Have you ever had an experience that suddenly made you realize, it’s time to make a change NOW!? Well, I’ve had a couple of these just this year. I talked about the first one in the blog article I wrote in June 2013 for my Charlotte dental office blog, which had to do with learning that my cholesterol count was 242. The second one happened just this past Sunday evening, as I drove my daughter back to USC, and we had a really good conversation about setting goals, etc. As we talked about setting and achieving goals, it reminded me of my recent article here, What is Reality, Anyway? And it hit me – there are some more changes I need to make to my reality, so I’m starting now!
Why Am I Changing My Reality?
Like most people, there are things about myself that I would like to change, but have always found excuses or self-limiting beliefs to keep me from them. But hey – didn’t I say this blog was about Mindfulness, Excellence, Discipline, and ADD? Well, yeah..so it’s time to take action on those Mindfulness, Excellence, and Discipline parts, and learn to manage the ADD part so it doesn’t get in the way!
On my way home tonight, here are the puzzle pieces that clicked together:
- Talking with my daughter about how to achieve a certain big goal for her freshman year;
- Reminding myself of a Monthly Assignment for my Mastery Program at The Peaceful Dragon on setting goals;
- Listening to Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz on the Audible iPhone app
- That recent blog post on “What is Reality, Anyway?”
- A realization that I need to get off my butt and make some changes for real, rather than just thinking about them!
My Old Beliefs To Be Changed
There are several items about myself that I want to change; because of that, I’m setting a goal of December 31st, 2013 as the target date to have integrated new beliefs to override the ones listed here. Most programs on goal-setting talk about a 21-day or 30-day target, but being ADD, it has historically taken me longer to integrate new habits and ways of thinking, so I’m being “realistic,” but knowing that part of my goal is to get rid of the “old” realistic and put a “new” realistic into effect! So here’s what I’m going to change:
- I get distracted easily during the day and don’t accomplish all my tasks, “because I’m ADD.”
- I am also easily distracted from spending focused, quality time with my wife and daughters by computers, iPads, iPhones, etc., “because I’m ADD.”
- I have always believed that I am lousy at starting, and sticking with, a home exercise regimen; I “only” do well with classes or trainers.
- I can’t keep my desk clean for more than 1-2 weeks, “because I just can’t stay organized.”
- I’m not a great leader or manager of my team at work.
How Can You Change Your Reality?
In both Psycho-Cybernetics and Think and Grow Rich, as well as many other self-help/personal development books, they teach the importance of daily verbal repetition of the goals one wants to achieve, whether it is earning a certain income, taking a certain trip, becoming knowledgeable on any subject, etc. As part of this repetition, the reader is instructed to write down the goals (some say they should be extremely specific, others more general and open-ended), and to repeat them out loud every morning and every evening, with the absolute belief that they are not just coming true, but they already ARE true. By doing so, these new beliefs are “installed,” much like a new computer program, into the subconscious, such that they help us achieve our goals.
Personally, I have found great success with these methods, and so I will be putting them to use once more. As part of this effort, I will be once again listening to both books on the Audible iPhone app, as I find listening to the books to be very helpful and reinforcing.
My New Beliefs/Reality
Over the last week, I have been slowly working out the clearest expression of what I want to be, to happen, and how I will act. Most of these are fairly open-ended, as that way there is no need to re-define them after reaching certain points – they will ALWAYS hold true. There is a very specific one, although I will keep the specific part of it private (you can probably guess which one after reading the list). So here you go:
- Every day, I wake refreshed and cheerful, to become stronger, healthier, more flexible, and happier
- Every day, I am a loving, attentive, focused husband and father
- Every day, at home and at work, I accomplish all my tasks and projects promptly and efficiently – “Touch It Once!” and “Git ‘Er Dun!”
- At work, I am constantly becoming a better leader and manager, creating a happy, healthy, highly productive work environment for Fara, our employees, and myself
- Fara and I will earn an excellent income for ourselves every month by providing the most ethical and excellent treatment and customer service to our patients.
- I am at peace in myself and allow all others to be as they are
- I am making permanent, life-long changes to be the most fulfilled BEING possible
Do I expect that all of these will happen instantly and automatically? Of course not! Do I think they will just “magically” happen because I keep repeating them to myself? DUH- of course not!
Every one of these is a project unto itself and will require daily attention and work, whether it be my daily exercise regimen, my daily work tasks, time spent with my family, developing my employees, shopping at the grocery store for healthy foods and taking the time to cook them, improving my technical dental knowledge and skills…..don’t mistake me for a “magical thinker!” I understand the work that is involved, but I also know (through both reading and extensive personal experience) the power of “re-programming the subconscious.”
Have you ever experienced such a change in your life, and if so, how did you go about it? What worked? What didn’t work? Was it worth the effort to become a new person? How did your reality change? Please share your story!