Stress Managment: 5 Things to Clean Out of Your Mental Closet


Excuses

We all have them. It amazes me how creative I can be when I need a good excuse for something. In life we either have success, or we have excuses.

Life tip: For one week, pay attention to how often you create excuses for yourself. You'll be surprised by how many excuses you make and how often you make them. Then start to refute them. Ask your self "is this really true, or is it just convenient for me to believe?"

Limitations

Richard Bach offers us this great piece of wisdom about limitations - "Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours."

Other than gravity, mortality and a few others, most of our limitations are self-imposed. Now why would we want to do that?

Life tip: Whenever you notice that you are imposing a limitation on yourself, ask "what would I be able to do without this limitation?" Then start heading in that direction.

I can'ts

If you believe you can't, then you can't. If you believe you can, you just might make it.

Life tip: Don't focus on what you can't do; focus on what you can.

Entitlement:

Our culture has taught us that we deserve all good things just by showing up. That's just not the real world. We are promised only the pursuit of happiness, not happiness itself. It's up to us to have the guts and determination for the pursuit.

Life tip: If you want something, make very sure that you are doing all the necessary things to get there. No excuses allowed.

Clutter

This one will sound more like the typical spring-cleaning tip. I include it because clutter, excess stuff laying around, is a major source of stress and actually holds us back in life. We have to move around it and through it, and it stays in our minds on the list called "things I really ought to do someday but know I never will."

Life tip: If you have not used it in the past year, and it does not have intrinsic or sentimental value, give it away, sell it or throw it out.

Visit SecretsofGreatRelationships.com for tips and tools for creating and growing a great relationship. You can also subscribe to our f*r*e*e 10 day e-program on how to enrich your relationship today, from relationship coach and expert Jeff Herring.

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