The following message was sent to the participants of the 75 Days of Action Challenge on Facebook.
Hi there self-disciplined people!
Yesterday we referenced that Aristotle quote about creating habits of excellence by what you DO each day.
Today I’d like you to consider what you THINK each day. You will get some great insights into why you do what you do from knowing the pattern of your thoughts and where they lead.
As I thought of this the book The Ant and the Elephant: Leadership For the Self by Vince Poscente occurred to me. This book title conjures up a powerful metaphor which the author explores.
Here’s the metaphor: Imagine an ant sitting on top of an elephant. Got that image?
Now, consider this. Your conscious thoughts and actions are like the ant and the unconscious and subconscious thoughts, beliefs, fears, actions, etc…those are represented by the ELEPHANT.This is how humans operate. Our job is to access our elephant as best we can. Speak to that elephant as best we can.
When we do a thing, there’s a lot that exist beneath the visible act that we DON”T consciously think about or know about.You can be doing all the right things but your thoughts – conscious and otherwise are not supporting your desired outcomes.
The proverbial “tip of the iceberg” speaks to this same phenomenon.
Becoming more conscious then is essential if we hope to change habits, create new ones or maintain excellent ones.
Beyond more consciousness we also need to find ways to access and speak to our sub-conscious mind…which is where the beliefs [some very self-limiting] and bad habits have their roots. [affirmations are wonderful in this regard]Starting with our thoughts, we can begin to access buried emotions,patterns and beliefs.
Here’s what I suggest:
1) Be MORE AWARE than usual of your thoughts today – Do they support your efforts? Are they doubtful? Are they inspirational, mostly optimistic or mostly pessimistic? Is there a recurring theme? Or phrase? Are you extremely hard on yourself and say things to yourself that you wouldn’t say to someone you love? [negative self-talk is one super powerful way to sabotage yourself – it’s done ALL THE TIME]
2) Record some of your thoughts – as often as possible...Pay particular attention to those that seem to ‘pop up’ out of no where. Or those that lead to negative or positive feelings. Follow the dots of thoughts and emotions and check out where you go.
3) Try becoming completely silent – no thoughts, just presence.
4) Do your daily actions as usual
5) Think of how you will celebrate in some small yet significant way on Sunday – the completion of 10 WHOLE DAYS of this journey. (12 counting the 2 days of planning)
IF WE HOPE TO BECOME DISCIPLINED IN OUR ACTIONS —- OUR THOUGHTS WILL HAVE TO BE EQUALLY DISCIPLINED….so let’s go a little deeper as we create a truly powerful habit.
Let’s add a #6 — Recall the affirmations you created about being self-disciplined? If you didn’t before, post them where you can see them.
Repeating these affirmations a minimum of 20 times a day will address any contrary beliefs you might have buried in your subconscious. Speak them as often as possible. Out loud.I am a SELF-DISCIPLINED person and I love Being in right ORDER
Wishing you ABUNDANT success, joy, peace and light
Julette Millien
♥~
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