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Hey Reader,

On Thursday, this past week, I had a head-splitting migraine. The ones that make opening your eyes feel hard and that you feel all over, on the top of your head and the back of your neck, nose, and eyes.

I don't really get headaches or migraines regularly either, so to say this felt bad is an understatement. It knocked me over for a whole afternoon, and I couldn't do anything other than lie in bed while holding an ice pack to my head.

I tell you this story because it served as a painful reminder of two things:

1. When we feel good, when we feel healthy and energized, we take it for granted.
2. It's only when we feel bad, when our health and energy levels are suffering, or when we can't do what we normally do that we notice that everything else comes second to our health.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs consists of an upright pyramid with physiological needs at the base.

I like to think that your physiological needs (sleep, nutrition, movement - your overall physical health) are really the foundation for anything else that you want and need in your life. Without this initial foundational layer, everything else would topple over.

Jenny Wood, in her book "Wild Courage", makes the point that the pyramid should be inverted to signal how unstable it can become if the bottom layer of your physiological needs are not dialed in. "A few minor issues with that bottom layer can topple the whole pyramid."

This image (and the head splitting migraine) were a good reminder that your physical health is the foundation you need to go after anything else you want in your life.

We often think it's optional to take care of our health, and so we take it for granted when we have it.

When you intentionally take care of your physical health (you get 7+ hours of sleep per night, you move your body daily, you eat mostly nutritious, whole foods, you get outdoors, you keep hydrated, and you take the vitamins and suplements you need consistently), you are better off to improving the other areas of your life (your relationships, your job and career, your finances and stability, and your life's purpose or the things that provide you with meaning).

Don't take your health for granted. Be conscious of taking care of it every day.

Control the controllables (how you treat your body, what you put on it, the attitude you bring, your mindset) and be at peace with the uncontrollable.

Limiting Beliefs

What are they, really?

Your belief system is made up of the stories, the supposed “truths” you keep telling yourself repeatedly until you start believing they are your reality. In the same way, limiting beliefs are repeating thinking patterns that are hardwired in your brain as a way to “protect” you and keep you in what is familiar and, therefore, oftentimes keep you playing small.

Why they exist:

They exist as your brain’s mechanism to avoid discomfort and resistance. It’s easier to believe you’re “not good enough” than to face the fear of rejection or failure.

These beliefs start small, maybe a comment someone said or a past failure, but they snowball over time into invisible prison walls.

The Symptoms:

You hesitate to speak up and procrastinate to take action or take risks.

You constantly doubt whether you’re qualified, smart, or talented enough.

You avoid new opportunities because you fear failing and messing up.

You feel stuck. Not just stuck in your actions, but stuck in your thinking.

You want to create change in your life and try new things, but every time you think about taking action, that same old little voice pops up: “What if I’m not good enough?” “What if I fail?” “What if everyone notices it?”. Sounds familiar? That’s the silent killer of your dreams: your limiting beliefs.

These aren’t just casual doubts; they’re deep-rooted thought patterns that have been running your life for years, and you don’t even realize it half the time.

Your "Never" Beliefs

We all have non-negotiable rules. And that’s okay! The point of this question is to notice where these “I would never”, "I never" statements are born from and to go more deeply into them.

“Is it something that protects you and helps you? Or is it something that limits you? Is it something that scares you but that could help you grow?”

We all have absolutes that protect us and serve us at certain stages of our lives, but they can also become limiting beliefs that block us and make us repeat behavior patterns that we are ready to leave behind. Becoming aware of these beliefs helps us notice if they are serving us or if they are blocking us from experiencing more in our lives.

p.s.: This is a fragment of my Guide to "Boost your Self-Belief: Start taking more action now". Get it for free here!​

Trick yourself out of procrastination

We have this amazing tool of self-deceiving ourselves.

We say things like "I will go to bed after just one more chapter, just one more video, just one more post", and 2-3 hours later, we are still there.

We deceive ourselves to avoid the things we don't want to do and procrastinate.

But, what if you could use this same skill to trick yourself into productivity instead?

Whenever you are not feeling like doing something that you know is good for you, say to yourself: "Just a short walk", "Just one more rep", "Just 5 minutes of writing or reading", "Just a micro step forward".

I do this often when I going to do a cold plunge. I say to myself, "Just one minute, I can do anything for one minute," and usually, after starting, it always gets easier to finish it.

This talks about the reality that one of the hardest parts about any new habit that we want to create or anything we want to do that feels a little out of our comfort zone usually lies in the starting, in changing yourself from one state of being to a different state of being.

