Episode 152: Change Your Mind, Change the Future

Episode Summary

The most powerful force in our lives is thought. Our thoughts have more constructive or destructive power than anything else in the world.

And our thoughts don’t just change us. They change history. They change the world.

Sometimes we can get overwhelmed by how much we want to change in our lives and how many thoughts we have that are not serving us. But the truth is that thought is such a powerful force, that even changing one thought can create a ripple with exponential impact and significant, far-reaching consequences for ourselves and others.

You don’t have to change every thought you have. But every thought you change will change your life. And it won’t stop there. It will change the world around you as well.

In today’s episode of the podcast, I’m inviting you to notice the thoughts that have created your current life. And then consider the power of changing your mind and the inevitable impact that choice will have on your future.

Episode Transcript

Welcome to the 100% Awesome Podcast with April Price. You might not know it, but every result in your life is 100% because of the thought you think. And that, my friends, is 100% awesome.

Hello podcast universe. Welcome to Episode 152 of the 100% Awesome Podcast. I'm April Price and I want to let you know, this is the very last weekend to sign up for my next coaching group. We start on Monday, so we are down to the wire. I'm not going to have another group opening until July, maybe even August, and you guys, it's March. Okay, so like the end of summer seems like a really long time away. And for sure it is a really long time to wait to like get the help and make the changes that you want to make in your life. So, we start next week, I have a group that starts on Monday and a group that starts on Tuesday. And so, you can pick the group that fits with your schedule, you can go to my website Aprilpricecoaching.com to sign up for the group and to get registered.

The other day my husband is turning 50 this year and so he and his college roommates, his buddies, went on a ski trip and together, just like they're all turning 50. And so, they were celebrating that and, you know, talking about their lives, talking about their families. And as he was talking about like me and my business and what I'm doing, they were all like, well, what is life coaching like? What even is this thing? And I know they're not alone, right? Because just like a day or two later, I was talking to somebody from church and she said the same thing. She was like, well, what is it actually that you do?

And so, I know that I get on here and I invite you to coaching and I like, you know, say you should get coach, it'll change your life. And maybe half of you are thinking like, well, why even is that? And so, I just want to take a minute and try to explain as best as possible how I would describe coaching. And, you know, it's really no different than a coach in any other like area of life. I we've been watching March Madness now, I guess, or not watching it, I don't know. We're watching the NCAA tournament and participating in March Madness by filling out our brackets. And, you know, I was thinking about like, okay, well, what role does that coach play, right? Like in the outcome of the game in the results, like he is not on the court, is not taking the shots, he is not, you know, defending the ball. He never even touches the ball, right? And yet, would they ever play the game without a coach? And why not, right?

Like, the team has an objective, and they have skills, they have abilities. Like the team wants to win, right? That's the result that they want, but what gets in the way of their winning? They all want to win, they all have the desire to win, they all have skills, and abilities, and they all have talents. And but they also in the middle of that game, they have an opponent and they have to make adjustments along the way. There are things that they cannot see from their perspective. There are things that the coach can see, adjustments that he can help them make, strategies that he can like, show them that play to their strengths and help them be successful in their goal to notice like he or she is there to like notice what is not working, what's in the way, and help them find a way around that they they come into the bench and they're just like, this is not working right?

And he's like, here's what you're not seeing, here's what you need to do. Let's make this adjustment. And that is true in individual sports as well, right? The coach sees things that you can't and then helps you adjust and change things and and practice that and tell you can perform it differently. And really, it's no different in life coaching, even though like the analogy sort of breaks down because in your life you're not against another team, you're against your own brain, right? The opponent is is inside of you. The opponent is your brain. It is the resistance that your brain creates, right? Like your brain is not the enemy, your brain is making your life possible. But in an attempt to keep you alive, it creates all this resistance to the things you want, right? It's creating fear and self-doubt and insecurity and procrastination and dread and rebellion. And as a human, it sometimes feels like like you are your brain, but really and truly like that resistance that your brain produces is just your opponent.

And in order to get the results you want, you've got to have the strategies to overcome it, to know how to get around it, to know how to succeed anyway, no matter what resistance your brain provides. So, as your coach, it is my job to say, like, here's what's happening, here's what your brain is doing, here's what you're not seeing. And if you want a different result, we're going to have to go around this way. We're gonna have to think about this differently. Life coaching isn't about telling you what to do is like advice for living your best life, right? Because for the most part, we know what to do. We know what we want to do. We just aren't doing it. And we just notice, like we find ourselves in the middle of our life, not living in and showing up in the way we want. And it's because we only don't know how to overcome. Our brains, constant resistance to doing it, and life coaching is about being aware of that resistance, where it's coming from, what it means, and then the strategies and thoughts we need to overcome that.

