Rebuild Your Mind; Rebuild Your Body

I’ve spoken before about the stories we tell ourselves, you know the ones where we’ve done something before, so we know how it will pan out. We can’t gain muscle because we’ve tried ten different plans or we can’t lose that bit of flab which covers up our six pack even though we’ve starved ourselves forever.

Stories lie

Well, you know, the trouble with stories is that we know the ending and often that is enough to either stop us starting or at least to sabotage us if we do make the effort. First little hurdle we hit, bang, there is the story playing out in front of our eyes like a dvd player which won’t turn off.

To succeed you need to be a visionary, a seer if you like who has unflappable faith in your ability to succeed. What the seer knows is that life is there to teach us lessons. Every time you stub the toe of your ego on some obstacle, that obstacle is there because your ego has an issue that you need to resolve. And life is going to keep on stubbing your toe until you either give up and walk away or you actually take a look, see what the problem is and do something about it.

Failure is fantastic

Society today is all about success. Unless you are a success then you are a nobody and a failure. The problem with this is that failures are necessary for us, they are a stepping stone on the path which will lead to success. Sometimes it’s necessary to take a different route if the obstacle in your path is so big you just can’t get round it, but most of the time all it needs is a little mental readjustment. The reason I say that is because the obstacles are nearly always because what you think of as reality isn’t quite the same as what reality really is.

If that sounds obscure, think of it this way; what you think of as the door to moving onwards is in fact a door into a storage closet and the real door is the one next to it. The problem is that your pride won’t allow you to see that you are opening the wrong door, and so you keep on walking into the storage closet and wondering why you are finding yourself blocked in.

That is the power of the vision. To be able to see reality as it really is and not how we think it is, or how we’d like it to be.

Next time you hit an obstacle, take a moment to step back and have a better look at what is really happening.

…for business or did it shut down from lack of demand?

A harsh question perhaps, but it is all too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you know the answers. We all do it, myself included, but a closed mind cannot learn, cannot get itself out of the ruts and like a train is forever cursed to follow but a small choice of all the possible routes. Do you want to ride the train or is it time you jumped off and got in the 4×4 and found your own path?

Teachability

This is an important quality to develop. It means being able to learn as well as to listen. Learning means making mistakes and growing because of them. It means changing your mind, seeing something in a new light or taking advice from those you’d rather not listen to.

Making Progress

Pride is the biggest obstacle to having an open mind. None of us have all the answers and we need to admit to this and as a result be willing to learn.

Can you admit to mistakes? This is a process which makes you feel vulnerable, but in the long run it is the foundation for strength.