Kate Snowise's Key Ideas from The Mountain Is You
by Brianna Wiest

Be grateful for the person that has got you this far, and lean into your future self, the person you want to become, because that is who will lead you forward.

Your life is defined by what you think about yourself - Your self-concept. This is an idea you’ve spent whole life building.

As we update our self concept, our beliefs about ourselves begin to change. We can align these toward what our future self truly desires, and start adopting the behaviors that will allow us to become that person.

Even though we think we’re programmed to find happiness, we’re actually programmed to seek whatever we are most used to.

Human beings have a natural resistance to the unknown. It is the ultimate loss of control.

Self sabotage is often a simple product of unfamiliarity and anything that is foreign, even if good, will be uncomfortable until it is familiar.

We’re programmed to seek what we’ve known. Even though we think we’re after happiness, we’re actually trying to find what we’re most used to. Comfort. This makes us feel safe, which is a natural human evolutionary drive.

How to get out of denial - get real with yourself and stop settling for less than you deserve from yourself.

If you think you could be doing better in life, you might be right. If you sense you have more potential, you might be right. Kidding yourself about this reality doesn’t serve you.

Denying reality does not help us get closer to who we want to be. It keeps us stuck.

If you are constantly rationalizing your life, making excuses for your behavior, and justifying - you’re in denial.

If you want to get closer to who you really want to be, you have to take full responsibility for your life.

If you are constantly stressed, panicked and unhappy, something is wrong, and it is an invitation to look deeper.

You cannot simply love yourself out of this. That is a form of denial that will just prolong your suffering.

You must get out of denial and into clarity about what is really wrong.

Once you make a decision that you are no longer are willing to feel a certain way, you have an opportunity to reinvent who you truly are.

Your rock bottom is the place where you face reality and can rebuild a new version of you.

To overcome self sabotage, you have to take action in the area that you are uncomfortable.

Conscious, dedicated and uncomfortable action is what helps you create the life you truly desire.

Prioritizing comfort is a form of self sabotage that will simply keep you stuck where you currently are.

We have to disconnect action from feeling. We become comfortable with what we repeatedly do. When we are changing our behaviors, initially it will feel uncomfortable, and we have to override this with logical and reason, and not be driven by emotionality.

Your emotions do not have to control your behaviors. Make them conscious, as only then can you choose how you want to behave rather then have your feelings and emotions unconsciously in charge of how you behave.

“The cultural obsession with chasing happiness, shielding oneself from anything triggering, and the idea that life is primarily good and any challenge we face is a mistake of fate actually weakens us mentally.”

Our minds need adversity. They are anti-fragile which means they actually get better with adversity. We need a challenge to be our best.

Anti-fragile things need tension, resistance, adversity and pain to transform and become stronger.

If you stay away from any real challenge in your life, your brain will compensate by inventing a challenge to overcome and create anxiety.

Healing isn’t linear. It’s a process, that can be thought of as “positive disintegration”. This forces us to rebuild our self concept.

This helps us find the most empowered version of ourselves. We leave naivety behind, and instead find self-responsibility.

Through positive disintegration you can ultimately find inner strength and realize you have the power. You can redirect your life. Instead of what you can’t control, you find your life can be built on what you do.

When you heal you become stronger where you were broken. This builds self-trust.

It’s easier to pretend that you’re not responsible for your life and the outcomes. But this will not get you the life you want.

Don’t focus on what you can’t control. The majority of your life is the direct result of your actions, decisions and choices.

Believing only in fate makes you mentally weak. It places you in the passenger seat when you need to be behind the wheel of your life. You have the power to influence what you experience in life.

Start putting your energy into actions that will build the life you want. Take responsibility for the outcomes in your life.

You are not supposed to feel happy all of the time. Trying to feel happy all the time is not the solution, it’s the problem.

We’re obsessed as a culture with happiness. This hurts us, as it stops us from trying and doing hard things, or has us judging things in our life that are difficult and hard.

Mental strength requires you have the ability to let difficult emotions pass through. They are a part of life.

Life isn’t about chasing huge overwhelming highs. It is about leaning into the little joys consistently.Real joy is finding happiness where you are and how you are.