4 Thoughts Holding You Back from Being Peacefully Productive
Do you constantly feel bogged down by your thoughts? Maybe you feel overwhelmed, like you're not enough, like life is happening to you, or like you're not doing as well as someone else when it comes to pursuing your dreams.
Keep reading this post to learn:
⋒ 4 thoughts that are holding you back from being peacefully productive and how to make the necessary mindset shifts to cultivate a healthy thought life
Lemme preface this by making sure you know that anytime I talk about mindset/mental health I like to make it SUPER clear that I am not a therapist. I share and teach based on my own experiences. I am not a trained counselor, okay? I have been to therapy and highly recommend it to literally every person. It’s such a healing experience that is like clearing the weeds from your heart to make space for goodness to burst forth. Inner work is so valuable!
So the way this is gonna go down:
I’m going to share the limiting belief/thought that is holding you back, explain how this specific way of thinking is keeping you from being peacefully productive, and then give you a mindset switch that overcomes that limiting belief.
4 thoughts that are holding you back from living a peacefully productive life:
01. IMPOSTER SYNDROME
What it is:
According to dictionary.com, it’s a psychological pattern in which one deals with the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills. Aka you feel like a fraud.
What it might look/sound like:
I’m not capable of the task at hand.
I don’t deserve this success/good thing.
You hold back from pursuing opportunities because you don’t feel good enough or equipped to pursue them.
You feel afraid that people are going to “find out” that you have no idea what you’re doing.
How it’s keeping you from being peacefully productive:
When you are operating in an imposter syndrome mindset, you are spending most of your time doubting rather than being. Imposter syndrome robs us of being present and fully leaning into our life vision because we don’t feel like we can and/or deserve to do it.
Mindset switch: QUALIFIED MINDSET
The mindset switch that needs to be made when you feel held back by imposter syndrome is stepping into a qualified mindset -- knowing and believing that your efforts are valid. That you were created with unique gifts that were intended to serve the world. Owning that you are qualified for what you are called to do.
When we stand in imposter syndrome, we are saying, “No, I wasn’t created with gifts.” “No, I’m not capable of figuring XYZ out.”
When we stand in a qualified mindset we are choosing to spend our time, energy, and thoughts BEING who we were created to be instead of questioning it.
02. COMPARISON MINDSET
What it is:
I think we all know what it means to compare but it’s viewing one thing through the lens of another thing -- to view something in relation to another. We, as people, tend to compare ourselves to one another which when you think about it serves no real value.
What it might look/sound like:
I’m not as witty as her so I can’t be a blogger.
She started her business 2 years after me and has more followers than me on Instagram so why am I ever trying?
I don’t have as much time as her to pursue a side hustle so I’m not even going to bother.
Not being grateful for the blessings in your own life because you’re focused on what others have in relation to what you don’t
How it’s keeping you from being peacefully productive:
Comparison robs you from walking in your calling. It’s really hard to focus on your calling when you’re busy peering over at everyone else’s. Whether it’s comparing schedules, routines, dreams, jobs -- you focusing on someone else pulls your focus off of cultivating your own beautiful life.
Mindset switch: CALLING MINDSET
The mindset switch that needs to be made when you feel held back by comparison is choosing to operate in a CALLING MINDSET which is you deciding to focus on YOUR life as opposed to someone else’s. NOW REAL QUICK this is not me telling you to be self-centered and all me, me, me. It’s me telling you to turn inward, to decide that you are creating a life that serves your vision well (which I surely hope includes some form of serving others). To focus on running the race that was set before YOU -- not someone else.
When we operate in a comparison mindset, it’s a blessing sucker. When we operate in a calling mindset, we live from a place of gratitude and purpose.
03. VICTIM MENTALITY
What it is:
Victim mentality is when you blame your challenges and struggles in life on other people. This definition is helpful and I’ll link the article in the show notes that I got it from:
If you have a victim mentality, you will see your entire life through a perspective that things constantly happen ‘to’ you. Victimization is thus a combination of seeing most things in life as negative, beyond your control, and as something you should be given sympathy for experiencing as you ‘deserve’ better. At its heart, a victim mentality is actually a way to avoid taking any responsibility for yourself or your life. By believing you have no power then you don’t have to take action.
