I teamed up with Mia Curran of Empowered Alignment Coaching to start this year. Mia is a Certified Master Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioner with several other certifications.
It’s that time of year again, a chance to wipe the slate clean and start anew! We are always excited by this opportunity to create a positive future! Although our intentions are good and heartfelt, by February, 81% of us have already tossed aside our resolutions, reverting to the same old patterns. What do you say to yourself once you have broken your promise? “I knew I wouldn’t stick to my resolutions. I always give up, and this year is no different.” What other negative self-talk do you start repeating?
Don’t beat yourself up! Your conscious mind is the goal-setter, and your unconscious mind is the goal-getter. The challenge is that your conscious mind controls only 5%, and the unconscious mind oversees 95%. So, how do you stop your unconscious mind from sabotaging your future? One way may be Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). It communicates with your unconscious mind to remove limiting beliefs and negative emotions, allowing you to pull the root of the weed out so it does not grow back. Once you break the repetitive flawed patterns of limiting beliefs in your unconscious mind, you can move forward in your life in an empowered state because both of your minds are in sync.
Here are a few tips to help you stick to your resolutions instead of beating yourself up for breaking resolutions you might have made in previous years:
1. Life happens for us, not to us. When looking back at a negative experience, what was the lesson to be gained from it? How can you reframe the situation to see a positive aspect of it?
2. Turn the negative situation into a positive future. With your newfound knowledge about that negative situation, what could you do differently if you were in a similar situation? Can you apply this new insight to any other area of your life to increase your success rate, such as a new resolution?
3. Measure your success backward. Look at where you are now and what you accomplished from the start of the resolution. For example, if your goal is to lose 20 pounds by July, when February 1st rolls around, notice that you have lost two pounds. Acknowledge that you lost those pounds; you are 10% of the way to your goal instead of focusing on the 18 pounds to go.
4. Pay attention to what your body is telling you. When you think about a specific resolution, what is your gut reaction? Invigorated or a sense of dread? If you resist your resolution, you need to question your motivation. That is a red flag that you should ignore. Are you doing this for yourself or someone else? Do you have a story that says you can’t reach this resolution? Do you need to rewrite it so you have a positive reaction, or do you need to toss that one out? Follow your gut!
5. Set yourself up for success! Let’s be honest; the only things we need to do are preferred activities! Common suggestions for doing what is boring. One might work, or a combination.
- Combine things that you like to do with things you don’t. For example, watch a favorite show while folding laundry.
- Use a body double. We all know someone who struggles with doing similar things. Team up – go to the gym together, each your homes together, study together.
- Exchange boring tasks. I like to cook; you like to clean. I will make extra meals for you, and you can clean my apartment. Or I hate writing up my expense report, and you don’t like cold calling business, but neither of us thinks the person’s task is so bad. Switch!
- Make bad habits you want to kick hard to do. Less screen time is a common one. I know this will seem extreme, but you will have a better quality of life. Delete social media and shopping apps from your phone. Or go truly extreme and get a Wise phone or a Light phone. Want to stop smoking? Ask someone to hold you accountable for only smoking outside. This strategy won’t work if you live somewhere warm, so think of something else that would make it hard, Like asking someone for a cigarette.
6. Celebrate your wins – big and small! If we only acknowledge our final goal, we can risk becoming discouraged and giving up. Instead, celebrate small milestones along the way to your end goal. Setting these rewards in advance will help you stay motivated. Praise yourself for all the small wins because you’re moving in the right direction!
Do you keep repeating the same unsuccessful patterns in your life? Do you have an ongoing internal dialogue about putting yourself down? Do you want to move forward in a positive direction yet truly believe down deep that you cannot do so? More likely than not, you are also replaying a similar and even more powerful dialog over and over in your unconscious mind. How do we break this unsuccessful self-sabotaging aspect of ourselves?
NLP breakthrough sessions are 8–12-hour deep dives where an NLP practitioner and client uncover the root of the limiting beliefs in the unconscious mind with the use of Mental and Emotional Release, MER™, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and Hypnotherapy. These limiting beliefs and negative emotional charges are released so you will experience a new, unmatched level of freedom and empowerment, breaking the flawed repeating patterns in your life so you can truly move forward, turning dreams into reality!
If you want to learn more about Mia, email her at [email protected] to schedule a complimentary 30-minute call to determine if a breakthrough session fits you!
If you want to coach with Sheila, click here to schedule a Discovery Session.