own worst enemies. Our critic tells us how royally screwed we are and instead of telling it to take a hike, we nod in agreement. There’s

nothing wrong with acknowledging our mistakes, but once we allow those mistakes to define us that becomes a problem.

Your inner critic tends to be worse if you see yourself as the creative type. That inner critic doesn’t ever seem to shut up. No matter, how many times you

try to. It keeps chiming away as if it understands exactly what to do to break your core. All you want to do is scream for it shut its pie hole and it refuses to

listen.

Still it is possible for you to tell your inner critic off. You can’t truly be fearless, at this point, it is clear there’s no such thing, but you need to fail forward. I

know what you are thinking, why would anyone want to do something if they know they are going to fail. Often, what we are afraid of isn’t as terrifying as we

imagine it to be. To fail forward, it helps to write down the reasons you believe you are going to fail. Next to it, write down what will happen if you fail.

Once you realize that an avalanche isn’t going to happen once you fail, you will feel more confident.

Do it anyway

One of the best ways to be fearless is to do it anyway. I know that might sound simple, but many of us tend to forget that when we are starting something

new we are going to be afraid. There’s no way you can escape that. No matter, how many times you want to do it. But we can become confident in our skills

if we keep doing it even if scares the crap of us.

In the beginning, I mentioned how I am starting to use do it anyway as a mantra to help push me out of my comfort zone. Many of us are terrified of stepping

out of our comfort zone. That is why you need something to help you step forward.

Even when you are scared, do it anyway. If something is holding you back, remember that often the reasons for not doing something don’t hold up in court.

Does it hold up in court

A lot of fearless people take their insecurities, reasoning and fears to court. Basically this means asking yourself questions to get to the bottom. You need to

figure out what is holding you back so that you can move forward in your life.

This could be anything from your mistakes to your relationships or even your insecurities. When you do this you will start to understand yourself a whole lot

better and you will realize that our reasons don’t measure.

Here’s a perfect example, as a kid I used to watch a lot of final destination and that is why I was afraid of going on roller coaster rides. I believed that it would

crash to the ground and I thought the same thing with the elevator. The escalator had more to do with me slipping and falling. I took my fears to court and

realized that they didn’t measure up.

This is one of the best ways to be fearless so that you can go after your dreams regardless of where it takes you.

Also Read: How to Face and Overcome Obstacles?

One shoe size doesn’t fit all

What makes you tick, get out of bed in the morning, smile even when you don’t want to do it or work on your projects despite feeling as if you are

not good enough? Reminding yourself of why you are doing this is always the best way to kick yourself in going forward. One thing you need to know in

being fearless is that one shoe size doesn’t fit everyone.

What makes people unique is our experiences and perception. We all look at things differently and that makes it special in away. Therefore, the reasons

why you do something are unique to you. You might not have a big reason in bold red letters, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t count. It doesn’t mean

that it doesn’t matter just because it is a small reason.

The reason why we do something, often makes fear seem not that terrifying. I spent years going to theme parks and going on terrifying rides. It wasn’t as

if I wasn’t terrified and I made a fool of myself too many times to count. I did it because I knew that if I didn’t I will always be terrified. My experience won’t be

yours. My journey isn’t the same as yours. My perception will be completely different from yours, but one thing that remains the same is that we all struggle

with the what-if question. What if I just tackled my fear? What if I was fearless? What if I still did it anyway despite the fear?

That question gets us all the time. It is better to do something and not spend a life of regret, then to always wonder how your life would have turned out if

you did something. Ask yourself why do you want to do it and that is enough to push you to push back the fear.

Find your support group

One of the best ways to be fearless is to be around people who support you. We all need cheerleaders. People cheering us on the stands and that usually inspires us to keep going. Once we know that we have people who have our backs it makes the journey a lot more interesting and exciting.

Being fearless is all about going for something that is out of your reach, but it is a lot easier to achieve it when you have people who are encouraging you to go after it. Imagine if they were no spectators on the stands in sporting competitions. Would you still be willing to compete against each other? Would anyone really care?

If athletes require to support, what more us. If you were to go back in time, you would notice the times when you did the best was when you had people who supported you.

If you want to have the traits of a fearless person you need to find people who can encourage you when times are hard and you have no clue what to do next.

