How Are You Progressing?

Although the beginning of the year is the time where many people set goals, statistics show that they are forgotten or abandoned almost as soon as they are started. So what are we to do?

Think about your habits.

Habits are behaviours that we’ve done so many times that they become second nature – like running a program so many times it doesn’t require any effort to do. And when you consider how much time you put into some of the old negative habits that you’re trying to kick, it becomes apparent why it’s so challenging to do so. It’s as if they are ingrained in us.

So what do we do?

In an interview, Rewrite the Subconscious Programming Quickly (2014), Scientist Dr. Bruce Lipton, indicates that 95% of what we do is habitual, resulting from past programming that has been stored in the subconscious part of our brain – which is what’s running the show every day. Only 5% of our thoughts are conscious, which includes our wishes, desires and how we want to see ourselves. So to create changes in our lives, we need persistence.

Many people give up on their goals when they don’t see the desired results over days or weeks. To create your desires, you need to commit to changing your habits long-term. Dr. Lipton suggests that persistence will enable you to change the old programs in your subconscious into new programs. Stick with your new habits and the changes will follow.

The following are ways to stay focused on your new habits:

Set aside some time each day – like you would any other priority – to think about that goal. If you have it written down, read it, modify it, and picture what it would look like once you’ve achieved it.  Dr. Lipton indicates that it is important to incorporate your feelings into these thoughts. It’s not enough to just visualize your goals – you need to allow yourself to feel what it’s like to achieve them as well.

Repetition. Just as reoccurring past experiences made their way into your memory long-term, new actions need to be done repetitively to become permanent in the subconscious. “Repeat your new behaviour – to replace the old behaviour – over and over,” says Lipton.

Hypnosis. Listening to subliminal messages while you sleep (or while awake), speaks directly to your subconscious, while your conscious is asleep.  You can buy subliminal CD’s or downloaded versions. “You don’t need a hypnotherapist,” adds Lipton.

Pay attention to your thoughts. What you focus on becomes your reality, for better or worse. Negative thoughts are like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Put another way by renowned Theosophist Bhagavan Das, “Worrying is praying for something that you don’t want.”

Use your energy wisely. Invest your energy into what you want, not on what you don’t. Imagine having one litre of water that is your only source to last you for a week… Will you use it for watering the grass or to nourish your body? You have a certain amount of energy each day. You can use it on thoughts, emotions and actions that will move you forward, or on negative behaviours that will keep you stuck.

As always, surround yourself with people that support and inspire -rather than undermine – what you are trying to achieve. Otherwise, it can be like swimming against a current and can sabotage your efforts.

It’s not enough to just know what you want, write a plan and blindly hope for the best. Just as your old repetitive behaviours turned into habits that seem hard to break, new persistent actions can overwrite these old patterns and fulfil your desires.

I hope you found this article helpful. If you need help to get your New Year started off right, I created a Personal Success Package to help you clarify your objectives, see yourself as the person you strive to be, monitor your progress, be inspired and more. To learn more, you can read about it here.

To your success in the New Year!

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