Photo by L_Avi

Too much good advice can leave you feeling overwhelmed and confused about whose advice to trust and follow. The problem is that your brain gets filled with lots of ideas and you can end up wasting a whole lot of time, energy and money trying to put them all into practice.

The key is to have a mind like a sieve and not like a sponge.

A sponge absorbs everything, good and bad. Whereas, the job of the sieve is to refine (get rid of impurities) and separate wanted material from unwanted material. It operates on the proven principle of less is more.

The idea isn't to absorb everything. It is to keep only the important things. This way your mind, and your time, can be freed of everything unimportant; enabling you to focus specifically on the things that will help you train or play to your full potential.

Remember that everyone has something to offer on your journey to the top. The question is: what is worth keeping in your sieve and what should you let drain away?

Worth Keeping In Your Sieve

• Positive beliefs, e.g. "There are many ways to get the job done", "There are many paths to success."

• Positive comments, e.g. "You have greatness in you", "You can achieve anything if you work hard and believe in yourself", etc.

• Positive self talk and emotions, e.g. "I am capable", "I feel awesome", etc.

What You Should Let Drain Away

• Negative beliefs, e.g. "There's only one way to get the job done", "There's only one path to success."

• Negative comments, e.g. "You're useless", "You're just not champion material", etc.

• Negative self talk and emotions, e.g. "I’ll never be as good as her", "I'm beaten-why try", etc.