In my last post, I shared some practical steps you can take to set yourself up for success in the wake of a recession. The tips I shared were designed to set you up for success externally.
Today, we are getting into how to set yourself up for success internally, and why your mindset super duper matters when it comes to success, (whatever success means to you).
I like to think of mindset as the metaphorical glasses through which you see the world.
If you are operating from unconscious limiting beliefs, that's the lens through which you see all of your life experiences.
For example, let's say you subconsciously believe you are unlucky. Your belief is that bad luck follows you everywhere and good things only happen to others, not to you.
If that's the lens through which you see all experiences, what are you constantly looking for, and therefore seeing?
Bad luck.
And even when something good happens, you have your "bad luck glasses" on, so you can easily explain away why that was just an anomaly, it wasn't actually a lucky, or positive occurrence.
As you continue to operate from this belief, you also subconsciously attract more "bad luck" to you, because you believe this to be what you deserve, and a fundamental truth of who you are.
It is not.
The best way to take off those old glasses is to become aware of what limiting beliefs are at play. Shining a light on them is the first step to letting them go, thus operating from a more accurate, and more helpful perspective.
Here are some practical ways to shift your mindset and set yourself up for success in the wake of a recession.
1. Recognize your limiting beliefs
The first step to changing anything is to look at it. This is true for remodeling a house, and it's also true when changing your mindset.
The tricky thing about limiting beliefs is that they are so well-ingrained in us that they become almost unconscious.
We don't consciously think to ourselves "I'm not good enough" or "money is hard to come by."
However, these insidious beliefs run quietly in the background. They impact our behavior and decisions and really do a number on our self-confidence and self-worth.
For example, if you believe that you are not good enough, are you likely to put yourself up for that big promotion? Or ask for a raise? Or start a business doing what you love?
No.
So ask yourself what beliefs you have running in the background of your mind that are not helpful (even if they feel really true).
2. Replace your limiting beliefs
The next step is tricky because it will feel like you are lying to yourself.
But hear me out.
Once you recognize a limiting belief that is running the show, I want you to choose another belief that is a truer, more positive opposite.
For example, if the belief is "I'm not good enough," a positive opposite might be "I am capable" or "I am more than good enough."
Choose a positive opposite that has some emotional charge to it. The one that gives you butterflies, or brings up some feelings. That's the one.
Now, I want you to write that positive belief on a post-it and put it someplace where you'll see it multiple times a day.
Each time you see it, I want you to say it to yourself three times.
When you start doing this, it will feel pointless and stupid, because your brain does not believe this to be true about you.
It feels like you're lying to yourself.
That's because your brain is so well programmed to believe the limiting belief, that the new, and more accurate belief is in direct contradiction.
But I want you to practice saying it to yourself anyway. Over and over and over again.
Why?
Because this is literally how you re-wire your brain. This is how you slow down that old, unconscious thought pattern that used to tell you how incapable you were.
And eventually, over time, you will start to actually believe that you are capable, you are good enough, and you are lucky.
And this is where the magic happens.
Tune in for part three, where we bring it all together.