Chapter 1: Reprogramming Your Subconscious Mind

We often find ourselves torn between the desire for a brighter future and feelings of inadequacy. The extent of your confidence and optimism regarding what lies ahead hinges on a single factor.

Reflecting on my own journey, during a time when I was financially unstable, disheartened, and lacking direction, I neglected this crucial element. However, once I altered my approach to this aspect, I opened the door to a more promising future.

It's fundamentally simple, and many of the actions you can take to transform your life are both straightforward and deeply impactful.

A Simple Yet Overlooked Path to Building Confidence

To foster confidence in a brighter future, it’s essential to uphold the commitments you make to yourself. Life operates in cycles of highs and lows. If you generate sufficient positive momentum, maintaining that momentum becomes easier. Conversely, inertia can trap you, making it increasingly challenging to break free.

Let’s delve into inertia, a common state for many individuals. You may feel stuck and find your motivation waning. But how did you arrive at this point? Most of us start out as enthusiastic children, full of dreams. As we grow, we begin to create inertia by failing to keep the promises made to that younger self.

You pledged to pursue meaningful work wholeheartedly, yet didn’t follow through. You assured yourself that your entry-level job was merely temporary until you figured things out, but that moment never came. You kept telling yourself you'd eventually launch that business, enroll in night classes, or switch careers, but those plans fell flat.

This isn’t unusual; many people engage in daydreaming. However, failing to make genuine commitments and not following through can undermine your future.

When you assert, “This time I will do it,” only to give up soon after, you send a subconscious message that you’re not trustworthy. This is evident in the familiar struggle with diets and exercise. Each time you attempt a fad diet or hit the gym for a brief period before quitting, you not only diminish your chances of success but also compound the challenge every time you try again.

I won’t sugarcoat it—the more inertia you face, the harder it becomes to follow through. It’s not impossible, but it certainly becomes more challenging. To genuinely aim for a better future, be mindful of the promises you make and your commitment to keeping them.

How to Convince Your Subconscious Mind of Your Productivity

Your subconscious doesn’t care about the scale of the promises you make; it’s concerned with whether you keep them, how often you do so, and whether you maintain consistency.

Returning to the diet and fitness example, many individuals commit to an entire regimen all at once—this is a common mistake. If you declare, “I’m going to follow a Whole30 diet,” and quit after 12 days, you’ll feel defeated. Yet, if you instead commit to eating whole foods for just one day at a time, you'll build both confidence and momentum. Eventually, you may be ready for a long-term commitment.

This might seem trivial, but our brains have irrational ways of perceiving progress. They recognize momentum as a positive force, regardless of how small each step may seem.

Try this approach: tell yourself you’re going to go to the gym, write a blog post, call your parents, record a YouTube video, research a business idea, practice an instrument, or create a piece of art today. If you hesitate to commit to a complete task, like finishing a blog post, consider committing to a specific time, such as writing for just 10 minutes. If you succeed, you can try again the next day.

This may feel basic, obvious, and simplistic—and that’s because it is. The solutions to living a fulfilling life often are. Overcomplicating the process and engaging in elaborate planning can hinder your progress.

Minimum viable commitments can significantly enhance your confidence in the future.

My Journey of Building Confidence

Approximately five million people have engaged with my work over the past year. I’ve published three books, delivered a TEDx talk, and now enjoy a full-time career doing what I love.

I didn’t have these ambitions when I penned my first blog post. Initially, I simply thought it would be enjoyable to write just one post.

As I continued writing, I became increasingly passionate about it—not because I envisioned a successful writing career, but because I found joy in creating content.

I frequently receive messages from aspiring writers who haven’t yet penned a single word. My advice remains consistent: write one article and gauge how it feels. Then, write another.

Once you become proficient at something, your perception of what’s possible naturally expands. After about a year, I genuinely considered the idea of making a living through writing. After two years, I was fully committed.

However, throughout this journey, I faced setbacks that diminished my confidence, such as leaving projects unfinished and failing to launch initiatives I intended to pursue.

This journey resembles a stock market—there are ups and downs. Perfection isn’t the goal; instead, aim to avoid a downward spiral of consecutive broken promises.

Eventually, you will reach a point where your baseline confidence is so robust that quitting becomes unthinkable, and self-doubt significantly diminishes.

Merely speculating doesn’t help. Considering the future without taking action won’t yield results.

Trust that the future version of yourself is capable of achieving greater things—this potential will manifest if you grant it the opportunity by honoring the small commitments you make today.

If you’ve been following my work for a while, you know I don’t promise easy fixes or immediate solutions.

However, I assure you that the goals you can achieve in the future, through the simple promises you keep to yourself, are incredibly high. You’ll experience ‘compound interest’ in your skills, confidence, and undoubtedly your income.

But to get there, you must reverse-engineer from the present moment.

Take a meaningful step today. Don’t simply move on from this self-improvement post without acting on the information. Identify one small task to complete today and commit to it.

Share it in the comments below. Though this post may attract many readers, the number who engage in the comments often remains low. You can stand out by taking this simple action.

So, go for it.

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Chapter 2: Practical Strategies for Success

Explore effective techniques to train your brain to achieve what you truly desire, as discussed by John Assaraf. Understanding how to manipulate your mindset can lead to significant life changes.

Learn how to train your brain to manifest your desires in life, featuring insights from Mel Robbins. Discover how small actions can lead to profound transformations.