Like you are not your brain and getting what you want out of this earth. Life experience is only a matter of understanding that you are separate from your brain and that it is your job to now manage it. Every single day, every moment, we are all making choices, they are so tiny. And I think I noticed that most of the time, like we are making decisions that we don't even know. We're making decisions, we're giving in to that resistance of our brain and we don't even like notice it happening, right? But these decisions are adding up and creating your life, and we're going to be talking about that more in this episode, like how those thoughts add up, how they accumulate to create our lives, but in coaching, we're slowing that all down.

We're like opening up those decision points and seeing play by play. What is happening, what our brain offers us, the choice we made and what else is available? What other plays are available? Like coach, we need an alternative play here, I am not getting the results I want. So, I was just coaching a new client and she said like, you know, when she went to sign up, her brain was like, well, maybe I shouldn't need coaching. Maybe I should just be able to figure this out on my own. Or maybe, like, I'm too young to have my life already. Like, not going the way I want, and I just you to, like, give it some time, right? But, like, I don't know why it's acceptable and okay, and not even a question to have a coach when it comes to a game, right? That doesn't matter, and then why we see it as ridiculous or self-indulgent or like unnecessary when it comes to something as important as our life. If you don't love the results you are getting in your life hiring a coach is the way to change that, to just like unravel those decision points and figure out what other thoughts need to be like chosen here to get the results you want. Like you are just in the middle of this game. Your brain is making thought errors.

And my job as your coach is to make you aware of them and help you make the really simple changes, and adjustments that can change the whole game. Like in coaching, you get to change all of the things that you wish were different, all the things that you wish worked better or that like you aren't doing. You get to change every single one of those. I know you all have a list, right? You're a human, you have a list of things in your life that you wish were different. And the solution to every one of those things is managing your brain. That is what is in the way of it. And like overcoming and getting around it, figuring out how to like you can quote unquote get to the basket anyway is what we do in coaching.

So, when I started coaching, as you know, I had a list of things I hated, things that like had to change immediately of things that I just could not stand about myself. I was so determined to change them. And not only did I get everything on that list, I also got so much love and compassion for myself as I as I change those things. And today, I feel like I have a whole new list of possibilities that have opened up for me. Things that I never imagined I would one, things that I would never imagine I could want or could get. And that is the power of understanding, like how to overcome the resistance when we when we don't know the strategy, when we when we aren't coached around it, that resistance stands in the way of everything. And so, if you want to like change the things you don't like, but also open up an entire world of possibility. I want that for you, too. You have a huge, amazing, full life of possibility waiting for you. And the only thing in the way of that is the resistance created by your brain, believe it or not.

So, if you feel the pull of your spirit to that life, to that possibility, I want to encourage you to act on it now. The part of you that says no, the part of you that says, look, let's wait. Like we don't really need it, this isn't that important. We can just keep going like we're going, it's not that bad. That part is your brain, and your brain is scared of growth, and change, and risk and uncertainty and failure. Like it is comfortable, never changing and just getting by and surviving. And if you want something more than that, you have to stand up to your brain and, like, get what you want. Like really and truly all of the thoughts that are keeping you from coaching are the very same thoughts that are going to keep you from changing. Like when you go to do all those things in your life, your brain's going to get to give you all the same excuses and all the same resistance. But the problem is you won't have a coach to help like you get around that. I know that your brain wants to tell you that signing up is risky, but the only real risk, honestly, is that we stay the same.

Like my coach is always telling me. Like the worst case scenario, April, is that your life is exactly the same and like, you are already living the worst case scenario. And I always like, reminds me like, oh yeah, I'm already living the worst case scenario. All that's available to me is more. And if I'm willing to, like, change my thoughts and risk changing my thoughts like there is so much more available and so like you will be changed by coaching your brain, your life, everything will be changed by coaching as you change your mind so you can get on a call with me to to try it for yourself. That's probably the best way to understand what life coaching is, to actually get on a call with me. And we're, we're getting up to the deadline, but I do probably have some slots open tomorrow or at the end of the day today. So, get on a call with me and see what coaching is like, how that one like you're going to get shifts in that one call and you'll start to see like, oh my goodness, I see how making these shifts could change everything. If you want to be in that group, I want you in it, we start Monday. Okay, so we are up against it and your brain is going to tell you it's too late. It is not. There is a spot there for you if you want it.

Okay, so today's podcast is kind of building on that idea that our lives are changed when we change our thoughts in ways that we cannot predict, in ways that you you honestly cannot even imagine. And this podcast is kind of born out of an experience that I just recently had where like there was a circumstance that like honestly, five years ago, three years ago, two years ago, like it was just unimaginable to me.

