3 and a Half ways to cultivate a mindset of excellence

Are you ready for a big statement? Living a life of excellence is the ultimate goal of man kind, how that looks may vary from person to person, but all of us strive to grow, learn and do our best in whatever area we choose. The question is however, what sets apart a person from good achievements to great achievements? How is it that one person can defeat all odds and rise from the ashes, while another simply decides to give up? This is my quest in today's blog, to begin to understand the principles of excellence that ultimately leads to a magnificent life. Lately I have been fascinated by the different paradigms of personal development, from the scientific and more conservative models all the way through to the out there woo woo types and trust me there is some out of this world kind of thinking.  The one are that has stood out the most from this research is the idea of cultivating a positive mindset. Ok Ok, so this isn't mind blowing stuff...  be positive and you get positive results right? but what is worth exploring is the idea of cultivation.

Have you ever had a day where you knew it was going to go wrong, right from when the alarm started to buzz? you know those kind of days, where you sleep past the snooze, trip over the cat and spill coffee on your dress? As a young child I use to think that success was all down to talent, you either had it or you didn't, that there was no changing it (what 'it' was I still cannot tell you, but 'it' was big). I also believed that if I didn't get it perfect the first time then that meant I didn't have the talent. Looking back on that belief now I am amazed at how I ever committed to or achieved anything. As you can imagine growing up with this belief firmly in place allowed a lot of negative and self defeating beliefs, attitudes and behaviour to develop.  What was most impressive was not only the power and self fulfilling properties this belief had but the way in which is was formed. They say ever cloud has a silver lining and the lessons I have received about how I cultivated this belief  are worth more than their weight in gold and now when applied to a more positive idea or belief are helping me to achieve excellence in my own life.

Cultivation Step number 1: plant the seed and worry the crap out of it. Notice that I said plant a seed as step number 1, not plant a fully grown tree. As with most areas, cultivation of mindset starts with a small seed, an idea, or a notion. It doesn't yet have to be a belief, but if nourished correctly can grow not only into a belief, but a truth, propelling you to take inspired action towards manifesting that which is already true for you. Notice that I also said to worry the crap out of it, its amazing how if we are worried about something how obsessed we can get over it, finding all the ways that support the the thing we are most worried about, we meditate upon it, go into states and feelings that further support it, talk about it at every opportunity and even take action in alignment to it, so why not do exactly those things but this time about a belief we want to achieve and experience. Try this if you would, take two pieces of paper, on one piece write the word 'empowering' on another write the word 'dis-empowering'. Next select an area in your life that you wish to master, it could be your health, your finances, a relationship or baking the most incredible family treat for Friday night dinner. Now ask yourself what would I have to believe to be true in order for this to manifest in my life today? and write down all the empowering beliefs (your seeds) you can think of - keep pushing yourself to come up with new ideas and thoughts until you have filled the 'empowering' page, notice also what, if any dis-empowering words spring up and write them down on the dis-empowering page

Now you have a list of seeds in which to plant as well as a list of weeds that need to be uprooted and burned.


Cultivation Step number 2: Release the emotional charge. How we feel about an area in our life impacts the level of excellence we demonstrate in that area. When we feel confident about our abilities to undertake an activity and it makes us feel good we are more likely to repeat it. Take the dis-empowering list from before and I want you to pick an old belieft that has the most energetic charge to it (the one that makes you feel the worst, most angry etc...) Now I want you to pretend that belief was a person and 'forgive' the belief. Now I can hear you say huh??? how can I forgive a belief? simply start the exercise by saying <insert the belief here> I thank you 'for - giving' me the lesson of <insert lesson here> and I now release you". Repeat this process on the same belief until you feel wonderfully inspired. For instance if you were wanting to master the area of health and you had a belief that "I am lazy" you would say "lazy belief, I thank you for giving me the lesson of knowing when to stop relax and enjoy my time and for providing the wisdom of taking re-charge moments and I now release you". Keep going until you have gone through the entire list.

Now with the empowering beliefs ask yourself 'what feelings will this belief give me that will motivate and inspire me to take action?" and list them out, one after the other. While you list them, it is really important to feel them, allow their intensity to grow and to inspire you. As you do this, I want you to develop a mantra that you can 'worry' about.

Cultivation tip number 3: take massive inspired action. People of excellence are prepared to do the things that losers are not. As you sit in the state of inspired energy, now is the time to act and cement in the learning's you've received and to make your new positive mindset a reality. Quickly do three action items right now. They could be call a friend and schedule a walk, do 100 jumping jacks, go throw out all the junk food in the house - what ever it is take action that will get you a step closer to your goals and further enforce the new neurological pathways you are making.

And finally - Cultivation tip number 3.5: Go and celebrate. From reading about Olympians, successful business men and other people of excellence, one thing is certain, these people know how to celebrate their successes. Find a way to go and celebrate the successes in you life, such as reading this blog!! after all success breeds success as does being a person of excellence!!

it all starts with intention

Living a life of passion, all starts with intention. It was only recently that I saw a really good You Tube clip where it outlined how to set intentions. Rather than using words, it focused more on the state in which you would be when that which you wanted to achieve was realised. It even went a little further by going 15 minutes beyond successful completion and soaking in the feeling of successful completion.

Although this process was wonderful and something I have added to my own process. I believe there is more to setting intentions then just feeling the end state, I believe it first starts with getting in a state of pure love, from our heart our deepest desires can be found, followed by identifying and seeking clarity on that which you want to manifest and finally is completed by jumping into the end state and experiencing it as though it already exists and for good measure is completed with words of blessing such as thank you.

As I sit here in pure love tonight, I am so happy and grateful now that I am living a passion filled life, where every morning my 57kg body wakes up feeling refreshed, energised and excited by the morning to come. My beautiful ocean front home is filled with love, luxuary and laughter and I bound out of bed, kiss my husband, dress quickly and head to the beach for a healthy run and exercise session. My work is work that allows me to travel the world, earn millions of dollars, inspires other women and is based on beauty, worthy and passion. I am an excellent speaker and enjoy every moment of work. My family life is filled with laughter and joy and all is well in my beautiful world. Thank you!!

Ok so this is a short version of the life that I imagine, but you get the picture, what was most important as I wrote this I could see, feel and hear the life already created. I am so grateful and trust that all this and better will be provided. As I look at my life currently I have a few gaps to cross in order to receive this even more wonderful life and the intention of this blog is to find the way and to take daily action on enjoying a passionate life, to record all the exercises, feelings and inspirations along the way and I invite you as the reader to take a chance and create your own passion filled life, simply by joining me and starting with setting your own intention.

so what is your intention for life going to be? I would love to cheer you on and celebrate your journey with you!! I look forward to hearing what you have to share and what you are committing to

With much love

The Passion Project