We all know the importance of a healthy diet when it comes to training our body and reaching our physical goals. But how often are you paying attention to what you’re feeding your mind? Most people neglect the importance of what thoughts and inputs they’re letting into their mind on a regular basis. This failure to address this key area can lead to a decrease in confidence, performance, and affect everything from your relationships to your business. Let’s talk about how to build a championship diet when it comes to what you are feeding your mind.

There’s so much ‘noise’ out there when it comes to what it takes to be a leader for your business, your family, and your community. And if you pay attention too much to this noise, instead of focusing on what’s most important, you will continue to live reactively instead of proactively. If you don’t protect one of your strongest assets, your mind, and feed it the nourishment it needs - you will never be able to step into the full potential you have as an individual and as a leader. As with any good physical diet, make sure to follow these 4 steps when it comes to building your mental diet:

1. Take Inventory

Before starting to make any changes in your championship diet, you first have to know what your starting point is and increase your awareness. Start to make a list of all the things that are influencing the way you think, the way you act, and who you are. This often includes the people you spend the most time with, your family, your work, the music/podcasts/books/shows you consume, and how much time/energy you spend on your phone. All of these things, whether you realize it consciously or not, will directly affect your mindset, your mood, and your performance.

In addition to the things you are currently letting into your mind, you also have to account for things from your past that you are still holding onto. This is a much harder area for people to address as these usually run much deeper than which podcasts we listen to or how much time we spend on social media. This could be anything or anyone from your past that still has a grip on your current mindsets. These could be things you’re holding onto consciously or subconsciously. These could be old limiting mindsets from previous generations around money or chasing success. This could be words of death that were spoken to you at a young age that cause you to doubt your worth and your potential. This could be things that happened to you or people that wronged you that you haven’t been able to let go of. It’s important to identify what these things are before moving on - because these are the root causes for your current thought patterns, the stories you’re telling yourself, and the main reasons why you’re where you’re at right now. As Scripture tells us:

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ - 2 Corinthians 10:5

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind - Romans 12:2

We can’t let the things of this world cause the same limiting beliefs and mindsets that are holding us back from achieving more. We need to take those thoughts captive and allow our minds, and therefore are actions and eventually our future, to be transformed.

2. Eliminate the Nonessential

Once you’ve identified the state of your current ‘diet’, now it’s time to start making choices. Many people reverse steps 2 and 3, which can be a big mistake. They will keep things the way they are, but try to add in some motivational podcasts throughout their week or other ways to add some more positivity. But until you eliminate the things that are holding you back, the weeds that are already ruining your garden, then no amount of positive additions will take you to your next level. Start with one thing at a time to eliminate (or reduce). This could be habits you have on your phone, the amount of time you’re spending with certain negative influences, or anything else that you’ve identified that is not getting you to where you want to be.

3. Replace with the Essential

Once you’ve identified and eliminated the nonessential, now it’s time to replace it with healthier choices for your mind. This could be time spent reading God’s word or other self-development, this could be spending more time around people that encourage you and build you up, or adding in other motivating and inspiring podcasts.

4. Lean on Accountability and Community

Now that you’ve identified what you’re currently allowing into your mind, eliminated the nonessential, and added in the essential things to your growth - it’s time to fuel the flame. If you don’t surround yourself with an uplifting community of like minded individuals, and have a standard of accountability from yourself and from others, we see so many people’s progress stall out. When you can regularly get around people who are on the same path of growth and want the best for themselves, their families, and their businesses - good things start to happen. This isn’t a journey you can make it far on your own, because the world will continue to drown out the good with all the noise that works its way in throughout your day or your week. It’s not enough to just make changes when you’re motivated, you have to have a proven system of growth and accountability that keeps you moving towards the ultimate vision you have for your life. If you need help finding a community of like minded individuals that want to see growth in all areas of your life.

Interested in daily motivation? Daily encouragement and motivation from Dr. Dave sent to your phone - text the word 'devo' to (760) 477-4361 to get added to the iO Daily Devotional List!

If you’re looking for similar content or have any questions, reach out to us at anytime at (760) 301-6566 or email us at [email protected].