Hope is Not a Strategy
Welcome to your best life ever! You know you have dreams and hopes for your life, but the question is always, how do I get there? SoulShine is here to help you define those dreams you have and some you might not even know that you have! Really, that can be the easy part, but just where are you in the process of making that dream or goal come true? SoulShine can help you identify where you are in the process of knocking that dream out of the park and helping you push through to achieving levels of living you never thought you could experience. Too good to be true? Is this idea too big? Nope, you must fuel all of your hopes, dreams and goals with a combination of positive belief, strategy and persistence. Let's get started on turning the page to a better you.
The Power of Belief
Do you want to know a secret? You have the power to create the life you want. The power is in belief. Belief, that yes, you can do hard things. You are worthy of your dreams. This is your wake up call to change your story.
The Facts:
Let’s start with the scientific facts. Carol Dweck lead a study over 30 years ago looking at why some students fail and why some do not. The study revealed that there are students who have a fixed mindset and some have a growth mindset. Those with the fixed mindset viewed their outcome as a function of a limited or set amount of intelligence, talent and qualities of who they are. Those with a growth mindset believe they are not limited by their current abilities. This distinction is key to understanding the power of belief.
Do you want to know a secret? You have the power to create the life you want. The power is in belief. Belief, that yes, you can do hard things. You are worthy of your dreams. This is your wake up call to change your story.
The Facts:
Let’s start with the scientific facts. Carol Dweck lead a study over 30 years ago looking at why some students fail and why some do not. The study revealed that there are students who have a fixed mindset and some have a growth mindset. Those with the fixed mindset viewed their outcome as a function of a limited or set amount of intelligence, talent and qualities of who they are. Those with a growth mindset believe they are not limited by their current abilities. This distinction is key to understanding the power of belief.
Don’t be an Eeyore: The difference between someone taking action or not has to do with certainty or belief that it will happen. Very simply, if you believe you can do something, you will not hesitate to try to do that thing. Even if you aren’t as successful as you hoped, you still have belief that you will succeed, and you will try again. If your inner Eeyore is telling you that you are only destined for mediocrity, you will achieve just that. Listen, you don’t have to go crazy and push to the opposite end of the spectrum and become a Tigger but get yourself out of the woe is me attitude!
Fixed Mindset: Think about, when was the last time you were successful at something and your attitude about it was negative? That doesn’t happen too often. Having a mindset that firmly believes that you have only a limited potential for success directly impacts your outcome in life. Believing that achieving anything beyond the scope of what life is today cannot be a possibility will limit what you can achieve. Henry Ford said “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right”. A fixed mindset is a killer of life potential. If you see yourself, in this mindset, you need to know you can change!
Growth Mindset: Winston Churchill hit the nail on the head when he said “Destiny isn’t a matter of chance, it’s a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved” That is what having a growth mindset looks like. It may come natural to some of you or it may require a shift in thinking. Another way to think of this concept is to think of when our favorite Good Witch Glenda said to Dorothy “You had the power all along, my dear”. I wish I had a big tall crown and magic wand like Glenda, but I stand here in my leggings and oversized sweatshirt to tell you that you too have the power! Now just have faith in yourself and believe. If that seems impossible, then, you need to fake it until you make it. That means just do it and pretend you can do it until you do it. The Fake It Until You Make It philosophy in life, can be a powerful crutch to use until you can stand on your own. Seriously, you need to tell yourself you believe and push forward. With a little effort this will become a way of thinking that will benefit you immensely. You can do this!
