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How to Stick to Your Goals

How to Stick to Your Goals

Do you sometimes have trouble sticking to your plan, or get distracted from your goal? There’s a time-tested tactic that can increase your likelihood of success many times over. The technique makes it much easier to stay on course, whether you want to change a habit or stop procrastinating. Learn how to use this tactic to more effectively achieve your goals and vision.

Transcript:

Do you sometimes have trouble sticking to your plan for a goal? Do you fall off your diet or get distracted from your vision? If so, you’re not alone.

There’s a tactic that can increase your likelihood of success many times over. Researchers refer to this tactic as an “implementation intention.” Try saying that fast. In other words, you create an intention of what to do when a specific situation arises. More informally, they’re called, “If/Then” plans. That term is more understandable, isn’t it?

I’m Linda-Ann Stewart, a vision empowerment strategist, and I’ve been a hypnotherapist for over 30 years. I’ve taught this tactic to my hypnotherapy and coaching clients, to help them stay on course to their goals and vision.

The way this kind of plan is used is you identify traps or pitfalls or issues that can sabotage your goals. And you know what those are, right? And then you proactively decide how you’re going to respond to the situation.

The plan goes like this:

If (or when) [a specific situation arises], then I will do or perform [a specific behaviour or response].

Got it? In other words “If ‘abc’ happens, then I will ‘xyz.'”

As in: “If someone asks me to volunteer my time, then I will tell them I have to think about it first.”

The sentence becomes a trigger for you. You know ahead of time what action to take, instead of being confused in the moment. When the situation comes up, the decision is already made as to what behavior you’ll do. It’s like you’re programming your response. Execution becomes automatic.

It works for new habits. For instance, if you’re on a diet, you might say, “If I eat cookies today, then I’ll forgive myself and get right back on my diet.” This keeps you from getting discouraged and giving up.

Lets’ say you have a coworker who always interrupts your work, your cue could be, “If Jody wants to talk when I’m busy, then I’ll tell her I can’t talk right now, and will call her when I’m done.”

Or you can set an intention for something you might otherwise procrastinate, such as, “When I get to my desk in the morning, then I will start making follow up phone calls.”

This tactic takes the guess work out of what you’ll do and motivates you to follow through on your goals. It works for whenever you experience setbacks, distractions or get tempted to take a detour from your goals and vision. Simply identify the pitfall and decide how to address it ahead of time.

When you use this tactic, you’ll achieve your goals much more easily.

For ways to achieve your goals with greater confidence and ease in 4 powerful steps, watch my FREE training video, Set Your Course to Success. Register for the video and accompanying action planning guide at www.SetYourCourseGuide.com

Thank you for watching. How can you use the If/Then tactic today? Stay focused.

Read the accompanying article, 4 Ways You Sabotage Yourself (and how to deal with them).

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Guided Meditation to Stay Motivated to Achieve a Goal

Guided Meditation to Stay Motivated to Achieve a Goal

Do you ever have trouble staying motivated to achieve a goal or vision? You may start taking steps, but get bored, discouraged or have a setback and your motivation evaporates. To get back on course, reconnecting with your inspiration is vital. This guided meditation will help keep you energized and inspired, and remind you of your reason and intention for your goal.

Transcript:

Thank you for joining me. Today, I want to share a short meditation to help keep you motivated to achieve a specific goal or vision. When you have a goal, even if you’re making progress on it, your enthusiasm to continue to take action can evaporate.

You can become bored, discouraged you’re not achieving it fast enough, or even frustrated when you have some setbacks. Sometimes, you can have trouble taking the first step towards it, or starting again after a pause. This meditation will help with all of those issues.

I’m Linda-Ann Stewart, a vision empowerment strategist, and I’ve been a hypnotherapist for over 30 years. This meditation is similar to ones I’ve done with hypnotherapy and coaching clients to inspire them to stay on course to their goals.

If you’re so inclined, close your eyes. Take a deep breath to relax and get focused.

