The One Mindset Shift I Needed To Change Everything

I'm constantly reminded that mindset is everything!

Despite it not being one of the main things we think about when asked, "What are your business goals"?

But mindset honestly should be covered in every course, program and career training program. 

We have so many people walking around, never even knowing what mindset is, let alone how it can dramatically change their life if they want it to.

When I started my business in 2018, I had never heard of it, not really anyway. My therapist had never really mentioned that word, and I'd never read the right books to come across it. So, when I started my business, it was a new concept.

I joined a program where the first module we did was mindset work. I began wondering, throughout all my time sitting in the chair in my therapist's office, why we had never discussed this type of work; we had just tried to talk it out. This stuff went deep. It challenged me, made me uncomfortable, and it opened my eyes.

Now, don't get me wrong, I loved seeing my therapist. She got me to talk about things I hadn't been willing to discuss up to that point. That was an important step for me. But most of what she taught felt like coping mechanisms. It almost felt like she didn't believe that there was anything to do to actually reverse anxiety and depression. Meds just covered it up, you have to keep taking them to not experience anxiety and depression, EFT was a great strategy but very "in the moment" the way she taught it, and everything else we did was just a way for me to acknowledge things instead of deal with them.

While I am not suddenly cured of anxiety and depression, it hasn't felt like an everyday, all-the-time thing, and my anxiety is much more manageable.

For me, there was one key difference between therapy and mindset work that was extremely meaningful to me. There was one big shift I needed to make that I only learned from mindset work...

We are the thinker of our thoughts.

So simple, yet, so powerful.

Why was this such a big deal?

Up until this point, I had never acknowledged or even realized that my thoughts were something I had control over. They had always seemed to have so much control over me. I think this is a fairly common belief, too.

Last year, I edited a book for an incredible entrepreneur on this very topic called A New Way To Think About Thinking, and what she had to say was eye-opening. (You can buy the book on Amazon).

The therapist had never said this. Through all our talking, she had never eluded to how much control we actually had.

As soon as I heard that simple quote, I felt a change inside of me. Suddenly all those thoughts that had felt like I just couldn't change or get away from, I knew that I was the thinker of them. And if I could think them, then I could also unthink them.

This is a key takeaway for you. If you can think up, dream up, or imagine the thought, you can also choose not to think it.

Now, this wasn't a process that happened overnight. I didn't change every negative thought I ever had in the blink of an eye; even still, I struggle with certain thoughts. But the difference was I knew that I was in control over the way I thought.

This led to other changes as well. Thoughts lead to reactions and behaviours. So my reactions to things changed, I stopped letting myself simply react without thought. Instead, I was able to take a second and contemplate how my reaction would affect the situation and others first. I wasn't as impulsive and controlling.

This can be incredibly freeing for you. Knowing that you can stop and reflect in any moment. 

My behaviours changed too. While I had always let fear be the driver, suddenly, things like happiness and confidence were taking over. Trust me when I say happiness and confidence are wonderful things you want in your life.

Slowly, all the other things started to fall into place. It wasn't that I was suddenly making millions of dollars, but suddenly, I was able to allow myself to believe that I was worthy of making that type of money. I was someone who deserved it, despite growing up in a poor family, despite being one of few to graduate high school and the first to go to university, despite having teenage parents, despite feeling like I couldn't escape the circumstances I was born into.

Suddenly, I didn't see those things as stopping points anywhere. Suddenly, I realized that I wasn't poor, my parents were no longer teenagers, I had gone to university and gotten a degree, I had gotten a career and then I had started a business.

I was not defined by the circumstances I was born into.

That was the piece of information I needed to set off this catalyst of events that led me to have the mindset and the knowledge that I needed to manage my depression and anxiety without medication (side note, everyone is different. Simply knowing this may not be what everyone needs to come off of meds. I was actually looking for this solution and wanting it desperately), to believe in myself and think I was worthy enough to start taking actions that were more in alignment with business success, and ultimately to living a happier and more thriving life.

There is always a moment for each of us. Your moment might look different than mine. Reading this information might also be exactly what you were looking for. 

I was desperately looking for this information when I found it. It was what I wanted and needed in that moment. It may not be the same for everyone. We all need and want different things.

This statement was so powerful for me because, deep down, I had wanted it to be true. It was exactly what I was looking for; I just needed the validation.

That being said, there are so many other parts of mindset that are powerful and understated. 

I highly recommend that you start learning about mindset and doing your own mindset work!

Looking to get started creating the business of your dreams? My Etsy shop is full of resources to help you get started and find strategies that work for you. There is no one way, you just need to find your way!