3 Mind Traps That Destroy Your Dreams (and what to do about them)
In the process of helping hundreds of thousands of people to create lives they love living, I’ve discovered 3 hidden “mind traps” that frequently prevent people from turning their dreams into reality.
These traps exist because your subconscious mind is attached to the status quo. It knows how to handle your current life, and it fears the unknown. So, it tries to “protect” you by keeping things safe and familiar, even if that means stopping you from creating the life you desire.
In this blog post, I’m going to reveal the three main strategies your subconscious uses to prevent your life from changing. If you have a dream that you want to fulfill in 2016, it’s important that you know how to overcome…
Mind Trap #1: Distraction
Almost everyone who’s ever had a goal or dream has experienced this.
They’re about to make progress… and then they remember that the laundry needs to be done, or their desk needs to be organized, or they had another project they’d been thinking about starting.
The next thing they know, they’ve squandered the time they were going to spend on their dreams, and they feel discouraged, guilty and frustrated.
How do you overcome this challenge?
Here’s a 4-step formula you can use to escape the trap of distraction:
- Make a list of small, specific actions that will move you closer to the life you desire.
- Put these actions in your calendar, one for each day, and set aside a specific chunk of time for each one. For example, you could say “I’ll call 15 potential clients between 2:00 and 2:45 on Monday”.
- Commit to spending the assigned chunk of time on the activity you scheduled, and ONLY on that activity. If another chore pops into your head, make a note to complete that chore later, then return immediately to the action step that builds your dreams.
- If an emergency comes up that prevents you from doing your calendared activity, schedule the activity into the next available time in your calendar.
By using your calendar as a sacred tool to keep you on track toward your dreams, you can reach the end of each day with the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve moved a step closer to living a life you love.
Mind Trap #2: Dissuasion
The second strategy your subconscious uses is dissuasion.
You may have thoughts like, “If I get rich, have lots of free time, or become fit and healthy, my friends will be jealous and won’t like me anymore. Maybe it isn’t worth it.”
Or, “If my business grows, I’ll have more work than I can handle. Maybe it’s better to keep things the way they are.”
Your old fears and doubts will do everything they can to convince you that the status quo is better, and that you don’t really WANT to create the life you desire after all.
How do you overcome this challenge?
To counter your instinctive fear of change, it’s important to have a dream that’s bigger than your doubts.
The most effective dreams are the ones that are vividly detailed.
- How many dollars will you be making per month in your ideal life? How many hours of free time will you have each day?
- What is your ideal weight, and how do you want your body to look and feel?
- What kind of house will you live in, what luxuries will you be able to afford, and what causes will you support?
- What kind of relationships do you want to have, and what will you experience in those relationships?
When your dream is clear and detailed, it becomes less of a frightening unknown, and more of a joy that you look forward to experiencing. It also provides the hope and incentive you need to push past your doubts, and the assurance that your new life will be better than the one you’re living now.
Another useful tactic is to write a list of all your past “wins”, and write down each success you experience when it happens. This evidence of past success will encourage you during the times when you feel like you aren’t making any progress, and when your fears tempt you to just give up.
At the end of this blog post, you’ll receive a gift that includes additional techniques for overcoming your doubts and fears. But for now, let’s explore the third Mind Trap:
Mind Trap #3: DEFCON 1
Once you’ve overcome Distraction and Dissuasion, your subconscious’ next strategy is DEFCON 1. DEFCON is a United States military term that stands for “Defense Readiness Condition” and number 1 is the highest state of alertness.
When you’re in a state of DEFCON 1, your mind bypasses your rational intellect and goes straight into fight-or-flight. You might begin to feel panicked and jittery, without even knowing why.
In this stage, most people either stop and turn back from their dreams, or keep on trying to push through, only to find that their efforts are less effective because they’re hindered by fear.
How do you overcome this challenge?
Few people, if any, are able to move past this stage and reach their dreams by themselves.
That’s why it’s important to surround yourself by like-minded peers and mentors who believe in you and your dreams, and who can help you to calm down, regain a clear perspective, and create the confidence, hope and optimism you need to realize your dreams.
What other “mind traps” can prevent you from reaching your dreams?
While Distraction, Dissuasion and DEFCON 1 are the most common traps I’ve seen, there are others that can subtly sabotage your dreams.
- There’s the fear that you don’t deserve the life you desire, or that you won’t know how to handle it once you’ve created it.
- There’s the belief that success is greedy and wrong, and that for you to succeed, others have to suffer.
Your fears and doubts are infinitely creative when it comes to protecting the status quo. But thankfully, the power that lives inside you is greater than any obstacle your mind or life can offer you!
You Can Design a Life You Love
I want to help you tap into that power.
That’s why I’ve created a special gift for you: a short, powerful ebook that you can download and start using right away to create the life of your dreams.
In this book, you’ll discover how to overcome your mental obstacles, design a life you’ll truly LOVE living, and turn that life into reality, no matter where you’re starting from or what kind of resources you have to work with.
Stronger Than Circumstance
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