Last Updated on January 5, 2022 by Latrice
It was December 30, 2016 when I realized I had been doing things the hard way. The year had been a rough one.
I “left” my job in April without a cent in savings but a nice chunk of collected PTO and unemployment to hold me over for at least 6 months. The day I left was the happiest I had been in years. Work was a toxic place of unappreciation, terrible gossip, and people hated each other enough to actually sabotage the flow of business. After three years of hard work put in, 2016 started out as an ugly year and by April, I was out dat bitch.
Made goals, failed goals
With all this newly freed up time, I made myself a few goals: create a livable income as a writer within six months, build my online business with digital products and services within three months, and lose about 40 pounds by July. The research was conducted, a plan was made, and I got started.
However, by the end of 2016, I was dead broke, on food stamps, had no business, had no clients, had gained weight, was regrouping from addiction, and was mentally in a really dark and angry place.
Wondering what happened to the year and why none of my goals were met. And why did I come out worse but started out with the intentions to do better?
What was especially defeating was all the “hard” work I thought I was putting in. I took online courses, invested what I did have in group coaching, did workout and eat healthy… when I could, and even sent out postcards (once) and set up a website with emails to do business.
But the fruit didn’t come, the struggling didn’t pay off, and I was DRAINED.
The power of mind science
In December I got reconnected to mind science, prosperity consciousness, the power of thought, and the Law of Attraction. I became particularly interested, of course, in learning why people don’t reach their goals and why I had failed at reaching my own despite all the busy work and “effort” I was putting in. And what the hell did it really take?
What I learned was we usually don’t reach our goals because we forget, or are never taught, to make sure we’re thinking in a way that aids in reaching our goals. Our minds can either work with us or work against us when we’re trying to achieve new goals. Especially those that stretch us beyond our comfort zones.
In working against us, the mind doesn’t mean any harm and is actually trying to keep us safe. Primitively, our minds favor towards habits, familiarity, and noticing hesitation to stay safe.
When we’re trying to reach new goals, the mind can work against our efforts by holding tight to our habits and habitual thinking, shying away from things that are unfamiliar, and giving us a thousand reasons to hesitate.
Given that our goals usually require new habits, new thinking, becoming familiar with what’s currently unfamiliar to us, and movement regardless of hesitation (fear, doubt, worry), our minds can snuff out our efforts. Leaving us frustrated and unsuccessful.
We end up wondering why we can’t get ourselves to do the things we say we want to do.
We get the mind to work with us by learning how to work with our minds.
When our minds or on board with what it’ll take to achieve our goals, they make the achievement of those goals MUCH EASIER. Ideas flow and things click. What you couldn’t see before becomes easy to see. And that little voice that usually convinces you to eat the extra cookie will instead remind you of your health goals and keep you on track. Properly working with the mind is how successful people reach success and achieve their goals.
How my life changed using mind science
So I put in the work.
I prioritized working on my mind and beliefs overtaking action. Making sure I always made time and took time to work on my mind and learn how to work with my mind. Even if that meant getting something done later. Eventually, I found a routine that worked best for me and ran with it.
I noticed a difference within the first month.
My mood improved. I stopped feeling trapped, powerless, angry, hopeless, and frustrated. The power and control I have started to become more apparent to me.
The information I needed to hear fell into my lap. Including this 4-hour discussion, I had with my wise uncle about having a job to fund my passions.
By September 2017, I was employed full-time again and able to pay my bills. I got a job at a tech company in a city where it is said to be really hard to get a tech job. A tech job at a great company is what I asked for and I got it.
And I’m sure if I would have been consistent about doing that mind work, I would have reached more of my goals. Definitely valuing all those emotional shifts I experienced in 2017 for sure.
The benefits of working with the mind
Working with my mind has definitely proven more beneficial to achieving my goals. Reading my affirmations and goals daily, visualizing, and listening daily to prosperity consciousness, mind science and the law of attraction material has helped me overcome many of the hurdles that were in my way. Including the ones I didn’t know of. It’s not a quick fix, but definitely a practice that continues to improve my life and align my beliefs and thoughts with my goals every day.
Working with my mind is how I work smarter instead of harder to reach goals I’ve failed at before. Contrary to conventional knowledge, working harder isn’t always the answer if you’ve failed at achieving your goals. Especially if you’re someone that has attempted to reach those same goals several times like I have.
Conclusion
I’m curious to see what other changes I experience doing this work more consistently in 2018. I’ll definitely be sharing my experience, process, lessons learned, and results right here. You’re definitely welcomed to join the challenge to prioritize working with your mind. Every week I’ll be sharing a few posts that’ll detail practical steps for how to apply this work to your routine. It’ll be fun.
Happy New Years!
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