It's the close of the first day of the year 2015. The beginning of a new year always fills me with hope. We make our list of new year resolutions. We put behind us the fears, failures and regrets (if there are any) of the last year and believe that the slate is clean and we can not only envision but bring to pass all that we dream in the new year. Why not? Everyone else is doing it.
It's true that anything you do to change or better yourself is 90% mental and 10% logistics. You can put a list of goals in place and set the steps for getting there but if your head isn't in it you will not get anywhere. Your brain controls a HUGE part of the process. And the coolest thing is...your brain can be rewired. You can form a new pattern in your thoughts and by doing that you leave the other path dormant. For example, let's say you have the belief that you can't run. Let's say 3 years ago you decided to run a race and you started day one to try to run as far as you could. You couldn't even go a quarter of a mile. So you decide that running isn't for you because you can't even run a mile! Let's say a trainer comes along and challenges your belief. What training program did you have in place? None, I was just going to start running. It worked for Forrest Gump. What small goals did you put in place? Um to run. OK so the plan was not realistic. You can't truly say you can't run when you barely tried. So the trainer starts to work with you on a program with small attainable goals to chart the path. The only way you are going to be successful in even TRYING is to change your thought pattern. There is a very strong 3 year old pattern of thinking that you just can't run. Now that you are working with someone who has been there you have a little hope. You rely on their belief in you and your belief in their system until you can truly say "I can run with proper trainiing". You reach your small goals and your belief gets stronger. If you say to yourself every morning "I can run with proper training" and never say again "I can't run" you will start a new pattern in the brain and the old pattern will be gone. Just like that!
So any new year resolution you list needs to have proper goals set with them. Start by learning how others are doing it. Look for the professionals or the experts on the subject and take their advice on how to start. Then set small attainable goals that you can realistically achieve. If you do not put goals in place with your resolution nothing will change. If you don't change your thought process the 10% of what you are trying to achieve will be swallowed up by the 90% powered by the brain. Things CAN change! Things don't have to remain the same every year! You have to start with belief and then change the voice in your head. Ask God to help you. He instructs us to establish our ways. Pro 4:26-27 "Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left". He wants us to be better, feel better, be extraordinary. Not flip back and forth. I know we are humans who make mistakes, who have good intentions, who try and fail at times. But try! Keep trying! The great thing about new year resolutions is we challenge ourselves. We attempt to change the voice in our head and we succeed when the right voice, the voice of hope gets louder than the voice of fear. Fear that we will fail again. Fear that we will be disappointed. When you realize it's all in the head then it's all in your control. Just change your mind! All day long, change your mind. When the voice of fear trys to speak, yell with the voice of hope! Eventually the pattern will change and 90% of the battle is won!