Trick yourself into lowering the friction and making something less scary by saying, "I'll just do a little bit of [X]".

Once you have gotten started and you are doing the work, you will notice it's often a lot less scary and intimidating than what you were making it to be.

An Insight on Failure

"You are not afraid of failure."

"You are not afraid of failure". You are afraid of other people seeing you fail. You are afraid of what other people will think if you fail and that they will judge you and criticize you.

A little tip: Most people aren't thinking about you; they are thinking about themselves. If and when you fail, I want you to remind yourself that nobody really cares about your failures.

What often feels very big and dramatic in your life it's a blip on someone else's life radar, so release the fear of what other people will think if you fail.

Consider instead what you will think about yourself if you don't try. And then, go do the thing!

Allow yourself to 'Be'

Allow yourself to be all the parts of you.

We humans are complex beings. We are all full of so many contradictions and things that, at times, may seem like they don't go together. We often try to box ourselves in, to put a label on who we are and who others are. We say things like "I'm this kind of person", "I always do this", "I never do this", and so on, and we create this fixed image of ourselves and others that doesn't allow us the capacity to adapt to new circumstances.

The truth is that we are always changing and evolving. You are not a static, immovable being. Instead, you are a dynamic being that has the ability to adapt and grow and that is composed of so many different and diverse components.

Maybe it's time to consider that just as we aren't only one thing, others aren't only one thing either.

When you see yourself and see others, open yourself to the different nuances and hues that we all have and to the fact that "not everything is your job position", "not everything is motherhood or being a parent", "not everything is a hobbie you have", "not everything is fitness", "not everything is personal development", "not everything is the 1% of what other people see".

You are a universe of thoughts, interests, behaviors, and forms. Not everything you see is what it's there for yourself and others.

Instead of saying things like "I always" or "I never", start thinking about the "may be's" of who you are and the possibilities that are there for you if you simply choose to open yourself to them.

The Science of Manifesting

Manifest like this

Manifesting is not making a vision board and waiting for something to happen. Manifesting is not some juju magic or thinking that things will happen by chance.

Manifesting is more than that.

It's creating an action plan that allows you to make changes from abundance instead of from scarcity. It's to stop doing things that go in the totally opposite direction of where you want to go and to learn to talk to yourself like a best friend, in a way that helps you believe that you are capable of creating new things in your life.

You have to start taking aligned action with where you want to go, no matter how small it may be.

To start, do this:

Write down something that you have wanted to manifest for a long time and then go through your daily activities, and note the things that you repeteadly do that don't align with what you want to create.

Some examples include:

• Saying that you want to manifest financial independence and stability but then, making impulsive purchases repeatedly.
• Saying that you want to manifest a long-term, stable, and loving romantic relationship but then engaging in one-night stands, regularly dating different people, and allowing games and unhealthy cycles of manipulation and back-and-forth.
• Saying that you want to manifest better physical health, but then eating junk food on a regular basis, drinking or smoking after work every night, and never engaging in any kind of physical activity

Manifesting is not magic or something that the universe gifts you. The science of manifesting is based on something pretty simple: Creating a new mindset that will allow you to take different actions on a consistent basis, which it's what makes you capable of creating a different reality.

The way of create that new mindset (and, therefore, those new behaviors)?

Acting like it before you feel like it.

You need to start by practicing that new way of being consistently. There will be moments when you will fail and falter, when you will want to do the things you have always done before, but that's when you need to remind yourself that these moments come from a scarcity mindset and from the safety net of knowing, and that you can separate yourself from the temporary, short-term desires to get the long-term things you want to create in your life.

Quote about self-doubt:

It's not failing at something that makes you feel empty and without a purpose.

It's spending your life and never giving it a try. It's never giving yourself the chance to experience the dream that you have.

Whenever you are dealing with self-doubt about what you are capable of, I want you to remind yourself that you are capable of rising to the challenge (whatever it may be).

How do I know this? Because when you look back to your life, I assure you that you have always risen to the new challenges that life has given you.

Life never gives you more than you can chew, and even on those moments when you feel unprepared or not ready, you can always rise to meet the challenge in front of you.

Trust this.

p.s.: Lower the noise to listen to yourself. Lately, I have been taking intentional time off from social media as a way to decrease external chatter. This good reminder that though technology can be an amazing tool, we are always in control of curating our life's experience. Do things that empower you and help you create the clarity you are looking for. If you want to create more clarity in your life, join my 5-Day Journaling Challenge now!

Love creating your mind one day at a time? Forward this to a friend so they can get in on the action and sign up below. Subscribe to The Created Mind Thank you for reading and sharing, Jenny ​​​​

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