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Good Morning from Maine! #Gratitude to all!
Today's Best You Daily Inspiration and Journal Prompt is about habits and self-confidence.
Best You Daily will help guide you and your lifestyle to be the very best they can be. Following a few of my thoughts you'll find a journal prompt closer to the end of this blog. I hope you'll follow with me, as each day, I intend to give us all something to think about and/or write about through Best You Daily. We’re here to talk about your best life in 2017 and beyond. We’re here to learn to make some lasting changes in our lives.
When I work with my clients who want to make a change in their life, I usually see a pattern of habits or self-confidence as the most common stumbling blocks to success.
Habitual patterns of negative thinking/actions or confidence destroying internal chatter or actions can hold us hostage to change. I hear a lot of this phrase, "I can't because..." or "I'm not sure I can do that..."
I sidestep the word "TRY" also. You either do or don't at some level. Try, to me, is a word with lackluster energy. Go all in with all your heart or don't, but avoid the try-zone. The phrase, "I'll try to do that." is very different than, "I'm going to do that."
People often hesitate to move to the action of "I'm doing to do that." for fear of failure, whereas trying has failure built it as a safety net.
Example 1: The other day I was with a friend and I said, "I'm going to sit on the beach in Hawaii for our 20th anniversary and be down 25 pounds."
Now, let me change the phrase around using try and see how it sounds to you.
Example 2: "The other day I was with a friend and I said, "I'd like to try to get to Hawaii for our 20th anniversary and sit on the beach and hopefully try to be down 25 pounds by then."
The first one has action. The second maybe does or doesn't depending. The second sentence softens all expectations to achieve the goal and hopefully you can see the lackluster approach to the goal.
It's so helpful to take time and write an "I can't because" list and see all these self-defeating messages materialize on paper. Then, substitute them with empowering statements in the present tense as if something has already happened. "I surround myself with supportive and caring people" is a whole lot more powerful a statement than I will...
You have a choice to make this next moment in your life different. Who you were then doesn't have to be who you are moving forward. Yes, you are you, I get it, but you can introduce a new habit or belief, a new action or way of thinking, that can gradually shift you into ambition and confidence, where each new step is an opportunity that awaits you.
BEST YOU DAILY JOURNAL PROMPT
To begin, grab your notebook or your journal. Ask yourself these questions and write down what comes to your mind. You do not have to answer all the questions. Pick 1-2 that resonate with you for today's Best You Daily Journal Prompt.
Make your "I can't because..... list" For each item you listed change the wording to "I can because..." and finish the sentence with empowering words.
What gives you the courage to step out of your comfort zone and ask "Can it get better?" What can you do to make your life easier? Better? What's your first step? Why are you afraid or not afraid to take that step? What messages in our head are telling us we need to be afraid? Why can't we substitute those messages with empowering ideas of what we can and will do? What holds us back?
About Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino
Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino is a 19-year veteran of the financial services and regulatory compliance training industry. Now, a recognized leader in personal development, Elizabeth is the founder and CEO of The Best Ever You Network, a brand with more than one million followers in social media and over two million radio downloads on The Best Ever You Show.
With a mixture of humor and grace, Elizabeth helps people root in gratitude, discover motivation and implement positive, lasting change. An expert in mentoring people to market their strengths and achieve brand excellence, she works with clients worldwide to illuminate their light within, develop their best life and become their Best Ever You with gratitude-based behavior and belief systems.
Elizabeth’s book PERCOLATE – Let Your Best Self Filter Through (Hay House, 2014) has been called “charming” by Publisher’s Weekly, with “an ingenious extended coffee metaphor.” Guarino also ranks consistently as one of the top 40 social CEOs on Twitter and was just named a favorite by Oxford Said Business School. Her hashtags #BestEverYou and #TipstoBeYourBest are widely circulated.
Follow Elizabeth on Twitter @BestEverYou