Now I want to point out that I think there is a difference between being a victim and operating out of a victim mentality. I am not speaking into those who are victims of crimes, abuse, and trauma right now so please understand that.
What it might look/sound like:
Waiting for the other shoe to drop aka you spend a lot of time expecting the worst
“Of COURSE this would happen to me!”
Tendency to blame other people or circumstances often
The belief that any effort to create change will fail, so there’s no point in trying.
Not seeking solutions
Avoiding responsibility
How it’s keeping you from being peacefully productive:
Victim mentality is keeping you from showing up and taking ownership of your life. It keeps you from being an active participant and instead roots you in being a passive complainer about your life.
Mindset switch: OWNERSHIP MENTALITY
The mindset switch that needs to happen to combat victim mentality is what I like to call ownership mentality. It’s exactly what it sounds like -- you choose to take ownership of your life -- your time, your choices, how you show up.
When we operate in an ownership mentality we might think things like:
I will focus on what I can control in this situation.
I am not stuck. I am capable of making moves to change my life.
I choose to focus my energy on the good that is happening around me.
This is not ignoring or negating that sometimes bad things happen. Your struggles and your hardships are valid. 100%. But they do not have to define you. I encourage you to do the inner work to process and grow through tough situations instead of wallowing and stewing in them. When you stay put in victim mentality thoughts, you are not helping yourself or anyone around you, you know? Like nothing changes.
When I catch myself thinking thoughts that are based in victim mentality, I remind myself that I get to decide what lens I’m going to view my life through. Philippians 4:8-9 says:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. 9 Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
04. SCARCITY MINDSET
What it is:
According to WebMD (a potentially dangerous place if you allow it to be, lol) says that a scarcity mindset is when you are so obsessed with a lack of something — usually time or money — that you can’t seem to focus on anything else, no matter how hard you try.
The article also goes on to say that scarcity mindset actually affects how our brains work:
It limits your brain function. Scarcity mentality affects your ability to solve problems, hold information, and reason logically. It also affects your brain’s decision-making process. A scarcity mindset limits your ability to plan, focus, and start a project or task. Your brain is too busy thinking about something you don’t have.
YIKES.
What it might look/sound like:
You hoard your time, money, and other resources in fear of running out.
You have a hard time celebrating the success of others because you want that success.
You live in a constant fear of not having enough.
Striving or overworking to “get ahead” and make ends meet.
How it’s keeping you from being peacefully productive:
A scarcity mindset robs you from being grateful for what you currently have and making the most of it. It keeps you from being a good steward of your time because you’re so focused on not having enough of it. It’s what contributes to us living in that constant state of overwhelm. And real talk -- what’s going on in your heart is going to manifest in your life. Luke 6:45 says: A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.
So I’m just saying, if you’re thoughts are scarcity mindset-based, you’re gonna be living a scarce life but if you have abundant thoughts, you’ll be living that abundant life.
Mindset switch: ABUNDANCE MINDSET
The mindset switch that needs to happen to combat scarcity mindset is abundance mindset. Having an abundance mindset means you believe that there is more than enough -- time, money, success, etc. to go around. You trust that your needs will be met without you hoarding or hustling.
When we operate out of an abundance mindset, we cheer others on in their success, we focus on the impact we are making as we show up for our lives every day, we are grateful for what we have because we trust that more is coming.
If you’re struggling with scarcity mindset try these to help shift into an abundance mindset:
01. Have a daily gratitude practice. I like to journal what I am grateful for every day because it keeps your blessings front and center.
02. View things through the lens of win-win instead of win-lose. Let’s say someone at your job gets a promotion. Instead of viewing it as them winning and you losing, try viewing it as both of you winning because you trust that this opportunity was better suited for them and that your perfect opportunity is going to be available for you (as long s you’re available to receive it).
Scarcity mindset blocks us from blessings.
If you enjoyed this post, tune into episode 083 of The Hustle Sanely Podcast to listen into this topic:
