Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions?
If you’re beginning to lose motivation with keeping them, then you’ll be interested in learning about something that I think is almost important as the actual taking action towards your goals.

When you decide on a specific goal for yourself, most likely you’ll look for how to do it including researching tips and techniques. For example, you might join a gym if you want to lose weight or you might look for time management books if you want to become more organized or to learn how to avoid procrastinating.

You’ll look for ideas that you can use and then you think you’ll be well on your way to achieving your goals, right?

Well, there is one very important thing you must do before you start to learn all your new habits or the result will most likely be that you end up self sabotaging yourself.

See Yourself First
Before you try to learn all the new techniques, you must be able to see yourself as the new person you want to be.

So, before you try to lose weight, visualize yourself as a thin, healthy, athletic person. See yourself being that person who is fit and vibrant and bursting with energy. Have a really clear image in your mind of what you will look like, how you will act, how you will feel, what people will say, and what you will do when you have reached your goal. Imagine being the new you in every way.

Keep visualizing this every day so that you keep it very clear in your mind.

Why is this important?
If you try to incorporate new behaviors into your life while still thinking of yourself in the old way, you’ll most likely end up self sabotaging yourself. If you think you’re a procrastinator, you won’t do the tips you’ve learned because what does a procrastinator do? They procrastinate. You’re behaving the way you see and think of yourself.

Change how you view yourself and you’ll find it so much easier to incorporate any new techniques. You'll also discover that it makes it much more clear to you what you’re really trying to accomplish. Simply saying, “I want to lose weight” isn’t very clear. Instead, if you visualize fitting into your favourite pair of jeans again then that’s much more concrete. Or if you say, “I want to be more organized”, What does that mean exactly? But, if you see yourself handing in your projects early then that’s something your brain can really grasp and work towards. By making your goal clear in your mind, you'll also have a better idea of what you need to do in order to achieve it.

Also, if you continue to hang on to your old beliefs about yourself then whenever something goes wrong, you’ll just think, “It’s no use, I’m just a procrastinator. There’s no changing that”. You need to keep the new you in your head while you’re training your mind to actually become this new person.

One other benefit of keeping this vision in your mind, is that it will also help you through the times when you just don’t feel like it. This technique will keep you that much more motivated because you’re not focused on the hard work required to achieve your goal. Instead, you’re focused on the results and how nice it will be to have it.

First see it in your mind and quickly you'll see it in real life. Take a minute to imagine how great it will be when you’re completely organized and have more time because you know where everything is and don’t waste hours searching for your stuff anymore. Imagine how great it’ll feel to have your project done. This keeps your mind focused on the positive and why you want to achieve this goal.

It’s recommended that you visualize the new you for about 30 minutes per day. It doesn't have to be all at once either. I find some of the best times are first thing in the morning just before you get up and the last thing at night. Also, whenever you find yourself procrastinating on working towards your new goal, take a minute to remember the new you that’s on its way.

This is a really easy to use technique which you'll find helps with the transition stage when you're new behaviors aren't a habit yet. It prevents you from giving up on yourself and you'll stay focused on achieving all your goals.

New on Life With Confidence

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Discussions
A couple of good discussions have been started which you might like to join in on.

First, Mary wanted to know how do you follow through with things? She says her problem is that she starts but doesn’t finish and it’s making her feel like she’s going around in circles.
Read the full discussion

Cutie wanted to know how you deal with a negative spouse. And, how do you know when to give up and get a divorce.
Read the full discussion

Controlling Relationships Warning
Janet wanted to share her story of how someone used NLP techniques to control her when she was vulnerable. It's an important message and I'm grateful that Janet was willing to share her story in order to save others from having to go through what she did. Thank you, Janet.

Have an idea for something you’d like to see discussed? You can start a topic for discussion on the Discussions On Confidence page.

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New Send A Positive Thoughts
Approval – a truth about how to stop needing approval.

Blame - when you realize you’re blaming someone for something, use this trick instead.

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Being The Solution – Excellent Resource
Just before Christmas, John recommended that I read, “Being The Solution” by Darel Rutherford. I’m so glad he did. This is one of the most valuable books I’ve read in a long time. If you’ve heard of "The Power Pause" by John Harricharan then you’ll be familiar with parts of what he discusses in this book. In this book, you'll learn his 9 step process for transforming yourself into the person you want to be and learn how to get the things you want. You'll also learn how to avoid slipping back into old habits. It provides information that other self help books seem to miss. I highly recommend reading this one. I’m in the process of reading it over a few times because there’s so much powerful information in this one.
Being The Solution

And, don't forget that you can still get a copy of my book, "3 Questions That Will Change Your Life". I use this process every single day. I can't tell you how much it completely changed my life once I figured out this technique. One of those things I wished I'd known when I was younger. Be sure to check it out:
3 Questions That Will Change Your Life

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Good Self Help Books to Read – No charge

I’ve found some new Self Help books which provide good information and don't cost a thing.

Time Management for Creative People
If you’re looking for some tips on how to organize yourself, this one provides some good ideas. I’m trying out his email technique because it’s different than what I’ve seen before. So far, I'm really pleased with it as it has allowed me to regain control over answering all of my emails and has lifted a lot of the stress I was feeling towards this task.

PowerKeys Publishing – you can also sign up to receive a new ebook every week from PowerKeys. You can see the list of some of the books before you sign up. Some good ones available here.

You can also download the first 4 chapters of “Being The Solution” by Darel Rutherford which I just spoke about. He describes his 9 step process for transforming yourself in these sample chapters so you not only get an idea of what the full book will be like, you learn quite a bit as well. Be sure to at least check out the first 4 chapters.

You can find all of these on the Self Help books page.

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Confidence Videos
I've created a new video and this time it's on the topic of "Dealing With Blame". You'll find it on the Confidence Videos page.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. As always, feel free to contact me by replying to this email or using my Contact Form. I'd love to hear from you.

Talk to you soon.

Catherine
www.Life-With-Confidence.com

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Please be advised that the opinions expressed here are purely those of the author, Catherine Pratt. You read and act upon it at your own risk.