Now, think of a goal you want to accomplish. What is it you want to achieve? Imagine how different your life would be with it a reality in your life. What would you be doing, thinking, feeling and behaving that’s different from now? Place an image of these ideas in a picture frame. 

Now, uncover your reason for your goal. Why is it you want this change in your life? This has to be a reason that will continue to urge and energize you. Place this reason in the picture frame with the image of your goal. This reason could be a symbol, a feeling, a color, and outcome or something else that has meaning for you.

As you place the reason inside the frame, it creates a positive change in the picture of your goal. The picture and frame begins to glow a beautiful color. The reason itself causes the picture to be surrounded and filled with a powerful light. This light could be gold, silver, white, or whatever color excites and encourages you.

As the light glows brighter, the picture and frame get bigger and bigger, until they take up your entire perspective. The picture becomes a huge billboard, impressive and powerful. You feel excited to begin, and to continue, taking action towards your goal. You know you can accomplish your goal. The steps appear for you, and you overcome any setbacks.

Whenever you think about your goal, you imagine this billboard, the image of your accomplished goal and your reason for taking actions towards it. The image of the billboard is strong, powerful, motivating, encouraging, and inspiring you to take your next step. It fills you with anticipation.

Open your eyes.

This meditation gives your subconscious mind direction and energy for you start working towards your goal. If you find yourself needing a motivational boost, close your eyes, take a deep breath and imagine the billboard. Imagine the goal, your reason, and the brilliance of the billboard. Doing this will remind your subconscious mind of your purpose and intention.

To achieve your goals with greater confidence and ease in 4 powerful steps, watch my FREE training video, Set Your Course to Success. Register for the video and accompanying action planning guide at www.SetYourCourseGuide.com

Thank you for watching. I know that you can achieve any goal that you desire. Stay focused.

Read the accompanying article 5 Tips to Maintain Your Motivation

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Get Greater Satisfaction from Living Intentionally

Get Greater Satisfaction from Living Intentionally

Living intentionally brings better health, happiness, freedom and peace of mind. It’s not always easy to live intentionally, because you have to be pro-active or let other people or circumstances make the choice for you. Learn how making deliberate choices brings you better outcomes and the results you want.

Transcript:

Do you live intentionally? Living intentionally means that you deliberately choose a desired result and follow through to create it. It also means that you chose to live according to your values and beliefs. When you live intentionally, you’re healthier, happier, freer and more at peace. Who wouldn’t want that?

Living intentionally is not easy, because every day, your life is made up of a series of choices. You can either make a decision each time a choice arises or let that decision be made for you by other people or by circumstances. Many times, it’s easier to let other people or circumstances make the choice for you, but then you feel helpless and hopeless. And you probably won’t get the outcome you seek.

Whether or not you live intentionally is like being in a canoe in a swift running creek. Do you want to use the paddle to keep you on course or throw that paddle away and let the creek toss you about every which way? This would be the proverbial, “Up a creek without a paddle” scenario, right?

If you don’t have a paddle, which is your decision making power, your canoe might run onto rocks and be overturned and you’d be in the water. Not a good result, right? Being intentional is like using your paddle to direct your canoe through the water safely.

When you’ve chosen a result you’re willing to work towards, or to live by your values, most of your choices become easier. You discard the possibilities that lead you away from your path, and choose the ones that support the direction you want to go. You’re more focused and fulfilled. You feel empowered, motivated and in control.

How can you become more intentional with your choices today?

For more tips and articles on mindset, motivation and empowerment, please visit my blog EmpoweringYourMind.com.

Have a wonderful and intentional day.

Read the accompanying article Why You Need a Vision and Plan.

Why You Need a Vision and Plan

Why You Need a Vision and Plan

by Linda-Ann Stewart

When you choose to grow a garden, do you start watering the plot without planning what you want to grow in it? Or do you decide what plants you want, and till and fertilize the soil to make it receptive for those kinds of plants? Don’t you clear the area of growth that doesn’t fit with your plan? And then you choose seeds or seedlings you want and place them in the soil. To care for your garden, you water, feed the plants, and weed out what doesn’t belong.

