​I am currently listening to a podcast by The Brendon Show, by Brendon Burchard. In his podcast, he actually narrates his book, High Performance Habits. I am only about an hour in, but it's pretty good. He explains how we can make habits on a small level, and that is great. Things such as waking up earlier, finding a quite place to work, etc, but in order to really get to the next level, we need to continue to work on bettering ourselves often. It isn't a linear process. Just because I listened to a book, doesn't mean I have all the tips and tricks and will be a millionaire right away. He points out that we all have certain characteristics. If you go to his website, you can take a free test to figure out your traits and where you rank. In the book, he explains more about it. To be honest, I am not there yet, but I know that is where it is going. 

We all need to take a step back and look at our changeable, easy, mundane habits and make changes there. But we also need to take a hard look at our lives and figure out what changes, inside ourselves, we can continue to make to get us where we want to be. I hope that makes sense.

Below is a link to his test, it is free. He also gives you some info on what the colors mean, without having to listen to the book. But I will tell you, I am getting more from the book than I did from just reading my test scores. 

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Later

I used to think that self-help books were just for people that had problems, like big problems. I thought alcoholics, people in abusive relationships, people who cry themselves to sleep every night, people who can't stand up for themselves, things like that. Boy was I WRONG!

At the end of May, I joined a group and got a mentor. The first part of this course was about personal development. I still had a bad image of this idea, but as I kept going through the course, I started to understand why. In order to help other people, I need to be the best version of myself possible. I need to be mentally strong, I need to understand myself, I need to be the best me possible. Now, during grad school and since then, I have grown a lot, learned a lot about myself, and am proud of the person I am today. However, I looking to start a business and I have NO IDEA what I am doing. So, instead of finding books about alcoholism, or narcotics, like I used to think all the self-help books are about, I found people who are entrepreneurs paving the way. What a better way to learn then to follow in the steps of people who have been there and done it? 

Basically, self-help books don't need to be for super insecure people, or people struggling to the extent I thought before. It's for anyone, and everyone! What I have learned most in this group that I am in, is that I am NOT ALONE. The way I think is not wrong, it's not bad, it's not uncommon. Once a week, I think:
"How am I going to do this?"
"Why would anyone listen to me?"
"No-one has done this before, how do I get people to listen?"
"I'm not good enough."
"I don't have enough experience, maybe I should wait."
"This is hard."

I am NOT ALONE in thinking this way, and neither are you. My creating a business is hard. My weight-loss journey is hard. But, I am not alone. There are others out there like me. That is why I am writing this blog. Give some hope to people starting out. You aren't alone. We are all good enough, we CAN do this, it IS HARD. That's ok. It's mindset that matters.

I talked about habits last week. Habits are a form of mindset. We need to get the right mindset to be who we know we can be, who we deserve to be. Self-help books are what helps me be a better me, mentally. I recommend Joe Sincero's "You are a Badass" as a good starting point. I listened to the audio book, but she had humor with it and I was finding myself relating. Now I listen to podcasts. As I find more, I will share, but get started on improving your mentality, and the rest will start to come. 

Check out her book here: ​

I talked a little about how I got stuck in a rut with some old habits and how I started to change my habits again this week. I figured I would give some tips on what I did to start changing my habits again. I am still struggling, but I know what to avoid

Tip 1: Figure out what your trigger is. Mine is the TV. Don't turn the TV on in the morning, I am already off to a better start than before. What is your trigger? Is it sitting on couch for breakfast? Is it not showering first thing in the morning? Is it staying in bed too long? What is it? Identify what gets you started on your "bad" path.

Tip 2: Stop doing your trigger. Now you have identified it. That's the first part. Now you can stop! You might not be able to everyday, but try. Give it a try and see how it goes.

Tip 3: Find your work spot. Have a dedicated spot for working. I have an office in my house, but if I start doing "work" on the couch, I am not nearly as productive, or I just start looking on social media. If I go to a coffee shop, I am also super productive. Writing this now, in a coffee shop. Actually, all my posts thus far are in coffee shops. Find your work place and try and make it a habit to get there. I don't go out for coffee everyday, but maybe I need to for a week or two, just to get me back in the rhythm of working on my own time.

Tip 4: Have a plan. What I mean by this is figure out what it is that you need to work on during that day. If you need to work on social media, schedule time for that. If you need to work on exercise programs, set time for that. If you need to document, set time for it. We have low attention spans and as Physical Therapists, we are used to being with patients, not sitting in front of a computer. We might associate computers with documenting, who knows what it is. I made a colander, or a Trello board, with things I need to do. You can even make an old fashioned "To Do" list on paper. Whatever works for you, but plan it out, schedule it. Know your plan and your success on that day will be higher. 

Those are some of my tips. Let me know how they go or what works for you.