Growth Mindset: Winston Churchill hit the nail on the head when he said “Destiny isn’t a matter of chance, it’s a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved” That is what having a growth mindset looks like. It may come natural to some of you or it may require a shift in thinking. Another way to think of this concept is to think of when our favorite Good Witch Glenda said to Dorothy “You had the power all along, my dear”. I wish I had a big tall crown and magic wand like Glenda, but I stand here in my leggings and oversized sweatshirt to tell you that you too have the power! Now just have faith in yourself and believe. If that seems impossible, then, you need to fake it until you make it. That means just do it and pretend you can do it until you do it. The Fake It Until You Make It philosophy in life, can be a powerful crutch to use until you can stand on your own. Seriously, you need to tell yourself you believe and push forward. With a little effort this will become a way of thinking that will benefit you immensely. You can do this!
Visualization: Another way to look at belief is through visualization. As we discussed, the mind really does affect performance and studies have proven that visualization can be a key way to build the belief in you. When you visualize what you want to have happen, you will likely be successful in your endeavor. Visualization of the mind is powerful and can help you to achieve results in your life. For example, if you want to lose weight, then you need to visualize what that looks like. What do you look like? What sorts of clothes can you wear now? You tell yourself love exercise now…yes, you need to tell yourself this – remember fake it until you make it? You enjoy eating fresh healthy foods (even if you don’t at first)! You can see yourself a healthy person, not that person sitting on the couch eating a bag of chips. When you visualize these things on a daily basis, you are conditioning your mind for success!
A Higher Power: So, let’s take another look at Belief and how you can tap into your potential. We now understand that your mind is a powerful engine that seriously runs your life. Could there be any more power out there that you are not tapping into? Many people believe in a power greater than themselves. This could be God or maybe it’s the energy in the Universe. Either way, there is an energy that you can put faith in to. Prayer or meditation are very powerful tools to help you focus on what you are grateful for and want out of life. There are so many ways to go about practicing prayer or meditation. Know that there is no right or wrong way. You can just take some time to be still with yourself and really think about what you want in life and ask for the power to achieve those things. Many proponents of the power of the Divine, say that you need to ask to receive.
Be in Gratitude: Gratitude many times does go hand in hand with prayer or meditation. Gratitude in itself can change your life in an instant. As it applies to belief and achievement in life, authors Eric Mosley and Derek Irvine in their book The Power of Thanks, highlight 14 scientifically proven ways gratitude can positively impact your life. One of these is that gratitude can lead to increased determination, energy, enthusiasm and achievement. Being grateful, provides you a positive growth mindset platform.
Manifest Destiny: Yikes, wasn’t that a term we learned in 9th grade history? A 19th century doctrine that said the United States expansion was justified…Yes, nice job remembering that, but that’s not what we are talking about here! Manifesting your Destiny is to really decide what you want and work towards that end. It can even mean to say what is your Life’s Purpose. Deep, I know, but honestly, we should all take the time to understand what our Life’s Purpose is. Taking time to really focus on what you want is the first step to manifesting. Setting goals, taking action against those goals and continually keeping your personal path for self growth a priority will lead you to manifest your own destiny.
Leading with Intention: You hear this everywhere: Live a life of intention or be intentional about what you do. What exactly does this mean? It means you need to think about what you want. Think about what you really want in life and then place your focus on it. Where focus goes, energy flows! This is the time where you need to get really clear on what you want in life or maybe you already have something that you have been thinking about for a while, but never thought you could actually pursue that dream. The time is now to move forward on dreams, desires and seriously, what you want your life to be about! We are not talking about kind of thinking about or hoping that a dream will come true. We are talking about being intentional on putting together a plan for achieving your goals. So, just how do you do that?
Leading with Intention: You hear this everywhere: Live a life of intention or be intentional about what you do. What exactly does this mean? It means you need to think about what you want. Think about what you really want in life and then place your focus on it. Where focus goes, energy flows! This is the time where you need to get really clear on what you want in life or maybe you already have something that you have been thinking about for a while, but never thought you could actually pursue that dream. The time is now to move forward on dreams, desires and seriously, what you want your life to be about! We are not talking about kind of thinking about or hoping that a dream will come true. We are talking about being intentional on putting together a plan for achieving your goals. So, just how do you do that?