Your mind and life is like a garden. If you just jump into a garden, or life, without a vision or plan, you’re going to receive what plants and seeds are already in that plot. By not sowing any new seeds, you can only harvest what is already growing there. You won’t reap anything new. In this case, to misquote an investment disclaimer, “Past performance will indicate future results.”

The Downside to Going with the Flow

Many people just want to go with the flow, having no intention, vision or plan. They want to follow instinct or intuition, without any real idea of what they want. This kind of philosophy is fine if you want to float through life. But if you want to change a habit, or achieve something, you have to be more deliberate.

The problem with the idea of just flowing is that it means you’re acting on what’s already in your subconscious. There’s no new destination or goal. It’s like watering a garden without putting any thought into what you want. You’ll get what you get, not necessarily what you want. Your subconscious can only deliver on the ideas you’ve already sown into it. If you’re simply following your subconscious, you’ll wander in circles, never accomplishing anything new. And the weeds in the garden of your life may choke out most of the flowers.

The Role of Your Conscious and Subconscious

Your subconscious has a specific role to play in your life and it’s a powerful one. Your subconscious is your problem solver, and where your creativity and insights come from. But your subconscious can’t make decisions for you. Choices must come from your conscious mind to be fulfilled by your subconscious. Your subconscious uses all your knowledge and experience to help you achieve your intention. But your subconscious can’t seek any outside information to help. New information has to come to, and through, your conscious mind.

Your conscious mind chooses your destination, intentions, goals or vision.  Your subconscious provides you with the ideas, innovation and insights to realize them. When you have a vision and plan, you give your subconscious concrete information to work with. With a vision, your subconscious knows what to seek and scans your environment to help you. Your plan creates guiderails and makes it easier for your subconscious to locate and discover opportunities.

Tending Your Intention

In your garden or your life, not all the seeds you sow will germinate and not all of the plants will survive to maturity. The same is true of your vision and plan. You’ll need to discover what didn’t survive and why, and address that problem. It could be that you didn’t tend to your garden as much as it needed or that the soil wasn’t fertile enough. Maybe circumstances changed, and your vision and plan needs to be adjusted.

If you want better results in your life, you’ll tend to the garden of your intention. A garden takes constant attention to support its growth and fertility. Only after putting in the effort will you reap the rewards. Your life deserves the same care, love and consideration as a garden.

Affirmation:

As I choose my direction in life, it gives the Law of Attraction definite details of what to draw to me. The Universe is on my side, and wants the best for me. I’m Divinely Guided and Directed into the right path for my Highest Good. Everything I need is provided in the best way possible.

Watch the accompanying video, Get Greater Satisfaction from Living Intentionally.

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What Do You Stand For?

What Do You Stand For?

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Confident Woman with Values

People are attracted to you, personally and professionally, based on your behavior and what you stand for. In business, many times, this is called your brand. But in your personal life, people also decide whether you’re trustworthy, someone they want to spend time with or be around, based on this same standard. And all of this is grounded in your values, the beliefs that promote your actions and attitudes.

Positive and Negative Values

Some values are positive, such as integrity, determination, and compassion. But not all values are constructive. I’ve known people who were proud of personal values such as, manipulation, deception, and carrying a grudge. Negative values like these are based on fear and insecurity. They’re defensive and developed to react to external circumstances. Positive values are internally motivated and proactive. They allow you to be intentional and choose your actions deliberately.

You can reframe a negative value to be more beneficial. For instance, a negative value, like being crafty or cunning, often means you’re scheming or dishonest. This value was probably created to deal with situations where you were concerned someone would take advantage of you. However, reframing that value to one of being clever or innovative allows you to approach situations from a stronger and more resourceful position.

