What's Your Mind Set?

There's a scene in the movie Mr. Mom where Michael Keaton is driving the carpool to school for the first time. He plows his paneled station wagon into the carpool line, mowing down traffic cones, oblivious to the astonished stares all around. He is a man on a mission, confident in his new position as carpool driver extraordinaire. When a concerned parent knocks on his window, he looks up at her as she announces loudly, "You're doing it wrong!"
That scene always brings a smile to my face...especially the part where you see his kids sink lower in their seats to avoid being seen by the other kids. How many times have you had the thought, "I must be doing this wrong?" I know I have had that thought more times than I can count. I've spent years wondering how to shift my focus from what I'm doing wrong to what I'm doing right.

Recently I started examining my mind set and began to see that my brain was in a rut that kept me from fulfilling my potential. In fact, this mind set was keeping me stuck in the negative belief that I was always doing things wrong. It was time for a perspective shift... but how?
I made a list of all the times throughout the day I felt defeated or had any pang of self doubt. In the beginning it was amazing to see all the ways I was beating myself up.

I decided to take one topic from the list and began to affirm myself in that area. Instead of telling myself there was no way I was going to be able to run three miles, I began to immerse myself in anything that would encourage me to believe I could run three miles. I read magazines, I looked at articles online, I even bought some new workout clothes. All of these things served as reminders of my goal to shift my mind set from believing I couldn't do it, to a much more positive outlook that said, "I know I can do it!" It worked and after awhile I did run three miles and then eventually went on to run some three mile races.

If you feel like your brain is in a rut consider asking yourself, "What is my mind set?" And how is this way of thinking keeping me from fulfilling my dreams and goals? Once you've identified your mind set, ask yourself, 'What do I want to change about this mind set? And then set a tangible goal, that will allow you to measure your progress like a check list or a chart. Or find a friend who will help encourage you out of your rut and into a more postive way of being.

Grace and Peace!
Ally