What is your main takeaway from the blog post and what is preventing you from going after your dreams? Comment below.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

8 Mindset Hacks That Will Change Your Life

by vanessa | Oct 16, 2019 | Blog, personal development

8 mindset hacks that will help change your life

These 8 mindset hacks that will change your life and help you make a lot of progress in every area of your life.

The day I turned twenty-five, I felt like I ran into a brick wall and I was smack dab in a quarter-life crisis. I started asking myself questions I never dared to ask. The really deep stuff that makes you feel as if you are watching a movie of your life. As unbelievable as it seems changing your mindset can change your life. When it comes to self-help, it does get a bad rap. They are those cringe-inducing ads that display of how someone’s life magically changed once they listened or followed the advice of a self-help guru.

But this isn’t going to be one of those blog posts. Self-help isn’t a magical pill of a genie that will solve your life’s problems within seconds or minutes. It would make life so much easier, but this is where the trick happens, the one that will change or transform your life and that is your mindset. These 8 mindset hacks will take you from one stage and elevate you to the next stage. As much as I want to say that you will never mope, drag your feet or have low-self esteem with these mindset hacks that are not true.

I would be lying to you and I can’t do that. I have been blogging for a year and I still have my moments when I want to quit and throw in the towel. There are successful people who have been in business for long and they still feel the same thing. They still go through the ups and downs of life. The difference here is that you still get up even when you are pushed down a million times. A bit of an exaggeration, but I just want you to know that we all have the opportunity to live a great life.

Growing up, I used to think like most people that a fearless person had no fear. Then I learned that a fearless person still goes after what they want despite their fear. That is powerful there, in more ways than you understand. When you learn these mindset hacks you will go after what you want despite everything in your core telling you that it isn’t a good idea. When you want to give up, a switch happens that helps you keep going after what you want.

All of the mindset hacks I have used to change my life and help me build the life I want. So, these mindset hacks do work and you can start doing them as soon as possible. They will help you achieve the life that you want.

Become aware your thoughts and beliefs

Have you ever found yourself thinking about all the things that you suck at or do you ask yourself if you are even good at. Our thoughts and beliefs play

a major role in our lives. When I was a little kid I used to watch a lot of celebrity interviews and most of them would be asked how they became

this successful. In Hollywood fashion they would all say the same thing and that is they believed they were the best.

It made sense why most of them had such an ego, but I understood how that would have helped them achieve the kind of success most people would dream

about. Most of us never want to change our lives because we believe we don’t deserve anything better than what is in front of us. We convince ourselves that

we can’t be anyone else, but who we are. Yet, there still a small part of us that do dream of having a better life.

We have dreams of achieving greatness and then the alarm rings and reality crashes through. It is then that we shake our nerves and decide that the dream

will never come to frution. Our thoughts are what makes us and whatever you think that will take shape in your life.

If you want to build your self-esteem then you find ways that can help that. You start changing the way you think. When in doubt, you give yourself a pep talk

that will help you. You might have had a hard life, but it doesn’t always have to be like this. You might be thinking is there are guarantee that this mindset

hack will even help? It might seem simple, but human beings tend be stubborn and you will have to constantly fight your inner critic or skeptic. Though, this

is one of the things I did to change my life and it did.

Mantras

You need your go-to-go mantras, some people call these affirmations or rituals. Words you say to yourself when you have hit rock bottom and you want to

throw in the towel. Five years ago, I read a book about affirmations and one of the things it said was to go to the mirror and speak over your life. At the time,

I rolled my eyes at how ridiculous it all seemed, but I still did it.

Yes, it was weird, staring into your reflection and talking to yourself is weird. I did it because my low-esteem kept pushing me into corners. Those five

minutes I stared into my eyes, I started believing the words I was saying to myself. It was as if a switch had been lit and I understood for the first time how

powerful words are. Even words said in anger have a way of changing the way we look at life. Mantras are by far one of the most useful mindset hacks you

can do because all it takes is saying a couple of words to yourself everyday.

If you are struggling to do something, you then tell yourself that you can do this. The more you tell yourself you can do something, the more you believe it.

Mantras are a lot easier to do though then changing your thought pattern. Changing your thought patterns takes time, but when you keep saying your

mantras that will change your thought pattern.

