Our reality is a reflection of the narrative we tell ourselves.

That’s why we need to watch out for the chatter that continues non-stop inside our heads from the time we get up to the time we sleep.

The problem is that there is no switch that we can press to stop this chatter. And, there is no steering to navigate its direction.

This does not mean that we can’t change it. We can by looking within, through introspection, silence, and meditation.

There is something else we can do.

We can tell ourselves a new narrative. We don’t even need to believe it at first.

For example, you can tell yourself that you can do meaningful work in 3-5 hours a day without slogging. It does not matter that your current reality is different from the new narrative you are telling yourself.

You can tell yourself that in the next 1-2 years you can grow as much as you did in the past 9-10 years.

You’ll need to keep telling yourself the new narrative until it becomes your new reality. Of course, you’ll have to research, think, plan and take action to make it work. But telling yourself the new narrative is the starting point.

The intensity of your actions and the depth of your plan will depend on the gap between your current reality and the new narrative. If the gap is big, consider it a blessing in disguise because big changes are scary but also exciting. When you face a big change it forces you to think out of the box, and of novel ways to tackle the situation.

Like to go from 60 hours a week to 30 hours a week, instead of thinking of ways to be more efficient you may have to think more about what you are working on day in and day out.