End Mind Trash. Achieve Your Goals.

How often do you stop and ask yourself, “Why don’t I do the things I know I should do? The things I want to do. The actions that will bring me what I want in life.”

We don’t like to face what is holding us back. But if we don’t, there is no way to break through to the next level of life. Making it impossible to make more money, lose weight, or reach any goal.

Lately, I have noticed that I am writing more in a physical journal. It just sort of happened organically while tracking ideas, making notes and answering the 3 questions I ask myself every day (I’ll share that in a minute). This lead me back to deeper journaling, something I used to do regularly but let fall by the wayside.

Something magical started to happen while journaling.

It is giving me clarity that I haven’t got any other way. Something I have been struggling with lately. In part because it is slowing me down. Allowing me to think more. To pause and contemplate. Writing by hand takes more time. So your mind processes differently.

Science shows that writing by hand activates your mind in a different way that is not accessible with other modalities. Writing on a keyboard doesn’t engage the mind in the same way. Still a very useful and valuable tool, but writing by hand is different.

Journalling by hand is especially effective when questioning yourself about why you are stuck. When you question what is holding you back. When something is upsetting you. When you are fighting the negative thoughts in your mind.

I have found that journalling got me through very dark times. It allows me to process and find peace in myself when I am beating myself up. When I am fighting my demons. When life is knocking me down.

Instead of keeping the thoughts, doubts, frustration, shame, and pain bottled up, you are releasing the energy it has on you by writing it down in journal. Simply sharing your own private thoughts in a private journal. It’s self-therapy.

That and exercise. Writing and running are amazing friends. Any exercise can have a similar effect, but I love running. Put on sneakers and go outside. It doesn’t get any more simple than that. Exercise and journaling hit the problem from opposite directions. One is from the inside - out. The other is from the outside - in.

We often seek outside validation or venting, when the best thing we can do is build our own inner-strength and self-sufficiency. Sometimes seeking the help of a professional coach or therapist is appropriate and recommended. But if we are not our own self-therapist, we will always struggle.

This is why I don’t run with music or earbuds. I want to be alone with my thoughts. Its like a physical meditation or therapy session that I get to have every day. Just me and the road in the dew of the early morning air before the world wakes up. Before the chaos of life has a chance to weigh on you. Before the emergencies and fires have to be put out.

The other night I couldn’t sleep. I woke at 3:30 am. Stressed and frustrated by an event that happened the day before. After laying there struggling to get just a little more sleep, I got out of bed and went for a run before first light.

I live low on a mountain, so I ran up the hill. Sometimes jogging, sometimes walking. Sometimes just pausing to let out a moan of anger and frustration in order to process and let my mind breathe.

I arrived at the lookout by dawn, high on the mountain over the city of Medellin, Colombia, South America. It had rained overnight and the clouds were just starting to clear. The air and view were spectacular.

I stood there in awe of how beautiful and magical this moment was, and how amazing the world is. I pondered about how precious life is. And reminded myself that the problems and challenges of life are temporary. In a few years, we don’t even remember most of the problems we faced.

I sat down to meditate for a bit, while the birds sang from the trees. It would have been nice to capture the moment in a photo, but I don’t bring my phone, so I am not distracted by it’s energy or the urge to post to Instagram.

After a few moments to be present in the moment, I ran back down the mountain. Already feeling much better from the chemicals that exercise creates in your body.

When I got back to my apartment, I immediately journaled. I released the pain, frustration and anger from the event of the day before. This is so much more effective than ruminating on it, or even talking about it to friends. And way better than letting it derail you and make you unproductive, overwhelmed or sad for days.

What holds us back is that we don’t deal with the garbage in our minds. The doubts, the fears, the accumulation of voices from the haters and cynics. The history of our failures and not following through on a goal that we could have achieved. The regrets of what could have been.

The mind needs to be allowed to release and breathe. Or all of those thoughts get stuck, muddy your mind, and build up resistance. Even if unrelated to your current goals, a cloudy mind will hold you back.

Your mind is like a blood artery to your heart. If you eat unhealthy food, over years plaque will build up. At first, just a tiny amount. Then a little more. Eventually, it makes it hard to walk, breathe and go up a flight of stairs or carry groceries because you are not getting the blood flow you need. Eventually, it will lead to a heart attack. Then you need a cleaning to remove what is preventing your heart from working properly.

Your mind is similar. Over time, the toxic thoughts and memories build up. It clutters your mind making it difficult to think clearly. Making if harder to make decisions and to take action because of fear, doubt, resistance, and embarrassment.

Eventually, it will paralyze you from doing anything at all. And you stay stuck. Even if you want to move forward. Even if you want to start a business, change jobs, make more money, lose weight, pay off debt, end a relationship, start a relationship, or take a singing class.

Why?
Because your mind has accumulated decades of mind trash. It happens to all of us. If we don’t learn to process and purge our thoughts and memories, they will hold us down like the ropes that tied down Gulliver. If you remember the story, Gulliver was a giant compared to the people who captured him and tied him to the ground. What held him down was not huge ropes or chains, but many tiny threads. One alone is weak, but thousands become unbreakable.

Journaling will keep those tiny ropes from getting strong enough to hold you back. Instead of accumulating, you release the thoughts and mind trash. Journaling will keep your mind from getting clogged. Hopefully, you combine journaling with exercise. ;)

Here are a few benefits of journaling backed by science.
Stress relief, increased self-awareness, improved mood, better memory, increased creativity, more productivity, better mental and emotional health.

Here is my simple method to journaling.
The 3 questions I ask myself every day.

Release. Review. Plan
This takes about 15 minutes.

Release
Start off writing to release what is bothering you. What frustrates you. What makes you feel bad, angry, or shame. Maybe it’s your behaviors, habits or thoughts. Maybe something you experienced. Or something that is happening at work, or in the world.

Just write without filters about what weighs on you.

This is not to beat yourself up, or solve any problems, but to release the hold and the energy it has on you. You’ll find that some problems will be solved organically this way. The rest will simply fade away because over time, they just don’t matter.

Review
What is not going well in your life? What is going well? Where are you crushing it?

Reviewing how things are going, helps you see where things need to improve and where you need to double down because they are going well.

Driving a car is constantly making micro adjustments to stay on course. If you let your hands off the wheel, it will only be seconds before you drift off the side of the road and crash. Life is the same. We need to constantly make micro adjustments to keep ourselves on the road that leads to our goals and dreams.

Plan
We must have long-term and short-term plans.

What is the most important things you are going to get done today that will help you move closer towards your long-term goals?

You may have a huge list of things that need to get done … eventually, but what is most critical? Do those few things only. Start with the most important thing.

When you journal like this,
I guarantee you with 100% certainty, your life will improve. Try it, and let me know how much of a difference it makes in your life.

Have you ever thought about working with a coach to help you define your goals, make a plan, and show you how to get to your goals and dreams faster and easier? Now is your chance.

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