Well Formed New Year's Resolutions Part 3

In Well Formed New Year's Resolutions Part 1 we discovered that resolutions and goals that are stated in the positive, in terms of what can be seen, felt, heard, tasted or touched and in a way that presupposes that we ourselves can accomplish them, is a powerful way to achieve them. In part 2, we answered questions that will make certain that the goals and resolutions are specific enough to let us begin creating workable action steps, and an evidence procedure that will allow us to know if and when we have succeeded.

This last set of questions is designed to help us detect any internal conflicts, to make sure that there are no likely negative consequences of reaching our goals, and to choose our first action step .

"How will your desired outcome affect your life?"

Make sure you have considered all of the possible consequences of getting your goals, and how your life may be impacted. For example: One hypnotherapist had a client who insisted that he be hypnotized to always be in the now. When that was done he realized that he had amnesia for all of his past experience. At that point he realized the need to consider all the consequences of getting his wish.

"What stops you from already having your desired outcome?"

Is it some limiting belief or learning? That belief may just need to be updated first. For example, I have had a few of my female hypnosis clients tell me that they wanted to get thinner. However, they did not want to have to deal with the increased attention from men that would come along with a more slender figure. The limiting belief that I addressed was that the only way to deter unwanted male attention was to be fat. There is a simple solution for that problem. But, that is a story that is best saved for later.

"What resources do you already have that can be utilized to get your outcome?"

Internal resources include all of the things that you have already learned to do, all of the things you have seen, felt and heard. All of the places you have been, the people you have watched do so many different things. The question is, how can you put this information together into new configurations and use it in a new way?

External resources include the people you know who have already achieved a similar type of outcome. They can teach or inspire you to find new choices for yourself. Have you thought of asking that person how they do it?

External physical resources including money, an office, land, tools, etc. This is a good time to consider what has to happen first, remember the elephant? Small bites!

"What additional resources do you need to in order to get your goal?"

"How are you going to get there?"

How many ways do you have of getting there? Flexibility is the key. The more ways you have of getting to a particular goal the more likely you will achieve it. How many ways can you get from Georgia to San Francisco? Have you considered taking a boat around the world and coming in the back way? Driving a tractor? Taking a train? Asking Daisy to ride with you on a bicycle built for two? The more choices you create, and options that you consider the greater your chances of success.

What is the first step?

You want to earn more money? What would be a reasonable first step, something you could do that would move you even a little bit closer to your goal? Remember, bite sized pieces. That elephant will be gone before you know it, and you will need to go grocery shopping again.

Taking the time to create your goals and new years resolutions by answering the questions of the well formed goals technique from NLP (NeuroLinguistic Programming) is a great way to make sure that they are achievable and motivating.