I am often approached by people and told that they are inspired by me and love the work that I am doing but they just couldn’t do it themselves. That they don’t know how I wake up at 4:30 AM every single day, how I workout every single day, how I eat clean while managing three jobs and school.  I will reply that I couldn’t and don’t do it either. What do I mean by that? I never thought I would be the one to wake up at the crack of dawn, workout, eat right, and work my butt off and become my own version of successful.

I was that person who saw these Instagrammers and YouTubers doing all of the things that I wanted to do while I was laying in bed on a Friday night eating pizza. Then, one day my whole life changed.  (This is a true story) I was in my bed getting ready to go to bed and I began the book Girl, Wash Your Face by my girl Rachel Hollis and I read the line “I want to shout at the top of my lungs until you know this one great truth: you are in control of your own life.  You get one and only chance to live, and life is passing you by.” (Hollis XIV) It changed everything. I realized that all of the shaming and blaming and complaining that I was doing was not helping me in any way.  So as I started to read more and more and invest in myself, I came up with a foolproof mindset shift to success…

F.A.C.T

Forgiveness

Be kind and patient. Deal and feel the pain and slow times. Not everything is gonna be quick, anything that you want is going to take time and you need to recognize that.  The quicker this realization comes, the more time you will have to learn how to be kind and patient with yourself. When you make a mistake or mess something up no matter how big or small, you must forgive yourself first.  You must say, It is Okay. I am human and I am learning. No matter how old you are, this applies to you. You can forgive yourself at ANY AGE. Just because you made a mistake that you think shouldn’t be made at your age, you must forgive yourself for it.  Because you will make NO progress in any stage of your life if you continue to beat yourself up and stay mad at you.

Acceptance

You have to be HONEST about your situation currently.  If you know where you are and where you stand, you will have a clearer vision for where you want to go. Sometimes this may mean accepting something that we don’t want to.  Sometimes it means sitting with the uncomfortable feelings and emotions that every human experiences throughout their lifetime. The quicker you come to saying to yourself that this is where I am in my life right now and that is okay and this is where I want to go, the quicker you can begin to get to that next level.

Change

Change your self talk.  If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will.  If you don’t love yourself, no one else will the way you want them to.  This means that you must have FAITH in yourself. YOU have to believe in yourself first.  Not second, not third, but first. Tell yourself that you CAN do it, that you are CAPABLE.  Because when YOU believe, others will too and you will become more respected, loved, liked, and overall you will begin to gain the clarity that you are seeking. As cheesy as it sounds, it truly works.  Episode #4 of the podcast goes into more detail about this concept so check it out if you want to hear more.

Thankful

Thank yourself more often. Your mind and body DO SO SO MUCH for you that goes unnoticed.  When was the last time you stopped and said thank you to your mind or your body? That’s why I love my morning meditation.  I not only meditate on things I am grateful for that happened the previous day but also things that I had/have done for myself.  Like getting up on time, drinking enough water, allowing me to smile throughout the day. Allowing yourself to recognize these things that your mind and body do for you all day long, day in and day out can transform the way your mind thinks throughout the day. Changing how you think about yourself day to day can help improve how you feel about yourself and how others perceive you.

If you gradually implement these four steps into your life, you will see change over time.  Your confidence level will rise, your belief about your self worth will turn positive and you will see yourself physically walk taller, talk smarter, smile more, and enjoy life a lot more.  To end with a quote from Ed Mylett, “You can’t love yourself if you aren’t being yourself and you can’t be yourself if you don’t believe in yourself”