4 steps to actually succeeding to change in 2017:

 
There’s always much inspiration and hope for change with a new year. Yet we tend not to manifest our new year resolutions. This may help to understand why AND what to do about it. If we don’t want to be setting the same resolution next year – then we have a whole year to rectify what’s holding us back & take meaningful action now to bring about the change we desire.
 

 
1) Clarify our purpose.
2) Recognise the difference between the power of attention and the contents of the mind.
3) Develop and PRACTICE concentration and will power.
4) Invest energy wisely and with what & who is in alignment with our purpose.
 
1) Clarification of purpose. “Know Thyself” – this is an ancient instruction, given to us by every one of our greatest teachers. Spend time truly becoming aware of our heart’s desire. What is it that lights you up? If our dreams have been squashed or we have been controlled by conditioning or we have the bad habit of ‘people pleasing’, or have a pattern of disappointment then it’s likely that we have suppressed our hearts true longing – deemed it too painful to hope for, or for whatever reason have become disconnected from it.
 
Take the time and support (if necessary) to reconnect and clarify what is it we wish to contribute, who is it we wish to be, how is it we wish to live.
 
Set aside past hurts and explore: if money was no object and I knew I wouldn’t fail – what would I do? Who is it I love being with – what traits do they have or activities we do together that is meaningful to me. If I died soon how would I like to be remembered? What would I put before myself – what would I willingly sacrifice my time, life or money on?
 
Once we have clarity on your purpose – even if it’s not specific like “I want to open a soup kitchen”, and is rather a direction like “I want to be of service in a meaningful way” – we can start directing our energy in that direction and unplug our energy from what’s holding us back.
 
Really explore “why I want what I want”. Make sure it’s not a fear based or compensatory desire. Maybe we feel we want a bigger house – examine why. If it’s because we feel ashamed of our current one – then a truer desire is to gain a genuine sense of inner worth. Once that’s achieved we may still want a bigger house, but only because it reflects our worth rather than makes up for a feeling of lack of worth.
True heart’s desires feel good and both expansive and grounded – they feel unapologetically ‘right’ for you.
 
2) Recognise the difference between our attention and what we give that attention to. One of the greatest powers we have is our attention; energy flows where attention goes. Momentum builds in the direction of your attention. If our attention is scattered, there is little momentum going in any 1 direction, and as a result not much progress is attained in any area. If our attention is on the radio show, the traffic, the shopping list, picking the kids up from school, something you saw on facebook, that you’ve gained 3 pounds, the new person at work who’s bugging us etc etc – that’s a lot of scattered attention – and results in ‘same old, same old’.
 
Yet if we look at high achievers, in any discipline or area of life – they all have one thing in common – they are single minded. The Olympic swimmer – eats, breathes, reads, practices swimming and little else. The singer – eats, breathes, reads, practices singing and little else. The person developing higher levels of consciousness – eats, breathes, reads, practices spiritual practices and little else.
 
Once we know our passion/purpose – we’ll want to be like the singer or the swimmer and make our true purpose manifest for us.
 
The mind has about 60,000 self talks a day – but we can decide what we’re giving our attention to. And much like a well tended garden what we attend to will bloom and bear good fruit.
 

3) To gain mastery in the art of purposeful attention we need a) gain awareness of what we attend to at the moment b) learn how to and practice concentration (it’s a skill after all, so it requires practice. Concentration is the ability to keep our attention on a subject for however long we require it to be there) c) develop willpower so that we can wilfully give our concentration and thus our attention to our purpose (to the exclusion of all other distractions).
 
When doing our daily tasks practice conscious concentration – deliberately, as best we can, give our full concentration to the task at hand. When the mind wanders, and we notice it’s wandered, bring it back and concentrate on what we are doing now. This way our ordinary life becomes our practice ground for developing skills of concentration.
 
How we develop will power is by consciously finishing what we start and by following through on our promises / declarations. Again we use our ordinary life as our practice ground. If we’ve decided to clean the house, give our full attention to the cleaning and finish the task and so on for all our tasks. Consciously acknowledge the quality of our concentration i.e the capacity to hold attention & give energy to a task and consciously acknowledge your will power i.e you made a decision and followed through.
Once we have developed the skill of concentration and willpower we are in a position to manifest our purpose; as all we need is unwavering attention and unwavering action in our purposes’ direction to bring it about.
 
4) Be very mindful of energy investments. Energy is invested through attention. A lot of attention invested in our goal results in the achievement of that goal. There are two things to be aware of here: 1) the energy that’s invested in others and the outside world and 2) the energy that’s invested in the mental world.
 
Outside investments – do we hang out with people we feel uplifted being around or drained being around? Do we watch, read, listen to TV, books and music that feels good or frightening? Do we spend time in nature or only around screens? Do we eat for nourishment or to numb out? Everything either enhances, neutralises or drains our energy. Pay attention to how we feel and choose wisely what we invest our energy on. What is aligned with our purpose and what takes us off course?
 
Mental investments: We have imprinted stressful, painful and upsetting memories that have not been cleared energetically / emotionally and they are an energy drain. We also entertain draining and poor quality thinking – investing in bad habits of doubt, fear, worry, worst case scenario thinking. These have got to be released, resolved and stopped so that we can put our attention on our purpose and achieve it.
 
Once we are clear on our purpose, have gained skill in concentration and willpower and are able to hold our attention on what is aligned with our goal then make an affirmation of our goal to keep us conscious of it and build our life around lining up with people, places, media that supports it’s fruition.
An affirmation is a concise choice of positive words that summarises our heart’s desire, have a clear visualisation of its fulfilment and most importantly FEEL what it would be like once it’s done.
Repeat the affirmation while visualising and feeling its completion to imprint our mind with our goal.
Weed out any objections – mental or external that block its fulfilment.
 
Affirmation Examples:

I surround myself with financially successful business owners who will teach and help me start my own successful jam making business.
I am ready, willing and able to attract a wonderful, loving and committed partner to share my life with.
My work is recognised and I receive a promotion with ease and warm wishes from my colleagues.
I love spending time with myself, feel so comfortable in my own skin and love myself unconditionally and totally.
I am a wonderful parent and my children flourish with the quality of love, care and attention I give them.
I knock 2 points off my golf handicap with my steadier nerves, consistency of play and

practice.

 
Knowing this information is the 1st step, applying it to completion of a goal is the next one.
If you would like assistance with any of it let me know and I’ll be happy to support you in making meaningful and lasting change in your life.
 
To your every success in 2017.
Ailish McGrath
info@DublinMindTraining.com
087 2201 453