So, its January and you have a whole year in front of you! If you are like most people you have made some New Years resolutions and are feeling hopeful for the new year.  You have created a picture in your mind that you are going to have the best year yet and that you will not be in the same place next year as you have been for the past few years.  You have a “plan” for this year! 

This was me for years.  I would start the year with all of these dreams, goals, hope and plans for the upcoming year.  I had a planner, quotes for my bathroom mirror, a new diet plan and even a workout plan!! I was ready for the year.  THIS was going to be my year.  Does this sounds like you?  Have you been ready to conquer the world in January only to find yourself wishing you had done more when it came to the end of December?  

I would always start off great, but then it would be a month or two down the line and I was no longer working out.  I had fallen off the diet wagon into what seemed like the biggest lake of sugary foods and oversized portions.  I wasn’t reading my personal development anymore, because all of a sudden “I don’t have time!”  I rarely used the planner I had purchased and every time I did, I would beat myself up for not using it and wasting the pages from the last few weeks. 

I was beating myself up for a lot of things, and instead of getting back up and starting over, I would just stay stuck in the wallowing.  I would continue to lie to myself that I would start back up next week!  Next week is not really a date, so it would come and go again and again. I fell into a vicious cycle, somewhat like a psychologically abusive relationship, I would tear myself down and then apologize and make everything seem ok, only to do it again within days or even hours.  

I did this over and over until finally I had a year where I stopped doing this to myself!  Finally, I had broken through the barrier and actually was able to say on New Years Eve, that I did have an amazing year!  I had actually been able to reach goals that I had set!  I had overcome the fear and depression that I had been causing myself.  I was able to finally look forward without worrying about the monsters from my past that would drag me down into the following year!  I was able to get rid of those monsters.  

This doesn’t mean that I accomplished all of the goals I set and had a perfect year… but I had turned a corner that allowed me to start reaching some of my goals.  That trickles into other goals and successes and will in turn help me to finally reach the other goals I had set that I have not yet gotten to.  

But what was it that had changed?  What was it that I had done different this year that I was not able to do in years past?  I was the same person, wasn’t I?  NO!!! I wasn’t the same person!  I had changed my mindset and in turn had started staying more committed to myself.  I stopped beating myself up when I missed something and just restarted my journey toward my goal.  I made my mindset a priority every single day.  So instead of focusing on the goals and the distance I had to travel to get to them, I was focusing on the mindset that it would take to get there.  

In doing this mindset focus, I started noticing something very significant.  Imagine that your life is a big field with a bunch of dirt paths that you have to choose.  Some are wide and open, and some are bumpy and crooked.  Some are little paths that seem to be shortcuts.  I had been turning away from that wide open path of good that I had wanted to be on because up ahead I could see obstacles that I did not want to face.  I was scared of what it would bring if I actually stepped up to those obstacles, so instead I would take a different path.  This new path felt good for awhile until I realized how far away from my goals I was getting on this path. So I would start back to the first path.   I would put my head down and just begin moving forward, but then I would come to one of those obstacles and then I would turn and run away, or I would find one of those seemingly shortcut paths, only to find I was way off track again.  Enough was enough! I went back and started working to overcome that obstacle that was in the road.  

This obstacle for me was mostly debt. I was running from creditors and even from our taxes! Looking back now I can’t believe that I was avoiding such a crucial and huge thing that needed taken care of.  It was funny afterwards, the tax issues I thought we were going to have, actually ended up in a refund and money coming back to us that I was not expecting.  I started calling back the creditors and working out payment plans that we could afford. 

When I no longer had to fear who it was that was calling or what might come in the mail, or even being served with a law suit to settle up a debt, I was able to breathe and actually live again! Not to say that all the issues were gone, but the fear that I was creating around it and holding inside my own head was now relieved. I could think clearly. I could once again see the path to my goals and it was wide open again!  I would come across other obstacles and now instead of running from them I would begin to face them.  I would begin to tackle them.  I would release the worry and fear and stories I was telling myself about them.   I was moving forward! 

Where are you convincing yourself that those obstacles will just disappear if you walk away instead of dealing with it? ​

If you aren’t sure, a good place to start is to pay attention to what thoughts are gong through your head when you lay down at night to go to sleep.  Most times those fears will pop up as you are trying to relax and sleep.  They cause many sleepless nights where you are creating stories in your head that may or may not even come to fruition.  

Once you have figured out even just one of the things you have been avoiding, start figuring out what the first step is to begin addressing the issue.  Is it a phone call you need to make? Pick up the phone and call.  Most times when you reach out and take the initiative to make the situation right, the person on the other end of the phone will work with you with compassion.  Is it working on completing something you have been putting off?  Schedule a half hour or hour of time for you to sit down and really get started on this project.  Do not feel like you need to complete the entire project, but just take the first few steps toward it.  

After you start attacking this obstacles and coming to a completion or resolution on these things you will begin to feel better.  You will be able to release the fear and anxiety you have been dealign with daily and replace it with ease and contentment.  You will also start wanting to  address more of your issues and get things off of your plate!  

Start your January off right by removing the heaviness from the past and create a life that you feel good in and have joy in every day.  You have to decide that you want to feel better and then you have to take the steps forward to get to that feeling.  Do the work and you will be able to say that you had an amazing year when we get to December again! 

Please stay connected to Personal Development Hour and let me know how your journey is going. Drop me an email to success@iamazeme.com