Happy New Year! Welcome to a new decade of your life.
We've entered the adolescent years of this century, still a bit wet behind the ears as a century goes, still shaking off the dust of a pretty horrendous first decade, but eager to get down to the business of getting on with business.
Often at this time of year, when I ask people if they've made any New Year's resolutions, I hear things like, "Oh, I don't even bother to do that any more. I know I'm not going to keep them, so why set myself up for failure? " Does that sound familiar?
So what happens? We give up on our dreams, and our deepest desires because looking at the past we see a body of evidence that demonstrates our lack of follow through. Who can argue with evidence? I mean, there it is, living proof that you didn't do what you said you were going to do. Living proof that you shouldn't depend on yourself to keep your word.
Every year, New Year's resolutions fall by the wayside after just a few days. "Sounded like a good idea at the time, but at ground zero, in the every day trenches, what was I thinking? Going to the gym four days a week? Getting my desk organized? Give up smoking? Lose 20 pounds? Get real! Not going to happen, so let's not pretend."
What could have that be different for you this year and every year from now on? What's the difference between you, who might have given up declaring new territory because you've already decided you're going to fail, and people who year after year, keep taking new ground for themselves and their lives?
If you want something in your life to be different than the way it is, if you want to create different results, powerful results, there is one sure fire way to pull it off, but it's going to cost you something. You are going to need to learn to get into a powerful relationship with your word. You're going to need to learn to honor the power of your word.
Would You Rather Be Right Or Have What You Want?
Most people don't really get the power of their word, so they're not mindful in how they use it. But consider this: we speak our reality into existence. Like everything in the universe, words have energy. Every time you speak the words, "I can't" you affirm the energy of "I can't" in your body and mind. You are impressing into your own energy field the consciousness of "I can't". And guess what? You get to be right about it! You end up getting to be right about whatever it is you declare that you can't. That's how powerful your words are.
So why not learn to harness this power to move you forward instead? If your words are powerful enough to keep you stuck in place, surely they must also be powerful enough to not only get you unstuck, but have you take new ground. That is absolutely the case, and in order for it to work, it's necessary to come into relationship with your word wherein you honor it as the most powerful tool you have for creating and manifesting your life.
What does this mean? Does it mean you should be extremely careful in giving your word so that you won't break it? That sounds like more evidence for not making declarations or resolutions. More evidence for playing it safe. Isn't that where you are now?
I know you're brilliant and extraordinary and that you have great potential. Maybe you're sitting on some of that potential and not really making the most of it. How can you s=t=r=e=t=c=h yourself beyond where you currently are? How can you breakthrough those old thought patterns and behaviors and set yourself free to create your life as big as you want it to be?
Declaring Without Evidence
To truly honor your word is to understand its power to call you forth. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy declared we would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. When he made that declaration, we didn't yet have the technology to put a man on the moon. His declaration set into motion the creation of the technology necessary to get the job done. President Kennedy had no evidence that we could do it. He simply declared it would be. He spoke his word. And the rest is history.
Getting Into The Gap
Back to those New Year's resolutions you made or gave up making a long time ago. When you speak your word, immediately you're confronted with a gap between where you are and where you say you're going. There's you at point X. There's the fulfillment of your word at point Z. In between is the gap, let's call it Point Y. The moment you declare something, like a goal or a New Year's resolution, you're pulled into the gap. Welcome it! The gap is where the learning is.
In the gap, you'll be confronted by all that is inconsistent with the goal you've declared. All of your limiting beliefs and considerations will appear in the gap. You'll hear yourself going through the litany of reasons why you shouldn't have declared this goal, all the reasons why it isn't going to happen. You'll tell yourself you don't know what you're doing, you've never done this before, what makes you think you can do it now? You'll hear those voices of self doubt and disbelief that have held you back for decades. You know, the ones that affirm you don't have the right stuff that you don't have what it takes to get to point Z.
To the extent that you buy into these voices of doubt and fear, you'll step out of the gap and fall back into your existing patterns which, while maybe not being all that bad, represent what's safe and familiar. We humans are like that! We LOVE the comfort and safety of familiarity. And then you'll affirm those voices of limitation. You'll add more evidence to the pile and end up being right about it. Unless.
Unless this time, you allow yourself to be in the gap with a different mind-set. There is a mind set that will serve you to navigate the gap and end up not only getting to point Z, but learning more than you bargained for along the way.
The Gap Is Where The "Juice" Is
The gap is wide and long. Let's navigate it together as the accomplished and creative people that we are. Are you in? If so, then here's your first assignment:
1) Without evidence that you can do it, declare a goal, to be completed by the end of 90 days, in one or more of the following areas of your life: career, relationships, finances, health, personal growth, spirituality, community service, education, creativity. You needn't take it all on in 90 days. Which three to four areas of your life call out to you to take them on now?
2) Your goal must be S.M.A.R.T. Specific,Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely. It must answer the questions, how many and by when?
3) For each goal, identify three limiting beliefs, inner voices that tell you reasons why you can't be, do or have it happen. For example, "You don't have enough experience, you don't have the right education, you don't have enough time to devote to this, you don't have the money you need, you're not worthy to have this, you don't deserve it, you're in over your head, etc.
4) If your goal is too big to be completed in 90 days, break it into do-able chunks. What portion of it can you realistically complete in 90 days?
5) Get an "accountability buddy" or two or three. People who can help keep you on track and to whom you'll do the same. Post this article on your Facebook page or Tweet people to join you or forward it your friends so you can all get on the same page.
6) Come on over to my personal blog and website at Rx For The Soul, where I'll be blogging on this theme in more depth in the days to come. Let's blow the doors off the gap!
I'd love to hear from you in the comment section here, or at Rx For The Soul. What are your goals, what are your limiting beliefs that up until now, have kept you from reaching them? If you knew you couldn't fail, what would you take on this year? What support do you need?
Next, at Rx For The Soul- Part 2 of this series, Harnessing Your Power To Create In 2010.
Blessings on the path.