In a recent 2021 goal-achievement survey I conducted of women entrepreneurs in Europe and the US, it came as no surprise that the biggest mindset challenges they felt they were currently facing were ‘confidence, motivation, and focus.’
Though many survey participants had set goals for 2021, less than 20% felt they had a 75% or more chance of achieving them, and 6.5% feared it may be pointless or impossible to try and reach their desired goals this year.
We are all aware of what the pandemic can do to our bodies, but perhaps less aware of the effect it’s having on our minds, regardless of whether we have contracted the virus. Many of us, due to personal hardships because of the pandemic, what we are seeing and hearing on the news, our commiserating conversations with others, and our subconscious reactions to seeing everyone outside of our homes in masks, are in a heightened, prolonged state of stress, known as the ‘fight, flight or freeze response.’
And when we are in this state – in which our primitive brain, the Amygdala, has sensed danger and started pumping our system with the stress hormone Cortisol – the more modern part of our brain effectively powers down so that all the power goes towards getting away from the danger.
But for the moment there is no escaping the danger of COVID-19. We can minimize it by wearing masks in public, keeping our social distance, washing our hands and getting vaccinated when the opportunity arises, but for the foreseeable future it is a danger that we have to live with.
So how do we get ourselves out of the fight, flight or freeze response and send power back to the part of our brain that can keep us focused and motivated on making the most out of 2021 regardless of what’s happening around us?
Here are 5 brain hacks to help keep you more focused, motivated, and confident in your ability to achieve your desired personal and professional success in 2021:
- Surround Yourself with Images of What You Want – I know some of you may roll your eyes at the idea of ‘vision boards’ but the fact is that your subconscious – in charge of 95% of your thoughts, feelings, actions and therefore outcomes – only pays attention to two things. The images you focus on repeatedly, and the words you say to yourself and others repeatedly. Surround it with images of doom, gloom and danger and it will kick into survival mode, and that’s what you will do – survive. Surround it with images of how you want to thrive, and it will energize and empower you to create what you repeatedly show it.
- Bombard Yourself with Words About What You Want – and there’s the eyeroll again – yes, I’m talking about mantras, because your subconscious needs clear simple instructions about what to focus on, believe and create for you, and it needs it repeated over and over again. A great way to do this is to create a positive question about what you want to achieve and include your biggest obstacle against achieving it into your question. For example, ‘why am I so easily and effortlessly losing 10kg when I can’t even go to the gym?’ or ‘how am I rapidly growing my client base without networking events or conferences to attend?’ Pose a question to your subconscious over and over and it will go on a mission to create and implement the answer!
- Anchor Your Workspace to a Focus and Flow Mindset – Make sure that you consistently work in the same space, and that you only do work in that space. Don’t eat in that space, or watch TV there, or check social media, or surf the net. Turn off ping notifications and minimize distractions while in this space, and take movement breaks from it at least every 90 minutes. For those of you working from home with limited space, where the dining room table or the living room sofa is your only option, then switch seats and the angle that you’re facing when you are not working. Make sure that images of what you want to achieve are within your workspace sight, and have music playing softly in the background with a binaural beat in the Beta range of 13-20 Hz to increase concentration and focus (available on Spotify and other music channels. *Check with your doctor first. There are a few conditions that are not compatible with listening to binaural beats.)
- Do the Worst First & Quench a Thirst – Determine the 20% of your actions that will bring you 80% of your results, identify which of those actions you dread the most and always do it first. Be it the dreaded workout, the accounts, the sales calls, the video recording or live broadcast, etc. Make a routine of doing it first thing per day, week, etc. Then immediately celebrate your success with something you ‘thirst’ for –some dark chocolate, a phone call to a friend, a walk outside, a 15-minute dance break, a coffee break, etc. If you want your subconscious on board and fueling your goal achievement you must convince it that the actions you need to take to get there consistently bring you more pleasure than pain. So reward yourself repeatedly, every day, with a variety of healthy, feel good experiences after every completed task, especially the ones you don’t initially look forward to.
- Reprogram Your Brain While You Sleep – install a new set of empowering beliefs and clear instructions for your subconscious of exactly what you want to create, receive and achieve while your mind’s over-protective gatekeeper, the conscious mind, is asleep. A qualified hypnotherapist can create hypnosis tracks for you focused on your specific goals and the empowering beliefs you need to achieve them, that you fall asleep to every night (so no precious time lost during the day) to rapidly boost your belief and ability to create the success you want. They can also produce daytime versions with the beta binaural beats so that you are more focused and productive while working, with the added benefit of increasing your self-belief and motivation to succeed.
By Barbara Scalera, The Success Hypno Coach, successhypno.coach
If you’re interested in obtaining bespoke day and evening hypnosis tracks focused on your specific goals email barbara@successhypno.coach.
If you are an existing or aspiring woman entrepreneur who wants greater confidence, motivation and focus to achieve your desired success in 2021 you can APPLY HERE to participate in Barbara’s upcoming free 4-week course, 2021 SUCCESS MINDSET REBOOT, starting MONDAY 22 FEBRUARY