5 Steps to Shift From Madness to Mindset
If you’re mindset, or beliefs around your actions aren’t aligned, you’ll often find yourself reverting back to your old ways. We’re going to focus this year on shifting from this madness to developing a strong mindset for making an actual change that is aligned and long lasting.
A few years ago I offered a deep reflection tool that allowed you to recognize when changes in behaviors happened..
And in recognizing those changes in behaviors, my hope is that you’re able to see those as a major step forward. If you haven’t done that exercise, I suggest giving it a try this year. Because you might be surprised by how much growth you’ve been able to accomplish with just behavioral shifts! You can do last year’s activity by reading about it here. It includes some downloadable worksheets too!
Now, to take your reflection even deeper towards transformation this year’s tool will help you understand your mindset. I can talk actions all day long and you can engage with actions that change the way you do things, but if you’re mindset, or beliefs around those actions aren’t aligned, you’ll often find yourself reverting back to your old ways.
Take this beginning of the year season where we typically see folks committing to “a better diet”, “more exercise”, or some other form of better living. When the enthusiasm and stamina around that change wears off, say around February or March, excuses start to take over. Without a strong mindset aligned with that change, belief systems from other people, societal norms, or just those stories you developed on your own can take over a derail your plans. The madness sets in.
So, as a way to make your shift a holistic and solid one, we’re going to focus this year on shifting from this madness of varying beliefs in your head to developing a strong mindset that sets you up for making an actual change that is aligned and long lasting.
So what does a successful shift from madness to mindset look like?
Simply put, these 5 steps can help you put some back into it! Below I give you some examples to help jumpstart your reflection and I also encourage you to download this worksheet and FULLY engage with the activity.
Name what you want to change. Bottom line it.
In 2019 I want to change the way I eat to have a more plant-based diet
What are your beliefs (madness) around that shift? For instance, what goes on in your head when you think about making this change in your life?
a. Plant based diets are healthier and will help me lose weight
b. It takes too much time to prep food for a more plant based diet and I’ too busy
Where did they come from? You, someone else, societal norms, etc…?
a. I see it all the time in the media, a couple of people in my community swear by the a plant-based diet reversing chronic illness and other things, and ever since I started eating more plant based foods I feel better about my overall body
b. I grew up with fast food and TV dinners, so making food from scratch is too time consuming and I’m a really busy person
Determine which of those beliefs serve to your benefit versus ones that result in preventing you from making a successful, long term shift. Can you add an action to take to make that change?
Example
Mindset - I see it all the time in the media, a couple of people in my community swear by the vegan diet reversing chronic illness, and ever since I started eating more plant based foods I feel better about my overall body.
Action - 3 out of 7 days in a week will be a plant-based lunch
Bottom line your mindset in a statement. This is the part that shifts from madness your mindset. Affirm it and ritualize it into an affirmation or reminder to yourself, especially when you have the urge to revert back to old habits. Write or draw this statement out and put it on display in a sacred place in your home so you can see it and recite it at least once a day. Do this for at least 21 days!
a. I make time to have more plant-based foods in my diet because it supports my overall health
Keep yourself accountable by looking back every week and tell someone.
How many times were you able to implement the change?
How many times were you able to state your mantra (mindset) to yourself?
Celebrate the wins and when you’ve been consistent in using this mantra and don’t be hard on yourself if it’s not perfect! Your mind is, after all, conditioning itself to a new norm! But also don’t have a gallon of ice cream, instead, share with someone who supports you that you reached your weekly goal!
Tip: If you’re not consistent, next week, customize the action so that it fits better into your unique life and try again. It’s all good as long as you don’t quit all together!
Finally, its always a good idea to have at least one “transformational buddy”; someone who can witness your change and cheer you on! I personally would shamelessly plug that hiring a coach is the ultimate game changer! But if you’re not yet ready for that type of investment, I’ll leave you with some final tips to identify who that buddy can be:
Someone you trust and has been a natural and true champion of you all along
A person who can keep their personal agenda out of your goals and be an active listener
Someone who can empathize, not sympathize with you
Good luck in the next year of change towards your best life!
THANK YOU FOR READING!
IF YOU FOUND THIS RESOURCE HELPFUL
AND WOULD LIKE MORE LIKE THIS, SUBSCRIBE
TO MY NEWSLETTER BELOW!
5 Steps to Shift From Madness to Mindset
This year’s tool will help you understand your mindset. I can talk actions all day long and you can engage with actions that change the way you do things, but if you’re mindset, or beliefs around those actions aren’t aligned, you’ll often find yourself reverting back to your old ways. As a way to make your shift a holistic and solid one, we’re going to focus this year on shifting from this madness of varying beliefs in your head to developing a strong mindset that sets you up for making an actual change that is aligned and long lasting.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting the same results”
At the end of last year (2017) I offered you a deep reflection tool that allowed you to recognize the changes in behaviors you were able to make that year...
