The Mountain Is You Summary (Brianna Wiest)

Ever wondered why breaking bad habits feels like climbing Mount Everest? That’s exactly what Brianna Wiest explores in her book “The Mountain Is You.”

Here’s the thing: We all have our personal mountains to climb.

Maybe yours is procrastination that’s keeping you from launching that business. Or perhaps it’s self-doubt holding you back from asking for that promotion.

Whatever your mountain is, it’s likely costing you more than you realize.

In this summary, I’ll break down the core insights from “The Mountain Is You” – not just what your mountain is, but why it’s there and how to finally start climbing it.

No abstract theories, just practical strategies that actually work.

Chapter#1 The Mountain Is You

Your mountain is the block between you and the life you want to live. Facing it is also the only path to your freedom and becoming. You are here because a trigger showed you to your wound, and your wound will show you to your path, and your path will show you to your destiny.

There is nothing holding you back in life more than yourself.  

Self-sabotage seems like masochism. It looks like self-hate, low confidence, or a lack of willpower.

In reality, self-sabotage is simply the presence of an unconscious need being fulfilled by the self-sabotaging behaviour.

To overcome this, you must go through a process of deep psychological excavation.

We need to figure out what hurt us, let go of bad feelings, find better ways to care for ourselves, change how we see ourselves, and learn how to handle emotions well.

Self-sabotage is a Coping Method

• Self-sabotage occurs when we intentionally refuse to meet our innermost needs, often because we do not believe we can handle them.
• We sabotage our relationships because we are afraid of being alone, even though we really want to find ourselves.
• Sometimes, we sabotage our professional success because we want to make art, even if it makes society think we’re less ambitious.
• Occasionally, our most destructive behaviours are actually the result of long-held and unexamined fears we have about the world and ourselves.
• It comes from unconscious, negative associations.
• Self-sabotage is the simple product of unfamiliarity.
• It comes from belief systems. What you believe about your life is what you will make true about it.

How To Get Over Denial

Brianna West says one of the people’s biggest problems is avoiding important internal work. If people recognize and heal themselves, their lives will change drastically.

If they come to terms with how unhappy they are, it means that they will be more uncomfortable, embarrassed, or scared while they start over.

1. The first step in healing anything is taking full accountability for your right and wrong actions.
2. You will have to decide that you love yourself too much to stop settling for less than you deserve.
3. It doesn’t matter what your life looks like on the outside; knowing how you feel inside is necessary.
4. When you are in denial, you tend to go into “blame” mode. We look for anyone and everyone to explain why we are the way we are.
5. You might be suitable if you think you could improve your life. What you need to do to continue to truly uproot and transform your life. Paths begin where you are now.

The greatest act of self-love is to no longer accept a life we are unhappy with. It is to be able to state the problem plainly and straightforwardly.

READ It To Find True Happiness And Purpose of Life: Ikigai Book Summary (With Pdf)

Chapter#2 There Is No Such Thing As Self Sabotage

Overcoming self-sabotage is not about figuring out how to override your impulses; it is about determining why those impulses exist in the first place.

• What is self-sabotage?

Self-sabotage is when you have two conflicting desires.

One is conscious; one is unconscious. You know what you want to accomplish, but you’re still stuck for some reason.

People say they want to succeed at any cost but don’t want to work the hours required to succeed.

Perhaps it is because they understand, at some level, that being successful doesn’t really make you happy or likeable. On the other hand, it’s just the opposite.

Successful people are not loved as we imagine because envious people need to humanize them somehow.

When it comes to self-sabotaging behaviour, you have to understand that sometimes, it is easy to get attached to having problems.

1. Being successful can make you less liked.
2. Finding love can make you more vulnerable.
3. Playing small allows you to avoid scrutiny.
4. Procrastinating puts you back in a place of comfort.

Overcoming it is not a matter of learning to understand yourself, but of realizing that your problems are not a problem, they are symptoms.

Chapter#3 Your Triggers Are The Guides To Your Freedom

This is an integral part of the process because knowing our self-defeating habits or why we engage in them is not enough.

It is about better understanding what we want and need.

What can we do to build a life that shows who we really are and what we’re here for?

Each negative emotion we experience with a message is one that we are not yet familiar with how to interpret.

This is when a single challenge begins to become a chronic issue.

When we know why something happens, we can use it as a way to move forward and make positive changes in our lives.

Chapter#4 Building Emotional Intelligence

Self-sabotaging results from low emotional intelligence. Without the ability to understand ourselves, we will always be lost.

We need to understand how our brains and bodies work together to move on with our lives in a healthy, productive, and stable way.

• What is emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand, interpret, and respond to your emotions in a healthy and enlightened way.

People with good emotional intelligence can get along better with others, feel happier and more fulfilled in their daily lives, and take time to think and share their true feelings.

To learn more about Emotional Intelligence, read our book Summary of Emotional Intelligence Summary by Danial Goleman.

Your Brain Is Conditioned to Resist What You Want

Something interesting happens to the human brain when we get what we want.

The happy hormone dopamine is not the chemical that gives you pleasure; it’s the chemical that gives you the joy of wanting more.

So, what is the big, huge goal that you’re working towards?

You will reach your destination, and then there will be another mountain to scale. Neurologically, when we get something we want, we start to want more.

The Homeostatic impulse controls your body

Your Brain is built to reinforce and regulate your life.

Your subconscious mind has a ‘homeostatic impulse’ that controls your body temperature, heartbeat, and breathing.

