The Mountain Is You

STOP TRYING TO BE PSYCHIC, BECAUSE THIS IS A
COGNITIVE

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DISTORTION
Given that our most fundamental human fear is of the unknown, it makes
sense that we go through mental gymnastics to try to predict certain
outcomes in our lives.
However, psychic thinking, or the idea that your feelings are premonitions,
that you can “just know” what the future will hold, or that your fate is
somewhere set in stone for you, makes you mentally weak. It places you in
the passenger’s seat when you need to be behind the wheel.
When you are engaging in psychic thinking, you’re ex-trapolating. You’re
taking a single feeling or experience and making a long-term prediction
about your life. It is not only false; it often becomes a self-fulfilling
prophecy.
Stop trying to predict what you can’t know, and start putting your energy
toward building what you can. You and your life will be better for it.
224
BRIANNA WIEST
THE MOUNTAIN IS YOU
225
TAKE RESPONSIBILIT Y FOR YOUR OUTCOMES—YES, ALL
OF

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THEM
In the grand scheme of your life, the outcomes that really matter are the
ones that are almost completely within your control. It’s easier and less
scary to pretend as though you are simply a cog in the wheel, but you’re
not.
If you actually put your energy toward learning to be productive, taking
care of your health and wellness, improving your relationships and self-
awareness, you’d have a radically different life experience. Every single
one of those things is within your ability to change or at least influence
greatly.
There are some things in life that are outside of your control. If you focus
on them, you will miss something really important: the majority of your life
is the direct result of your actions, behaviors, and choices.