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I’ve been fortunate to have spent 16 years of my professional career amongst some of the best performers on the planet.

The stunt and acrobatic performers stood out to me the most. The best in the world understand their limitations and then they actively focus at unlocking those parts that hold them back.

And then they embody and deliver to push the boundaries of what’s possible as a human being.

For the competitive world that really matters, to be able to unlock the limitations that allow truly extraordinary performance to happen — of which most of us perceive their achievements as impossible.

Yet it also left me thinking how much are all of us holding back all of the time in our lives… love little less, think a little less, work a little less, give a little less because we are unconsciously holding back from what our fullest, bravest, courageous expression could be.

And this has become the work I’m in now and the meaning behind The Conscious Life Collective.

How To Free Limitations

So let’s dive into the top 5 qualities you and I can copy to unlock a fuller, braver and more courageous experience of this life:

MINDSET — Growth mindset refers to a learning theory developed by Dr Carol Dweck. It revolves around the belief that you can improve intelligence, ability and performance. The opposite, a fixed mindset, refers to the belief that a person’s talents are set in stone . Years of research have shown that mindset is malleable. This means that we all can develop a growth mindset. In the elite sport world, to succeed on the world stage requires a growth mindset. With all the injuries, set backs and disappointments along the way, they have to be able to see the opportunity in those moments to grow. And so can we, so I invite you to reflect:

Can you perceive things as lessons rather than limitations? What do experiences that are uncomfortable in your life teach you? What if you add the word yet — after you say you can’t do something? I can’t do something…yet.

How does that make you feel?

CONSISTENCY — It’s not about how much you can squeeze in a short time. The January New Years resolution is a classic example of all in for the start of the year, only to drop off for the majority back into comfortable habits. The reason for this is because it’s too much too soon. Whatever you do, make it as high quality as possible, remembering practice makes permanent, not perfect. only perfect practice makes perfect.

It’s better to do something twice a week — exercise, meditation, practicing presence — and make it last a year. that’s over 100 attempts. Whereas if you go for everyday and drop off after a month, you’re not only burnt out but you’ve only achieved 31 attempts.

So what action, no matter how small can you do on a daily basis to keep leading you into clarity? To bring awareness on the areas in your life that are holding you back.

HIGH QUALITY MANAGEMENT OF STRESS — obvious one. Imagine stepping in front of a world stage to do something that risks your life as action sport athletes do. Not only do they have to succeed to avoid being injured, but they have a worldwide audience watching them… the Olympics are their one chance in 4 years to achieve a dream. Think about that.

We don’t need to go to those extremes. But we can use the tools that the Olympians use. And there is none better than learning how to use your breath as a tool. The power of your breath is profound and is the lowest hanging fruit with the biggest impact. It’s simple to learn with immediate effects. And if you’re looking for guidance, we have our Access To Breathwork course which will help you create a foundation for health and wellbeing that lasts.

CLEAR GOALS — Olympic athletes know what they are doing and most importantly they know WHY they are doing it. They know how it’s leading them towards the bigger things they’re aiming to achieve. Without the why, you have no emotional charge to help you through the inevitable road blocks we encounter in life.

What are you aiming to change, achieve, improve in your life? WHY do you want this?

Using an example I see a great deal of — weight loss. Many people want to lose body fat and change their shape. The reason given is that they want to be thinner and have better “abs…etc”. This is a floored motivation, as the “perfect” body doesn’t exist. The pursuit of a look will never stop and at the very least, often leads to burn out and potentially unhealthy habits.

If you dig underneath you find that there is a bigger emotional charge going on other than looking a certain way. You find that it’s about getting acceptance from others. I would say that changing the way we look to get acceptance from other people is also a pursuit that will never be satisfied.

To get clear in this example, it could be the WHAT is to begin exercising more often and the WHY is to get better health scores (blood pressure, resting heart rate etc). And then addressing the need for acceptance could be some personal work to nurture self acceptance. All areas in this example are very achievable as they are reliant of an internal motivation and not on external validation.

MORTAL STAKES— Action and acrobatic athletes dance on and over the edge of fear on a near daily basis. And what comes with that is the awareness that what they do is dangerous — there is serious risk of at least serious injury. Yet those athlete are some of the most vibrant and alive people I’ve ever met.

Bringing it back to us, part of life is to be present with our loved ones when they die… WE will die one day… and just in my own experience of witnessing my parents pass away, I’ve been grateful to have been forced to contemplate my own mortality. Especially now as a parent to my daughter. Death has allowed me to have less fear and live a fuller experience.

All of these are habits and not one time acts. They are practices. So I want to ask you which one of these 5 grabbed you the most?

What one is your heart saying “I can do this”. Start there and begin to with small changes.

Please leave a comment below as I’d love to hear which you start with.

Further to these techniques, we have curated a FREE guide to help ease mental exhaustion and stress overwhelm. It’s called “4 Simple Steps to a Better Life” .

You will:

1. Understand the links between body and mind.
2. Learn how to address mindset.
3. Develop tools that strengthen the depth of love and care in all forms of relationships.
4. Discover the overlooked subtleties of environment that play big roles in mood.