This month was make your bed day (yes, an entire day devolved to a simple task).
Former Navy SEAL, Admiral William H. McRaven gave an inspiring 20-minute speech (a little one-sided but if you see beyond that, the message is transformative).
He shared the simple lessons that anyone can apply to their own life about how simple things, done repeatedly, can change your life, and perhaps change the world.
In his speech, McRaven recognizes everyone is different, but we all struggle as humans.
Think of it like this. We are all in the ocean. And at times, we can be in the middle of a massive storm, or a peaceful calm bay. Everyone has a different boat (ie, mindset). Some have a stand-up paddleboard, others have a tanker (and all the other variations in between).
Regardless, each boat handles the ocean differently.
- The tanker struggles in the calm bay to navigate the peace and quiet and it feels uncomfortable but stays strong in the storm.
- The stand-up paddleboard finds it impossible to handle the strength of the storm but breezes through the calm bay.
So how do you build a boat? Or more specifically, a mindset that can not be too comfortable in the bay and handle the storm?
Abraham Lincoln believed attitude is everything. Attitude isn’t something you are born with, it is something that you work at. And work repeatedly, day in, day out, week in week out and yes, year in year out.
In one of our previous blogs, we spoke about how a millionaire’s mindset destroys your financial future.
You might be surprised to know that many people who have earned millions of dollars during their entire working life end up spending all their money and have very little savings. Some have chosen a lifestyle now over savings for the future. (You can read the blog here).
To grow your finances to a million, it takes dedication every day to the tangible end goal by taking action and having the mindset to back that you are worthy of a million-dollar (and beyond) net worth.
A mindset that can’t handle the ups and downs of financial markets, or revenue if you own your own business, will be highly volatile, emotional, experiencing elation and depression by what is happening on the outside.
Essentially, the outer world, the outer weather and the waves of the ocean are controlling how you feel on the inside. These waves can keep you up thinking in the middle of the night from worrying about where your income is coming from, to being elated and overspending because of more money that you dream of flowing through your door.
So how do you build a mindset that can not be too comfortable in the up and handle the downs (not just financially but in every aspect of life)?
Here’s the secret, it’s the questions you ask yourself.
- When you’re up, you learn to bring yourself down by looking at what you didn’t do, what you missed, what you could have done more of, to balance your mind back to the centre.
- When you’re down, you learn to bring yourself up looking at what you did do, what you gained, what you had done, to balance your mind back to the centre.
You become like the little bubble level thing (It has so many names, a spirit level, a level, the instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical). This means no matter which way the leveller goes, you’re the little bubble finding the centre point.
When you know how to do this, you can brace for a massive storm, or not become too complacent in the calm ocean.
Investing in your mindset over and over and over and over again is vital. As you build your mindset, you don’t have to worry about what kind of boat you have, because you have the mindset to handle any unexpected challenge.
Mastering your inner world with quality questions, done repeatedly, can change your life, and perhaps change the world.
Plus, as you learn to master the questions in the process, you clear your baggage, you raise your ability to attract what you’d love, change your behaviour… and THAT levels you up, smashes through growth ceilings and much more.
It starts in your inner world.
I’d say it’s magic, but it’s really just brain science.
That is why making your bed is such a powerful way to start the day. You’re completing a task that will encourage you to do the next task, and then the next, and so on. It will give you a sense of accomplishment that you will want to continue to feel throughout the day.
And what happens if you integrate finding benefits to what you’d love to achieve that day while making your bed (or having a shower of power or any other daily routine).
Imagine what you can shift in your mind to set you up for an inspiring day.
It’s the small things, done repeatedly that help you build momentum and move forward.
Here’s to the little things in life, {first_name}.
Leadership Coach & Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator
BAppSoSc (Counselling)
Maximum Growth
One on one & group coaching available
Helping leaders to level up using transformational mindset work.
PS. Come join the Maximum Growth Academy for your opportunity to learn and apply quality questions every week.
