Last week I bumped into a friend I hadn't seen for a few months, she was looking great, but she was in a rush. We both commented how quickly January had gone by and I asked her how her year was going after the busy festive period.
She told me how December had been full of family and social events, so she'd been overindulging, enjoying lots of treats, but had resolved to start a big health and fitness regime in the New Year.
"How's that going?" I asked.
She'd made a good start, but with all the usual routines of work and home life taking over again, she was finding it hard to find the time and commitment to keep on track, so was now feeling a bit flat and uninspired.
As she rushed off, with promises to talk soon, it reminded me how often I hear similar things from clients looking for help with motivation and confidence because they've been feeling held back, frustrated or suffering with low self-esteem. Using Solution Focused techniques, I'm able to help identify a plan and their goals, so they can take small steps forwards and feel motivated.
So now may be a good time to start again. Here are some ways to you can apply these principles in your life too and feel more motivated and achieve your goals this year.
Practice Positivity
Before setting any new goals, take a moment to reflect on things which you already appreciate in your life, what are you grateful for? It might be your family, friends, your job or even the weather outside. Think about what is already going well for you and make a short list of five things.
When you recall positive memories, the good things in your life, and you feel grateful, you have to think from the Left Prefrontal Cortex of your brain, the positive part. It means you'll begin your plan in a positive state of mind.
Focus on your future happiness
Goals that make you happy will be meaningful, ones that reflect your true aspirations and you'll feel more motivated to achieve them. Think about the areas of your life that you want to improve and find out what inspires you. For example, if the real reason real reason you want to lose weight is because you want to have more energy to play with the children, keep this benefit in mind and remind yourself of it often. It may help to ask yourself:
How will you feel when you have achieved your goals?
What will you be doing differently as a result?
What will your family and friends notice about you?
Importantly, will these changes bring you happiness?
Take small steps towards your goals
Keep things simple, many of us set too many goals, so be realistic. Start by writing down a maximum of three or four things you want to have achieved by this time next year.
Break each goal down into small steps, ask yourself what small steps can you take towards this goal? It might be a simple change, but it should be something which helps you move closer towards that goal, make it specific. Take a moment to think about this and visualise yourself actually doing it, really live it in your mind. Then ask yourself, when will you be taking this action?
When you've completed your first step, take a moment to reflect on how good it felt and plan the next step towards you goal. As you practice this process, you'll feel more motivated and more positive about your progress as you take each step towards that goal.
Be kind to yourself
As you move towards your goals, be kind to yourself focus on what you have achieved rather than what you haven't. It takes time to achieve important goals, especially changes in behaviours and habits, so be patient and keep taking small steps forward reflecting on what you have done so far.
Hypnotherapy helps with motivation
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy helps by identifying your underlying reasons for wanting to achieve your goal. Your subconscious mind understands your true potential and positive thinking combined with hypnotherapy is a great way to tap into this potential. Helpful suggestions such as 'I can' and 'I will' helps retrain your mind into believing that nothing is impossible.
Feel free to schedule your initial chat or get in touch to ask for advice or ask questions
