What if, from this point forward, you made consistent progress toward your goals without being held back by excuses, delays or the dreaded self-sabotage? Even if it seems unlikely, or unlike you, it’s absolutely possible. The key is avoiding a few super common mental mistakes that can kill your progress!
We’re diving into them in episode 953 of the Primal Potential podcast, so if this sounds like something you need to focus on, don’t miss the episode!
Mental Mistakes That Will Kill Your Progress
Drama
I know, no one likes to think of themselves as dramatic and you probably don’t think that of all things, drama is what’s holding you back. However, think of drama the way author Cy Wakeman defines it: drama is what you add to the facts.
When I look back at my decades of failed weight loss attempts, I see a lot of drama. If I pledged to eat super clean all day but quickly succumbed to the donuts in the break room I’d think, “What’s wrong with me! Why can’t I just be consistent! I screwed up the whole day!” Drama. The plain fact is that I ate a donut. What I added to the fact was all sorts of emotion, judgement and doomsday-ing.
I hear drama from my clients all the time when they share their own judgement and emotional projection over something that’s really not a big deal at all.
Drama keeps us from moving on to our next best choice. It drains our energy and tricks us into focusing more on the problem than we do on the solution. Sometimes we just need to practice being a bit more rational and emotionally mature. Being objective when you are used to be emotional can change the game completely!
(A big part of drama stems from unrealistic expectations. I dive into that piece in episode 953 so make sure to tune in to the episode for that!)
Drifting
We have a lot of competing priorities and a finite amount of time to give to them. That’s one of the major reasons people drift away from their good intentions, discipline and commitment. It’s not easy to stay engaged but it is possible. It requires that we recognize our tendency to drift and instead choose to remain intentional each day.
We’re not striving to be perfect – there’s no need to execute a perfect 10/10 day, but we do have to stay tethered to what it is we’re trying to achieve.
Personally, the Change Makers Journal is the tool I use to ensure I don’t drift. That doesn’t have to be your tool, but you do need one!
Pretending You Don’t Know
Almost every day, someone in my Primal Potential FB group messages me to share that they ‘just don’t know’. They don’t know where to start, they don’t know how to reach their goal, they don’t know what’s wrong with them or they don’t know how to get unstuck.
More often than not, I respond to these statements the same way. I tell them, “I think you do know. I think you can absolutely tell me one idea for where to start, or one thing you could do to reach your goal or one thing you’re doing that’s getting in your way, etc.”
Every single time – literally every single time – I’ve been right. They do have ideas. They do know improvements they can make. But, this mental mistake of telling ourselves or others that we don’t know…it’s lethal!
It’s a way that we subconsciously let ourselves off the hook. We don’t have to do anything when “we don’t know”, but if we’re begin honest, we ALWAYS know enough to take a single step forward. Every. single. time.
With each and every one of these mental mistakes, and others, we have to slow down enough to allow our higher, more rational thinking to show up to the party.
If you can relate to any of these mental mistakes, make sure you tune in to episode 953 of the Primal Potential podcast!