Our negative thoughts are often excuses that serve as safety nets for  not doing things that are outside of our comfort zone.  Take for example me… and writing…  I have all sorts of stories in my head that I can’t write well, I have nothing interesting to say…in fact, as I’m writing this, I’m saying to myself “there are people who are nodding their head in agreement about those two statements.”

How motivating is that thought?  Makes me want to go make lunch, surf the web, walk on hot coals!  But, that would just lead to more self-deprecation, because,  at the end of the day, this blog post wouldn’t be written and then I’d really have a reason to beat myself up.  I could easily add that lack of completion to my catalog of stories about my ineptitude.   Ah, but enough about me… back to my point…

If we let our internal trash talk run us, we don’t get much done.
So, how do we excavate our mental garbage so we can find a clear
open space in which to create success?

Here are some ideas:

• Give up the notion that everything has to be perfect.
• Accept that everyone won’t love what you do or say.
• Reach out to your fans for support, encouragement, and a way to tap into your mental juice.
• Get started!  That’s often the biggest hurdle.
• Set small goals… I’m going to write for 15 minutes.  Then I give myself permission to stop if I still want to (chances are, I’ll be on a roll by then and I’ll keep going-as per the previous bullet).
• Develop bullet points to get yourself organized and create light posts to illuminate your path.
• Fill in the bullet points with more information or action items- individual bricks  make up the path and  give you a sense of measurable progress.
• Acknowledge yourself for each step that you take.
• Keep going, remembering not to strive for perfection. (You’ll get closer to it if you aren’t being a real-time critic—that will just send you in circles.)
• Continually start, do, stop, acknowledge, repeat!
• Take note of what works to get you unstuck.
• Remember this formula the next time your mental garbage gets in the way.

Now you have an excavation plan.  You’ll depend on it heavily for a
while.  And, soon, just like the Google map you rely on the first few
times you drive to a new, unfamiliar destination, you won’t need it
anymore.  Your well traveled path to success will be second nature.