Sometimes the things in life that are holding you back aren’t a lack of time, hard-earned skills, tools, or raw talent. If our minds are like computers, then it stands to reason that they sometimes need a little spring cleaning, too. Whether it’s old ideas we no longer have room for, or beliefs about ourselves we picked up years ago, and never questioned again, clearing our thoughts is just as important as keeping an uncluttered desk.
Old thoughts sit quietly in the background of our minds like cached assumptions. Fast, familiar, and often wrong. Every time we try to do something new, our minds have the potential to recall the same stale answers, slowing our progress.
As I embark on my own journey to growth in multiple areas, I’m putting this into practice for an important reason.
Insight: Your beliefs can become legacy data
Much of what we consider “the truth” about ourselves is actually just outdated information. It can be conclusions we form when we are under pressure, under-resourced, or surrounded by people who cannot see us clearly. Sometimes these old ideas were born out of failure, and other times they’re a product of our fight for survival. Perhaps the worst are those we developed from comparing ourselves to others, especially those who seemed to be achieving the very things that we wanted for ourselves but couldn’t attain.
It can look something like this:
- “I’m not technical.”
- “I’m not built for that.”
- “I always mess it up.”
- “I’m too late.”
- “That’s for other people.”
And yeah, if you look at the “facts” of a situation, sometimes these lines seem pretty reasonable. After all, why else, and how else, could they last so long? The longest-lasting files in our mental computers are the ones we think we need. They disguise themselves under “keeping it real” when really, they’re keeping us stuck.
Our thoughts are constrained, and not all constraints are bad. Constraints are really just parameters that set the boundaries of a thing, and we all know that a mind without boundaries is a mind that’s heading for disaster. But if we don’t update our constraints, we’re consigning ourselves to being optimized for who we used to be, not who we currently are, or who we want to become.
When our thoughts restrict our trajectory, it’s time to let them go.
When we start to hit resistance or pain, it’s a good time to examine what we’re carrying that we may need to let go. Maybe it’s not that you’re not technical, you just never found the method that works for you. Instead of saying you’re not built for this, maybe it’s time to see if you were meant to do it alone in the first place.
I’ll share a bit of what’s been working for me, and it’s really simple at the core of it. Instead of listening to the voices of my old thoughts, I replace the reasoning data with a simple constraint: “I can.”
I can learn that new language.
I can build that dream.
I can achieve great things.
And I don’t have to become somebody else to do it - I’m already the somebody who can get it done.
The gist of it
Clearing our mental cache doesn’t mean pretending things are easy. It means refusing to let constraints be confinement. It means removing or reframing conceptions about ourselves that no longer match reality. We’re allowed to update our software (self-image). We’re allowed to outgrow our old conclusions.
Practical Tip: Reframe one constraint
Find one thing that’s been living in your head rent-free, something related to a goal that you’ve wanted to achieve but didn’t.
Then, ask yourself:
- Where did I learn this?
- Is it still true, or just familiar?
- What would I try this week if I assumed the opposite was possible?
Now all you need is to take one small step in the direction of your goal. Can’t do it alone? That’s totally fine. Asking for help is a good first step. Whatever you do, just make sure you do something new.
Here’s what I’ve published recently:
It’s FOSS
- Why is Debian Called the Universal Operating System, Again? A quick look at what “universal” actually means in Debian’s world today—portability, stability, and why maintaining that promise is such a massive effort.
Working with us
At RolandiXor Media Inc., we blend design and open-source thinking for our clients.
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Catch you in the next Roll Out!
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