Today’s Mandala Message: Break free of the patterns that hold you back.
Continuing with Principle #13 from Jack Canfield’s “The Success Principles” entitled “Take Action, I set my intention today to ponder the idea of paying attention to the “voices” in my head that hold me back. You know those voices…the ones that say “you don’t want to do that now”, “how would it look if you failed”, “what makes you think you can do this/that”, etc. Canfield states: “You have to identify those patterns and break through them. It’s time to stop holding yourself back and just go for the gold.”
Some of my patterns are and have been:
- putting off until tomorrow what you very easily be done day (procrastination)
- thinking no one is interested in what I have to say or do
- thinking “what’s the point” as an excuse to not take action
- thinking “who do I think I am that I can do something like __________” (fill in the blank)
- thinking it’s safer to play small
- thinking it’s too late
- thinking I’ll look foolish/ridiculous if I try or do __________ (fill in the blank)
I can see that in order to break through I need to change my thinking. From BetterHelp.com they offer some ideas on how to reverse negative thinking. And years ago it was suggested that I converse with those thoughts with statements like: “Yeah, you’re probably right and yet I want to do it anyway…or at least give it a try. I may fail or I may surprise us both and succeed beyond expectations.” This type of conversation allows the initial thought (subconscious fears) to be acknowledged while also letting it know that it’s okay (soothing its fears) and that I’m taking action anyway.
So how about you? What thought patterns (fears) are holding you back? If you had to identify just one, what would it be? How is it holding you back? How could you best break through it?
“Creativity
— Edward de Bono
involves breaking out of
established patterns
in order to look at things
in a different way.”
Blessings,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
An Invitation
I invite you to color along with me this year as part of what I’m calling “The Year of Self-Exploration and Expansion” with all of my “Mandalas of the ___” (day, week, month, year). If you’re interested in more of a self-exploration approach to coloring, check out my “Coloring Mandalas as Meditation”. You can download this mandala at MandalaoftheWeek.com.
Mandala of the Day 