The 5-Minute Mindset Workout

One reason most individuals can’t transform their lives is because they neglect to write down their goals and desires. The commitment is not there, and the passion to succeed is lost like a ship in the fog. This apathy is a product of many things: a paralyzing inability to decide what they want, the negative beliefs from their past conditioning, old habits, and low self-esteem, just to name a few.

No matter how many times you commit to changing your life, until you resolve the underlying issues fueling your negative thought patterns, you will keep sabotaging your efforts to change. If you desire a total transformation in your life, yet feel as if you can’t untangle yourself from the same patterns, there is a way to change.

I developed the Five-Minute Mindset Workout as a way to clear my mind of insecurity and focus on what is important. By following these five steps twice a day (once in the morning, once before bed), you can start living a more fulfilling life. Pick a particular goal, then follow these steps until your mind and spirit are attuned to a sharp focus, and your dream becomes manifest:

1) Practice Gratitude:
Start by simply being grateful for what you have now: your spouse, your children, your home, even something as small as the quarter you found on the sidewalk. Sit and write it down, starting each line with, “I’m so happy and grateful for_____,” then fill in the blank. Consciously practicing gratitude is the first step to transforming your life: when you feel happy about what you already have, these affirming thoughts will attract bigger and better things to be grateful for.

2) Get Clear:
Be perfectly clear about what you desire. To gain clarity, first set an intention to achieve your dream, making sure to write down this intention. List all of your goals, no matter what they are—a new car, better health, more money, better employment. Think big. Remember success lies in the details, so the more detailed you are in your descriptions, the better. Once you clearly have a picture of what you want, you must make a positive emotional connection with this picture. For example, if you are dreaming of a new job, imagine the joy you’ll feel calling your parents on the phone, the pride you’ll experience as your friends congratulate you. These positive thoughts will energize you towards your goals, but more importantly they will attract positive energy.

3) Believe You Deserve It:
Whatever you desire, you must absolutely believe that you deserve it. We all want a better life and we all deserve one, but any doubt that you are worthy of success will keep you from your dreams. Avoid dwelling on what you don’t have, and focus on what you will or should have. Just BELIEVE that something’s possible, then BELIEVE you deserve it. By doing this you will create a different pattern of thought, which will lead you to your desired outcome.

4) Visualize:
Visualization is one of the most powerful exercises you can do to transform your life. When you visualize, you are materializing an ideal future. It isn’t a static image of success, like it is in Step 2: it’s a dramatization of the life you want to live. When you visualize, you should always see your desired outcome in the present, as detailed and crisp as a movie. This will remind you of how close your dream is. This creates specific thoughts and feelings that will eventually lead you to your ideal reality.

5) Allow and Receive:
The final step is to allow your dreams to manifest into reality, then allow yourself to receive them. This seems relatively straightforward, but in fact, many individuals struggle to believe they are worthy to receive gifts. To accomplish this step, you must make the choice to move toward the life you’ve envisioned. This means embracing your desire, and focusing only on your goals. Instead of wistfully dreaming about what you don’t have, focus on the things that you do have. Focus the things you have and are grateful for towards the single task of achieving what you want to achieve. When your focus is so intense, it is easy to allow yourself to dream and to receive the reality of these dreams.

Now that you know the Five-Minute Mindset Workout for mental transformation, all that’s left is to put the steps into action. Sometimes the outcome of this meditation means risk, or temporary confusion was you move outside of your comfort zone. But don’t worry about being uncomfortable: the results will be well worth it.

Remember that self-improvement is a process, not a one-time event. Life changes require consistent effort—not just a couple of times a week, but daily. If you find yourself gravitating toward unproductive actions, use the Five-Minute Mindset Workout to help your mind refocus on the task at hand. Week-to-week, day-to-day, moment-to-moment, we all have the power to develop a higher level of clarity.