Telling yourself lies? It happens …

It's surprisingly easy to fall into the trap of negative thinking, right?

Our minds naturally focus on what's going wrong, rather than what's going right. But you have the power to change that.

We all lie to ourselves constantly. We don’t think of them as lies if we think of them at all.

And it’s pretty amazing that the average person tells around 200 of them per day, even though a good 70% of those fibs will never be said aloud … it’s just the garbage we say to ourselves, right?

Statistically, very few of us are consistently and positively cheerleading ourselves on … most of us are silently beating up on ourselves about all the places we fall short of our expectations.

The good news is that instead of staying stuck in the cycle of negativity and false beliefs, you can easily reframe the way you look at life.

Look at it as “glass half empty” or “glass half full” thinking.

And when you change the way you think about things, you are on your way to flipping those negative thoughts into positive ones.

Which then improves your motivation and speeds up achieving your goals. And very soon you will feel happier and more at peace. 

So here are three tips to help you reframe your mindset fast:

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#1: Monitor Critical Self-Talk: Overly critical self-talk can block access to happiness and stifle progress. Start by recognizing negative self-talk and then replace it with positive affirmations.

Become aware of your negative thoughts—first by identifying the lies you tell yourself…even when they’re small, like …

“I’m too busy to keep an organized home…” 

And sometimes they are much bigger—“I’m not good enough, so I don’t deserve to succeed.”

Once you've identified these beliefs, you can start to challenge them and replace them with the positive version.

So, even though it might feel hokey or silly, practice saying, “I’m good enough and everyone deserves to succeed, even me.” After a while, you’ll start to believe it!

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#2: Be Mindful & Practice Kindness: Mindfulness is so much simpler than it sometimes appears to be. It’s really just bringing your attention to the present moment. 

You don’t need to meditate for hours, just be present now. And if you find yourself wandering into the past or the future, catch yourself and come back to the current moment.

That’s it. 

So if you are drifting into negative thoughts about something that happened in the past or you’re worried about something that may (or may not) happen in the future, simply reframe your thoughts and ground them in the present moment.

If you find yourself thinking "I'm never going to be successful because of X, Y or Z," remind yourself that right now in this very moment, you are fine.

You have clean clothes on your body, you are probably not too hungry and you have a roof over your head. AND if you have clutter, you are in a state of abundance, not lack. You actually have MORE than you need, not less!

Other than an actual tragedy, there is probably nothing going on in the present moment that is as bad as your imagination is making it out to be.

And when it comes to kindness, try comparing the story you tell yourself to the story you would tell to a friend if it was about someone else. 

If you would treat someone else with understanding, show yourself the same kindness—this simple shift in perspective can make all the difference!

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#3: Surround Yourself with Support: Surrounding yourself with positive, supportive people can help reduce the impact of a negative mindset and give you the strength and encouragement you need on your journey.

Knowing other people are there to help you will ensure you aren’t too hard on yourself when doubts pop up. Everyone has negative thoughts from time to time. 

The key is to recognize them, challenge them, and reframe them in a positive light. With practice, you'll find that positive thinking becomes a habit and you'll start to see the benefits in your life. 

You don’t have to dump your “Debby Downer” friends but you do need to make sure for every one of them, you have 2-3 other friends who always have your back and are looking at the bright side of each opportunity.

Look for support … AND for science-based ways to hack your brain and create a mindset that makes it easier to achieve your goals so you can get and stay organized—no matter what.

And if you want to jump start this process, check out Unstuff Your Mind today! [link]

This one-of-a-kind course will help you declutter your INSIDE world… so you can stop getting stuck in past beliefs and behaviors by going deeper into the root of the problem—your mindset.

I know that may sound a little intimidating or even hard to imagine, but it’s not as hard as you might think… and me and my team are committed to making it as easy as possible for you.

On The Declutter Your Life Show you can hear Andrew give quick tips for lasting changes—along with plenty of motivation! Listen to the podcast here or on YouTube here… and don’t forget to subscribe!

Here’s to more love and less stuff (outside and inside!) 

Andrew