Here are a couple of my favorite mantras;

1. God has a plan for my life

2. I can do this

3. Life is precious

4. I am capable of more than I think I am

5. It is alright to fail, I will be victorious next time

6. If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again

7. When the going gets tough, the tough get going

Don’t allow your emotions to control your life

Since we aren’t robots, drones or zombies, emotions control our lives. So, I am not by any means saying that you shouldn’t be emotional. What I am saying is that we all have a choice in what we do with our lives. Most of us let our emotions control our lives. We are terrified, we don’t do anything. If we don’t want to wake up, then we don’t.

If we don’t want to eat healthy, we don’t. This is where you need to start re-framing the model that you use. Find one that will make you the best version of yourself, this mindset hack is hard to implement the first time around. Once you keep doing it though, you will have a completely different outlook on life.

For the longest time, I allowed my emotions to control my life. If I was afraid to do something, I wouldn’t do it. If I didn’t want to wake up, I didn’t. I was the type of person who used to sleep at 5 am when I was in university and when I was working I would wake up late as well. As a result, I was always grumpy when I woke up. When I stopped allowing emotions to control my life, I started making progress in my life. I started doing things differently and I was a happier and a more confident version of myself.

Think about future you

This is my favorite mindset hack and one that is actually fun to do. Do you remember the dreams you used to have of who you wanted to be? This is one of the best ways to motivate yourself and give you inspiration. Who are you in the future? Maybe, you are on a conference call, working on a fashion show or you could be a famous singer.

Many people call this creative visualization, you look at future you as if you are watching a movie about your life. One where you are the star of the show. You could be doing photo shoots right at this moment, signing autographs or directing a movie. Creative visualization is a trick that many successful people use to help achieve their goals.

And it isn’t as complicated as it sounds. You are already doing it when your mind wanders off and you think about future you. And even if it seems future you and present you are different people, we all have to start from somewhere. Most often to win a race you need to go back and imagine yourself winning the race. This mindset hack has worked for me in the past and it continues to help me accomplish more than I thought it would. It helps me achieve more than I can possibly imagine.

If you want to go the extra mile you can create a mood board about the car future you drives, where future you lives and what future you is doing right at this second. This visual reminder will motivate you to keep going after your dreams even when it seems impossible.

For a little motivation, the Hustle, Believe, Receive book will show you how it is possible to change your life around in as little as eighteen months. It will show you how can achieve this.

Also Read: How to Use Visualization to Achieve Your Goals?

Remove limiting beliefs

Twenty-two-year-old me thought there was no such thing as limiting belief. If I am being honest, I didn’t know it existed then I read a powerful book that

changed my mind and the way I looked at things. I started realizing that there’s so much we do to ourselves that damages our confidence. It is so easy to

do that.

Unbelievably easy, all it takes is someone saying something to else and we are spiraling out of control. When I was a kid I was made to believe I was stupid, so

for many years, I held onto the belief that I was stupid. And even if someone said something positive, I would start thinking that I had to be the butt of their

joke.

Removing your limiting beliefs is a mindset hack that will change your life. As I mentioned before, what you believe in matters, but often even if we know that

our beliefs are damaging we don’t make an effort to remove it. If you truly want to change your life, I recommend do get this boxset of books from Tony

Robbins will help you achieve that.

Also Read: How to Overcome Self-Doubt Like A Boss?

Become uncomfortable

How is being uncomfortable a mindset hack you might ask. That is a great question. You need to start asking yourself questions that will make you a little of

very uncomfortable depending on the questions you ask yourself. It is extremely important you ask yourself questions because you are the only one who

knows why you think the way you do.

You are the only one who can answer those questions with honesty. Once you understand the reason behind the action, it is a lot easier to work through

things. You will then know how to solve the problem. A mechanic can’t fix a car until he asks the owner questions and investigates what the problem might

be. A doctor can’t help you until he discovers what might be wrong and with a notepad, he does a deep-dive asking you questions that might make you

uncomfortable.

Every professional asks questions in order to solve a problem, whether they are asking themselves the question or someone else it doesn’t matter. If

they don’t ask questions, the problem isn’t solved. This is magic and will help you accomplish your goals at a faster rate.

