When you are trying to get out of the mire that has been your life for the most of it, saturate yourself in that which you want to become. Get books, write lines, watch the shows and people that Support this way of thinking. And it doesn't always have to be directly related to your aim.
When I was wanting to cement my connection to Christ I read numerous books and watched lots of speakers who although may or may not have been deciding for Christ were able to offer me something I needed at the time.
Often it was small things I could do to keep on keeping on. My breathing was one thing I learnt how to use to help myself, so was practising the power of now, they went well together. I downloaded various apps for my phone to beep through positive affirmations every ten minutes, I began using a public app that allowed me to write out three things I was grateful for and wished to accomplish that day, I Wrote things on bits of paper and either stuck them up or carried them around in my handbag so I could read them if I felt my mind slipping. Other things I did was to get enough sleep, eat better food, watch comedy, read jokes or look at funny pictures. These seemed unrelated to my pursuit of a continual connection to Christ yet were somehow directly able to support my ability to do this.
I laminated everything, any saying, phrase or thought that I could hear God in, and stuck it in places where I frequented, like the toilet, my dashboard, the shed door, even in the darkened under-part of the house I stuck up some little picture or phrase that was able to remind me to keep going.
I wrote letters to myself, made sticker books filled with positive affirmations.
I wrote prayers or commitments to myself every day using a calligraphy pen and ink, making my words appear beautiful to my eyes.
I made a small music bag and carried in it a recorder, mouth organ and tiny drum. I wrote out the songs I liked and played or sung them.
I pre-programmed my sleep, I thought about what I wanted to see in my dreams, but also what I wanted to feel like when I awoke. I mentally pinned positive thoughts to all of my doorways so that when I passed through them a nice thought would descend upon me. I also utilised walking through doors, pausing at intersections or stopping at stop signs as places to recall back to my mind all that I wanted to be, at peace. A few seconds spent feeling it, then continue on with my day. Every little bit helps.
Laughter was, and still is, a main way to simply dissolve all the unhealthy thinking I had become accustomed to. There was no need to keep on analysing it all, I needed to spend time breaking free and Living as the me I longed to be.
The one who gave up make-up and always looking right, the one who wrote so directly others were left a touch speechless, but not offended. The one who looks at herself in the mirror and says 'well done bec, keep going.'
I looked around the world and felt grateful that I was in a place environmentally that allowed me to work towards stabilising my life, even supplying support for that to occur if needed, like counsellors or doctors or gyms or welfare payments.
I also watched those who were doing their thing. It didn't mean I wanted to do what they were doing but it helped to see others living what they truly felt inside of themselves.
There is a long list of other things I used to keep my mind state balanced and me internally on course. You don't have to know where you're headed, but if you have one aim at a time it can help keep you focused.
I always chose a goal which was a personal achievement, and not necessarily an external accomplishment. So much focus we have nowadays on the external materialisation of success that we drive ourselves towards goals we probably don't even want, let alone need. My one repeated claim was,I wanted peace, and from that state, all else would fall as it was meant to.
Order began to appear in my life, much de-cluttering and several years worth of throwing out later I have finally reached a minimalistic style of living where I only ask for that which I need and no longer do I feel the urge to store or hoard possessions nor make incessant unnecessary purchases.
And it all had to start somewhere and occurred in stages. That is the point of time, to make a start, not on a dream, but yourself, invest in yourself, the rest will fall into place.
