Welcome to Mental GPS with Dr. Jana a self-development podcast dedicated to helping you unstick your mind, regain momentum, and build a better life. Hosted by Dr. Jana Price-Sharps, this show is built on a central philosophy: life shouldn’t just be endured it should be enjoyed. You have an absolute right to be happy, live a good life, and experience fulfilling relationships.
Think of your brain as having its own internal navigation system. Where is your GPS driving you?. If your coordinates are set to failure, depression, bitterness, or hopelessness, your mindset will drive you straight off a cliff. This podcast is designed to help you actively reprogram your navigation system, take control of your mental focus, and successfully steer your way through life's adversity.
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Mental GPS with Dr. Jana EP 8
When we feel stuck we often try to change everything at once by writing down twenty massive goals on January first only to slide backwards a few weeks later. Dr. Jana explains why your brain naturally resists these sudden overwhelming shifts and why starting small is the real secret to growth. Discover how to pick one single actionable change that will actually stick and make your life better day by day. Tune in to learn how a tiny bit of forward movement can create the momentum you need to unlock your full potential.
Key Takeaways
Your brain naturally thrives on forward movement and becomes increasingly stagnant when trapped in unproductive habits.
Avoid overwhelming yourself with too many massive New Year style goals and focus on one tiny doable change instead.
Cultivate resilience and boost your mood by always scheduling something fun to look forward to in the near future.
SPEAKER_00
Good day. This is Dr. Jana. Thank you for joining this podcast. This podcast is all about self-development and having a better life. So today we're going to talk about empowerment. Do you feel stuck? Do you feel like, oh, it's too much work to get off the couch? Do you feel like I'm spending all my time scrolling but I can't stop? How about you start empowering yourself and how can you do that? Well, the first thing is take 10 minutes on your day off, whatever day that is. Maybe it's a weekend day, maybe it's a weekday. Take 10 minutes and ask yourself, what is one thing, one thing that I can do a little bit differently that is gonna move me ahead in my life? How can I help myself? Make a commitment to do that. It might be getting up 30 minutes earlier and do some journaling. It might be, I don't know, working out a couple times a week. It might be going out on date night with your significant other. Maybe it is looking at your budget and seeing where you can squirrel away a little bit of money for that trip you've been wanting to take in the future. But move forward. The brain likes forward movement. When we're stagnant, we tend to become more stagnant. The more we do behaviors or habits that don't lead us forward, the more the brain just kind of sits there. And so what is one thing that you can do that will help yourself? But also, what is one thing that you can get excited about? It might be taking a day trip to, I don't know, someplace you've always wanted to go see, or a day trip to someplace you really like? Maybe you go on a hike, maybe you go play golf, I don't know. Maybe you just stay at home, put on some good music and paint. I don't know what that is for you. But what is one thing that you can get excited about that you can do for you? I have found that if the brain has forward movement and something to think about that is in the future, that is going to be good, we are much more likely to start moving forward. It's not always easy to move forward, and I get that, I truly do. But there's few things in the world that feel worse than being stuck, feeling like you have no ability to have a better life. And most people, I've been a psychologist for many, many years now. Most people, when they get into that space, that mental space, they have a really difficult time trying to get out of it. And so sometimes they, I don't know, January 1st comes around and they write 20 goals out and they're like, okay, I'm gonna go to the gym every single day and I'm gonna eat lettuce, you know, and that's gonna be my goals. But the reality is then our brain, a week into that, three weeks into that, goes, Yeah, the heck with you. I'm not doing any of that. And then we end up sliding backwards. So start small, pick one thing that you can do a little bit differently that is going to make your life better, and choose one thing to do in the next three weeks, four weeks that you're really gonna enjoy. It could be a half a day, it could be two hours, it could be the whole day, it could be a whole weekend. But find something to get excited about. Because when we have something out there that we're gonna get excited about, if today's hard, we can go, yeah, today's tough. But in a week, in three weeks, in a month, I'm gonna be doing this. It makes life a little bit easier. Does it change anything drastically? No, but it changes our mindset. The greatest secret in my mind in living a good life and living a happy life is where is your focus? If your focus is on everything that's bad or everything that's not going well, or what you haven't done, then people just get drugged down and they get into dark rabbit holes that they just can't get out of. So start climbing out of that rabbit hole. Pick one thing to work on, just one thing, make it small, make it doable, but begin. And the second thing is plan something fun. And when you do those two things, you start to feel the momentum. When you start to feel that momentum, it gives you a little more resiliency and you have a little more strength to add one more thing in. So maybe week one you add in drinking a little more water, and maybe week two or week three of this adventure, maybe you add in another half hour of sleep or one day of exercise. Make it doable, but always have something planned that's fun. You've got to have something to look forward to, even if it's something small. So I hope those two things help. Get excited about life, okay? The more you do that, the more resiliency you'll have, the better your mood will be, and the more hopeful you would be. So I hope you have a great day. I hope this was helpful. I hope you start making a difference in your own life. You won't ever regret it. Take care. You have a right to have a good life. So make it happen. This is Dr. Diana. Take care.
