Last time I talked about motivation, inspiration, and programming, and the differences between them.
I maintain that programming yourself is the only real way to get things done, since motivation is often fleeting and inspiration is not action.
So, how do you program yourself?
1) Start with a feeling
Here is where the motivation and inspiration come into play.
Start with a feeling, or emotion, or thought, or value, or belief, or even (if you know it) your purpose in life. Make sure that whatever you are starting with it is a STRONG emotion and has pull to begin with.
Example: Your doctor has told you you are over-weight and need to lose at least 30 pounds. You have known subconsciously for some time that you may have been a little on the heavy side (perhaps there is some guilt/fear/shame attached to this). You decide firmly that you are going to not only lose this weight but get yourself into shape and be “fit”. You feel strongly that this will be good for you and anticipate your future state of health. You now have a strong (positive) emotion and feeling attached to this, perhaps there is a value of health this is related to also.
NOTE – using a strong NEGATIVE emotion is not recommended, as goals that we set to “move away” from something tend not to be as motivating as “approach” goals, working toward something. So doing this because you’d feel guilty if you don’t is not a strong motivator for the long run and will probably get you down if you start to “back slide”.
Whatever the Feeling (or value / etc) the key is: Does it feel right for you?
Make sure this is something that will keep you going INITIALLY, it doesn’t need to last forever, but it needs to be strong enough and “right” enough to get you to the next stage, which is …
2) Re-write Your Story
Now it’s possible that you have already done this. If you are doing a whole life make over I recommend following the four Ps (which I’ll talk more about in another post) which are: Purpose, Perspective, Programming, Persistence. Usually I would recommend working on your “story” in the perspective stage, before you actually get to programming, but even if you have done this, there is still a little more work you need to do here.
In my post on The Power of Self Suggestion (and it’s follow ups) I talk about how the words I was using and repeating to myself over and over again were seriously affecting how I was living.
THIS is what it means to change or rewrite your story. Some call it affirmations or other such things, but essentially it comes down to this. The words you say to yourself regularly, SERIOUSLY affect what you get in life.
Example: So you are going to lose the 30 pounds and get fit, and yet, there is that nagging voice in your head that keeps saying: “your fat” or “why even try, no diets actually work” or “this is a waste of time, you could be …” or any number of other negative things. IF these are the words and phrases that you CHOOSE to keep in your head, chances are you won’t get far. You need new phrases, new words like: “I am working toward being a happy healthy person” or “I can change my life any way I want” or “I am beautiful” etc.
NOTE: you have to BELIEVE these new words, which is why I used phrases like “in the process of” or “working toward”. Simply saying I am thin and fit, isn’t enough IF you don’t believe it, if you don’t completely think it’s true. So use the right words to make sure you believe what you are saying and they affirm who you are and your belief in what you are trying to do.
Once you have your new words, say them often and repeatedly. I suggest saying them AT LEAST 50 times in the morning, then if you are really wanting to ingrain these words fast, another 50 times at lunch and again at dinner and again before bed.
I suggest reading the posts on The Power of Self Suggestion and the ones that followed so you can see how this affected me and what I did about it.
There is MORE!
But I’ve run out of space for today, so I’ll post again soon with the remainder of the steps on how to program yourself and get things done.
Until then – keep laughing.