But many people don’t realize that just as the brain is built to regulate the physical self, it also tries to regulate the mental self.

Your subconscious mind is the gatekeeper of your comfort zone.

When we are going through a healing or changing process in our lives.

Change will be uncomfortable until it is familiar to our body, no matter how good.

That’s why we get stuck in bad habits and patterns that harm ourselves.

Your Brain is Antifragile

The human mind is something called antifragile; It gets battered by adversity.

Like a rock that becomes a diamond under pressure or an immune system that gets stronger after exposure to germs, the mind needs stimulation.

Adversity makes you more creative. It awakens a part of you that’s often hidden.

Focusing on problems that are real problems in the world, like hunger or politics or whatever else.

The most important thing is to be engaged in what we control. Antifragile things need tension, resistance, adversity, pain, and tension to break and transform.

Know How Robert Greene’s 48 Laws to Help You Be Smart, Make Good Plans, and Defend Yourself.

Chapter#5 Releasing The Past

Throughout our lives, we will undergo a process of self-reinvention.

Over time, we are meant to change and designed to evolve.

Our bodies show us this by removing and replacing cells, to the point where some say we’re basically all new in seven years.

We need to learn how to let go of the past, but it’s not easy.

When we try to force ourselves to “let go” of something, we grip onto it tighter, more complexly, and more passionately than ever before.

It’s like someone tells you not to think of the white elephant; that is the only thing you’ll be able to focus on.

Our heart works the same way as our minds in this regard. The longer we tell ourselves that we must let go, the more deeply we feel attached.

So don’t tell yourself to let go.

Instead, tell yourself that you can cry for as long as you need, that you can fall to pieces, be a mess, and let your life collapse.

Tell yourself that you can let your foundation fall through.

What you will realize is that you are still standing.

But take one step today and another tomorrow to rebuild your new life—piece by piece, day by day.

The Psychological Trick To Release Old Experiences

Brianna said that we have unfinished or unresolved feelings in our bodies. This is something we deeply wanted and still desire.

A breakup didn’t break us: we were hurt by wanting love that wasn’t right for us. We were very upset because we really wanted that person or thing to stay in our lives.

We get stuck in these places where we still want an experience, fail to move forward and fail to live in the present moment.

Re-entering through your memories is necessary if you truly let go of the past. Close your eyes and feel the uncomfortable feeling in your body.

This is your portal to its root. Imagine living a happy, healthy life and wiser self by forgiving those who hurt you in the past.

Explore the secret to living in the present moment and unlock true happiness. Read our summary of The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

Chapter#6 Building A New Future

Now that we’ve finished releasing your past experiences, you can focus on building a new present and future.

When we release, we will wipe the slate clean to create something new.

The most common pitfalls are that people who try to let go of their past but don’t succeed fall into a common trap of focusing on the past.

Design your life through a daily version of yourself. Connect with the most powerful version of yourself and discover your true purpose of being.

Try to meet your highest potential future of yourself.

A popular tool in psychotherapy is “inner child work” or the process of imagining and reconnecting with one’s younger self.

It is possible to go back to certain traumatizing events and address them with the wisdom you have now, in this process.

You can use visualization techniques to connect to your highest potential future self. First, you have to identify your life’s end goal. There are a few steps.

• Step 1: Face The Fear First
• Step 2: Notice How Your Future Self Looks
• Step 3: Ask For Guidance
• Step 4: Imagine Them Handing You The “Keys” To Your New Life

Remember, this process should make you feel calm, affirmed, and more self-assured, not the opposite. Fear is a hallucination, a trick of mind and gut.

When something happens that scars you, and then you do not ever get over that fear, you become traumatized. Trauma is the experience of disconnecting from a fundamental source of safety.

Chapter#7 From Self-Sabotage To Self-Mastery

It sounds like an incredible transformation to move from self-sabotage to mastery.

It is, in reality, the natural course of understanding that you were responsible for holding you back and that you are also capable of moving forward.

According to the Buddhists, controlling the mind is the path to enlightenment.

They refer to the Enlightenment as spontaneous and genuine happiness. This idea is simple in theory but complex in practice.

How do we know we are suppressing our emotions or controlling them?

Emotional suppression is a regulation strategy that people use when they do not have adequate coping mechanisms for their feelings.

People often ignore their true reaction to a situation or experience, but one day, it all comes to a breaking point and they have an emotional outburst that they cannot control.

Suppressed emotions function similarly to unconscious biases. Controlling your emotions means being more aware of how you feel.

There are a few ways that will help you achieve self-sabotage and self-mastery.

• Learning to trust yourself again.
• Creating aligned goals.
• Finding your peace.
• Detaching from Worrying
• Remember That your feelings are not always facts.
• Becoming mentally strong

Ways To Self-Mastery

Get a plan because plans fix problems, and humble yourself because it’s not all about you.

We lived in a specialized society and asked for help because you are not supposed to know everything.

Know what you don’t know and stop false dichotomous thinking. Stop trying to be psychic because this is a cognitive distortion.

It would be best if you took responsibility for your actions. Learn how to cope with complicated feelings.

Forget what happened and focus on how you will make it right. Remove it from your mind because things are usually more complicated in your head.

Take your time because you don’t need to figure everything out immediately. Consider triggers as signals because your wounds need your attention.

Honour your discomfort because it’s trying to tell you something.

This way, it can transform your life from sabotage to self-mastery. One day, the mountain that was in front of you will be so far behind you.