One of my favorite features on my iPhone is the photo memories that pop up unexpectedly.
I love the random pictures that take you back to a moment you thought you had long forgotten.
#plotTwist
My most recent photo memory was a picture from my first powerlifting competition.
I haven’t done a meet in a few years.
But back when I was training regularly, I would tell myself I had a bad squat.
I would say things like, “my squat is ugly”.
It’s my worst lift.
I’m terrible at squatting…
But when I looked at the picture my phone served me up…
I saw that my squat was… NICE!!!
It looked MUCH better than I remembered.
So I looked back at old training videos, and pictures and I realized I was in my own head back then.
That story of my squat being bad was just a story I created.
A story that led me to not try as hard as I could have because mentally I was approaching my squats with fear.
My squats sucked because I told myself internally and verbally that they sucked.
But the story I was telling myself wasn’t even true.
I see that now when I look back.
It’s the same picture I looked at before.
But when I look at it now, I see something different because the story I am telling myself now is different.
I no longer have that negative story of trash squats.
So my brain interprets what I am seeing differently.
This reminds me of a story I hear often from people that want to buy their first house.
They say:
I want to buy a house, but It’s not possible.
I can’t because my neighbor (who is a renter) says it’s not worth it.
I can’t because my aunt was looking, and she couldn’t find a house.
I can’t because interest rates are so high.
I can’t because homes got so expensive during the pandemic.
But when I ask, “Have you talked to a mortgage lender about how much you can afford?”
The answer is always “No.”
So then how do you KNOW you can’t buy a house if you haven’t put in your own effort to attempt to buy?
The thing is, reality is subjective.
What is real to you depends on your experience, your perspective, and the stories you tell yourself.
If the stories you tell yourself are based on thoughts of fear, lacking, and a negative perspective.
Then.. that will be your reality.
If you think you can’t find a house. You can’t.
But if you think you can, your mind will find a way to make that a reality for you.
Here are 3 three things you can put in place today to shift your mindset and become a first-time home buyer.
Name and claim your house
Your brain processes a lot of information each second. To help you make sense of it all, it highlights the bits that it deems important to you.
But did you know you can train your mind to highlight what actually is important to you?
Has a friend ever told you they were going to buy a certain car then suddenly you start to see that type of car EVERYWHERE!
Those cars were always there. Your brain just didn’t realize they were important to you till the conversation came up with your friend.
So, start alerting your brain that you are looking for a house.
But be specific about the type of house.
The price ranges.
The location.
The look.
Be specific about every little detail.
Then see how the brain starts showing you these types of houses.
Shift your identity from tenant to prospective home buyer
Instead of forcing yourself to do things that will help you buy a house, decide first that you ARE a pre-approved home buyer.
When you have the decision to make to buy that shiny new Gucci bag OR put that money into your home savings fund… you will ask yourself one question:
“What would a pre-approved home buyer do?”
Instead of relying on your sheer willpower, you now will have a moment to reflect and consider a decision aligned with the person you want to be – a pre-approved home buyer.
A preapproved home buyer wouldn’t blow their deposit money, so you are more likely to NOT buy the bag.
The more decisions you make that are aligned with the home buyer, the more you see yourself in that light.
And the more confidence you have in your new identity the clearer your reality becomes to buy that house.
Consume information that helps you grow
Start consuming books, podcasts, videos etc.. that help you to reflect on your fear around buying your first those.
Work through understanding why you have this fear.
Then try to intentionally shift away from this fear.
If you don’t understand what is at the root of your avoidance, you won’t be able to move forward and take action no matter how much tactical knowledge you soak up.
This Mel Robbins interview really opened my eyes to how important the stories we tell ourselves shape how we see the world.
She shares the story of how she changed her life around by telling herself different stories that focused on being kind to herself while staying honest.
How many times have you told yourself that you are amazing today vs putting yourself down?
Take a moment to give yourself ONE compliment right now!
So why should you care about mindset and money?
The stories we tell ourselves good or bad are highly underrated.
They matter.
And YOU get to decide what type of story to tell yourself.
A positive mindset shift will help you achieve things you thought were never possible…
Including buying that first house.
If you think this mindset stuff is BS do this little experiment…
When you wake up tomorrow morning tell yourself that you want to see hearts today. Don’t change anything at all about your routine.
Then at the end of the day, DM me on Instagram and tell me how many hearts you saw throughout your day.
