Life is full of cloudy moments, and unfortunately, a lot of them stem from our thought patterns. The Mountain Is You by Brianna Wiest captures this perfectly and has quickly become an essential read for young adults navigating burnout, anxiety, and emotional hurdles in general. Although we usually subconsciously know how to move forward, this book gently brings that awareness to the surface in a way that feels almost therapeutic, reminding us of the logic behind finding inner peace. Personally, the self-assurance I’ve gained from reading this book has been nothing short of transformative, and I often find myself returning to certain quotes for clarity. I hope they’ll resonate with you too!
YOU DON’T REALIZE HOW FAR YOU’VE COME.
You are not the person you were five years ago. You evolve as your self-image does, so make sure that it’s an accurate one. Give yourself credit for everything you’ve overcome that you never thought you would, and everything you’ve built that you never thought you could. You’ve come so much farther than you think, and you’re so much closer than you realize. (p. 61)
This quote is such a great reminder that we often underestimate our own growth. Personally, I catch myself thinking I’m behind all the time, and honestly, that is probably the reason I picked up this book in the first place. But as this quote emphasizes, we really need to give ourselves more credit. Even if our journey doesn’t perfectly match the idealized timeline we all build in our heads, we’ve still accomplished so much. Shifting our focus from negativity toward optimism about what’s ahead can make all the difference because good truly is on the horizon.
The final and most important lesson to overcome self-sabotage is to learn to disconnect action from feeling. We are not held back in life because we are incapable of making change. We are held back because we don’t feel like making change, and so we don’t. (p. 67)
This is a very simple notion, but such an important one because let’s be real, how many times have we caught ourselves saying, “Ugh, I don’t feel like it, I’ll do it tomorrow”? And then tomorrow comes but we continue to postpone whatever task we have to accomplish. This shows that we must push ourselves before the little voice telling us to procrastinate becomes too comfortable.
THE WAY YOU ARE SELF-SABOTAGING: Having self-defeating thoughts that hold you back from doing what you want…. Thinking the worst of yourself is a way of trying to numb yourself to what you really fear, which is that someone else could say those things about you. What you don’t realize is that you’re acting as your own bully and enemy by doing it to yourself. What could someone else’s judgment realistically do to your life? Honestly, it could stop you from pursuing your dreams, ambitions, and personal happiness. And that’s exactly what you’re doing when you stay fixated on those damaging ideas. It’s time to get out of your own way. (p. 89)
Wow. Talk about a call-out. This is something I’ve struggled with my whole life and something I’m still working on, not just to improve my own mindset, but also to protect the relationships around me. These self-defeating thoughts can weigh you down much more than you realize, and they don’t just stay in your head, they tend to show up in how you show up. I also think it’s something so many women and girls deal with, in particular, as we’re often taught to be self-critical before anyone else gets the chance. That’s why this quote truly hits so hard: what feels like self-protection is often quietly self-destructive.
THE WAY YOU ARE SELF-SABOTAGING: Mindlessly scrolling through social media as a way to pass the time…This is one of the easiest ways to numb yourself, because it is so accessible and addictive. ….If you don’t put the phone down feeling inspired or relaxed, you’re probably trying to avoid some kind of discomfort within yourself—the very discomfort that just might be telling you that you need to change (p. 91).
Once again, ouch. With Gen-Z especially, it’s no surprise that screen time and mental health go hand in hand. It’s something we are all aware of deep down. Forcing myself to pull away from endless Instagram reels (that have the much-too-easy ability to trigger spirals) has actually helped to improve my mental health. Distracting yourself from hard thoughts doesn’t make them go away, it just piles more on or delays the inevitable crashout. Who would’ve thought, right?!
• Intuitive thoughts open your mind to other possibilities; invasive thoughts close your heart and make you feel stuck or condemned.
• Intuitive thoughts come from the perspective of your best self; invasive thoughts come from the perspective of your most fearful, small self. (p. 100)
I am sure I am not the only one who knows how easy it is to mistake anxiety for intuition. We start creating problems out of nothing, thinking it’s a “sign,” though really it’s just our insecurities getting the best of us. Learning to ground our thoughts and distinguish between intuition and intrusion isn’t just beneficial for us and our futures, but it’s also important for the people in our lives. This mindset helps us to self-regulate, making us less likely to project irrational feelings onto others and allowing us to maintain connections rooted in trust, clarity, and kindness.
Instead of longing for what we didn’t get then, we have to release ourselves from the past and start putting our energy into building that experience right now. ( p.143)
It’s so easy to get lost in the memories of everything we’ve been through, but I’ve learned firsthand how important it is to let the storm pass, say “it is what it is,” and keep moving forward because honestly, that’s all we can really do.
You can leave the country, get remarried, build a whole new career, date 12 other people, find an entirely new friend group, feel happier and more fulfilled than ever, and still grieve for what your younger self went through. Even though you’re different on the outside, that part of you still very much exists within. That younger self doesn’t just want you to keep walking; it wants you to turn around and acknowledge it. (p.144)
Either we get caught in thoughts of the past, or we push our feelings away so we don’t have to feel them. Although it is essential to look forward, this book (and life in general) has taught me the importance of acknowledging what my inner child went through (or is still going through), and to do everything I can to make life better despite it all.
Through everything, you must be thinking as your most powerful self would. If you learn to see the world and your life through that lens, you can create a life that reflects the intentions of that side of you. It already exists; you just need to know how to tap into it. (p.187)
With being a university student or even just dealing with whatever life throws at you, impostor syndrome tends to find a way to stomp on your motivation when pursuing the paths you’re meant for. But as the quote is describing, if you weren’t capable, the opportunity wouldn’t have even come your way, which means yes, you belong. We just have to tap into that powerful version of ourselves. It’s already there!
When you make an investment, you don’t expect to see a return that day. In the same way, you can go to sleep feeling accomplished knowing that you chipped away at your future just by adhering to your principles. Little things, done repeatedly and over time, become the big things. (p.198)
In the journey of becoming better, whatever that may look like, it’s easy to get impatient with your progress. Something I always have to remind myself is that as long as you’re moving forward (even with some bad days in between), you’re still on your way. Letting go of perfectionism really is key, and it’s always worth repeating: don’t underestimate how far you’ve already come.
Your thoughts and actions are like stones in the water: They create a ripple effect…..You don’t have to force the water to be still. It does it on its own when you stop interrupting it. The same goes for finding inner peace. It’s not so much something you have to create as it is something you have to return to. (p.212)
For me, one of the most important principles in this book is that feeling stuck doesn’t shift until your mindset does. It sounds simple, but it’s often overlooked or forgotten in the chaos of day-to-day life. I’ve learned that when I stop trying to control every outcome and just let things be, clarity always follows. So make your brain a nice place to live in, and trust the process.
All in all, if these thoughtful quotes don’t inspire you to pick up this book and get your inner gears turning, I don’t know what will! These quotes and the book as a whole clearly illustrate the power of self-reflection paired with logical reasoning, reminding us how essential it is to cultivate a mindset that allows us to thrive while accepting that everyone’s journey is uniquely their own.
The final pages of The Mountain Is You felt like a punch in the gut, but in the best way possible, like closure after an extended wake-up call. I didn’t include excerpts from those pages because I think their beauty lies in experiencing them yourself, so I’ll leave you simply with this: “Your life is just beginning.”