My wife and I are preparing for our annual trip to Lake Michigan this summer. We go every summer to see family, go to the beach, hang with friends, and ride our bikes. I saw something on one of our rides last summer that I wish I had taken a photo of at the time. There were two posts in the driveway of a farmhouse in Three Oaks, MI. Each post had words on it that when you read them from left to right it said “Hard Times.” Then I thought, “Wow! Now there is a paradigm!”
Before you think I am here to judge and put people down, hang with me. Regardless of whatever may have happened to create a less-than-desireable event in our lives, we need to ensure we do not give up our power to that event. If we choose to label a moment in time as being catastrophic… and then choose to further perpetuate that catastrophe, we create a mental paradigm that becomes our prison for the future. These instances become the rules on how we make future decisions that direct our lives.
So, how do we break free from our own mental prisons?
To break free, we need to constantly challenge our own beliefs. Our beliefs should be chosen and built in a way that will empower us to live the lives we truly desire.
You might be wondering what someone who has identified their position in life as being a circumstance of “hard times” can do? Well, first I would suggest assigning a more empowering meaning to each memorable or significant event that occurs, especially if they are initially considered more “bad” than “good.” While we may not have the ability to control everything that happens in our lives, we can control the meaning we apply to each situation. As Napoleon Hill demonstrated, all negative situations have a greater seed of benefit, but it is up to us to find it.
Second, I would suggest that just because an undesirable event or outcome occurs, it doesn’t mean that it has to occur again or be on-going. What can you learn from it and how can you adapt?
If there are any areas in your life that you want to break free from… if you want to up-level in your life in some way… please shoot me an email. I would be delighted to work with you on your journey.