Break out of mental jail

Each of us has the potential to excel and to reach the highest level in our chosen fields. However, the laws of nature seem to be designed to prevent easy success.

As you try to climb your mountain, you will find so many forces seemingly conspiring to keep you at the bottom.

Progress doesn’t come cheap. There will therefore always be more opportunities to give up than to go up.

It is easier to sleep than to run;

It is easier to drown than to swim;

It is easier to slide than to climb;

It is easier to walk than to fly;

It is easier to retrogress than to progress;

It is easier to descend than to ascend;

It is easier to be average than to be excellent;

It is easier to fail than to succeed.

The reality is that failure requires no effort on your part. It is almost automatic. Success is a journey that requires continuous application and improvement.

However, if you fail to mount a sustained effort at climbing the ladder of life, the sheer force of gravity will pull you downwards.

All you need to do is to stop working on yourself or trying to improve and you will see a gradual or in some cases, rapid decline in your life.

Break out of jail

It is evident that ‘gravitational forces’ conspire to keep a person from achieving their dreams. For everyone who makes it to the pinnacle of their mountain, there are several others who remain stuck at the bottom.

The picture of the bottom is definitely not a rosy one; it is a place of congestion, restrictions, limited opportunities and unrealised potential. It is not a place a person must desire to remain in.

A person, who finds him or herself at the bottom of the ladder for a long time, is likely to feel enslaved or constrained. The feeling is similar to that to one of being imprisoned or detained.

For such a person, the following tips can help you break out of any restrictions and climb all the way to the top:

1. See yourself in transit. The bottom of the ladder is a beginning point rather than a final destination for you. See yourself as a person on your way to the top. Plan your life as such. Your address at the bottom is temporary.

Do not plan to stay there forever. Don’t allow yourself to get too familiar and comfortable there. If you are homeless, unemployed, illiterate or at the lowest point on your career ladder, see that as a first step and navigate your way forward.

2. Break the journey down. A typical climb to the summit of a mountain involves breaking the journey into segments in order to allow climbers to adjust to the conditions at each level.

In the same way, keep your eyes at the top; but don’t try to get there at once. Many have tried that with disastrous results. In the natural, you could slip, fall and injure yourself in the process. Have a picture of your ultimate destination but break it down into smaller goals and segments and climb them one step at a time.

That way you also avoid being discouraged by the sheer enormity of the task ahead of you. Very importantly climbing a step at a time allows you to build up your muscles and capacity at every level before you meet the challenges of the next level.

3. Be motivated by the opportunity to progress. The realisation that you can climb up to the next level must serve as a source of motivation for you to keep climbing. As you meditate on the picture of your next level and the new set of responsibilities, opportunities and rewards that will characterise it, you will find the inner strength to make the sacrifices required to get there.

Whenever we are writing a new book, we endure several months of sitting up late and waking up early in order to work without interruption.

Challenging as this routine might seem, the prospect of the book being published, being a blessing to our readers and achieving its objectives keeps us going from one book to the next.

In the same way, if you are studying to get your professional qualification as a chartered accountant, insurer or marketer, the prospect of achievement should serve as a great motivator for you.

4. Let your language reflect your convictions. Your life will move in the direction of your dominant thoughts and confessions. If you continually refer to yourself as a failure and admit that you are stuck at the bottom of the ladder, no amount of prayers or support can change that.

Some people have a sense of ownership of failure. They use words like ‘my problem’ or ‘my weakness.’ It is not uncommon to hear such a person say something like, ‘As for me, I know that no matter how hard I try I will remain here.’

When you take that kind of position, you will find others who are very willing to help you reinforce it. You may be at the bottom today; but refuse to accept any attempt to make that position permanent.

Spend more time talking about your hopes and aspirations and less about your problems and you will see a change in your life.

5. Take inspiration from others. It is often helpful to learn from the stories of more successful people who braved the same odds at their beginnings and overcame them in order to reach the place where they are.

Many of the accomplished people we admire have had to overcome formidable obstacles and battle all manner of challenges. Hearing them share their lessons can provide useful guidelines for our own progress. Some people learn from the errors others have made.

They are the wise ones. Others demonstrate by their behaviour that they believe that true learning comes only from personal experiences. Such people endure needless pain and heartache over the course of their lives.

6. Start climbing now. When all is said and done, the greatest force of change is action. It is not enough to realise or admit that you do not belong at the bottom.

It is even not enough to decide to do something about it and to know what exactly to do. Many get to that important point and still fail in life.

The defining moment in a person’s life is often that point where he or she vacates that place of despair, defeat and disappointment and begins to move up the ladder to the top. Beyond all the talk and complaints, the key to change is action. Start moving now! Do something today!!!