My Epic Mindset Shift Part 2

Continued from ‘My Epic Mindset Shift – Part I’

. . . And I started to realize that I had no clear understanding of the difference between my walk with God and my work for God. And because of this, I had confused religion for a relationship, and my false belief had limited my sense of possibilities.

It was painful to realize how I had wasted so much time barking up the wrong tree, how I had made wrong decisions based on a false belief, and how those decisions stopped me from pursuing my dreams.

Our beliefs determine our possibilities. They influence our decisions and affect how we interpret the events in our lives. Our beliefs influence our thoughts about what is possible, which ultimately influences how we live our lives.

If your beliefs are empowering, they will spur you on to achieve your goals. But if your beliefs are limiting, they will hold you back from achieving your goals and stop you from living a fulfilling life.

So, you must grow and expand your mind. And it is best, to begin with, your personal conviction. I would like to relate this to the popular proverb that speaks to how you can lead a horse to the water but can’t make him drink. No matter the promptings, stirrings, and nudging, the horse will only drink if he sees reason to drink.

In the same manner, the decision to grow your mind must come from a personal conviction which will be influenced by your sense of self-awareness. Before you take any action or go on to apply principles, start by becoming more self-aware.

• Seek to understand yourself and your personality. You may want to take personality tests to help you better understand your personality. Seek to also understand your emotions, the things that turn you on or turn you off. How you are naturally wired.
• Question your thoughts, your internal beliefs, and your values. Why do you reason the way you reason? Why do you believe what you believe? How well has your belief worked for you? How has it helped your spirituality? How has it helped you grow?
• Are you comfortable with who you are? Is this all there is to you? Are you where you’d love to be? Can you be more? Can you do better?

For instance, some people strongly believe that the internet and social media are completely evil, and so they steer clear of social media. Whereas, there are people who believe that they can put the internet and social media to positive use, and they go ahead to maximize the possibilities that the internet has to offer.

Does your belief help you aspireto your highest self?

Do an overall assessment of your life and decide the kind of life you want to live. Have a destination in mind. Create a mental picture of who you want to be. Dream and dream big. Decide how you want people to experience you. And after you’ve settled all of these within you, you are in a better position to make sound decisions.

Decide to live intentionally and take responsibility for your life. This is where you make up your mind not to settle for an easy life because an easy life is a small life. An easy life is a comfort zone, where you are confined to the ordinary and familiar. And that’s not a fulfilling life nor an impactful life, neither is it an inspiring life.

At this point, you start to walk your talk and pay attention to your Education, your Environment, your Exposures, and your Experiences.

• Education. Education here speaks to your openness to new information and new ways of doing things. Observe and learn from people whose current realities are your desired realities. There is so much information out there, choose which is for you and what learning intelligence suits you – do you learn by reading books, or you prefer to listen to audio recordings like audiobooks or podcasts, or you’d rather watch videos, or you just might prefer to physically observe by interning and volunteering. Decide which style works for you and give yourself to learning, unlearning, and relearning.
• Environment. Your environment in this context refers to your circle of influence, the people you surround yourself with. The people you submit to and the people you follow. Are they people who develop you or they are people who deflate you? Do they challenge you to your highest self or they encourage you to be complacent? Are they positive people who speak positively? Or are they cynical and critical people who like to pull others down with their words? Your circle defines you, so pay attention to your circle.
• Exposures. What do you expose your mind to? What kind of information do you take in when you read, watch, and listen? Does it edify you? Are they developmental or detrimental to you? Do they inspire or challenge you to be better? Or they set you up to be bitter, envious, depressed, and discouraged? Be careful about your exposures because what you expose your mind to, will determine the kind of thoughts and beliefs that you’d have.
• Experiences. Do not be afraid to step into new experiences. Normalize luxury as much as you can afford to. Visit new places. Step out of your little corner and make efforts to experience new things. Expose your mind to the possibilities that you seek.

Thank you so much for staying with me. I hope this helps your decision to grow and expand your mind. And I look forward to you having your AHA moments – those light-bulb moments where your minds get liberated from the strongholds of limiting beliefs.