The Mountain Is You

STOP TRYING TO BE PSYCHIC, BECAUSE THIS IS A COGNITIVE 
DISTORTION
Given that our most fundamental human fear is of the 
unknown, it makes sense that we go through mental gym-
nastics 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 passen-
ger’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 put-
ting your energy toward building what you can. You and 
your life will be better for it.

---

225
THE MOUNTAIN IS YOU
224
BRIANNA WIEST
TAKE RESPONSIBILIT Y FOR YOUR OUTCOMES—YES, ALL OF 
THEM
In the grand scheme of your life, the outcomes that real-
ly 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, im-
proving 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 con-
trol. 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.