Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Mindset

Tags

Consistency, duplication, habits, Knowledge, Learning, Mindset, motivation, realistic, Sources

How do you get up on Monday, attack your goals and priorities, and feel great consistently? You do other things consistently. If you smoke, drink, and stay up until 3 am binge-watching a series on Netflix, you probably will not be your best at 6 am. Makes sense, right? The same follows with working out. If you are not eating right and getting enough rest, your performance in the gym is probably going to suck pretty bad too.

When I worked, I did my best to be in bed at a reasonable time every day. I went to the gym at the same time every day. It was my consistency that allowed me the same performance at work, in the gym, etc. Self-discipline is the key to anything we want in life. If you want to write a book, you have to discipline yourself to write on a schedule with deadlines and all the rest. If you want to get in shape, you have to go to the gym or exercise in some way consistently, coupled with eating right, drinking water, and getting enough sleep to recover. I’m not preaching some new thing today. This is the way things work–period.

So, if your goals are going off the rails, those New Year’s resolutions are not progressing, re-evaluate. Do you really want those things that you wrote down, or were they a pipe dream? This is one of the biggest problems with goal setting and achievement. We write things down, but fail to plan how to achieve them. Many times I have begun planning in the past and realize that the commitment to achieve something I think I want to achieve is just too much. I’d like to write some books someday. I gave this a chance a year ago, and it didn’t go anywhere. Why? Because other things came up that took a priority, and I couldn’t do what most authors do–work on their books consistently. I had too many other things on my plate that were a higher priority for me. Make sense?

So, here’s what you do if you are having trouble with consistency. First, reevaluate what your goals are. Second, examine what it will take to achieve your goals by the date you set. Third, be honest with yourself about your motivation levels around certain goals. Are they really something you want to pursue, or is there something else that is higher on your list? Fourth, put those goals on hold that you struggle to commit to. You can always pursue them next year or at some other time.

Motivation is about mindset. It is about pursuing the things you really want vs. pursuing things you think others want you to have. It’s your life. Pursue what you want. Also be realistic. If your schedule does not allow you to go to the gym every day, then start working out at home. If that doesn’t work consistently, then reduce the number of times you exercise and stick with that. At a minimum, if all else fails—walk. Walking is healthy. It is something most of us will be able to do for most of our lives. Any exercise is better than no exercise.

This same process can be used for any goal you have. Are you doing the things necessary to achieve it? Do you know what those things are? If the answer is no to both or either of these questions, there’s a quick fix. Simply do some research to see what other people do? Writing? You can find tons of information about writing books, articles, blogging, etc. all over the place. You can find out what other people are doing and try that. The first place I turn when I’m looking at doing something new is the Internet. Then I tag the things other people are doing and begin experimenting. Someone will have done what I need to do, and they will tell you. These can be found on YouTube, on some online schools/universities, or you may luck out and know someone that does something you are trying to do. All these resources are available. You just have to get out there and look. Once you begin to learn what it takes, then you have to decide: Can I duplicate what they are doing? Do I really want to do this? Can I fit in these steps or processes into my day? If yes, then you are all set and ready to go. If not, you may have to decide to put it all on hold.

The mindset we have is critical to achieve our goals. We have to know what we have to do consistently to achieve the things we want. We have to learn about what others are doing to achieve their results. We have to be willing to apply what we learn consistently in order to achieve what we want to achieve consistently. Make sense?

Ok, folks. Have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Taking Advantage of Your Brain’s Automation

Tags

Automatic, change, habits, Mindset, Neural Pathway, Steve Maraboli

“Once your mindset changes, everything on the outside will change along with it.”―Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

The mind is the tool we must use to negotiate our existence in this day-to-day reality. Today, you are the product of the choices you’ve made and the habits you have built. What hurts most of us is our inability to see how we create our own habits.

Imagine using a chisel to carve out a groove in a piece of wood. When you do something new, your brain creates a neural pathway to execute the steps needed to do that new thing. The brain is the chisel and your neurons are the piece of wood. Each time you do that act the neural pathway you created becomes stronger. It’s like taking your chisel and carving out a deeper groove in the wood. Do something enough and you’ll have a very deep groove. When this neural pathway becomes strong enough, your brain packs it away in your subconscious and it becomes automatic. Your brain is exceedingly good at this.

Your brain works through this process with everything. It builds neural pathways for muscular movements and it builds neural pathways for thoughts. When you think a certain way about a certain topic, your brain packs that away just like it does a physical movement like opening a door. Once you realize this process is taking place you can purposefully create your own habits and routines. It just takes consistent action.

If you take consistent action daily, let’s say exercising, your brain will begin creating a neural pathway that it can use to be better prepared for that exercise the next day. Each day you exercise, the brain fires the neural pathways related to the movements your body takes and the stresses your body feels. Each day you exercise your mind and body the exercise gets easier. It gets easier because the brain is strengthening all the neural pathways you use during exercise.

This same process of building neural pathways works for everything you do. If you want to build a habit, do it consistently each day (at the same time if possible). If you want to get rid of a habit, stop feeding it. The brain is efficient. It automates things to reduce the processing power required to do something over and over. Those things in your mind that are already automated begin to dissipate when the brain recognizes you are not doing them anymore.

To create a new habit, start small and do it consistently each day at the same time. Your brain will automatically begin building the neural pathways that support this habit and before you know it, you’ll be doing it automatically. You’ll know when you have established the habit. You’ll know because you will feel a little discomfort if you stop doing it. If you have an established exercise habit and get sick, you will miss a day of your exercise. Watch what happens internally. You will feel discomfort when you cannot exercise. When you feel this, you know that you have an established neural pathway supporting your exercise habit.

I hope all of you have a terrific Monday!

Until next time…

Dave