Here are a few questions you could ask yourself;

1. What can I do today that will help me get closer to accomplishing my goals,

2. What do I still need to work on so that I am prepared?

3. What am I missing?

4. What can I do to make the results better?

5. What do I need to improve to become better?

6. What does 6-figure me do differently than I am doing right now?

7. If I fail, what is the worst thing that could happen to me?

No matter what

My sister used to wear this jumper that had the words no matter what written in white bold letters. Mini-me didn’t understand the point of it. But now, that I am a little older and wiser I understand the power in those words. No matter what is what champions say when they win the championship. No matter what is what singers who are tired and on world tours say to themselves.

Every successful person keeps telling themselves no matter what because to them that pushes them past the norm and the obstacles that are in their way. Your no matter is the push you require to keep going after your dreams even if it becomes hard. It is the final shove that you need to make it to the finish line. The line that will push you.

If you need to write down your goals, you will tell yourself I will do this “no matter what.” This mindset hack is what a lot of people do to get things done even

when they are unmotivated.

Alter Ego

So, when the going gets tough then you need to keep going. This is where the alter ego comes in, this version is funnier, bolder and even

more charming than you. This version of you seems to keep going despite the obstacles that come their way. This mindset hack will help you

keep moving and you can take out your alter ego whenever you need it the most.

You might not be a singer or a celebrity, but we all need to alter egos especially when we feel as if we aren’t good enough. So, your alter ego

doesn’t have to be a complete opposite of you, but just the better version of yourself. That is why a lot of celebrities use alter egos as a way

to cope and to distress. Here’s an example, I an introvert and I used to have massive stage fright.

One way I got out of it was by creating an alter ego of myself. As nervous as I was to walk upon the stage and give a speech, I created a version of

myself that could cope with the flashing lights and stare down at the people. It wasn’t as if I was no longer an introvert, but I found a way to deal

with the uncomfortable and scary position I found myself in.

So, yes creating an alter ego is one of the best mindset hacks you can use to help you get to where you want to go.

What is your main takeaway from this blog post and what mindset hack will you try out?

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

8 Ways to Overcome Self-Doubt Like A Boss

by vanessa | Oct 10, 2019 | Blog, Entrepreneurs, personal development

8 WAYS TO OVERCOME SELF-DOUBT LIKE A BOSS

These are 8 simple ways you can overcome self-doubt and work on your dreams at the same time.

Anyone who steps out of their comfort zone will ultimately doubt themselves. That is the truth about life, but it doesn’t have to remain like that. The unfortunate thing is most people allow their doubt to cloud their vision of their life. Doubt itself is harmless because we all do it, but once it turns to self-doubt, that is where the problem arises.

Self-doubt can it make harder for you to chase after your dreams. It can make the journey a lot harder and fuel your anxiety to the point where you stop believing in your dreams and vision. Once that happens you will give up because self-doubt has festered in your mind. Most people have no idea how to overcome self-doubt seeing it as something that doesn’t need to be overcome, but that is so untrue.

Think of any of the great artists, musicians, and painters of our time and throughout history. All of them have doubted at one point in time. When Giovanni dei Dolci was building the Sistine Chapel, he doubted himself. Even Michelangelo who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel doubted himself. Even people with the biggest egos doubt themselves sometimes. It is human nature.

J.K Rowling for years doubted the success of Harry Potter. When you look through history, all these famous poets, writers, artists and entrepreneurs doubted themselves. Self-doubt is the mind’s way of protecting ourselves from the unpredictable. There’s no probability equation for success, if that was the case then I am sure many people would have cracked success.

Unfortunately, many of us have to venture into the unknown to figure life itself. To understand what makes us tick and to understand how to be successful. On the journey, self-doubt will come into play. The reason why many people fail is that they allow their self-doubt to stop them from going after their dreams.

And if you don’t learn how to overcome self-doubt it will always push you back. When you want to do a new project, self-doubt will come into effect. It will tell you that you aren’t good enough and stop you from creating an impact. Leaving a legacy or even going after your dreams. It is your choice what you do in the end with what you want in life. It is your decision to choose what you should focus on. But when the cards are laid on the table, isn’t it bed to jump with both feet than to be cautious. Isn’t it better to go all-in and the only way you can do that is to learn how to overcome self-doubt?

