Here come those new year resolutions. Everybody is setting new goals envisioning their success, but why is it that the majority of these goals are very short lived?
This is Marcelo and I’m going to share with you something that most of us are doing that is automatically setting us up for failure.
Scientists have discovered that our thoughts can physically change our brain structure; how are brain is wired.
Our brain is changing every day, but unfortunately it’s not always for the better. We are bombarded with negativity and to top it all off, many of us have become experts at negative self talk. Add these all together and we have formed some horrible patterns in our head that do an excellent job at keeping us away from achieving our goals.
The good news is that we can absolutely change these patterns and rewire our brains.
Now keep in mind that our thoughts drive our emotions which then influence our behavior.
So right around New Years our self talk goes a little something like…
“This year I will lose weight.”
“This year I am going to make money.”
“This year I will improve my health.”
Now these things sound pretty damn positive and awesome, right?
Unfortunately, this is exactly where most of us are going wrong.
“This year I will lose weight.”
“This year I am going to make money.”
These are powerful statements, but they are only good enough to get us started, at best.
This self talk gets the wheel turning; it puts us into motion, but unfortunately it does not keep us in motion.
Let me show you how we can easily modify these statements to make them 100 times more effective.
But first let me preface this by saying that as humans we tend to procrastinate whenever possible; especially when we have to do things we don’t like.
So when we use the words “will” or “going to” we are talking about something in the future. We are already subconsciously granting ourselves a little leeway, a little wiggle room; which the procrastination side of us loves.
“Oh, I can do it tomorrow.”
And then tomorrow becomes the day after, the day after becomes next week, and so on and so on. And this is why by the end of the year most of us haven’t accomplished any of our goals; because we are still stuck in “I will” mode.
But what if we changed “I will” to “I am”?
So instead of saying, “This year I will lose weight.” Let’s say, “This year I am losing weight.”
Instead of saying, “This year I am going to make money.” Let’s say, “This year I am making money.”
Such a subtle change makes a big difference when it comes to breaking our old thought patterns and forming new ones where we don’t leave any room for procrastination.
Use assertive statements to put yourself in the action right now. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month. Drop your I wills, drop your I am going tos.
Start changing your self talk to the present, to in-the-moment.
Look at the difference between, “I will be happy.” And “I am happy.”
When you say, “I will be happy”, you are leaving room for sadness, for anger in the present.
But with “I am happy”, that’s it, there’s no room for anything other than happiness in the right now. You are not putting off happiness till tomorrow, you are taking care of it right now!
So start making these small yet powerful changes in your self talk, and see just how much better your 2021 is going to be!
