5 Tips for Overcoming the LIES™ That Make You Break Your New Year’s Resolution
Why do people fail so early and so often?
Year after year, many people resolve to fix the same old problem. Why? What gets in the way of achieving goals, satisfying your resolution and making lasting change? Labels, Illusions, Excuses and Stories or LIES™ – limiting thoughts, beliefs and feelings that determine the range of choices you believe you have.
Learn to recognize LIES™ that are crippling you. They’re reflected in sentences that start with:
- I can’t because…
- I don’t know how to…
- They won’t let someone like me…
- I just don’t have the time to…
- Everybody [feels, thinks, is] that way.
- Everybody does___ sometime.
- I’ll do it later, when I have more time; not now.
- When__ happens, then I’ll be able to…
- When the kids are older I’ll…
- That kind of thing happens to other people, not me.
- Nobody in my family [neighborhood, school, racial or ethnic group] has ever – before.
- But what if…
Here are the 5 A’s for making lasting change in 2011 and beyond:
Analyze yourself and your situation. Where am I today? How did I get here? How did I create this? What LIES™ did I use to construct my world as I know it? Access Awareness of what you think about the thing or situation you want. How do you really feel when you bring it to mind? Scared, reluctant, overwhelmed, uncertain, self-critical? What do you believe about your right or ability to have this thing in your life? Write it down. Ask: am I committed? Answer honestly, even if you have to own up to conflicted feelings.
Accept where you are today, without complaint, blame or shame. You are not a problem, and neither is the situation. You’re just at a point where you have a desire for something else. That’s a good place to be.
Acknowledge what you want. Be clear and specific about your desire. Write it down, describing it in such detail that you can see it and feel it. Get emotionally connected to what you want, not desperate or begging, just feeling great every time you think about having what you want.
Act only when you’re really ready. Allow a range of choices and options to surface, once you feel committed to what you want. Think about the choices you’ve identified. Consciously choose options that will lead toward your goal and serve you best. Act only when you have chosen actions that will lead to the consequence you want. You don’t have to adhere to the social pressure of a false start date, like New Year’s Day. Maybe Year’s Day is when you begin your self-analysis rather than the day you force yourself to start your diet.
Assess your results and reengage in the cycle. The process or cycle – the 5 A’s for making lasting change – is never-ending. It continues throughout your lifetime. The more conscious and aware you are of it, the more success you’ll have achieving your goals and creating change that lasts.
Get your copy of “LIES That Limit” to keep you on track and focused on your goals in 2011!