Allow yourself to feel

We are told emotions make us weak and we shouldn’t doubt ourselves or our abilities. We have been told since we are kids that we should pretend to not

doubt or be emotional because this reveals our insecurities. Human beings all have insecurities and many of us try to hide them as if that will protect us

from the harsh cruelty of the world.

If only that was the case. For the longest time, I thought I was a terrible writer and then when I was older I tried my best not to think about it. I thought, I

was helping myself, but I was doing more damage than I like to admit. I didn’t learn what I needed. No one is born being great at something and unless you

learn how to be great at it you never will. A golfer who never practices never wins the tournament. A painter who never learns from the greats never achieves

greatness.

A singer who doesn’t learn the techniques of singing will never be anything more than a one-hit-wonder or mediocre. If you don’t allow yourself to feel doubt,

you will never learn what you need to improve and because of that, you will never progress in life. This is by one of the best and simplest ways to overcome

self-doubt, you need to be open to learning the tricks of the trade.

The comparison trap won’t help you

Comparing ourselves is something we are taught unfortunately by society and our family. As a child, I was always being compared to my siblings and my

parents’ friends’ kids. Yeah, it was endless, but many of us understand this because we have gone through it so many times. Our parents do it to inspire us

but it has the opposite effect.

It makes us doubt our worth or value. When we are older we do the same, compare ourselves to the person next to us. The person who got the promotion

or the person who is more confident. It is like pouring gasoline on an open wound. The scar never heals because we refuse to allow us to. I call comparison,

the comparison trap because once you are used to it that’s all you know to do.

If you want to overcome self-doubt then you have to stop comparing ourselves because that is the only way to stop eating at your confidence. When I was

younger, I believed that if I was like everyone else then I wouldn’t feel like I was a weirdo or so different.

Even as a kid, I felt odd because I didn’t act like other kids. Everyone is different, we all have unique perspectives and want different things. We all have

different backgrounds because if we had the same the world as we know it would be boring.

Comparing yourself won’t make you more like someone, it will stab your insecurities until all that is left are your harsh thoughts. I know, it is easier said than

done. But you have to start somewhere. Appreciate that we all have different abilities and because of that we won’t all be a like.

Also Read: Why You Compare Yourself to Other People and How to Stop?

Work through it

Nothing good ever came from ignoring pain. That is while you need to work through your self-doubt. Try to figure out why you feel this way, what happened

in your past to make you look at the world like that. Once you figure out the source, you can understand how to overcome self-doubt. For everyone it is

different and you just need to understand what it is for you.

Yeah, I know this can be painful or even will make you remember things you rather wish you would forget. One thing I have come to understand is that the

successful work through their emotions and that is why they have accomplished a lot. You have to sacrifice discomfort now so that you can be free from self-

doubt. I am not saying you will curb doubt because that is what being human is all about. Doubting ourselves, but self-doubt won’t have a hold on you as it

did before.

You won’t feel as though you are beating your head in and this is one of the ways you can overcome self-doubt without feeling as if you are hitting your head

against the wall.

Your Why will push you

When you have a reason for why you are doing something then no matter what comes in your way you will pull through it. No this is no one slogan fits

all kind of thing or a magical button that will make your wishes comes true. However, your why does help to motivate you. When I heard about this I

thought that it was ridiculous. I was one of those people who believed self-help books were weird and I rolled my eyes at people reading them.

In time, I learned that you can only move forward if you understand that growth will get you to your destination faster. This is one of the ways to overcome

self-doubt and it will help push you past your obstacles. You need to know what your why is. So, if you want that promotion then why do you want it? If you

want to start a Youtube channel or business then why do you want to do it?

This is where most people get lost attaching a monetary value to their why. Money isn’t a big enough reason to go after something. It won’t push you to

where you want to go. Yes, there are people who use money as a motivator, but the vast majority have other reasons why they are doing something.

Also Read: Why Following Your Passions is The Secret Ingredient

Be compassionate

Usually, when we talk about compassion, it is referring to other people, but what about you. The reason why it is hard to overcome self-doubt is because of

how hard we are on ourselves. It is almost as we think that if we are harder on ourselves then we will get more done. But it actually does more harm than

good in the end.

