AMY HANSEN

You may not even realize it but you’re limiting yourself from living life to your fullest potential. Here are four ways you’re limiting yourself.

Fear 

Fear limits you from trying new opportunities.  It’s easier to stay in your current situation than to try something new that you’ve never done before.  This is because you don’t know how it will turn out.

In new situations you automatically start running through all the different worst case scenarios.  Maybe you will fail, maybe it will feel uncomfortable or you’ll embarrass yourself.  You interpret the new opportunity as too hard, dangerous or too much to try.  Whatever it may be, your brain just wants to keep you “safe.”

Your brain knows that you’ll be safe by remaining in your comfort zone.  You won’t have to face failure, discomfort, or embarrassment.  Your brain decides that anything that is...

It can be hard sticking to your schedule when there are things planned that you don’t want to do. All of a sudden something else becomes more important, like watching Netflix or taking a nap rather than tackling the scheduled task.

Since this task is on your schedule you must learn to stick to it.  You have already decided this task was important and it needed to get done. That’s why you scheduled it in the first place. 

Adjusting your schedule due to emergencies is rare.  It’s usually you deciding this task wasn’t important enough to get done that causes you to change your schedule.  It’s easier to procrastinate and do something else that’s more enjoyable.

Procrastination is the worst thing you can do when it comes to your schedule.  When you push tasks off until later, you become stuck in a panic. You’re frantically running around late, in a hurry, trying to get everything done...

Sunday is the perfect day for planning out your week.  You may be thinking that a structured week sounds so busy and overwhelming.  You’d rather not have anything planned during the week because it feels freeing.  But the truth is, you’ll remain feeling overwhelmed because you’re not planning out your week to accomplish tasks that are nagging at you.

There are plenty of tasks floating around in your head that you need to get done.  Those tasks are causing you unneeded stress because your brain is trying to remember them all.  Your brain is trying so hard not to forget what you must get done this week.  That’s why planning out your week is essential to your success.

Brain Dump

A brain dump is getting all of your to-dos, errands, and must get done tasks down on paper.  Take everything that’s floating around in your head and write it down.

Also, think about things that will prevent you from...

Comfort zones are designed to keep you safe.  You know exactly what to expect and there is little to fear when you live inside your comfort zone.  But this is also why you remain stuck.  One simple reason; fear.  Fear can actually hold you back from living life to your fullest potential.

Fear can stop you from going after your dreams.  Fear is built up when you don’t know the exact steps to take.  Your mind starts swimming with all the worst case scenarios and it becomes easier to just remain in your comfort zone.

Ask yourself if fear is making the decision for you.  You may be afraid because you’re not quite sure what to expect.  This is when you must acknowledge that if you remain in your comfort zone you’re not truly living life.  You are here to learn and grow.  The only way to do that is to push yourself to step outside your comfort zone.

You fear stepping outside your comfort zone because...

The decisions and actions you take determine your future.  You are in control of your life as far as the thoughts, beliefs, and actions you take. These will all determine the outcome of your life.

Think of it this way, you are the captain of your ship.  You can steer it any which way you would like.  But first you must acknowledge that you are behind the wheel and in control.

Your response to a situation is something that you are in control of.  You can choose to respond with negativity to a situation or take responsibility for the outcome.  Perhaps the decision you made didn’t turn out the way you had hoped.  Instead of consuming yourself with negativity you can use it as a life lesson.

Life lessons are important to learn so you’ll improve and do better next time.  Look at these lessons and take responsibility to recognize where you went wrong.  But also, don’t forget to celebrate what you did...

Every moment your mind is flooded with thoughts.  It can be difficult to quiet your mind and simply sit there in silence.  That is your challenge this week.

Schedule five minutes to sit in silence.  This practice will allow you to pause for a moment.  It’s time well spent to stop thinking about the mounting pressure of your to do list. 

Set a timer for five minutes.  The timer is used in case you become so relaxed that you fall asleep.  Sitting in silence will not only help quiet your ever busy mind, but it will let you to be more present.

Lay on the floor on your back with your legs stretched out and your arms by your sides.  Palms up if you feel like you need clarity on something and would like to receive guidance.  Palms down if you want to feel more grounded and present in the moment.  Close your eyes.  You may hear some sounds around you but the key here is to quiet your mind.

Your mind may...

Growing up you may have been the star student or the good child.  It became your identity to prove your worth; that you were smart.  Evidence of getting an A grade would only strengthen your identity and confirm that perfect exists.  You were celebrated with “great job” and expected to continue the perfect streak.

Now, as an adult, you may be struggling with perfectionism because you’ve had this expectation for so long. Believing that everything should be perfect before you start a project or put yourself out there.  Often you say, “if I just did this, then I will be ready.” But once you do, you just find another reason why it’s just not quite perfect yet.  This way of thinking only keeps you stuck.  You’re expecting to have all the right answers and the full path mapped out in front of you before you begin.

The truth is, there is no perfect time.  And when you think about it, your...

Focus on one thing in order to make progress.  Think of it this way, you have five soccer balls.  You can kick one ball five times or kick each ball once.  The ball that is kicked five times is going to go farther than kicking each ball once.  This is the idea of focusing on one thing so it gets to completion faster.

Focusing on one thing will help you achieve that goal faster.  Putting your energy toward multiple tasks will deplete your brain power much more quickly than if you were to stay focused on one thing.  Instead of splitting your time between multiple tasks, focus on one thing at a time.

It’s been thought that multitasking is a skill.  You may even have it on your resume.  But studies have shown that when you multitask, it takes you brain longer to get back into the flow of things.  Toggling back and forth only confuses your brain rather than letting it focus on just one thing.

Think about a time when...

A mentor is a leader.  You look up to them for a few reasons.

You look up to someone because they have achieved what you want to do.  This may be something you’ve been struggling to figure out and seeing that someone else has done it, allows you to see that it’s possible.  The best part is, they’ve gone before you. Therefore, they can give you guidance on how they did it so you can get there faster.  Learn from their missteps and implement their advice into your own life.

A mentor is also relatable. They are real people who you look up to and admire.  You have things in common with them.  Whether it’s the music they like, their lifestyle, or similar family dynamics.  Often times you can see yourself in your mentor.

Mentors also inspire you and lift you up.  They give you confidence in yourself that you too can achieve great things.  Their guidance gives you courage to step outside...

You may be thinking the goal in life is to be happy all the time.  That’s like saying you should be a perfect human being and never make a mistake.  It’s nearly impossible to live up to that standard.

Rather than focusing on being happy all the time, you must look for the meaning in life’s situations.

Maybe you’ve encountered a difficult time in life.  You look around and see other people are happy and not dealing with the same difficulty. In this moment, you have two choices.

You can choose to let this get you down and believe the world is out to get you.  Rightfully beating yourself up for feeling negative emotions about your current situation because life isn’t perfectly happy all the time.

The second option is to choose to acknowledge that there is meaning in this situation.  You may not see it now, but once you’ve made it through the other side, you can look back and find meaning.

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