Mindset – your mental attitude or fixed state of mind – has so much to do with what you accomplish. Your beliefs are the foundation of how you live your life.  If you want to achieve a goal, it is unlikely you will do so if you don’t believe that you can.

Limiting Beliefs

If there are goals you have been unsuccessful in achieving, here are a few of the limiting beliefs that might be stopping you from achieving sustainable results before you even start:

Not Enough ____(fill in the blank): How often do you think or say that you don’t have enough time, resources, or ability to accomplish what you want? These thoughts and words are automatic showstoppers.

In what way could you reframe any of the barriers that stand in the way of you reaching your goals? Could you instead ask yourself, for instance, where you could build in the time or what you can let go of or delegate so that you have time for your priorities? 

Fear of Failure: In some circumstances, these barriers reflect an underlying fear of failure. This would not be unusual.  In our perfectionistic and quick turnaround society, many take in a message of failure if we don’t do something well in short order. Consider where you are being too hard on yourself or holding yourself to an unrealistic standard. Most things that matter require repeated effort over a sustained period of time. 

It’s not ok to get ahead of the people around you: This one can be a real eye opener; at least it was for me. When you look deep inside, do you find that you are afraid to pull away from the pack and stand out from your peers or members of your family? If you lose weight and begin to get fit will that change with whom you spend time? Do you think you really don’t deserve to be healthy or happy? Check in with yourself and hold these beliefs up to the light  and see if any of them ring true to you.

Baby Steps

So what are you to do when you have a mindset that stops you in your tracks before you start?  One of the most important things you can do to shift your mindset and start the path towards sustainable results is to take small, baby steps.

What do you want to accomplish? What is the one step you can take that is a bit of challenge but does not intimidate you?  If you want to exercise more but can’t seem to really get started, for example, what one activity can you do to start?  Set the day you will start and the time you will actually do it.  The start to bringing movement back into your life, for example, isn’t what you want it to ultimately look like. The beginning may look like walking up the stairs to your office at work three times a week, taking a 15-minute walk after lunch two days per week, taking a yoga class every Saturday morning, or stopping at the gym for 30 minutes on the way home from work once a week.

Remember, the best plan of action is the plan you can do. Start from there and build one step at a time – slowly but steadily adding in more activities or the number of days or length of time you engage in an activity.  Small, baby steps can help you start to believe that you can create a sustainable path forward.