And it just shows me the, like, undeniable power of making simple changes in your mind. So last week, my son was a guest on Jodie Moore's podcast. You know, it's kind of a big deal. She has a huge listenership and she is an amazing life coach. And she was interviewing my son, who is a coach now and has his own clients. He coaches college kids and young adults and coaches them on everything that their brain is offering them and all the fears and anxieties they go to, like take those steps in their life to transition into like full adulthood and create the lives they want. And as he was talking, I was playing it as I was going to the gym and just like kind of warming up and starting my workout. And as I listen to him talk to her, I was just like stunned at like the circumstance. Like, maybe this is not amazing to anybody that isn't fully in the life coach world, but like my 24 year old son was like speaking to Jodi Moore on this podcast that like thousands and thousands of people are going to hear about thoughts about himself, about his coaching experience, about him being a coach. And like these are all circumstances that I honestly like were unpredictable to me.

And as I listen to him talk, I just had this moment where I realize like my thoughts a long time ago helped create this moment like this is a ripple effect of a choice. I made a thought choice I made like five years ago. You know, I didn't create the moment, I didn't create Caleb's choices. And I didn't create him, like that moment, him speaking with Jodi, but my thought choice that I made in my life to change my life, like, somehow created a ripple effect where this, like, possibility opened up in the universe. Like either thought choices we make open up like all of these worlds, all of these possibilities, all of these circumstances that do not yet exist. And I think that is freaking amazing. And like, as I say, as I stood there listening to him, I was just like, I was just stunned by the idea that my thought that I could change and that I deserved to try those first initial thoughts. Just like daring to believe that I could change. And daring to believe that I deserved to try.

Those thoughts had changed not only the course of my life, but the course of his and the course of many others. And what I want to offer you today is kind of like an astounding thought that when you change your mind, you in fact change the course of history like all the circumstances after that change because of your choice. Like it changes it for you and it changes it for others. And it just made me stand there and wonder, like, what might happen in your future because of a thought that you chose to believe today? And I'm not saying, like, you should change your thought so you can like make your kids do things like that's not the point of this podcast. The point is that, like, what I want you to know is that we do not change our thoughts in a vacuum, that when we make a change in our own life and shift our thoughts automatically, the rest of the world changes.

And I just want you to think about all of the futures that are available out there when you are willing to change your thought. And what I want you to consider today is that the most powerful thing in the world, in the universe is an idea. Is a thought that it all starts there. That a thought, is like the seed of creation. And it is the most powerful force in the universe, right? It's the most powerful force for good, and it can be the most destructive force. A thought, right? So, I was thinking about this this week because I saw President Zelenskiy from the Ukraine. He was like making an appeal to the United States Congress, and he was trying to, like, appeal to them to enforce a no fly zone over the Ukraine and help keep Russia out of its airspace. And in this appeal to Congress, he like referenced these ideas, these thoughts that changed America, that changed the United States, that in fact, like made us different than other countries.

And so, I just wanted to read you his quote and notice the power of an idea. So, he said, j ust like anyone else in the United States, I remember your national memorial in Rushmore, the faces of your prominent presidents, those who laid the foundation of the United States of America as it is today democracy, independence, freedom and care for everyone, for every person, for everyone who works diligently, who lives honestly, who respects the law. We in Ukraine want the same for our people.

All that is normal and part of your own life, and what's really stood out to me is this thought where he said, like, all of that is normal. It's a normal part of your life, like you grew up with these thoughts. You grew up with these ideals, you grew up with the with the thought that that men should be free to exercise their own agency, right? And these thoughts and ideas that are just sort of in the fabric of our lives and have made our nation different in the world, those changed the world. And then he goes on later in the speech to even reference Martin Luther King. He said, I have a dream, right? And then he said, you know, I have a dream. I have a need, right? But he he said, like, you know this phrase, you know what it means. And he was calling up those thoughts and ideas because they are powerful. They are powerful thoughts that change the world. And it really made me think about how every tragedy and every triumph in history was created first as a thought, right? Like even this like conflict that is happening in Ukraine was created by a thought by President Putin, right?

And it's just so powerful to recognize that the same thing is happening in your life, right? Like on a small scale, the thoughts you think the thoughts that are the fabric of your life are building your experience. There is just no more powerful tool in the world and in your own life than thought. And I wonder what you are using that tool to create for yourself. When you change your mind, you change the course of history for yourself and others. I know that's like a really bold statement, right? But I want you to see how that is true, I did not start changing my thoughts that I could change my son's life so that I could, like, change his clients lives or his family's life. I was just trying to, like, change myself and change my own life experience, but it can't help but have a ripple effect on everyone around me. And I want to offer you the idea that there is like untold power in you being willing to change your mind, whatever you have believed about yourself, whatever stories your brain has created for you.

Imagine what would happen if you changed your mind about those things. Because whatever our lives look like right now, in this moment, it is actually just a record of what we have thought in the past, right? Our life, the results that we have right now are the physical embodiment of the accumulation of all the choices we have ever made, like what you see in front of you in terms of your body, your money, your relationships, your contribution, your faith. That is all a record of the things that you have been thinking, the things that you have been believing. And none of that makes you wrong. Like your results are always exactly right, They are a perfect record of your thoughts. And what I want to show you is that so many times we are thinking we can't think anything else, that we have to think this thing.

