I hope your New Year’s Eve festivities were happy, no matter if you celebrated at a club or party or stayed home and watched Hallmark movies. We all need to find our own peace in celebrations.
Now that the holidays are behind us, it’s now time to focus on the new year – and a new start. Yes, you get to determine how 2018 will play out: month-month, week-by-week, day-by-day, and even hour-by hour. Planning and breaking them down into manageable steps will lead to more success in all you do.
Creating a new start – or viewing it this way – gives hope which, ultimately, increases motivation and determination to ensure goals are accomplished. Allowing yourself to dream, to forgive any past mistakes or failures, and then strategize the visions will create a roadmap you can follow every day towards success.
There may be – no, there will be fears that arise as work on your goals. It’s scary to do something that feels out of the ordinary as we get patterned to do the same things over and over, even if they are not the best for us. The worry about rejection is what holds most people back, and then the fear of being humiliated or embarrassed. The habits that develop as a result act along with the feelings you have and prevent you from taking any action.
A good technique is to first, recognize that your thoughts and feelings are happening to you, but are not you, and then use self-talk, as if you were talking to a child; this challenges these thoughts and puts the focus in the prefrontal cortex, or the thinking part of the brain, and less on the emotional part (the fight-or-flight response). Without the feelings arising (stress or fear), you will be able to take action. The more you do, the less scary any movement away from the norm becomes.
If it makes it easier, use a Kaizen principle and start with something so small that it doesn’t activate the fear center, such as sitting for 5-15 minutes and just allowing any thoughts to come and, then, writing those down. Or, it could mean taking one idea and spending 5 minutes doing some research on it. The point is to lessen any fears that will arise so that your feelings and emotions don’t take over, which will keep you stuck.
Make this year the one where you let go of how you’ve responded to fear in the past so it doesn’t keep you down or doing the same things over and over, as that is the definition of insanity. Determine that you will create a new start which, frankly, starts in the mind, and that you will control. It will take time but with persistence and repetition, you will have created new, more positive habits, while developing courage to go after all you truly want. Make 2018 the year of you!
Committed to Your Success Coaching & Consulting focuses on workplace happiness and organizational success. If you need help gaining clarity on your business or career goals, why not get some help – stop the struggle and call today to get started! https://cyscoaching.com or barbara@cyscoaching.com. For more great tips, visit our other blog at https://allaboutcareersites.com
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