8 Ways To Reboot Your Life Focus on Changing Mindset.

Most of us like to have a degree of routine in our lives. It takes some of the pressure off of constant decision-making. I once read that President Obama kept a wardrobe full of the same suits so that he didn’t add small decisions to the big ones he needed to make every day!

And so, many of us will get up at the same time every morning, eat the same things for breakfast, and begin and go about our day much the same as the day before. Whilst the comfort of routine is good in many ways, it can also keep us from what could be. We get so wrapped up in the day-to-day routine that we miss things. Possibilities, adventures, opportunities. We forget to stop and smell the roses, to follow through on dreams, and make fine tweaks and adjustments in ourselves and our lives. We can get into such a rigid pattern of thinking and behaving, that we get stuck on repeat. Like Groundhog Day.

As with most things in life, balance is key, so whether you want a complete system reboot or a simple update, here are 8 ways to reboot your life.

1. Focus on changing your mindset.

Mindset is everything. It’s the foundation of your life, the framework, the narrative. It is as important as any skill or talent. Your mindset influences how you experience life, and so it makes sense to become aware of how and what you think. Henry Ford once said: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right,” which emphasises how much your mindset determines your happiness, your success or your failure.

Whenever you become aware of thinking or saying things like;

“Why does this always happen to me?”

“What am I doing wrong?”

“I can’t do this/that/the other…”

Stop in your tracks. Visualise a big red STOP SIGN! Rewind your thought and challenge them.

“Why does this always happen? STOP “Because I need to change how I…”

“What am I doing wrong?” STOP “What part of this am I doing right and what adjustments can I make?”

“I can’t do this/that/the other” STOP “I can do it actually, and I can smash it, what I need to do differently is…

1. Have a clear-out.

Clear out your workspace, your bedroom, your kitchen and or even your entire office or house. You may already be an organised person, but you can always have a clear-out. You don’t have to take on a major refurb project, just subtle changes, here and there, clear out stuff you no longer need or want. Bit by bit. You might call it having a Feng shui of your personal space as well as your mind space.

Feng shui is about clearing away negative energy and letting good energy flow, chi – the life force energy. You might not believe in such things, especially as scientists haven’t discovered an actual chi in any lab experiment, but consider this: neuroscience has never discovered a physical consciousness nor has any surgeon discovered an actual spirit or soul, but you know you have them, right? Let some chi into your life, have a clear out.

1. Get organised.

Now that you’ve eradicated a few (or a great deal) of unwanted or useless stuff in your environment, and quite possibly opened the windows of your mind and let in some chi, it’s time to get organised. You know how the saying goes, “Tidy home, tidy mind.” Or as I prefer to put it, “Clear space, clear mind.” The more clutter you can see, the more easily you’ll be distracted, start procrastinating, be uninspired or feel demotivated. Being organised decreases stress, reduces anxiety and depression, improves sleep quality, improves relationships, helps you to focus on other aspects of your life, frees up time, and helps you be more productive. If you haven’t already heard of the Japanese declutter Guru Marie Kondo, you might want to look her up. Personally, it’s all a bit much for someone as free-spirited as myself, but the concept is a good one.

1. Treat yourself.

There’s nothing wrong, and everything right, about treating yourself to something that makes you feel good. Whether it’s a bunch of flowers to brighten your room or a Lamborghini to brighten your drive, I don’t know, but you do. Something special for you and you alone. Book a massage (feel good) a trip to the hairdresser or barber (look good) new perfume or aftershave, (smell good) you get the drift. And there’s some real science behind it too. Treating yourself to something nice releases your feel-good hormones and in popular psychology, this has become what we call self-care, self-love, and self-compassion, all of which positively contribute to mental health.

1. Be honest.

Take a good look at yourself and be honest. Look at how you spend your time, what you do with it, the people you spend it with, the things you worry about and that occupy your mind too much, self-doubt, negative thoughts, fears that you allow to control you, anger or resentment you allow to consume you. Laziness, procrastination, the good, the bad and the ugly. Write them down, and take a good look.

Now, look at (or write down) all your wonderful qualities and attributes. Your greatest achievements or triumphs, no matter how big or how small. Think about the time you spend doing things you love, the things that you love doing, and the people you love doing them with. Open your mind to change, to new opportunities, to new ways of doing things, and to new ways of living your life the way you want to. Throw open the doors and windows of your mind and let more chi into your life!

1. Visualise

Visualisation was once regarded as new age, but today it has been scientifically proven that the same regions of the brain are stimulated when we visualise something, as when we physically do it. Visualisation is an invaluable, natural technique that helps you to reach your goals and move towards living the life of your dreams. Many of you might be familiar with the book and movie “The Secret” which tells us how we can bring the things we want into our reality by thought alone. I’ll admit, some of the examples in the story appear a little far-fetched, for instance visualising a new car and having it appear the next day on the front drive as if by magic hasn’t happened for me…yet. But, and it is a big but, visualisation (aka the law of attraction) works, more often than not. If you have realistic goals and a strong belief in being able to achieve them, I believe, you can and you will.

1. Take time.

We’re all busy. Life can be incredibly demanding. You don’t have time for____ or____ or even____ (fill in the blanks) and if this is how you think, you’re wrong, IMHO. There is always time. It’s all you have. It’s a matter of how you use it.

The main reason so many of us feel we don’t have enough time is that we rarely clarify how much time we should be devoted to the different things we value most. If you find you are constantly running out of time, maybe you’re spreading yourself too thin, filling in gaps of time with things that don’t have to be done at that very moment, keeping busy for busy sake.

When my children were young and life was busier than ever, I remember always feeling guilty for taking time out for myself, especially as there was always something that needed to be done! It was many years before I made peace with having me-time, I realised that the quality of my life and that of my children depended on my positive mental health! So, my advice to all the busy people out there; remember to take time for yourself. Every day. Get up a little earlier, go bed a little later, take more time enjoying the food you eat, listen more, talk less, turn off the TV/computer/phone, listen to music, daydream, exercise more, and take up a new sport or interest, join a club, read more books, whatever floats your boat… just be sure to take your boat out to the water, now and then.

1. Renew & Reboot

Renewal is the process of starting something again. To reboot is to restart.

Anyone can choose to renew and reboot their lives. To make big, small or even monumental changes. To improve your current situation, lifestyle, diet, career, and relationships, to give yourself an entirely fresh start, a clean slate. To start over.

The above list might be useful, or you can choose to go your own way. What matters most is that you can change, if you choose. As far as we know, humans are the only living creatures who possess such a gift.

As someone whose profession deals specifically in this area, i.e. the rebooting or reprogramming of the subconscious mind, it goes without saying that clinical hypnotherapy is one of the most popular and well-recognised therapies out there today, to help you move forward with a life reboot.