Use Your Brain! Begin the Journey to Leaving 9-5 Life: Learn 3 Powerful Steps to Shift Your Mindset from a Certified Meditation Teacher
Deanna is intentional with her life: it’s all about shifting your mindset.
Shifting your mindset is Step 2 on the Free At 50 6-Step Checklist to Escape the 9-5. Meeting Deanna Wheeler, Certified Meditation Teacher, and getting to know her, was serendipitous. She started teaching meditation to help people focus on what truly matters, being part of their life instead of watching it pass them by. Her knowledge and expertise with practical mindfulness tools that can be used to help regulate emotions, increase attention, and practice kindness towards yourself – powerful for her students.
Deanna's mission is to help you get off the sidelines so you can really LIVE your life! If that is not in sync with creating the Free At 50 lifestyle I talked about in my birthday post, I don’t know what is. We must shift our mindset to get out of 9-5 life’s limiting beliefs and into our next chapter.
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RELATED: Deanna's Create, Affirm, Inspire Idea book.
Just thinking about leaving your 9-5 can feel incredibly overwhelming!
Doubt, fear, and uncertainty all creep in when we start to explore something new. Leaving what we know is certainly something new, right? These feelings cause us to go into fight, flight, or freeze mode, more commonly known as panic and feeling anxious!
When this happens, we often stop in our tracks and think it’s impossible to do. Our thoughts are not who we are, but often we let them in the driver’s seat, so to speak. It is up to us to shift the mindset around the thoughts we have regarding change in our lives such as leaving the 9-5.
Image by S. Hermann / F. Richter from Pixabay
The Brain
It is hard to have a positive mindset about leaving 9-5 work when so many questions come up, where do I start? How do I do this? What if it doesn’t work? Is this the right thing?
You get the picture here, I think!
You’ve probably experienced this, and more! These questions are hard to answer when we’re in a place that feels unknown. We’ve seen others do it, but can we really do it ourselves? Deep down we know it’s possible, but on the surface, there is no proof of success which can definitely hold us back!
Let’s step back for a second and look at why we start to feel anxious and panic about new things and changes. There is a reason for the series of events described here and that is this: the brain likes what it knows, and it doesn’t like what it hasn’t encountered before.
Image by juan fernando espejo from Pixabay
Questions
The brain processes every situation, every experience, in our lives with a few questions
- Have I done this before?
If so:
- What happened last time?
- How did we navigate this?
At which point it will then decide if you should proceed or not based on what it knows from the past.
If not:
- Is this safe?
- Because I can’t predict an outcome, is this necessary?
At which point it will determine if it’s worth the unknown risk to proceed.
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay
Fear of the Unknown
When fear of the unknown occurs, our body’s systems start to take control to protect us, as if we are actually in a life-threatening situation.
There are all kinds of scientific terms that help explain this including things like the amygdala, the hippocampus, parasympathetic, and sympathetic nervous systems. For simplicity, let's just say the part of the brain designed to keep us safe from danger takes over. You know the part that once kept us safe from wild animals and helped us find resources to stay alive?
In the past, way way way back, every single decision was made based on survival. Decision making becomes challenging when we have overwhelming feelings because the body is acting as if we are in survival mode, when we’re actually not. This is because the brain’s one and only function at that moment is to respond to the stress we’re experiencing.
Image by Lubomir Vladikov from Pixabay
Step 1 to shift your mindset: Pause
All of this leads to how we can shift our mindset and create a different series of events. Yes, you can really do that, you have that power within you!
When you start to doubt or have uncertainty around leaving your 9-5, one of the best things, the first thing I always suggest, that you can do is to pause. Literally stop what you are doing and take 3-5 deep breaths.
This simple action, supported by science, tells the brain that you are in control, you are safe, and there is nothing to react to. You have just taken very intentional and thoughtful action in stopping the stress response of the body from taking the driver’s seat!
Photo by Hello I'm Nik on Unsplash
Step 2 to shift your mindset: Reflect
Now that you are in control of the stress response, you can choose how to respond. The next step to shift your mindset is to reflect on where you are, where you’d like to go, and the most logical steps you’ll take to get there. For this, I suggest journaling.
Grab yourself a notebook and pen and sit evaluating and reflecting, allowing time for this over the course of a few days, weeks, or months even. You’ll learn a lot over time!
Write down the things that come up about where you are at:
- How are you feeling?
- What happens in your body when you think about your current situation?
Envision where you want to go:
- What does it look like?
- How does it make you feel once you’re there?
Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Unsplash
Write out the steps you know you’ll have to take:
There will be some, possibly many, unknowns here and that’s okay! Leave space to fill that in as it comes to you.
Lastly, set your intention:
Write down why exactly it is that you want to leave the world of 9-5. This will be helpful in reinforcing your decision as you move forward, and those doubts come back.
NOTE FROM DAPHNE: Get a journal- I use it two. Deanna’s recommendation is spot on for being intentional and shifting your mindset.
Step 3 to shift your mindset: Connect
Finally, now that you’ve figured out where you want to go and know why you want to get there, the last way to shift your mindset is through meditation. Meditation allows space for you to connect with yourself, with who you want to be and what you want in life.
Quieting down all the “noise,” the world’s expectations, society’s standards, the weight you carry on our shoulders allows you to really hear what’s inside. So often we go through life not hearing that, never knowing what it is, simply because we haven’t taken time to slow down and listen.
Meditation, being present in life, helps us see what we’re doing day to day. Sometimes we are doing things on autopilot, without thought or purpose. Then, and only then, do we have the opportunity to explore why we’re doing these things and decide if it’s something we enjoy or not. Is it actually serving us or is it because someone else said we should?
Connecting within and understanding ourselves deeper allows us to find more flexibility and freedom in creating the life we desire!
Photo by Hans Vivek on Unsplash
Shift Your Mindset
Long story short, leaving a 9-5, exploring something new is most definitely challenging.
Remember that it can be equally exciting and end up being so much more rewarding and fulfilling in the long run. It is up to you to consciously shift your mindset, to use these tools and techniques to override that fear and uncertainty.
You have everything you need. Sit in that driver’s seat and have an amazing ride!
Reach Deanna:
Get her Create, Affirm, Inspire Idea Book here!
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/rawwellness16
Website: www.deannawheeler.life
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