And yet if I keep thinking the same thoughts, I'm just going to keep creating the same results in front of me. If I want something different, I have to be willing to change those inputs. So, I was thinking about how like when you go to Target, I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but like I'll go through Target and I'll be getting the stuff I need. And then like the clerk says, okay, you know, that's $900 or whatever it is. And I'm like, wait, what? And I'm always just like, no matter what the receipt is, it's always like, wait, what did I just buy? Right? Like, there's I'm always, like, checking the receipt on the way out, like, cannot possibly be, right?

And I find that this is, like, so true in our own lives. Like, we're looking at our results and we're like, what? Like that can't possibly be, right? Like, my body should not look like this my money should not be like this. My relationships, they shouldn't be like this, right? Like we're we're always, like, thinking, like that can't be right. But the receipt of our lives, the results in our lives is always exactly, right? And when you go through that target receipt, rght? You're like, okay, yes. Yes, I see. When I buy these things, it adds up to this total. And I think it can be really powerful to think about your results in the same way, because sometimes we have so much judgment for our results and we're just like, These are bad, these are wrong, I'm bad and I'm wrong because I created these results. I want you to really think about it like a target receipt. Like that's just the total. Given the thoughts that I've been thinking, given the thought choices I've made, the things I've decided to believe about myself, the stories that I've told about myself, this is just the total, right? It's just math. And if you want anything in your life to look differently at any point, you want a different total there.

We're going to have to, like, change what we've put in the car, right? We've been putting these thoughts into our car, believing them, thinking them, and then we like ring up the total and we're like, I don't like that. It's like we're putting the wrong thoughts in the car and we have to decide on purpose, like, what are we going to remove from this car so that we can get a different total, so that we can get different results? And this is the power of coaching, right? This is what we do in coaching. We're going to pull out all the receipts like and not in a shameful way. We're going to pull out the receipts and say, how are the thoughts, your thinking adding up to this result? We're going to figure out exactly why we have the total we have and decide what we need to do to change that. You are making purchases in your life with your thoughts. You are buying your life. Essentially, you are buying the life you have the results you have with your thoughts. Byron Katie always asks like, who would you be without this thought? Meaning like, what would your life like? How would you be showing up? What would the total be? What the result be? Without this thought? If we removed this thought and you believe something totally different, how would that change the total?

So, I want you to keep two things in mind as you go to change your thoughts. The first is like the most powerful way to go through that and decide what you want to keep and what you want to add and what you want to change and what you want to replace in your car is coaching. I think I've said that enough this time. But the second thing that I want you to keep in mind is that as you go to take something out of your car and put a new thought in your brain is going to be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what is happening, right? You can't just build something new, you can't just take that thing. You can't just believe that new thought. You can't just put that new thought in your life.

Your brain is going to say things like, well, you can't believe that because you don't have any evidence for it. Like, you're not allowed to believe it because you haven't done anything like that in your life and you're not allowed to believe those things about yourself. Like when you go to first change your mind, you first go to change what's in your car. It was something else, like you are sitting in a life. With the results that are made up of the thought you've thought in the past, and so, like it's going to feel a little bit like uncomfortable. Like you're sitting here with results thinking like, I'll give you an example if I decide to think like I'm an endurance athlete, but I'm sitting in a life in which I am not. I'm not good at endurance and I'm not an athlete. My brain has to be like, you can't think that thing. You need some evidence first, but notice where I am today, if I'm not an endurance athlete yet, that's just the result of thoughts I've thought in the past. And I've got to be able to reach out and think a new thought without any evidence right before the evidence stacks up. You do get to believe whatever you want.

You get to put whatever you want in your cart. But your brain is going to say, like, I need some proof. You can't put that in the car until I have some proof. And I really want to encourage you to just put it in anyway, right? You get to believe whatever you want. You get to believe it just because you know the total is going to be different. You get to believe it just because it's going to create the results you want. And in fact, because thought is the seed of creation, I have to think it first in order for that that new result to grow in my life. The most powerful tool you have in your life is a thought. Your whole life is just an accumulation, a record of all the thoughts you have ever thought. And if you change any of those, if you change your mind, you will change your life and so much more. And that, my friends, is 100% awesome. I love you for listening, and I'll see you next week.

The next round of my coaching program made four more starts the first week in April, and I want you to be a part of it. In coaching, I will show you the simple way to change your brain, to create more joy, more love, and more accomplishment in your life. Your Earth life experience is precious and finite, and there is so much more available to every one of us in this life and the next. And I would love to show you how to get it. Go to Aprilpricecoaching.com to sign up.