How to Stop Letting Anxiety and Negative Thoughts Ruin Your Life Pt. 12

A lot of my anxiety and negative thoughts came from my unrealistic expectations of myself and my timeline and feeling like I gave up on stuff too soon. In the twelfth video of the series, I’m talking about how to figure out which goals are the ones you should focus on and how to stay dedicated to them until they become reality.

00:00 Intro
00:38 TL/DW: Here’s the answer
01:21 What about the bad stuff?
02:33 1. Know yourself and your vision
03:25 2. Pace yourself and stay focused
04:19 3. Use your strengths strategically
05:03 Wrap up

Today I’m talking about the ninth Hart Habit, which is endure. The mantra that goes with it is, “I consistently implement realistic steps towards my vision.”

When I started the process of developing what is now The Hart Habits, I encountered the verse, that “love always endures”.
For me, that was nonsense.
As I’ve told you before, a lot of people had cheated on me at the time.
Love did not endure for me in any situation.
So, I didn’t know if that meant I had no idea what love was or that if it was real love, it had to last forever.
The truth is, we’re human, and we get tired, and sometimes we should quit things that are not great for us.
Sometimes, we should quit people that are not great for us, even if we love them.
In fact, especially if we love them, and especially if we love ourselves.
I like to use the story of “The Tortoise and the Hare” to illustrate this particular Hart Habit, how it works, and what it takes for us to endure and continue to make realistic steps towards our goals.
Any of us can do it, even if it sometimes seems difficult. Here’s how.

1. Know yourself and your vision

If you watch the Disney cartoon, “The Tortoise and the Hare,” you will notice a couple of very interesting differences between the tortoise and the hare right from the very beginning.
The biggest difference you’ll see is the difference between the need for external validation versus internal.
The tortoise was able to embrace his “weaknesses” and wore a jacket that said, “Slow but sure.”
But the hare was concerned with what everyone would see when he came by and named himself The Blue Streak.
This illustrates the first important point in learning how to endure is to focus in on knowing and loving yourself.
Understand who you are. What are your strengths? What are your “weaknesses”? What are your boundaries?
You’ve got to start with loving you and understanding and knowing who you are, Hart Habit number one.

And you have to know the race that you’re running. You need to be clear about what your vision is and what your goals are.
I’ve talked throughout about ways to record, document, and get out of your brain the visions and hopes you have for your future.

Not only is it a brain hack and a manifestation hack, it’s therapeutic too!
If you let yourself focus too much on the external validation and the circumstances around you, it’s easier to wear out and get distracted on your way to the goal.

2. Pace yourself and stay focused

The second part of how to endure is to pace yourself and stay focused.
Endurance doesn’t have anything to do with how fast or slow you reach a goal.
If you’re a sprinter, it should take this amount of time.
If you’re a marathon runner, it’s a different amount of time.
It’s not about how long it takes, but it is about knowing what the goal is, staying laser-focused on that goal, and pacing yourself in a way that you can realistically maintain.
In fact, going too fast can sometimes destroy the work that you’ve done.
There will be times when you hit obstacles, things get in your way, circumstances change, and it feels like you’ve been totally knocked off-track.
But the key is to keep your eyes on the prize and get back on track when you can.
It’s okay that you had to get off for a little while.
Just refocus and start moving again.
One tiny step at a time is fine.

3. Use your strengths strategically

The third part about how to really endure is to remember to strategically use your strengths.
This refers back to the first part about knowing yourself and if you want to endure, then using your strengths specifically will help you do it with the most efficiency possible. I talked about how to figure out your strengths in How to Stop Letting Anxiety and Negative Thoughts Ruin Your Life Pt. 4
Now you know why I talk about knowing your strengths so often because they really play into every other part of how to create success for yourself in your life.
If you want to endure easily, choose projects, activities, work, and a life path that’s in alignment with being able to utilize your strengths most of the time.

Wrap up

If you are feeling afraid frequently and unsure of what’s to come, which is how my anxiety presented itself, this is the habit for you to work on.
Metaphysically and scientifically speaking, when we apply our energy to something, things change. We just have to apply it in the right amount and consistency to get our desired outcome.
Sometimes, it takes a few tries before we figure out what that perfect mix is or it just takes longer than we thought it would.
Give yourself some realistic goals and push through until you accomplish them to show yourself that you have what it takes.

And when you’re living this habit consistently in every part of your life and putting realistic steps towards progress in every area, listen, everyone will see you as powerful and inspired.
They’ll look to you to teach them how to get where you did when all you really had to do was put little steps in place and keep moving towards the goal.
You may have noticed that I have dropped a lot of references to the other eight Hart Habits as I’ve been talking about this, the ninth Hart Habit.
That’s because they build on one another.
I have one more Hart Habit to talk to you about and then I’ll share a video where I put the whole thing together for you and show you how the system works together so you can use it too if you want to.
In the meantime, if this video inspired any thoughts for you, please drop a comment below, leave me a like, subscribe to the channel, all those things, or visit me at theharthabits.com.
See you next week.
I love you.

Disclaimer –

This video is NOT sponsored. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Your clicks help support the channel and allow me to continue to make videos like this one. But don’t worry, It does not affect the price you pay. 😉 Thank you for your support.