Do you know your own potential for greatness? Do you recognize your talents? You can probably see them in others much better than yourself. But this is what I learned about myself this week, I only see the things that need work. Who doesn't need work? Right?
This tends to take on a life of it's own with me. I start seeing the things that I need to change and only focus on those. It's like hitting yourself with a wooden spoon. It hurts! After a ton of bruises I say "Maybe that's not the best way to bring about change."
We all pick the way we do things based on pain or pleasure. If it causes us pain we naturally stay away. If we like it, we might even find ourselves doing that more often. Old habits die hard don't they? Especially if we have been doing them for a long while. Like eating the wrong foods, eating too much of the right foods, drinking, smoking, driving dangerously, returning to an abusive situation, continuing on a path of least resistance no matter the cost.
I've done all of those and more. What I think about most is the pattern. Setting oneself up for disappointment or listening to others say "watch out for that" and continuing on just the same. What keeps us tethered exactly on that path? How does anyone break a bad habit? How do we change the way we think about what we do? What keeps a moth from hitting a flame?
It's definitely an inside job. No one can change us. We have to find a way to change ourselves. Wow, that's tough!! I can get myself thinking the right thoughts and doing the right things that I know are what I want and before I know it...BOOM...back on the old path. Dang...I thought I had it, well I did have it. It felt good too!! It brought me such pleasure. Why would I want to go back to the pain??
I wish someone else would be in control of my actions. Sort of like a video game, give someone else the controller and that way it would be easy. Willpower, doesn't seem to do it. So what's the answer??
A personal success plan. It takes the emotional part away. Then it's just following your own directions. Make that recipe for success! Find a short term motivator and prevent long term consequences. So let's think of a few. How can we reward ourselves for making good choices?? Put a quarter in a jar so we can see our success pile up. Make a mark on a calendar, add a rubber band to our wrist, take little steps toward a bigger prize (that new goal we have). What would motivate you to change??
It's easy to hide our light under a bushel basket, it's easy to sit in the back, to not speak up, to be a wall flower, to not make waves, to feel we don't deserve the things we really want or want to happen. To sabotage ourselves is easy. How do I know? We do it, we keep doing it. We go right back to it. It must be easy. We have the potential for greatness and we keep hiding it. Flip off the basket and let that light shine! Find an accountability partner, someone who you feel emotionally safe with. Someone who won't judge you. Or get a coach or mentor to pull you out from under!! I'm here too. We can do it, we just can't give up!
www.sandrabullard.com
This tends to take on a life of it's own with me. I start seeing the things that I need to change and only focus on those. It's like hitting yourself with a wooden spoon. It hurts! After a ton of bruises I say "Maybe that's not the best way to bring about change."
We all pick the way we do things based on pain or pleasure. If it causes us pain we naturally stay away. If we like it, we might even find ourselves doing that more often. Old habits die hard don't they? Especially if we have been doing them for a long while. Like eating the wrong foods, eating too much of the right foods, drinking, smoking, driving dangerously, returning to an abusive situation, continuing on a path of least resistance no matter the cost.
I've done all of those and more. What I think about most is the pattern. Setting oneself up for disappointment or listening to others say "watch out for that" and continuing on just the same. What keeps us tethered exactly on that path? How does anyone break a bad habit? How do we change the way we think about what we do? What keeps a moth from hitting a flame?
It's definitely an inside job. No one can change us. We have to find a way to change ourselves. Wow, that's tough!! I can get myself thinking the right thoughts and doing the right things that I know are what I want and before I know it...BOOM...back on the old path. Dang...I thought I had it, well I did have it. It felt good too!! It brought me such pleasure. Why would I want to go back to the pain??
I wish someone else would be in control of my actions. Sort of like a video game, give someone else the controller and that way it would be easy. Willpower, doesn't seem to do it. So what's the answer??
A personal success plan. It takes the emotional part away. Then it's just following your own directions. Make that recipe for success! Find a short term motivator and prevent long term consequences. So let's think of a few. How can we reward ourselves for making good choices?? Put a quarter in a jar so we can see our success pile up. Make a mark on a calendar, add a rubber band to our wrist, take little steps toward a bigger prize (that new goal we have). What would motivate you to change??
It's easy to hide our light under a bushel basket, it's easy to sit in the back, to not speak up, to be a wall flower, to not make waves, to feel we don't deserve the things we really want or want to happen. To sabotage ourselves is easy. How do I know? We do it, we keep doing it. We go right back to it. It must be easy. We have the potential for greatness and we keep hiding it. Flip off the basket and let that light shine! Find an accountability partner, someone who you feel emotionally safe with. Someone who won't judge you. Or get a coach or mentor to pull you out from under!! I'm here too. We can do it, we just can't give up!
www.sandrabullard.com
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