And in recognizing those changes in behaviors, I hope you were able to see those as a major step forward. If you haven’t done that exercise, I suggest giving it a try before doing this year’s activity. Because you might be surprised by how much growth you’ve been able to accomplish with just behavioral shifts! You can do last year’s activity by reading about it here. It includes some downloadable worksheets too!
Now, to take your reflection even deeper towards
transformation, this year’s tool will help you understand your mindset. I can talk actions all day long and you can engage with actions that change the way you do things, but if you’re mindset, or beliefs around those actions aren’t aligned, you’ll often find yourself reverting back to your old ways.
Take this upcoming “New Years Resolutions” season where we typically see folks committing to “a better diet”, “more exercise”, or some other form of better living. When the enthusiasm and stamina around that change wears off, say around February or March, excuses start to take over. Without a strong mindset aligned with that change, belief systems from other people, societal norms, or just those stories you developed on your own can take over a derail your plans. The madness sets in.
So, as a way to make your shift a holistic and solid one, we’re going to focus this year on shifting from this madness of varying beliefs in your head to developing a strong mindset that sets you up for making an actual change that is aligned and long lasting.
So what does a successful shift from madness to mindset look like?
Simply put, these 5 steps can help you put some back into it! Below I give you some examples to help jumpstart your reflection and I also encourage you to download this worksheet and FULLY engage with the activity.
Name what you want to change. Bottom line it.
In 2019 I want to change the way I eat to have a more plant-based diet
What are your beliefs (madness) around that shift? For instance, what goes on in your head when you think about making this change in your life?
a. Plant based diets are healthier and will help me lose weight
b. It takes too much time to prep food for a more plant based diet and I’ too busy
Where did they come from? You, someone else, societal norms, etc…?
a. I see it all the time in the media, a couple of people in my community swear by the a plant-based diet reversing chronic illness and other things, and ever since I started eating more plant based foods I feel better about my overall body
b. I grew up with fast food and TV dinners, so making food from scratch is too time consuming and I’m a really busy person
Determine which of those beliefs serve to your benefit versus ones that result in preventing you from making a successful, long term shift. Can you add an action to take to make that change?
Example
Mindset - I see it all the time in the media, a couple of people in my community swear by the vegan diet reversing chronic illness, and ever since I started eating more plant based foods I feel better about my overall body.
Action - 3 out of 7 days in a week will be a plant-based lunch
Bottom line your mindset in a statement. This is the part that shifts from madness your mindset. Affirm it and ritualize it into an affirmation or reminder to yourself, especially when you have the urge to revert back to old habits. Write or draw this statement out and put it on display in a sacred place in your home so you can see it and recite it at least once a day. Do this for at least 21 days!
a. I make time to have more plant-based foods in my diet because it supports my overall health
Keep yourself accountable by looking back every week and tell someone.
How many times were you able to implement the change?
How many times were you able to state your mantra (mindset) to yourself?
Celebrate the wins and when you’ve been consistent in using this mantra and don’t be hard on yourself if it’s not perfect! Your mind is, after all, conditioning itself to a new norm! But also don’t have a gallon of ice cream, instead, share with someone who supports you that you reached your weekly goal!
Tip: If you’re not consistent, next week, customize the action so that it fits better into your unique life and try again. It’s all good as long as you don’t quit all together!
Finally, its always a good idea to have at least one “transformational buddy”; someone who can witness your change and cheer you on! I personally would shamelessly plug that hiring a coach is the ultimate game changer! But if you’re not yet ready for that type of investment, I’ll leave you with some final tips to identify who that buddy can be:
Someone you trust and has been a natural and true champion of you all along
A person who can keep their personal agenda out of your goals and be an active listener
Someone who can empathize, not sympathize with you
Good luck in the next year of change towards your best life!
THANK YOU FOR READING!
IF YOU FOUND THIS RESOURCE HELPFUL
AND WOULD LIKE MORE LIKE THIS, SUBSCRIBE
TO MY NEWSLETTER BELOW!
"Waiting For Them to Leave or Die..."
