“Half the battle is in your mind.”
I used to always say that to guys I’d work with as we turned up to our 5AM shift at McDonald’s many, many years ago. They kept wishing they were in bed, wrapped up nice and warm and not flipping hotcakes. They were already defeated as they yawned and carried on, trudging through the day. I recognized back then that your mindset needs to be managed to succeed, even when working at a hamburger place.
Fast forward to today and managing your mindset is difficult. We live in a world of family commitments and long work hours. We’re also inundated with non-stop notifications and never-ending streams of media to consume. It’s easy to get caught up and be distracted 24/7 while your life goals disappear.
It’s a battle I fought recently where my blog and other creative projects suffered because I was too tired. With too many things going on my mind switched to consumption mode. It wanted to be numbed and dumbed with trash TV and social media. I knew there was something going on but I needed something to help me. In one day my mindset received two inspirational kicks in the ass and got me back in the game. I was back baby! I was back! The first part was about identifying then switching my mindset.
Creation VS Consumption: The Mindset Battle
“The more you create, the more powerful you become. The more you consume, the more powerful others become.”
James Clear
I received an email from James Clear’s mailing list (from Atomic Habits fame), that had been sitting in my inbox for weeks. I finally opened the email and read the above quote. That was it, I knew what my problem was. I read it and re-read it. It hit me really hard. I realized that I had changed sides and lost my creative mindset. I was spinning my wheels as I’d become a full-time consumer. And It reminded me that through my life, I did become more powerful through my creative projects. I enjoyed them too, they gave me meaning and I loved the act of creation.
My mindset was instantly changed as I flicked back into Creator mode. I identified and solved my mindset dilemma, now I needed a plan and I needed my body to co-operate. I wasn’t sure how to do that because I was so busy and tired. Something needed to change. I continued through my day, with half an answer to my problem. technically, I was a creator again, well, I thought I was. I just needed to start creating…
The Motivation behind my Mindset
Later that same day, I put on the latest Aussie Firebug podcast. The guest was Chi Lam, a guy that appeared on the Financial Independence radar via this article. Chi had an amazing story about coming from nothing as a refugee from Vietnam. He became financially independent working on his dream projects. He worked to his own timetable while living a fulfilling family life, utilising ways to “make money while you sleep”. Chi was creative, and outlined a few key points that gave him his dream life. These points are obvious, but hit me at the right time as I was wondering what do I do next.
Chi’s “No Excuses Financial Independence” Framework
OK, Chi didn’t call it that, but it does sound more powerful living in a “framework”. Go with me on this one. The key take outs are from the conversation between Aussie Firebug and Chi. Here they are, “Chi’s “No Excuses Financial Independence” Framework.
- Give yourself mind space to think about the future. Working five days a week, with kids and other commitments makes it difficult to get into that mind space. We live busy lives. Your mental real estate and how much capacity you have to think and actually plan ahead is diminished if you are killing yourself at work. You have little time, energy, creativity and desire to do anything at the end of the day. You need to manage that mind space to plan and work.
- Start Small and Take Small Steps When you’re not thinking, you should be doing. If you haven’t started, you need to start. No excuses. Starting is the hardest part. Don’t get lost in the details or you may get overwhelmed. As Chi said “Just start and start small”. Take your first step, then another and create momentum. Once you have momentum you need to maintain it to keep moving forward, little step by step. All those little steps add up and compound over time. You just need to start.
- Don’t Stop. This is the most important one. At some point, you will hit an obstacle that will break your momentum. It’s inevitable, but this obstacle can be an opportunity to take a step back and re-evaluate. You may need to pivot or re-work what you’re doing. The key here is even if you do hit an obstacle, don’t stop. This obstacle may need you to evolve, but It will never be the end-state. Do not stop!
The simple way to set your Mind set and Mind space
I still maintain that “half the battle is in your mind”, but you need to know yourself enough to identify what is holding you back. Is mass media consumption an issue? Are you wasting precious time scrolling when you could spend that time better in aligning your mindspace? Be a Creator, do something special and take small steps. Don’t stop and enjoy the process. It may help you reach your financial independence goals or you may just become more powerful for your next idea or project. Just keep creating.
Let me know what you think, Cheers
M. Moneyman
