2010 and all that

Hi everybody.

So let me get the Happy New Year wishes out of the way. Now that this year is some 18 days old we have passed the point where New Year's Resolutions traditionally fall apart (15 days in is the norm) So What About Your New Year's Resolution? Is it still with you or have you just gone the way of the 95% of people who have just "given up"?

If you are still with the remaining 5% congratulations!

So what does making a New Year's resolution actually meam? Well the word "resolution" is defined as "a commitment that an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit" but it is my belief that this commitment falls over because it is not a total commitment with every cell of your body.

Put another way this means "Don't make change, make PROGRESS!"

It is a known fact that getting "things" really won't make you happy, yes you will get a short term excitement from having something new, a new car, a new dress, a new house but it won't truly make you HAPPY.

To achieve true happiness you have to progress - Progress = Happiness.

You don't have to work at change. Change is going to happen irrespective of what you do, it is a continual process. In the past I too have been guilty of using the language of "working at change" but now I have come to realise that I cannot alter the weather, I cannot alter the economy, I cannot stop my body getting older, these are all changes that will take place whatever I do, but what I can affect is my progress through this life

Change is automatic, but progress is not

Having spoken to a number of people over the years it has become apparent that people's resolutions at New Year are simply "wish lists". They pay lip service to wanting to change but, fundamentally, they don't have the desire to progress so ultimately the wishes will slip into the abyss, along with all the other wish lists from all around the globe.

However, "if you want to take the island you have to burn the boats"

Three main points to keep in mind when looking to make progress happen are:-

1 Have a compelling vision - see what you truly want to achieve, create a vision of it that will truly excite you. What will it be like, what will you look like when you achieve the state.

2 Create strong enough reasons to do whatever is necessary to make this progress happen

3 You have to review it and feel it every day - to make it real

In order to make lasting changes you have to raise your standards

It is worth remembering here that everybody in life gets their musts - they do not get their shoulds. When you decide that something is an ABSOLUTE MUST you will find the way to achieve it. When something becomes a must IT DOES NOT TAKE WILLPOWER!

An extremely famous coach said that every single one of us acts consistently with who we believe we are. How do you define yourself? Do you often say "I'm not that kind of person" or "I don't do that because I'm not that kind of girl"

If you do make those sort of statments as yourself this question - When did I make the decision that that was who I was?

These statements are our glass ceilings, created by decisions that we made years ago for whatever reasons. Here is a useful anecdote that will describe what I mean by that statement -

Imagine if you will that you are at a circus, the parade has just taken place and the elephant trainer takes a length of thin rope, loops it around the elephants neck and ties it to a stake in the ground. Now the elephant given its great strength could very easily uproot the stake and escape but it does not, it stays there quite quietly. It was conditioned as a baby that try as it may it could not break free of the rope that held it to the stake in the ground so now it no longer tries. It believes that the rope will hold it there and so it is futile to try to escape.

It is my belief that joy comes from spontaneous action and that this is when we show who we really are. It is when we let our guard down that the real person surfaces.

BUT for the most part, we live who we believe we are and these beliefs are our standards.

Our wants do not get met consistently but our standards always do, so to achieve higher results we must change, review and realign our standards. The same thing applies to money, if we desire more money, we must change our standards so that we look at money from a totally different position than we are currently in and with a different set of standards.

Changing your life requires you to change your internal game. You cannot change outside influences but you can change your internal standards and those changes are created by adopting different rituals. Rituals make standards real.

If you see someone who has a perfect body compared to you, then I will bet anything you like that they have a different set of rituals in their life to the ones that you currently have.

If you see someone who has a lifestyle that you consider to be a success lifestyle it is a pound to a piece of coal that they use different rituals to those that you do.

So my friends I would now like to leave you with one final question

"Do you intend to remain a 95% person or are you going to raise your standards and become one of the elite 5%?

take care and have a great day

and remember

Don't predict the future - CREATE IT!

DAve