It makes life far harder. You need to be compassionate to yourself because only then can take time to figure out what matters. You need a self-care

package that you can use as a way to lift yourself up whenever you are feeling low. You can even use it when self-doubt is playing tricks on your mind. When

you do something for the first time it is never easy.

Stepping out of your comfort zone is never easy. In fact, it is one of the hardest things to do because there’s so much doubt that comes in your way. Often,

you will wonder if you are making a fool of yourself or if anyone will understand where you are coming from. This is why you need to be compassionate to

yourself. Before you can do anything great, one of the most important lessons you will ever learn is that you matter and what you are doing matters.

Stick with your decision and move forward

Do you remember how it felt to drive for the very first time? To sit behind the wheel and hold the steering wheel, while your instructor stared at you. The fear inside you was building up to the point where your face was hot. Your eyes are moist, your throat tight and your stomach flip-flopping. One wrong move then you have failed.

But even when you passed and got your license, the fear didn’t go away. For months or even years you had to battle with the trepidation and the hesitance. On the road, that hesitance can be life-threatening. Even if it isn’t on the road it can affect you from the time you make the decision and after. Because whatever decision you make, you will still be reeling from it. You will still have to ask yourself if what you did was the right thing.

It will still affect you because you can’t run away from the after-effects of a decision. You need to stick with your decision Whatever you choose to do. If you decide to step out of your comfort zone then move forward. Don’t look back. If you decide not to then stick with it. Whatever you decide you need to be comfortable about it.

The reason why self-doubt often messes up with people’s lives is the hesitancy and regret. To overcome self-doubt you need to be comfortable with your reasoning and decision making skills as hard as that is. And if you made a mistake. Okay. Move forward. This is all about moving forward and not looking back at all the mistakes you made.

We all have made mistakes. It is what makes us human and I know that is corny, but it is true. Mistakes play a large role in our lives and it is supposed to teach us lessons. More importantly, we make mistakes so that we can sympathize with people. Whatever you decide move forward in your life and choose not to look back.

Talk about it

To overcome self-doubt you need to talk about what you are going through. You need to talk to someone about it. Even if it is something as simple as telling

someone that you doubt yourself. As I said before, doubt is a normal reaction to stepping out of your comfort zone. Often, we think that we are alone and

there’s no one out there who can understand what we are going through.

That is a normal reaction, but it is further from the truth. Everyone has doubts, that is why sometimes people get cold feet on their wedding day or why new

graduates wonder if they will make it in life whether at university or in the workforce. It is why parents want to hold their kids’ hands harder because of that

fear of the unknown and the doubt that filters in their minds. They have questions that won’t get answered until their children are older and have their own

families.

Doubt is a part of us and the best way to deal with self-doubt is to talk to someone about it. When you realize that everyone feels the same way at a certain

point in their lives, it will open your eyes. You will realize that doubt can only harm you if truly believe in what it says about you.

Find a source of inspiration

Have you ever watched the movie Rudy, it is an old sports movie. Even though I have never been an athlete, I always enjoyed watching a sports movie. Most

of them are incredibly inspiring and I used to watch them get my dose of inspiration. Rudy tells the story of a young man with Dyslexia who wants to play

football at the University of Notre Dame and decides to go for it despite not having the money to do so. He also doesn’t have a scholarship and he’s tinier

than what a football player should be.

What I love about Rudy is it tells the story of the underdog and I have always felt like an underdog. We all relate to things differently and find different

avenues for inspiration. Whatever it is you use that to get going because when you find your source of inspiration you will keep pushing yourself. You can

have more than one source of inspiration, the point here is that it belongs to you and no one else.

For some people, it is a great song, one that makes you feel as if nothing is impossible. Maybe it is a really good book or a motivational podcast. Whatever it

is you can use that to push yourself out of the bed. There have been people who were in the same footsteps that you were. People who climbed mountains,

who ran impossible miles, beat the odds and I know it sounds like a montage of motivational movies.

I want you to realize nothing is impossible and when you watch something that inspires you, it will make you believe that. Whatever feeds your mind can

either build yourself up or tear you down.

Find out what works best for you and use that to push yourself out of your comfort zone.

What is your main takeaway from this blog post? Have you struggled with self-doubt in the past? If so, why and how did you deal with it?

Keep Pushing

Vanessa