Summary: Your thoughts lead your actions. If your inner voice is stuck on a negative loop — like a broken tape — it’s hard to change your mental habits for the better. This week, author, coach, and psychologist Dr. Julie Bell talks about the importance of mindset and how it can guide your journey in the right direction, or make you stray from the path. She shares stories from her own life about the challenges she’s overcome and what she learned to do differently along the way. One way we can work to improve our inner coach is to focus on how we got to where we are, rather than just the outcome itself. It’s important to acknowledge successes, of course, but it’s even more critical to celebrate what got us there. That gives us room to learn from our mistakes and really work to change our habits. It also takes the power back from the idea of perfection. There’s no such thing as perfect, Bell says. Whenever you reach a milestone, you realize you can aim higher. But if you’re on the right path already, future goals will be attainable if you put in the work and keep your thoughts ahead of your actions. This Week’s Takeaways: -Walk with the Lord, hand-in-hand -Focus on what you can do, instead of what you can’t -Train your inner voice to guide you -Own your average -Practice with a purpose Quotes: “Once you choose your focus or your direction, then your voice in your head has to coach you there. I think, too often, that voice in our head is playing for the other team. So, it’s putting us on the sidelines rather than really bringing out our best.” -Dr. Julie Bell “We have to own our average. Whatever it is that you’re doing, you have an average. You have this achievement side of you that could be your goal and then you have your below average. A lot of times people see if you haven’t achieved your goal, it’s failure. But really, anytime that you are executing above average, you’re in that success field. And that’s what you have to be able to see. If you can see it, you gain confidence. When you have confidence, you have more success. It grows that way.” -Dr. Julie Bell “I think, too often, we celebrate the success — the outcome — and not what got us there. We have to reinforce playing the game. We need to recognize the outcome and celebrate how we got there.” -Dr. Julie Bell “As soon as you start getting closer to your goal, you realize there’s another level. So, perfect doesn’t exist.” -Dr. Julie Bell “I think the most important thing in a coaching relationship is a relationship. And so, you’ve got to find somebody that you connect with, that can be honest with you, that can be that thinking partner, that can help you make decisions.” -Dr. Julie Bell Contact: You can follow Dr. Julie Bell’s work online at themindofachampion.com. The Mind of a Champion is also active on LinkedIn and Instagram. For more in-depth information, check out The Mind of a Champion’s Virtual Mindset and Mindset on Demand offerings on their website. The next Champions Club is scheduled for March 30-31 in Dallas, Texas. Check out her book, Performance Intelligence at Work: The 5 Essentials to Achieving the Mind of a Champion, wherever you buy your books. Dr. Bell also has a Christian version of the book, called Renewed, available for download as a 21-day journal on her website. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.