the second half

Rolling Through the Roadblocks

Hello, friends!

As 2011 winds to an end, we can now reflect on the state of our affairs from the past twelve months.  Last December or January, we happily set those resolutions to make substantial change in our lives.  Remember?  As we feared the oncoming bills that matched our significant holiday gift giving or getting on the scale after that “one last indulgence” from Thanksgiving or Christmas, we decided to ban spending or food forever from our vocabulary….and we really meant it this time!  As we reflect, how did we do?  Let’s take a closer look.

He Who Hesitates is Lost

From my blog post last January, we noted statistics that showed 40-45% of all American adults will set resolutions annually.  By the six month mark, over half will fail.  That being said, we are still ten times more likely to be successful than those who never try.

So why do people struggle so much enacting positive change?  An interesting fact is that our brains are wired to kill impulses to take action within five seconds of the initial thought.  It’s a mechanism to keep us safe; however, it can also keep us from moving forward.  This is one example that we are our own biggest roadblock to realizing success.

Finish Strong!

The secret to getting beyond this hurdle is relatively simple.  There are three words in total.  Faith…Focus…Fire!  Break it down as follows:

Faith:  We must believe in our ability to change.  We are a resilient people.  There is little we can’t do.  However, we need a support system.  We should never surround ourselves with negative people.  Faith escalates when others believe in us.

Focus:  Have a target.  Narrow the goal, but have one.  Set a time frame.  We shouldn’t beat ourselves up if/when we fall from the horse, rather, just get back on.  Never give up!

Fire:  We have to have a burn (passion) for everything we do.  Every person on the planet has the same ability for change and it may take us less time or more time than others.  Visualization is our friend.  We would picture ourselves making our goals in our minds.  Break the goal down into smaller pieces and celebrate every win.

Making change is a daunting process.  It’s always easier to not change and stay with the status quo.   That, however, will never improve our lives and enrich our minds.  I would suggest that we start out by setting and keeping a resolution this year.  Instead of attempting to keep a resolution for the entire year, make an abbreviated goal of obtaining and maintaining a change for either 30, 60 or 90 days.  First, we develop a habit at 21 days. Next, we learn to develop a rhythm and can still see the benefit of this change.  Finally, every change comes with a risk of failure.  We will find that losing the war of change with a shortened goal will allow us to pick ourselves up faster and minimize the chance of surrendering to this roadblock.  Just remember, never, never, never quit!

With that, friends, I’ll leave you with this;

You’ve got to SEE positive to BE positive!

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