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Hey Reader,

For a few months now, I have been saying that I want to record content online. I have been debating over if I wanted to record audio files, videos, or even create a Podcast or YouTube channel.

But the thing that I would always focus on were all the reasons why I wasn't ready to do these things, "I don't have the right setting or space to do it", "I don't have the equipment", "I don't have the time", and the dreaded "I'm not sure what would be the point of it".

Now, let me tell you this: our minds can find all the 'reasons' for why we shouldn't do new things that we know will require a level of hard work and discomfort.

But what may be all logical reasons for why you shouldn't do something are often just challenges that we need to solve and figure out.

• You can find (or create) the right space or setting.
• You can buy (or borrow) the equipment that you need.
• You can create the space in your calendar.
• And you can remind yourself that you don't need to have a bigger reason to do anything other than simply the fact that you want to try doing it.

All the reasons we find to not do something, though they may be logical and true to some extent, are often the excuses we say to ourselves for why we shouldn't do something.

And it is with those small excuses that we start betraying ourselves in what we want to do and create in our lives.

Getting out of your comfort zone will always feel uncomfortable. But that doesn't mean that you cannot do it. Push through the resistance and the friction and start taking action.

The growth you want in your life happens when you push yourself to step out of your comfort zone. If you spend all of your day staying comfortable, you will not experience the success, the meaning, and the possibilities that you are looking for.

So stop focusing on what you don’t have, on the “perfect” timing, the ‘perfect’ setting, the perfect “process”, or even on getting the ‘exact perfect results’ that you want.

And focus instead on all that you can do (and all that you are already doing) and that you should be proud of.

Stop focusing on the excuses for why 'no' and start taking action on the things you want in your life.

Micro Self-Betrayals

"Do what you say you'll do."

When you constantly say things you want to do but you don't do them, you set yourself up to lose confidence in your own capability to follow through and commit to yourself.

Notice if you are constantly saying things like:

• "I will start eating healthier on Monday", and you don't.
• "I will work out after work today", and you don't.
• "I will start waking up earlier this month, so I'm not rushing", and you don't.
• "I will apply for jobs this week and network with people in my industry", and you don't.
• "I will start reaching out to people to tell them what I do", and you don't.

Because all these small things that you say you will do but that you never end up doing are the micro ways in which you betray yourself.

And though they may not seem big in the moment, when you are consistently breaking up your word to yourself, you are telling your mind that what you say isn't important (or true), and you start losing confidence and belief in yourself.

What to do instead:

Be more careful with your words and the commitments you make to yourself. Often, we think that because nobody else, but us, is involved in these commitments, that it doesn't matter if we don't do them. But everything in your life starts with yourself.

If you are always going back on your own word, you will never create trust in yourself. Start acting like the person you honestly want to be, even when nobody is watching. That's what will help you start trusting in your capability to create a life you love and change the things you don't like right now.

• It's human to change the things you are interested in or that you want to try.
• It's human for circumstances to change.
• It's human to have moments when you need to cancel or do something different from what you had originally said you were going to do.

But notice if you are always, consistently breaking your own commitments, and in what areas of your life you usually do it.

Then, get really honest with yourself about the reason behind why you don't do the things you said to yourself you were going to do.

Recognize this important truth:

You cannot create a strong core confidence and the trust you need in yourself to change your life until you start holding the commitments you make to yourself (even when nobody is watching).

​p.s.: If you want to improve your self-belief and boost your confidence to start taking more action in your life (instead of letting procrastination and overthinking hold you back), download the Ultimate Self-Belief Guide HERE!​

A quote about perspective

And what do you do with it?

This past week, while listening to the Mel Robbins Podcast's episode "A Process for Finding Purpose: Do THIS to Build the Life You Want" with Author Jay Shetty, one of the phrases they talked about that really stuck with me was this one:

Jay Shetty then goes on to say that the interesting thing about life is that both people are looking at the same thing, but they are seeing different things. Because the truth of the matter is that there is no such thing as a 'weak' or 'strong' person. It is just a matter of what you are focusing on at that particular moment of your life.

There is a switch in how you perceive things (and behave afterwards) based on what you are focusing on.

The switch for envy is inspiration. If you are envious of someone, you can study them and learn from them. Because suddenly that envy turns into appreciation, admiration, and just a kind of complete awe that makes you say, "Now I know what it takes".

Feelings of jealousy and envy can be useful directional tools because you only feel jealous of the things you deeply desire and that are meant for you.

So, let these feelings guide you and start transforming them from negative feelings that block you and hold you back to the things that move you forward, call to you, and encourage you to step into growth.

A quote on gratitude

Tap into the abundance of your life.

What you focus on, that's what you create more of in your life.

Everything in your life is energy, and when you focus and give more energy to the good things in your life, you open space to create more of that goodness in your life.

There are people in the world who would love to live your worst days. Notice how blessed you already are in some of the areas of your life.

Often, where you are today is what you dreamed about yesterday. Let this be your reminder that what you want today, you can create tomorrow because you have already done it before. You have already brought things into existence that were only a dream before.

In some areas of your life, you are already living in the dream. So, remind yourself that you have the power to create that future dream because you have already done it once.

Reflection in action

Use reflection to level up.

Often, when we try new things and get out of our comfort zones, we think that if something doesn't feel like how we were expecting it to feel at the beginning, we should simply stop.

But the real growth we seek doesn't come from trying something new once and then, if it doesn't work, just quitting it.

The real growth we are all looking for comes from trying something and then reflecting on what worked, what didn't work, tweaking, experimenting, and playing with it.

