Saint Velvet Blog

MOVING TOWARDS SUCCESS:

MINDSET

Mindset is everything. This narrative is about how you can move and empower yourself to success primarily through self discovery and mindset. In my life I have been through some tough and trying times so i’m here to share some of my experiences with you to help anyone who needs to hear these words. For starters, I don’t believe in everyone deserving a gold medal for participation, or about taking the easy way out and cutting corners. Life is hard and it will challenge you so get equipt and challenge it back. My philosophies may not be for everyone so if your already uncomfortable, this is probably NOT for you. If you’re still reading.. Get comfortable being uncomfortable and ready for some truth. Moving towards success is more than just thinking “i’m gonna make it”. It’s constant self discipline and getting your mindset right. This world owes you absolutely nothing so you better come for everything you want with all you have. These fundamental keys helped me so I aspire to help others by sharing them with as many of you as I can. But again, I repeat, this world owes you NOTHING. You want it? Better get working and planning.

Old ways won’t open new doors. I’ve said this before and i’ll say it again - Mindset is everything. Getting my mindset right has tremendously helped me in every aspect of life. Moments in life will change you but it’s a matter of how you decide to react is what makes you. I without a doubt believe that what is happening in your life is a result of what’s happening in your mind. So let’s discover what I mean to get your mindset right. We all go through hard times where we cannot control the circumstances, i’m certain you can relate. Yet, we CAN control our minds and thoughts during these times. Is it always easy? No. Important? Yes, VERY. You have the power and ability to control your brain to think a certain way. It just takes conditioning and consistency. Say you wake up and have a great start to your day. You get all the green lights on your way to work, your favorite breakfast, appreciation from co- workers, and genuinely in a great mood - But suddenly something comes up that frustrates or hurts you and now your positive mood is shot. You let one little thing completely shift your mood - for what? It’s like we are wired to forget the good and completely focus on the negative and hurt due to the imprint it leaves on us. This is life and as we know, things are constantly out there that upset and hurt us my friends and we must learn to rewire our brains and focus on all the positive moments and blessings that life has also given us. This is just getting started. This is moving towards success. Once you have successfully taken the reins and rewired your brain to handle a situation without negativity, there is nothing that can bring you down without you letting it. Once you put your focus on all the positives in your life, your life starts to transform. Believe me, the way you tackle a hurdle and perceive a situation is key to moving toward success. This is why there are some people who have nothing and are soulfully rich and perfectly happy and why some who have it all are still unhappy. Their mindsets determine their happiness, it is truly as simple as that.Once you learn the power of your mind you can see it transform your life. Controlling your mindset will help you reach your goals, happiness, success and gravitate away from the negativity.

“My greatest challenge has been to change the mindset of people. Mindsets play strange tricks on us. We see things the way our minds have instructed our eyes to see.”

-Muhammad Yunus

MOVING TOWARDS SUCCESS:

SELF LOVE

There’s an old saying that goes, “Success does not bring happiness; happiness brings success”. From my personal experiences I have definitely found it true when you have that inner knowing that you have your own back, you gain that sense of self love and worth. It’s that inner knowing that your self-worth is not dependent on your material possessions or social status. Learning to truly love yourself for who you and what you stand for will be one of your most important accomplishments in your life. Living through a social lens; I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I’ve been guilty of it myself. This almost always leads to poor mental health. Before I knew what self love was I was always striving to be someone I wasn’t. “Do it for the Gram!”. Are you more excited about the number of likes you get than the actual number of those people who know you?

Be cautious.

Living this way makes you feel like a fraud in your own life and leaves you feeling empty. When you can’t come to terms with who you really are you feel lost in your identity and struggle with your own sense of self. You end up around people who don’t value and support who you are. Yet people don’t seem to understand the harm of living through the lens. Have you ever felt like every song lyric was a potential tweet or instagram caption? Every sunset was a potential post or Snapchat? Was your time at the beach or vacation to the mountains even worth it if you didn’t get enough likes? Living like this puts you in one place physically and another place mentally. Do not fall into this lifestyle of focusing your energy on how others perceive you and you life. Capture life's moments in your heart and soul, not on your smartphone. I’ll say it again for those of you in the back, stop focusing on making others perceive your unrealistic lifestyle and start living with intention. Gaining a sense of self worth has helped me to shy away from this millennial trend and experience genuine happiness in my life. In doing this, you’re just getting started. Recognizing the value of self-love and not focusing what others may think of you is yet another key to improving your quality of life and moving towards success.

“Self respect, self worth and self love, all start with self. Stop looking outside of yourself for your value.”

- Rob Liano

MOVING TOWARDS SUCCESS:

GOAL SETTING

Goal setting starts with getting in the right mindset. Before you workout do you get pumped? I do. I get my mind ready so that when I get to the gym I’m just ready to crush my workout. Same goes for setting goals in general. Get yourself in the right mindset and make a list of everything you want to achieve. A lot of people wonder what is the point of evening making goals. Let start here; having goals help compel you to focus and should motivate you. Goals also generate momentum. Seeing progress is tremendously addicting, satisfying and perhaps the most important reason why setting goals are important is because it builds character once you actually achieve your goal. It’s cheesy saying but I’ll say it anyway: whatever the mind believes, the body achieves. The body follows the mind. Now get out there and set some goals because no one's going to do it for you!

MOVING TOWARD SUCCESS:

PERSEVERANCE

If you’re anything like me you have always felt different, like you didn’t belong even though you might look like you do. I’ve always had hope and dreams that seemed impossible because they were so far out of reach and people like me don’t get those things where I was from. I’ve always had a desire to be better than what everyone around me thought I would be. It stirred up a sense of discipline and determination at a young age because I know from the beginning if I wanted something I was going to have to figure it out and get it on my own. Having the vision to see what others didn’t and the passion to motivate myself definitely made me feel a whole lot different than my friends throughout childhood and even throughout my young adulthood. I wholeheartedly believe perseverance is a main contributor to what kept me going every day, every step of the way through every single obstacle in my life. Despite every failure, every obstacle, every door that's closed in your face, you can not give up. These are the moments it’s the absolute most critical to overcome every ounce of opposition that’s thrown in your way. Look, the bottom line is that perseverance is the difference between failure and success. However, failure is important too. You have to understand that without failure you can’t develop perseverance. Failure is an inevitable part of success so never be afraid of failing. Buck up and persevere.

“Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.”

- Julie Andrews

MOVING TOWARD SUCCESS:

FINDING YOURSELF

“Who am i”? It’s a question we should continually ask ourselves throughout life. We’ve heard those cheesy sayings “discover yourself” or “find the real you” but what does that even mean to figure out who you are? People tend to let society decide who you are by putting a label on you based off of your career path, social status or by what your hobbies are. Friends, this is NOT what finding yourself is. It’s not waiting on that label, it’s about making a decision of who you want to be. Write down your major goals and figure out how and what you need to do to achieve those. What kind of person do you need to be to make it happen? Distinguish your thoughts from the thoughts of others. Don’t sleepwalk through life on autopilot to fit into the societal view of what your suppose to be doing or how you're supposed to be.

Be authentic and don’t mold yourself into society's pre-existing norms if that's just not who you are or what you like. Don’t be afraid to give yourself some time and space in solitude to get away from the expectations, the noise, and social media to figure out who you want to be. Take notes and write down your goals, desires, and thoughts on who you want to be so that you can reflect back on those notes since it’s easy to forget about purposeful thoughts. So let's be clear, does it make sense that finding out who you are shouldn’t be you going out into the world for it to tell you who you are but rather making a personal decision of who you want to be and becoming that vision of who you want to be.