Have you ever just been so overwhelmed you can hardly breathe?  For me the answer is not usually.  As a matter of fact I cannot remember the last time prior to today that I had felt that way.  I have so much going on that it all at one moment just caught up to me and bogged me down for a little while.  My mood was not beneficial to my state, so i really struggled with my productivity which added to my frustration.  This is what I refer to as a perfect storm of emotions.  You see, our emotions can get the best of us for this reason.  Many times when you feel angry or frustrated, you tend to continue what was making you angry or frustrated to begin with!  This only adds to that anger, further fuels this negative emotion, and needless to say drives you crazy and into a really bad mindset.

As I continued with my work, I not only could not tap into any creativity, but I really felt so negative that even if I had been able to, it would not have been the kind of creativity that I can use.  Finally, I realized with my conscious mind what I was doing and was able to break that state and develop inspiration to write this post.  How did I do it?  Well, I had to break my state of mind!  Anthony Robbins refers to this as breaking your state.  His book “Awaken the Giant Within” is one of my all time favorites on the subject of life change.  Breaking your state is very simple while equally difficult.  Something can be simple without being easy.  We are all innately stubborn and cannot see or recognize what it is that we are doing to continue a negative emotion.  The more you practice breaking your state the easier it becomes.  Eventually you will master it.

Breaking your state, once you are over the stubborn, “I am going to be angry leave me alone” phase, is quite simple.  Who is your hero?  Who do you model yourself after or wish to model yourself after.  For me, I look up to Jim Rohn, Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, Anthony Robbins, Darren Hardy, and many others.  Think of one of your inspirations, and simply go to youtube, and type in their name.  Watch two or three videos of your desired mentor, and your state will immediately change.  I usually skip the step of frustration by doing mindset exercises every morning.  I read, watch videos, listen to audio, watch videos, or whatever I am in the mood for that morning.  I am going to give my top 5 Mindset Breakthrough Exercises.

1. Wake up Early and Read or Write.   If you wake up early to read or write, you are stimulating your brain to jump start your entire day.  I never go without a current read.  I am always in the middle of a book.  I usually buy 4-5 at a time which is dangerous for me because I want all the information at once and grow impatient.  I suggest not buying another book until you are nearly finished with your current one.  I also write in a journal.  I bet that sounds really ridiculous to many people.  I could care less.  While they have good ideas come and go, I will jot all of mine down.  You would not believe the power of putting your thoughts and emotions onto paper.
2. Be physical.  The hormones released from physical activity are not designed for us to be without.  God simply put, wants us running around in some way.  Our mood, health, and happiness are all strengthened by exercise.  I lift weights, jog, play basketball, golf (go ahead and laugh), and have recently gotten into martial arts for discipline improvement.  I assure you, if you are lazy physically, than you can forget about having a mindset breakthrough.  Being lazy physically is literally poison.  You will sabotage your happiness and future with your children, your children’s children, and all of your loved ones.  I always look at my beautiful future wife, and ask myself, “Do you want to abandon her?  Do you want her to have to pick up your slack when you are gone? “  The answers are obvious.  Get fit and find the happiness you deserve from it.
3. Empower yourself.  I used to avoid checking my financial accounts because I would tell myself, “I don’t even want to know.”  Can you imagine?  What kind of power did I have?  I was literally ignoring a problem and avoiding it at all costs.  The thought of that today boggles my mind.  So if I could change this, why can’t you?  How did I change?  I took control.  I started checking my accounts daily.  Not much changed daily, but the peace of knowing what was going on was incredible.  I use this across the board.  If you are in school, check your grades, layout your assignments in a planner, and plan accordingly.  Without a visual, or a written out plan we can never hold ourselves accountable.  If you are in debt, do not avoid looking at it.  Look at it every day!  Then, there is no way you will avoid taking care of it.  We live on pain and pleasure.   Too much pain causes you to change.  Too little pleasure will cause you to change.  Increase your pleasure by decreasing your pain.  Do it the right way and take control over what you are doing.
4. Change your attitude.  How many times do you say hello to somebody walking by and they ignore you.  I promise you this happens to me on a daily basis.  If that same person turned around and asked you for advice would you be inclined to give to them?  I never pass a stranger without giving them a smile and a hello.  I ask how they are.  I do not run by either, I wait for their answer!  Unless of course they have shunned me, then I continue on to the next.  You are not too good to smile at somebody and answer their hello.  Nobody is.  We were all born naked and scared.  We are the same beings and we all deserve to be treated with respect.  Do not worry if you are not getting warm receptions back.  Be happy that at least it is YOU who is doing the kind and respectful gesture.  The increase in value to the workplace you can yield yourself with a smile and a confident, joyous greeting will net you a payoff you never thought possible.  I promise you there is nothing different about me then the next guy in terms of potential.  What I do is I treat people kindly and do not see myself as any better than them.  If I did, I certainly would not rub it in their face!  Do not burn bridges my friends.
5. Invest in you.  Your mindset can be tweaked through all of the aforementioned tips.  It can be developed and changed forever.  These few daily disciplines will pay off larger than your entire college education if you take them as seriously as the people I have studied.  We are all in the people business.  Like it or not it is people that determine your destiny.  You can put the control in your hands if you know how to work with people.  This is how YOU determine you destiny.  Only you can seek out knowledge.   Some go to college, leave with a piece of paper, and think their learning is over.  They are no longer a student.  I can assure you that decision, if held onto, will be the single most destructive decision made for that person.  You must always be learning.  You must always pursue education and wisdom through PEOPLE who have done what you wish to do.  Save yourself years of mistakes and lessons through learning the mistakes of others.  This is easy stuff if you know what to pursue.