Two Important Psychological Rules To Help You Fulfill Your Goals
In the initial two posts in this series looking at clear-cut information you can draw on to support you with your 2008 resolutions, we examined health and diet strategies in that order. Today, we shall take a look at several fundamental psychological ideas you could practice to support still more in those two areas, and in addition to aid in other plans you might have selected.
The first tenet, which could cause a phenomenal change for the better, is the principle of “there’s no such thing as failure”. OK, that’s a weird idea to get to grips with, but think about it this way: let’s imagine your New Year resolution was to avoid every type of fast food places for 2008, and suddenly, at the end of an enjoyable day out in the company of friends, starving hungry, you notice that you’ve switched into auto-pilot and you’re already sat in the restaurant with a burger and fries. This doesn’t mean that you’ve broken your new resolution, even if it is merely a handful of weeks into 2008. It unconditionally DOES mean that you now have a chance to discover something about yourself. Perhaps you’ll have to be especially watchful when you’re out with friends in future. Perhaps it’s to notify your friends all about the resolution and seeing if they can encourage you - or rag on you if you head towards a Fast food joint. Perhaps it’s to avoid going out with those friends in the future!
The next idea is that you never do something deficient. Or at any rate, each behaviour we perform has - or initially had - a helpful purpose. I don’t trust the idea that we create a brand new habit unless it has a sound purpose - to enrich our life and often the lives of the people closest to us in some way. It’s just that occasionally our lives transform, but we carry on doing that behaviour, and it then changes into a thing no longer advantageous. Or maybe we make better one slice of our life, but accidentally damage another.
This is crucial - you should realise EVERY BEHAVIOUR you do has a is due to goal. Having a cigarette made you a Han Solo-like rogue in school. Snacks made you feel good about yourself after that high-school broken heart. A quick drink helps you be more friendly in taxing settings. These benefits were definitely present when the habit started, even if they’re no longer relevant. But even if that specific state of affairs is no longer part of your life (for sure, you’re done with that high-school broken heart now you’re in your fifties?) the original gain may be (a good portion of chocolate brownie even now makes you feel great).
So on no account berate yourself if your former habits come back - this merely implies that when you discontinued the former habit, you also stopped experiencing that positive result. It’s best to sit quietly for a time, figure out what the gain is, and look for other ways - various ways, to offer the greatest amount adaptability - to have that original gain. And then try stopping the old behaviour once more. If you find enough tips to acquire the same benefit, you’ll almost involuntarily cease carrying out the prior behaviour, given that you will no longer have a need do it.
Although these concepts might seem a little bit outlandish, you will discover that should you endeavor to live by them, your life will be a bit less troublesome, a bit more hassle-free. Both of these key concepts support you to stay with your goals, and to make progress should you make a mistake. Try abiding by them for a month and notice how much less troublesome your life could be.
