Employ the mind

Ok what is the psychology of success? How does success work? Is this blog going to help you become a rich man or woman? Maybe, but I'm hoping for rich in a different sense of the word. The secret to success is all in the mental landscape. Rather than letting the mind run loose, if we employ the mind we start to feel an easeful fruition of our dreams.

Goals, success, achievements, even gold starts can bring up a whole lot of Pandora in the box of the mind. Lets break it down a little and understand the roots of the psychology around success, pull out some old weeds, and fertilise the seeds for creating...whatever you want to in life!

Success comes from the inside,

not the outside. We've commonly celebrated the external successes with validation from friends, family, coaches, trophies, prizes and medals. But once we move into the internal world, how do we celebrate our successes? Do we have an internal trophy cabinet with all the medals from the times we overcame fear, or stood up for ourselves? As a society we generally don't celebrate the internal achievements as they aren't as visible or tangible in the external world. But these successes are usually the ones that create the biggest changes and growth in our lives. The subtle is always the most potent.

Success doesn't have a steady gradient.

It has ups and downs, highs and lows, but often only the moment at the peak of the mountain is given attention, rather than all the steps and roads to get there. Forgetting the last peak we hit because the view of this one is 'even more'.

If we look at the road to 'success' it generally looks like this, a journey with lots of peaks and lots of troughs. But in hindsight we find that the peaks often gain more height and the through become more shallow. This is the journey of success, and if we remember to reflect and look back through life, we can see the bigger picture and the valley that we started the climb out of. When we see success in this way, every peak is a win. Every trough and downhill is an important lesson, and the plateaus are sweet moments of steady bliss.

Personally I have started running again and where I run at home is all hills, ALL hills, up hills, down hills and then back up again. Running the hills I find myself wishing for just a steady flat road to run on to come back to my pace again before the next big uphill.

This reminds me of the success chart. If it only up, we go into burnout and strain our kidneys and adrenals. If its all just down hill, well you end up rolling all the way down ending up dazed and confused. Without the plateaus its hard to stay consistent, centred and grounded. Again our society doesn't really celebrate the plateaus. The steady place you made it to in between all the ups and downs. It feels boring because if it isn't dramatic are you even living? It feels unproductive because you aren't straining, working hard or losing out. But these plateaus are the greatest success!!! It means you created harmony within all the changes and unknowns. It means you met the sweet place of integration and are coming back whole.

Success is relative.

This means we can't actually quantify success, even though we try to. There is no measurement of success like we have length or weight, because it is relative to the life and experiences of each person. For example; walking up to the top of a mountain could be a huge achievement from someone who has had to rebilatate from serious physical injuries; where as for a mountain runner it is just a regular day's exercise.

Trying to gauge your success against another's is almost insanity. We are totally different in our energetic form and make up so our achievements (and losses) are going to be completely different to another's. Often we compare material belongings and they worth they have against another's. The more worth someone's belongings have, the more they seem to be successful. But doesn't this feel strange? Gathering our belongings to try and elate our sense of worth and success?

Let's wrap this up into some digestible pieces:

1. Success is a state of mind that comes from the internal validation and celebration of self, not from external validation. YOU decide your success, no one else can.

2. Success is not a steady gradient. Success is hard work, bouncing back, failing, trying, achieving, adjusting, adapting and evolving. Achieving goals is not a straight and easy path, remember the journey is the greatest experience (and there will be another peak/goal just around the bend), so soak up each little win.

3. Success is relative. Success cannot be quantified or measured, so you decide what a success is for you, and it's really no-one else's business to decide if you are successful or not. Stop comparing what you have/are with another's, it will never make sense and only drive you mad.

And some reminders from my previous post 'Sustainable growth':

The big achievements are made up of lots of little ones, celebrate the little wins as they'll keep you vitalised to continue on the journey.

Get support. Human beings are a social and community minded species. We work better together! Find some friends/loved ones to celebrate your wins with and you can celebrate theirs, bring the connection, celebration and joy back into this wonderful life you get to live!

Remember, changing a mindset, habit, or a pattern of thinking is a big job, so use these steps and the ones in my previous blog to keep you on your path, and to remember to be in joy with what you do! If it doesn't bring you joy, change back to the heart path and watch the ease filter into your life.

We can't always do everything alone, or rely solely on ourselves. I am here to help whenever you need, with whatever you need. Acupuncture, ZenThai Shiatsu and Chinese Herbal medicine are fantastic modalities to work with the energetic and emotional body, to calm the mind and re-centre the self. Like servicing a car, our mind-body-spirits all need a little servicing sometimes. Find me in the clinic in Nambour, I am happy to be of service to your growth, success and achievements!

All my love,

Dr. Sally

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