Turning Resolutions Into Realities

 Recipe for Mind
Did you know that the average life span of a New Year’s resolution is less than three weeks?  The reason that they tend to fizzle out as quickly as New Year’s Eve champagne is that most of us have not been schooled in the dynamics of the subconscious mind.

Whether you want to break a persistent negative habit, like overeating or choosing the wrong foods, or create a positive one such as getting on a regular exercise program or being more organized, the secret of success lies in making the new behavior second nature to you.

Most of us attempt change by forcing our will power to cooperate with our goals. Will power is a faculty of consciousness – the part of your mind that comprises only roughly 10% of your total mind power.  Attempting to change by activating your will power usually results in a having great enthusiasm for a few hours or a few days, but then quickly running out of steam.

In order to bring about any permanent change, you must first convince the subconscious mind, which is seven to eight times stronger than your will power.

Consequently, the new behavior becomes virtually effortless!

Now, let’s consider the most common ways that we state or plan our New Year’s resolutions: I ought to be more organized; I am going to try to lose some weight this year; I need to get into a regular exercise routine. In these familiar examples, your best intentions would be almost immediately canceled out, simply because this language is vague to the subconscious mind and cannot be translated into action.

Here are 5 tips for reframing your New Year’s resolutions
to give them a fighting chance in 2012:

1)   Be clear on your intention.  Define what you really want to accomplish – think of your subconscious mind as a genie in the bottle that needs to be told exactly what you want/expect it to achieve.

2)  Always state your New Year’s resolution in the positive.  Avoid words like can’t, don’t, maybe, should, etc.     Don’t describe the behavior you want to move away from (example: I don’t want to be overweight); State it as behavior you are moving towards (example: I am creating a healthy lean body that supports me in all of my goals and activities).

3)  Most importantly, avoid the word “try”!  There is a law of the mind that states “the more you try to do something, the less you can do it.”  (Think about how frustrating and ineffective it is when you “try” to fall asleep!)  Whenever you use the word “try” you automatically cancel out your best intentions as this word does nothing to galvanize the power of your subconscious mind.

4)  Use the present tense.  The subconscious mind responds best to suggestions that are stated in the now.  This might feel unusual at first – indeed the language of the unconscious is quite different than the way we are taught to communicate.  So, instead of stating “I am going to create a regular exercise routine in 2012” it will be many times more effective to declare “Exercise is part of my daily routine.  I am taking advantage of every opportunity to move my body to improve my health and well-being.”

5)  At least once a day, do some deep breathing.  This will only take a few moments, but it will signal your subconscious that you are open to suggestion.  Repeat your resolution to yourself mentally and you can even visualize, imagine, sense or feel the positive outcome.  This will greatly enhance your results, especially if you can keep this going for 21 days.

 Happy New Year and May you realize all of your mind’s potential in 2012!