Why Knowing Your Values Is Important

When you know what your values are, you’re able to make decisions based on them that support those principles. Living according to your values increases your self-esteem, self-respect, and sense of authenticity. Your image and perception of yourself will improve, as will your self-confidence. You’ll be known by what you stand for, and people who appreciate what you value will be attracted to you. What values are most important to you? Those are the ones that show the world who you are.

Affirmation:

My values are important to me and I choose to live by my values. They are beliefs and ideas that put me in alignment with my deepest self and the Universe. I feel at peace with myself when I stand by them, even when it’s inconvenient. I support and empower myself when I act on them, and the Universe approves of me, as well.

Watch the accompanying video, Act on Your Values to Improve Your Well Being.

3 Steps to Being More Focused and Effective

3 Steps to Being More Focused and Effective

It’s all too easy to get distracted or not pay attention to what you’re doing. When you do, you make mistakes and miss details that you need. Learning how to be more focused is important if you want to achieve your goals. Learn 3 simple steps to being more mindful that will improve your productivity and your life.

Transcript:

I’m Linda-Ann Stewart, a vision strategist coach for small business and entrepreneurs, and would like to share a tip on how you can become more focused, mindful and get more out of your life.

Last week, I was cooking a chicken dish that had an accompanying sauce. I minced some garlic for the chicken, and then another couple of large cloves for the sauce. I got distracted while I was cooking, and accidentally threw the garlic for the sauce in with the chicken, in addition to what was already there. Wow, was that a lot of garlic! It was almost overpowering. I thought I’d ruined the dish.

Have you ever been thinking of something else, and then made a mistake, like I did? Or been distracted when you’re talking with a friend or colleague and miss something important they said? This comes from your attention being diverted elsewhere and not being aware of what’s going on in the present.

In our fast-paced world, it’s hard to pay attention to what’s going on in the moment. But being able to focus on what you’re doing, or listening fully,  will mean that you are more efficient, more effective and will have better relationships, both personally and professionally.

There’s a simple way to bring your attention to the present, and stay mindful about what’s going on.

Your mindset tip has 3 steps to it:

  1. Become aware of what you’re doing, such as having a conversation or preparing a meal.
  2. Take a long, slow deep breath to slow your mind down and get focused on your priority.
  3. Decide what your intention is, and then act. It may be taking an action, or it may be listening fully.

This shifts your energy from being scattered and distracted to being focused and intentional. If I’d just followed my own advice last week, I wouldn’t have had a meal that I came close to ruining. As you practice these steps, notice how much more you accomplish and how much better you feel.

To achieve your goals with confidence and ease in 4 powerful steps, watch my FREE training video, Set Your Course to Success. Register for the video and accompanying action planning guide at www.SetYourCourseGuide.com.

Thank you for watching. Remember, become aware, breathe, and then act. Take care.

Read the accompanying article, How to Take Back Control When Stress Overwhelms You.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Trending Articles of the Week

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How Mindfulness Improves Strategic Thinking

It’s well documented that meditation reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, accept and handle difficult emotions. Now mindfulness meditation is being used to bring focus and intention into business decisions and leadership. Leaders, entrepreneurs and organizations can use three ways to help identify important ideas.

Why You Never Seem to Have Enough Time

Feeling pressed for time is more due to our own psychology of what we value and mindsets about time. When you can reframe your attitudes, you can lessen the pressure you put on yourself. Here are three scientific insights that can help create an inner shift that then eases your time crunch.

Warren Buffett Says This 1 Simple Habit Separates Successful People From Everyone Else

To be successful, Warren Buffet and Steve Jobs realized that they needed to focus on what was important. And that one mindset was vital for them to accomplish what they wanted. Learn what that lesson is, as well as 7 ways to put it to use in your life.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Use Journaling for Mindfulness and Success

Use Journaling for Mindfulness and Success

In today’s world, we rush ahead to the next thing, without assessing what’s worked and what hasn’t. We don’t take a step back to recognize problems and seek solutions to them. But you can use a technique that many successful entrepreneurs and business people employ. Journaling is a proven method to help you find clarity, find solutions, improve your health and your life. Learn how to start small with this practice and begin to enjoy its benefits.

