Monitor your thoughts!
What have you been focusing on most of the time? Are you focusing on what you want, or on what you don’t want?
If you have habitually been focusing on what you don’t want, then it’s time to recognize that it will only bring you more of the same – what you DON’T want!
The fact that you are conscious of your thinking is a giant step forward. Most people on this planet have no idea what they are thinking. Instead, they just keep REACTING to their thoughts.
However, observing what you focus your attention on most of the time is the key to creating the life you desire.
Let’s continue.
Most people want a better life. In an attempt to change their life for the better, they often purchase personal development books and courses and attend personal development seminars. In this lesson I want to talk about why most personal development attempts fail.
My guess is that this is not the first personal development information you have been exposed to. I will even go out on a limb and say that you have probably tried numerous personal development books, tapes/Cd’s, systems, methods, or techniques that did not produce the results you expected.
Why Not?
Why do most personal development programs fail? The answer to this will enable you to rise above the majority of people who are trying to hopelessly to improve their lives.
Most personal development programs fail because:
1. We Fear Change
Face this fact; no matter what type of personal development strategy you are using, at some point you are going to have to make a CHANGE. It could be a small change, or a big change, but you are going to have to get out of your “comfort zone”.
Our sub-conscious “conditioned mind” does not like change. In fact, it is designed to resist change an d to keep us where we are. The reason for this is the sub-conscious is primarily a survival mechanism. Its primary function is survival. It perceives any type of change as a threat to our survival. Unless we can bypass our survival mechanism, all our personal development attempts will fail.
2. We Want Instant Results
Today people are conditioned by media advertising to expect “instant results.” Hence they want it NOW and expect to see results immediately in one session, one day, one week, one chapter of a book, etc. They give most personal development techniques and practices one chance, and if they do not get immediate results, they get discouraged and give up.
Immediate results are always possible, but sometimes we need additional time to align our energy with our desires. If we do not align our energy properly, we will not reach our goal.
The need for instant results or instant gratification often keeps people from taking the time to align their energy, so it actually takes them LONGER to reach their goals.
3. We Give Up Too Soon.
Most people give up too soon. Part of this is due to the need for instant results and instant gratification. However, one of the reasons we give up too soon is we look at temporary setbacks as proof we cannot reach our goal. When this happens we blame ourselves and/or the personal development program, book, audio, seminar, etc. for our inability to achieve our goal and we give up too soon.
In order for any personal development program to work, you must not give up, even when it “looks” like it is not working.
4. We are “TRYING” instead of “DOING”
Most people “try” to get what they want. The problem is every time you “try”, you are setting yourself up for failure. In reality you can’t try to do anything. You either DO it or you DON’T. So there is really not such thing as “trying”.
Your mind may resist this concept, but it is true. You may say. “I tried this or that and I eventually succeeded.” You succeeded when you stopped trying and started doing. You did what you needed to do to achieve your goal. So the lesson here is that you cannot succeed as long as you are “trying”. However, once you stop “trying” and start “doing” you can begin to expect results.
When people “try” personal development programs, they immediately set themselves up for failure. Trying has built-in failure because if we try something and don’t succeed, we can always say, “Well, at least I tried”. But that does not get you what you want. The problem is that you can only have two things in life- reasons or results. In other words, you either have what you want or you have reasons why you don’t have what you want, but there in nothing in between.
My point here is that the success or failure with any personal improvement strategy (or anything else in life) is based on DOING, not TRYING to DO!
Those who “try” are guaranteed to fail. Those that DO (follow through until they get the result they desire) are the people who achieve their great dreams and desires.
5. We Focus on WHAT Instead of WHY.
Most people fail at personal development efforts because they focus on WHAT they have to do to get what they want instead of focusing on WHY they want it. If you lose focus on WHY you want what you want, and instead you focus on WHAT needs to be done, you will lose your motivation and give up when the going gets tough.
Unless you constantly focus on the WHY – the benefits or what you will gain when you reach your goal – you will not be able to make the changes you desire and you will give up as soon as you run into obstacles that seem overwhelming.
What I am asking you to do is to decide how serious you are about having what you want. WHY do you want what yo u want? Forget about what you have to DO to get it. That will take care of itself. If you are not clear on WHY you want what you want (the benefits you will gain when your reach your goal) and are not serious following through until you achieve it, then don’t waste your time reading the rest of these lessons. Instead, sit back in your recliner, turn on the TV, open a can of beer, scratch the back of your head, and just keep doing what you have been doing and I guarantee you that you will keep getting what you have been getting!
But if you are excited about making a major change in your life, if you are really ready to attract what you desire, and you are not going to give up until you reach your goal, then something wonderful is going to happen in your life.
Your partner in success,
Dr. Robert Anthony
http://www.totalsuccess4u.com
Total Success
386 Lyons Road
Drummoyne, NSW
Australia