What Are You Committed To for 2019?

As you begin a new year, do you feel stuck in a rut? Is your life or your business moving forward in the way you want it to? What are you committed to for 2019?

You may benefit from understanding the difference between being interested in something and getting committed to being, doing or having it.

Humans are like an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg (about 10%) represents your stated intentions – those intentions you are consciously aware of and have most likely mentioned to others. The other 90% (the invisible part of the iceberg resting under the water line) represents your hidden intentions — something you have not shared with others and may not even be consciously aware of. If you are not conscious to what these hidden intentions are, they will run your life.

I’ll share an example to illustrate how this works. Let’s say that you’ve identified a stated intention to lose 15 pounds by the end of March. Are you interested in reaching this goal, or are you committed to doing so? What’s the difference?

Even if you are interested in losing weight, unless you are committed to doing so, your hidden intentions will probably take priority and you won’t reach your weight loss goal. Most likely, your old unconscious behaviors will grab the steering wheel and sabotage your success.

Here’s an example of how this works…

Your STATED intentions:

• Treadmill 30 minutes daily 6x/wk.
• Complete strength training routine 3x/wk. at the gym.
• Follow a written daily diet plan, consuming no more than 1600 calories/day.
• Pack a healthy lunch and snacks for work (following diet plan).

Your HIDDEN intentions that could sabotage your success:

• Sleep in a little longer instead of getting up earlier to exercise at the gym on the way to work.
• Eat chips, candy and ice cream when hungry or bored. (NOTE: If you have no intention of eating these things, why do you have them in your home?)
• Get a mocha from the coffee cart at work since you forgot to bring your healthy mid-morning snack.
• Stop for fast food on the way home since you worked through lunch and you are too hungry to wait for dinner.

You can see how easy it is for you to sabotage your stated intentions when hidden intentions creep into your daily life, especially when there’s no conscious awareness of the pitfalls that could derail your goal of losing 15 pounds.

Once you are aware of your hidden intentions, you can consciously do some things that will support your success.

For example, if you are not keeping your commitment to exercise at the gym first thing in the morning, find someone who has similar intentions and arrange to meet them at the gym. That way, both of you can hold each other accountable for showing up.

Keys to Success

• Act on your intentions, not your feelings. The question is not, “Do I feel like doing it?” but rather, “What is my intention?” To help you with this, visualize the results you desire and how you’ll feel, and this will help you take the necessary action to honor your commitments.

• Commitments take sacrifice.  To be successful, you must have a strong desire to make your commitment happen. Most people think sacrifice is giving up something. Sacrifice is merely releasing something of a lower nature to make room for something of a higher nature.

• If you want something you don’t currently have, you are going to have to do something different, and that may require you to step out of your comfort zone. It’s human nature to choose what’s familiar and comfortable in the moment. That’s why most people’s life circumstances remain unchanged. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. You must sacrifice comfort in the moment if you want to raise your performance in any area. Be ready to make the sacrifices that will be required to turn your intention into a reality.

Evaluate Your Life

What if the only New Year’s Resolution you made was to love yourself more? Loving yourself is key to success in everything.

“You will be with you longer than anyone else on the planet so why not make it a good relationship?”   -Louise Hay

How will you love yourself more in 2019? To help you answer that question, I invite you to evaluate your current life and circumstances in these six areas:

• Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years with your marriage/partner if you continue to do what you are doing and be who you’re being right now?

• Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years with your family if you continue to do what you are doing and be who you’re being right now?

• Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years with your business/career if you continue to do what you are doing and be who you’re being right now?

• Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years with your finances if you continue to do what you are doing and be who you’re being right now?

• Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years with your spiritual life if you continue to do what you are doing and be who you’re being right now?

• Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years with your health if you continue to do what you are doing and be who you’re being right now?

Clarify Your Intentions

Are you ready to take action and commit to upgrade one or more of these six areas of your life? If so, here’s a process to help you get clear about what you want and how to take committed action.

Put your responses in writing for each of the areas you want to focus on.

Goal:

Action steps:

Potential pitfalls and how I will avoid them:

Get Started Now!

Once you’ve completed the Action steps/Pitfalls to avoid exercise for each Goal you’ve identified above, identify which actions you are the most uncomfortable with. Start with those each day.

“Eat a live frog first thing every morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” – Mark Twain

Choose inspired action over comfort this week and let me know what happens!

If you’d like help sorting out what you want and how to make it happen, let’s schedule a no-cost, no-pressure Discovery Call today. Together we’ll explore what you desire to be different in the coming year.

Additional Resources:

• Blog: Commitments that Matter
• Blog: The Key to Living the Life You Want
• Blog: Create What You Want
• Guide: Living with Purpose
• Guide: Cultivating Happiness: Living Life on Your Terms
• Self-Paced Course: Guide to Getting Motivated & Achieving Your Goals
• Webinar: Managing Priorities

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