What makes you keep moving forward is knowing that things won't be perfect right away. The results you are expecting may not come for a while or may look different from what you were initially picturing.

The reflection that makes you move from one place to another is the ability and the practice of trying something out and coming back to it over and over with a growth mindset.

It's trying something and coming back to it, saying, "How could I have done that 1% differently, better, more aligned with what I want in my life?"

Real reflection is something that you practice and experiment with.

If you feel stuck...

What are you holding onto?

If you feel stuck or lost right now, and you feel like you don't know what your next step or move is, start thinking about this moment as something that is preparing you and helping you become who you need to be to get towards where you want to go next.

And even if you don't yet know where you want to go next, just the fact that you know that you don't want to be where you are right now is enough to make you move forward.

You don't need to know exactly where you want to go next. The moment you get really honest with yourself about not liking where you are and you make the decision to say, "I just don't like how my life feels anymore", in that moment you are already moving in a new direction because you start moving away from what is not working.

And know that you are never stuck anywhere because you can always move from where you are.

Oftentimes, when you feel stuck, you are just grieving a past version of yourself. There is a part of you that has grown and changed, that you left behind a while ago, and a part of you still misses it because it's easier to want things to remain the same.

That's what keeps pulling you back. That's what is blocking you from making your next move.

You are stopping yourself by holding onto the way things used to be or how life used to feel. You feel stuck because there's a part of you that is holding onto how things were before.

You are holding onto and clinging to a past stage or version of your life... That is what is really holding you back and keeping you stuck.

There's an identity, an idea, an expectation, a mindset, a habit, a behavior, an attitude, that you are allowing to hold you back. What is it for you?

We think we are stuck because we don't know what we are going to do next. The truth is that we are stuck because we are still holding onto what is behind us.

The growth (and the momentum) you want to create in your life doesn't come from knowing where you are going. It comes from knowing that you don't want to be where you are anymore. And using that knowledge to propel you forward towards new experiences.

Because you can always turn your life in a different direction. But you are the one who has to make the decision that who you are right now and how you are living your life no longer feels right.

• You don't need to know what the future holds for you.
• You don't have to have a perfectly clear view of exactly where you are going.
• Or know exactly where you will be in the future.
• You don't need to have your whole life fully mapped out to take the first step.

The idea that you have to have everything figured out before you can take the first step is a complete lie. The idea that if you don't have a clear vision, you don't know where you are going, is the biggest lie you have been told.

What holds us back is this idea that you have to know everything before you do the first thing.

Notice the resistance that you feel to move places and acknowledge that you can be more than one thing at a time. You don't need people's permission to do anything. Because it's never about people understanding you, and it's always about you focusing on pursuing the things that you love.

You are multiple things at one time.

Your superpower is that you are what you did in the past and what you want to do now.

You already are all of those things. That is the whole point. That’s why you feel pulled to try new and different things, because they are already a part of you.

You don’t need to be only one thing, to choose only one thing.

You can play, you can experiment, and you can be multiple things simultaneously.

Learn to push through your own resistance to go after the things that you are interested in and curious about experimenting with.

You are always collecting stories, experiences, skills, and ideas at every new stage of your life. And then, one day, you start to notice how they all connect to each other to make you who you are.

Use where you are now as a launchpad for tomorrow.

Whenever you find yourself in those moments of your life where you feel like you aren't where you are supposed to be and that you are in the wrong place (the wrong career, the wrong job, the wrong degree, the wrong relationship, the wrong city,... or whatever it may be for you), help yourself see the bigger possibilities that exist for your life.

Because you can hate where you are at in life right now and still gain all the skills and all the experiences that you need for your future.

When you are in a place that you don’t want to be, you need to change your mindset around it and start seeing it as a launchpad and a stepping stone for where you want to go next.

You can acknowledge and accept that "Yes, I do hate where I am in this area of my life right now". And you can still choose to see it from a place of empowerment and growth. You can choose to say, "But I’m going to take everything that I possibly can from this opportunity, and I'm going to learn from this place because it's a part of my story, and I won't waste it".

No matter what it is that you don't like about your life right now, change your mindset around it to something that is preparing you and helping you grow.

Start seeing where you are as the launchpad for where you want to be, and start seeing it as the place where you take off from, rather than the place that is keeping you stuck.

Trust that nothing in your life is ever wasted because it's making you who you need to be.

Two quotes about self-awareness

What you accept about yourself is what makes you grow.

The more you can accept the truth about who you are and why you do the things that you do, the more you allow yourself the capacity to change it.

You can't change the things that you don't acknowledge exist in the first place. That's why the first step to changing anything you don't like in your life or yourself is recognizing that those things are there without running away from them.

You have more control and more agency over what you think and what you do than you think you do.

Everyone has the opportunity to have more agency over their lives and with that, more responsibility (your ability to respond) for the way you live your life.

That which you avoid accepting in yourself is often what holds you back from being able to move forward.

Small things become big things.

It's often not the big things, the ones that hold you back. But the small things that you do consistently that go against what you want, the ones that hold you back.

Tiny issues done repeatedly become big issues in the long term.

• The bad small habits you continue to engage in.
• The hard conversations you continue to avoid.
• The limiting beliefs and internal stories you continue to tell yourself.
• The negative people you continue to allow in your life.
• The fixed mindset you continue to maintain.

The small things that create friction in your days are what create the sense of being stuck over the years.

Recognize the pebble in your shoe now and start acknowledging the small things that are holding you back.

• What stories are you holding onto that no longer serve you?
• What relationships no longer bring energy into your life?
• What conversations have you been avoiding?
• What small behaviors or habits are holding you back from your goals?

The small things become the big things. Notice them.

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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