I found myself saying this a lot in my career as I made an effort to climb into organizational leadership. Coming from an industry where progress was stalled one way or another by leadership, new ideas were met with skepticism and fear,…
I found myself saying this a lot in my career as I made an effort to climb into organizational leadership. Coming from an industry where progress was stalled one way or another by leadership, new ideas were met with skepticism and fear, it was an easy excuse to just get through the day to day. It was that last ounce of hope I would give myself saying, "I can just wait for them to leave or die, then things will change, it will get better"
But knowing me, that wasn't going to last long. I needed to leave or it would crush my soul to stay! Now, don't get me wrong, if you're feeling the frustrations of a stagnant organization or one where your values aren't aligned, I'm not saying you should leave, but what I AM saying is
THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO BE IN A SITUATION
For me, I realized that I can either be in REACTION to the situation or I can TAKE ACTION ABOUT the situation. So, what action did I take? I started to pay more attention to the PATTERNS that were showing up in my overall career as well as personal life experience. I realized that those patterns were actually messages telling me where I should or shouldn't be. And I say this to a lot of folks seeking their purpose,
"Whatever dims your light, move away from it. Whatever brightens or gives more light,
move in that direction."
Even after I reflected on the many things in my life that brought me joy and invigorating challenge, I still didn't now how to step forward. Now, as a coach, I realized what was missing in the process was a step I'll call
"NAMING"
Sometimes all it takes is just one quick and highly impactful session to simply NAME what life is placing in front of you to take the next step forward.
If you're at that stage in life of wondering, "what else could I be in life?", I encourage you to reach out to me for just a quick 20 minute talk to determine where you are in your journey towards a happier more fulfilling life's work and to set some goals!
Today, I know for sure that the "naming" step is just one of the three beginning steps I've laid out for the introductory level of work I do in supporting others through their journey. As we begin with naming what life is presenting you, we can get deeper into your knowing of Self and build your AWARENESS.
But I didn't get to the "naming" on my own. I had help. With the guidance of many others with their own life and professional experiences, I found those names. They knew the names of situations, they new the names of similar behaviors I was experiencing. And I took those as my tools to move forward.
I had to NAME my situation. I had to NAME what I was feeling, experiencing, and reacting to. Because without naming, I wasn't able to validate my situation or experience and contain it into a thing to work on. Without a name I would have no direction to look or walk towards. I was goal-less.
Curious to know what happens after
you name it?
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The Rise & Fall of the Sun
We lay witness to the days that have come before us and act upon creating what we need ahead of us. As the sun rises to birth a new day, it also sets- carrying all that we have endured throughout the day. Find space in this process to focus on what brings you peace.
We lay witness to the days that have come before us and act upon creating what we need ahead of us. As the sun rises to birth a new day, it also sets- carrying all that we have endured throughout the day. Find space in this process to focus on what brings you peace.
Since the launch of this business, I've been organizing weekly healing hikes for community to participate in. The act of my organizing hikes with an intention of offering a coaching and healing session was in direct response to the devastating results of our election. That's why they are called healing hikes, and not just "a guided hike".
I, myself experienced in my family and community the worry, fear, uncertainty, and disappointment that would later linger on for the next few days as the collective trauma our country was experiencing. It was in these raw moments where I gathered my most recent thoughts and plans to develop pathways to healing in nature. Then I got the message. It was time for me to act; no more planning and contemplating, no more thinking. I saw a friend post a yoga session in response to the election. That was my cue; my community needs an opportunity to heal and I can provide that. I quickly organized a sunrise hike in a nearby park location and blasted close friends to meet me at the trailhead.
Six people showed up as the sun began rising! As we all gathered in this rawness we asked Nature to be there for us, to heal us. In gratitude, we grounded ourselves, walked the trail intent on feeling better afterwards, WE DID THE WORK! The coming weeks would bring more healing hikes, some of them during the sunset; all were needed by each hiker. Here is where I recognized the birth of my abilities to lead these hikes to heal community.
The rise and fall of the sun is like the fire that sits within our hearts, rising with the passion and struggle we've held as a community of color for so long. And the falling of the sun into the night is the fall of those old destructive ways, negativities, and endurances in life that leave us taxed, damaged, sometimes dead.
The beauty of our fire, now ignited in full flame, was the organizing that happened right after the election. ALL the people, ALL the youth that came out in protest. That is our fire, our passion to be better people. Each day the fire became brighter, the groups of protestors grew larger. Solidarity was seen across the nation.
And as the sun sets in its natural process we must accept it. The end of the day, the darkness that prepares us for rest is honored by witnessing the winter sky turn from white to fiery red at sunset. In these moments we accept the change and ask the falling of the sun to take with it the things that no longer serve us. Sunset hikes are those opportunities to release our burdens. With respect to our current events, I view sunsets as the taking down of those destructive and negative mindsets and values that have have hurt us for far too long.
Just like we do on these hikes, we work to reclaim this communication and connection to Nature. We learn and relearn how these offerings can support our well being in these challenging times. Watch the sun rise and fall and pay attention to the messages that come to you.