What Is A Big Life?
Living Big starts with Dreaming Big. Then living each day intentionally so that every decision takes you closer to living those dreams.
What would your life look like without the obstacles you see in your way? Would you travel? Volunteer? Start a wildly successful business?
What do your Big Dreams look like?
What if I told you, those Big Dreams could become your Big Life, despite the obstacles? I know because I did it. Here’s a snapshot of my before and after:
BEFORE
Living in poverty as a single mom with a special needs kid and an infant; told by therapists, doctors, teachers, principals that all my son’s difficulties were my fault because I was poor and I had no business having a kid so young; profiled and harassed by cops; no support of any kind from family; no friends because I’d been a teen mom; caught in a welfare system designed to keep me on welfare; when I was finally able to pay my bills on time, my Mom told me ‘You’ve forgotten where you come from,’ ‘You think you’re better than everyone else,’ ‘You’re such a snob,’ etc. So, it’s little surprise that this is also the time in my life my body started falling apart, more and more every day.
NOW
My husband and I have raised those two kids to be incredible young men; we split our time between our beach house on the Outer Banks, NC and the snowy mountains of Bozeman, MT; I’m on my second business, the first being what brought us out of poverty. Yes, I still have chronic illness. But I learned how to work with, rather than against my body, how to change my perspective to open up opportunities and how to honor what my body tells me it needs with compassion.
Today I’m sharing 5 perspectives that helped me get from Before to Now. They changed my life in a Big way and they can do the same for you!
5 Mindset Hacks to Living Your Big Life
1. Gratitude – Noticing and appreciating what you do have takes the pressure off seeing what you don’t have. It also urges you in the direction of gaining more of the things you need, want and the things that simply make your smile.
2. “I can!” belief – Barring laws of physics, there are few things you honestly ‘can’t do. I believe that so strongly, the word is banned in my family. You can do anything you set your mind to. So set your mind to it!
3. Self-compassion – We find it easier to meet other’s struggles with compassion than our own. I am challenging you to validate and meet your needs. Provide for yourself in ways no one else can or will.
4. “There’s always a way” belief – I know you have accomplished things that surprised you. Acing a test or winning a race. Those cherished moments are testament to this belief. If you embrace the belief, you open yourself to far more opportunities than you can ever see.
5. No compromise! – When you allow your values to be your guide, you will accomplish great things. This is when it all gets super real because doing what’s right is often far more difficult. You have to decide that you are worth it!
Moving Forward
I’d speculate that as you read those 5 Mindset Hacks, you might feel some resistance.
“These might have worked for her, but she doesn’t know my situation.”
“I can! Belief (scoff), my illness is very different. I can’t and I just have to accept that.”
“There is not always a way and life demands tons of compromise!”
I hear you! I have thought, felt, believed all that stuff too! And on the other side of those thoughts, feelings and beliefs is your Big Life. Those limiting beliefs are your true obstacles, not your chronic illness. Being overweight is not what’s keeping you from hiking up the mountain; your belief that you can’t is. Struggling with pain and fatigue is not what’s keeping you from starting your own business; your belief that you have no options is.
When you decide you’re ready to do the work to see what’s on the other side of the beliefs you’re clinging to, you open yourself to a world rich in opportunity all around you!
To help you dig in, I’ve created Big Life Mindset Hacks to help you get started. In this guide, we talk about specific thought patterns and exercises I want you practicing every single day! You heard me – EVERY DAY!
I am always real with you. This is tough stuff. If it wasn’t, you’d have had it all figured out by now.
You are going to screw up, forget to practice, backslide when life gets tough. Here’s what I want you to cling to like your life depends on it (because it does) – You meet your mistakes with compassion. You ask, ‘what do I need right now?’ and you give that to yourself. Then, you resume your daily practice. Again and again.
One day, like magic, you are going to pause and look at your life and your mind will be blown!!!
That’s the moment that you realize, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m doing it! How did I get here? I’m actually doing it!’
Don’t forget your free gift: Big Life Mindset Hacks!
