[success]Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. ~ Thomas Jefferson[/success]

Stop sitting on the sidelines cheering for those who are living their dreams. Set a new standard for your own life and commit yourself to your own dreams, your own vision. It’s never too late for a new beginning.

Your journey to a beautiful new day begins by putting a stop to all those things that repress your spirit, and discourage you from taking charge of your destiny and bringing your dreams to life.

Some thoughts to get you started:

STOP

1. Participating in unhealthy relationships

Just because someone says all the right things, it doesn’t make them the right person. If they act as if you’re the last thing on their mind, remember it’s better to be alone than feel alone in your relationship. You’ve got to know when it’s time to turn the page. Listen to your head as well as your heart.

2. Focusing on everyone’s story except your own

Sometimes it’s a struggle to be uniquely you. It’s easier to pay attention to others and what’s happening in their life.  You’re a work in progress, but it’s important not to get distracted by being involved in everyone’s business. Instead be willing to wear yourself out with all the opportunities offered to you. You might not always be sure of where you’re going but at least you’ll know you’re on your way.

3. Saying yes to that extra helping or mouthful

Behind the surface of most people you’ll find fear, pain and maybe a little anxiety. There are better ways of dealing with these emotions than eating. You can’t fill up your hungry heart by filling up with food. Don’t eat because you’re unhappy. Don’t eat because you’re excited. It might not always seem like it at the time, but it’s easier to say no to that extra helping than it is to get rid of extra weight and the added burden you have to carry.

4. Creating imaginary hurdles

Why erect hurdles between you and your greatest dreams by imagining things that ‘might’ get in your way. Don’t limit yourself before you even begin. Keep your eyes on the finish line and don’t allow your fears and doubts to create obstacles where none might exist. Believe with everything you’ve got that your desire is just waiting for you to catch up to it.

5. Being afraid to make mistakes

A mistake made is a lesson learned. How can you ever learn and grow without trying out new things. And how can you try out new things without sometimes getting them wrong. Throw yourself into life; mistakes and failures are a pesky part of being human.  Embrace life…There is no other way to learn how to live. Think about a time when what seemed like a huge mistake turned out to be a big blessing in disguise.

6. Over-complicating life

Simply begin with how to make tomorrow better than today. Begin at the beginning. Start something. Finish what needs to be finished. Move your dreams into today and begin to live them and you’ll steadily begin to fulfill them. Instead of seeing things as difficult, focus your energy on what’s good and valuable and grow it. Life is a series of little lives lived each day. Stay focused on today and be proud of the progress you’re making.

7. Living to impress

Don’t be the person who wears a mask to impress others with who they’re not. Dare to be genuine and authentic, however frightening that might be, and you’ll discover the people who love you for who you are, are genuine and authentic too. We can never really hide who we are, our very life experience reveals us to anyone with eyes to see. So open yourself up; there’s nothing more beautifully endearing than someone totally willing to be real.

8. Forgetting to appreciate those who love you

It’s  easy to take for granted those who are always there for us.

We don’t always have tomorrow. Our loved ones’ don’t always have tomorrow. Don’t wait to tell someone how much they mean to you, how you appreciate all they’ve done and what it’s meant to have them in your life. Use the time you have to give and love and be truly kind.

9. Letting negativity win

We’re all hypnotized by the beliefs we hold to be true and the ideas we’ve uncritically accepted. What matters is whether those beliefs are negative or positive. You can’t live a positive life when you constantly reinforce your negative beliefs by continuing to repeat them. Love yourself enough to break the cycle of thinking negative thoughts. Once you replace a negative thought with a positive one, your results will be outstandingly, amazingly positive.

10. Wasting your days

It’s all to easy to let days drift by with good intentions but few accomplishments. Each day choose to do one good thing for your spirit, one good thing for your body and one good thing for someone else. Then every day regardless of how that day turned out, you’ll still have a wonderful sense of having accomplished something worthwhile. You might not be able to do everything, but you can do something, make that something worth doing.

11. Holding on to grudges and regrets

Life isn’t long enough to be filled with regrets and grudges. Forget about the people who haven’t treated you well, and value those who have. When you get a chance for a new beginning take it and avoid taking the grudges and regrets with you. Don’t allow them to keep being a factor in your current life.

12. Expecting the worst

Your expectations are like a magnet opening and closing off the supply of all you desire. Expect great things, work towards them and the doors of abundance will open. It might be easier to expect little in the hopes of not being disappointed, but what a small life that would make. You are designed for much bigger things.

13. Waiting for opportunities

You can wait forever for opportunity to knock. You are the maker of opportunities. Knock on the door and it will be answered. Develop yourself by preparing the way for new possibilities and when they arrive, seize them.  In every beautiful day there are hundreds of opportunities to take your life in the direction you want it to go.

14. Letting poison into your life

You wouldn’t accept a cup of coffee with poison in it, even if it came from your best friend. Doesn’t matter who gives you the poisoned cup, it’s still going to cause a problem. Break free from those who would poison your mind or spirit with all that’s wrong in the world. Guard your mind and don’t let anyone dump just anything in there. You’re the one who has to live with the results.

Got more tips or thoughts on things to stop saying or doing to yourself?  Tell me all about it in the comments below.

As always, thank you so much for reading and contributing!

If you have a friend that needs some encouragement to stop doing things that interfere with creating their best life, forward this post to them. They’ll thank you for it!

Encourage one another.

Love Elle

xo