Whether you are the CEO of a business, taking your first steps as an entrepreneur, or a stay-at-home mom or dad, I am sure you have two voices in your head: One that pushes you on your journey to success as an encouraging voice and a supportive guide and another that brings you down every chance it gets. I call the latter the “Sabotager,” as it is the voice that says, “Don’t get out of bed,” or, “You can’t do it,” or, “It has already been done, so why even try?” The Sabotager’s main goal is to stop you from becoming the best version of yourself.

Succeeding in life is challenging. It can test your sanity, try your relationships, and force you to honestly assess your abilities. On some days, the positive voice is pretty loud, and on other days the negative one takes control. It is in these moments when you need to access the power you have within and channel the positive, motivating, inspiring voice that empowers you; a voice that reminds you that roadblocks and setbacks are expected and to persevere anyway. Being a success is not meant to be easy. So, try to enjoy the blood, sweat and tears that come with creating a balanced and successful life because once you make it to the other side, the pride and self-satisfaction are unparalleled.  

Here are four techniques used to drown out the negative voice in your head and increase your chances of living a life that allows you to love who you are and where you are in life:

• Be a fountain, not a drain: Be aware of every action and thought throughout the day and adjust quickly. It’s not that successful people don’t have negative thoughts, it’s that they don’t let the negative thoughts take over and drain them.
• Every day is the perfect day to be the first day of a new beginning: Don’t be too hard on yourself if you have previously failed to go through with your plans. If you have to, set a mantra for yourself to trigger the positivity that we all seem to minimize while giving negativity our full attention.
• Replace the habit of negative thinking with another (positive) habit to fill that void.
• Listen closely to what the negative voice is saying: Listen to the limitations you are setting and start working on them. “I will never have time” means you need a schedule. “I am not in the right environment” means you need to make a space for yourself. “My life is a total mess right now” translates to you needing to start area by area and organize it. You have to put in the work.

Wake up one day and decide to be a doer, a dreamer. Push yourself to break barriers and build empires. You have one chance to experience life as yourself. It really comes down to how badly you want a better life. If you can’t take the time to discipline yourself, maybe you just don’t want it badly enough. Finally, if the Sabotager creeps into your mind, just remember that you have control over your mind, it’s not the other way around.

Quote of the month:

A negative mind will never give you a positive life.