Transcript:

Thank you for joining me. In today’s hectic pace, it’s hard to take time to be intentional, mindful and evaluate our lives, isn’t it? But there is an easy way to find clarity, engage your creative mind, discover possibilities, solve problems, encourage and motivate yourself, as well as improve your mental and physical health. It’s something that many successful entrepreneurs and business people practice. What is this tactic? It’s journaling.

I’m Linda-Ann Stewart, a vision strategist coach, and I’d like to share with you a way to use this technique to improve your personal and professional life. Most people are overwhelmed with the idea of journaling. They’re afraid it takes too much time. I was too, when I first started journaling several decades ago. But I decided to start small, just to form the habit.

To begin, I got a page a month desk calendar. I committed to just write one word each day, to describe the day, or what I was feeling, or something I’d done. By the end of the year, each square on that calendar was filled with sentences. The next year, I got calendar with a page a week. The year after that, I’d graduated to a page a day. Now, I use a book, put in my own dates, and write as much or as little as I want.

Journaling has helped me work out issues that were plaguing me, note my accomplishments, and learn from my experiences. It’s a time for me to reflect about the day, write any insights and what my plans might be and how they’re working.  

My tip for you is to start small, like I did. Get a journaling book and date each entry. Write one sentence per day. Just one. It could be how your day went, something awesome that happened to you, something you learned, something you want to improve, or whatever comes to mind. Then write something you’re proud of or have accomplished that day. That’s just two items.

When you get thoughts out of your head and onto paper (or into the computer, if you’re so inclined), it helps to see things more clearly and objectively. Your brain reprocesses the information in a different way.

Reflection and assessing helps you to better fulfill your potential and then move forward in a more positive and powerful way. You’ll be more intentional, mindful, and feel happier.

If you’d to achieve a 90-day goal more easily, download my free comprehensive Strategic Vision Guide at www.SetYourCourseGuide.com. You’ll receive the guide, as well as a training video that walks you through each step with tips and directions to support you in accomplishing your goal.

Thank you for watching. How can you start journaling your way to greater mindfulness and success?

Read the accompanying article, How to Become More Positive When Things Go Wrong.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

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9 Ways to Prepare for Change and Live Your Dream Life

At the beginning of each New Year, many of us develop resolutions, or dedicate ourselves to improving our lives. Often we try to do too much, with too little preparation. The tips in this article will help you create the foundation on which you build the life you desire.

9 Steps To New Year’s Resolutions That Last Longer Than New Year’s Day

Have you ever created a New Year’s resolution, only to abandon it within a couple of weeks? If so, you’re not alone. When you want to create change, you have to be committed to it. The steps in this article will help you to persist and be successful.

New Year’s Resolution Tips for Busy People

With a resolution, you resolve to do something differently. To do that, you have to let go of something else you’ve been doing. When you’re already busy taking care of life, it’s hard to make the changes necessary to improve. Use these tips to make achieving your goals easier.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

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Why willpower is overrated

Self-control, and all the benefits from it, may not be related to inhibiting impulses at all. People who exhibit more self-control may be structuring their environment so that there are fewer temptations. They also reframe temptations so they’re easier to dismiss. Learn more about how to train yourself to have more self-control, achieve your goals and have a better life.

11 Warning Signs of Gaslighting

Gaslighting is a manipulation tactic used to gain power over other people. And it works all too well. It’s done slowly, over time, so that the victim doesn’t recognize that they’re being brainwashed. They begin to question their own reality. This article details how gaslighters use various techniques so that you can identify them and not fall into the gaslighters trap.

How to Use Positive Affirmations for Stress Relief

Positive affirmations are an effective way to reprogram your subconscious mind and align your beliefs with what you want in life. Affirmations can relieve stress, improve your self-image, increase motivation and keep you on course to your goals. This article highlights guidelines to creating and using your own positive self-talk statements to create the life you want.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart