We are thirty days into 2019…what is holding you back? And how to change it.

April Sabral

/ Mindset

I used to have such a hard time reading books; I would start them and then put them aside and never complete a full book from start to finish.
It felt overwhelming and as if it was a huge mountain to climb — especially books over one hundred and fifty pages.

Today I read lots of books and multiple ones all at the same time.
How did I accomplish this?
By changing my perspective and approach.

Sometimes in life when we are trying so hard to accomplish something, we can get so stuck in the way we think it should be or the way it is taught it hinders our success from actually achieving our goal.

I was taught to read books from the front to back which makes sense, and if it’s a fiction book, I would think that its necessary. However, the books that I generally read are always on Leadership or self-improvement. I read these books because I am passionate about these two topics. I like to learn and then help my team become better at leading and overall better humans.

I can’t remember when I started this, or who told me to try it. It was around seven years ago when I began to read books backwards, which sounds really strange I know.

I know what your thinking, that is not normal — reading the last page to the first would be insane. What I mean is, I read chapters in a different order. When I pick up a book, I read the contents page and then pick which chapter I want to read. Sometimes I read the first chapter, and sometimes I read the last chapter. It depends on the title of the chapter and what I feel like learning more about today. I sometimes read the same chapter over and over again for multiple days If I really want to learn and understand what the author is sharing. It makes books so much more interesting to me.

It changed the way I felt about reading an entire book.

I find it so refreshing because I no longer look at books like a mountain I have to climb. I started to look at books like something of a break from routine, a place to learn and explore. Now I read multiple books at one time like this which I thoroughly enjoy.

Currently, I have three books that I am reading, one I am reading a couple of pages a day by opening it and seeing where it takes me and the others reading chapters intermittently.
Why am I sharing this? I think my lesson in this is that when we change our perspective on things, they look and feel very different.
Same goes for situations and people in our lives.
Yesterday I was having a conversation with a manager, and he shared a struggle with a colleague. I asked him to change his perspective and not let it overwhelm him, break it down and not take on the stress of the situation. Looking at things with a different view and changing our approach is sometimes the only adjustment we need to make to tackle what sometimes feels overwhelming.

If there is something that you have wanted to achieve, and are struggling with it or a situation that that is stressful, here’s something you can do to see it differently.
Our EI or emotional Intelligence which is our ability to be self-aware, self manage, have social awareness and manage our relationships needs to kick in.
Having the ability to be self-aware and think about what we are trying to achieve and then self manage will be the one thing that hinders or helps your success.
What I find useful is to write down a list of what is stopping me.
This list should be written in two parts.
Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper and on one side write
emotions, and the next write reasons.
When we separate these two parts of the brain, it becomes much easier to see which one is leading you and which one you should be paying more attention to.
This is called creating an emotion vs. reason list.

So the next time you are in a stressful situation or want to achieve something that you are finding difficult, find a quiet moment organize your thoughts and write your list. With the list in front of you, it will be much easier to think about things from a different angle.

Reading is something I love and appreciate, and it took me years to overcome. Whatever it is, make it work for you, remove the barriers that you have placed on your own mind, and I am sure like me you can turn a dreaded task into joy in your life!

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