Are You A Victim Of Circumstances?

Are you a victim of circumstances or a victim of your own thinking?

Your inner world has a tremendous impact on your circumstances. Your beliefs affect your thoughts, emotions, and actions. Your actions ultimately create your life. Interestingly, many of your beliefs are unfounded, and your thoughts and emotions are largely habitual. Changing just one of these internal components will affect the results you experience.  Really!

Fortunately, your inner world is under your control, though making changes can be really hard.

Change your mindset and I promise your life will follow:

1. Start and end your day by experiencing gratitude. It’s easy to focus on what you don’t have. Instead, spend a few minutes in the morning and before bed to list your blessings.

• By focusing on the positive, you’ll brighten your mood and increase the number of good things that come into your life.

2. Focus on solutions. It’s a mistake to spend your time focusing on your problems. It makes you feel terrible and hopeless. It also fails to rectify the challenge you’re facing. When something is going wrong in your life, switch into solution-finding mode.

• What can you do to make a positive change? You have far more options that you realize. Brainstorm with a trusted friend or reach out to a therapist or life coach for an unbiased perspective.

3. Take care of your body. One of the common causes of depression has been linked to undiagnosed heart disease.  So, see your doctor to rule out any possible health conditions and get the support you need for the mental side of things.When your body is out of sorts, it skews the way you interpret the world. We are guided by our feelings, and when your health is compromised (including lack of sleep, being sedentary and poor nutrition/absorption), your emotions can be misleading.
4. Stay grounded in reality. Most of us live a bit in “fantasyland”. We’re thinking about the past or speculating on the future. However, if you concentrate on living wisely and well in the present moment, the future will bring the joy you hope for.

• Remember that life is whizzing by 24/7.  Even Covid can’t stop time!  The actions you take right now determine your future. You can’t get the clarity you need to make sound decisions if your mind is elsewhere.

5. Use positive affirmations. Give yourself the gift of positive thoughts and uplifting self-talk.  Negative thoughts lead to negative emotions. Positive thoughts will fill you with positive emotions. With positive thoughts, you can change your world.Put affirmations as reminders on your phone so they will pop up throughout your day.  Try putting post-it notes on your bathroom mirror or fridge.  Use positive statements, bible verses, quotes from books or people you admire.
6. Examine your beliefs. Make a list of the beliefs that are holding you back and then question them. Where did you get this belief? Why do you believe it’s accurate? Is there a possibility that this belief is false? How much evidence do you really have in support of this belief? And one of my favorite questions to ask:  Who taught you this belief or modeled this behavior for you when you were growing up?  The answer may surprise you!

7. Track your thoughts.  Use an app like Sanvello or MindShift CBT, perhaps set an alarm on your phone, to notify you each hour. When the alarm sounds, consider how you’ve used your mind over the previous 60 minutes.

• What did you think about? Was your attention focused on your work, or did you worry about what someone else was doing or thinking? Did you use your mind to better your future?

• Monitoring yourself each hour will help you to stay focused. It’s too easy to fall into old patterns if you only check yourself once per day.

8. Learn to meditate. Meditation has many physical and mental benefits. It can reduce stress, strengthen your health, help to strip away your erroneous beliefs, and bring you clarity and focus. Meditation is one action that can have a huge, positive effect on your life. Incorporate time for meditation into your schedule each day.  The length of time you meditate for is not important.  Instead, focus on consistency.

Most of us believe we’re victims of our circumstances, but we’re actually victims of our own thinking. No matter how bad your situation might be, you still have the power to change your thinking which will in turn change how you respond.

Changing your inner world is truly the key to changing your outer world.