3. Journaling. Once we become aware and watch our negative thoughts and behaviors, the next step is to journal the patterns of self-sabotage that we see going on in our lives. Sit down in a quiet place with some “alone time” and a journal and pen. Contemplate the thoughts and behaviors you have become aware are self-sabotaging and that you have begun to watch. Make a list of the thoughts or behaviors that you want to change so that you can move forward into action and make the changes you desire in your life. Give each thought or behavior a degree of intensity from 1 – 10, 10 being the strongest. Pick the thought or behavior that bothers you the most. Go to the first recollections you have of being alive and come forward, writing down every memory you have of experiencing that thought or behavior. Come forward to the present time. Now go back and observe all that you have recorded and observe any patterns that appear. This can be very enlightening and may shed some insight into what triggers your sabotaging thought or behavior.
To be Continued…
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
I Know What To Do - So Why Don't I Do It?
I Know What To Do – So Why Don’t I Do It?
It is a familiar place – that place of knowing what to do, but not doing it. If we were all living consciously we would all know what to do, how to do it and why we were doing it, and we would do it all with peace and happiness. But it takes awareness and practice to learn to live consciously most of the time. So until then, let’s continue understanding self-sabotage and learning how to keep it to a minimum or eliminate it from our lives.
The next principle to learn after we become aware that we are self-sabotaging is:
(2) Letting go of resistance. Whatever we resist persists. So what do I mean by resistance? When we become aware of an area in our lives that we are self-sabotaging, we need to just bring our awareness to it and resist the urge to judge it and ourselves. When we beat ourselves up and criticize ourselves for doing it - that is resistance. When we constantly tell ourselves “I shouldn’t be doing this,” or “I am so stupid to keep doing this,” that is resistance. Instead, we just need to bring our attention to it, be curious about it and embrace it as a part of ourselves. We can take a look at it and say, “Hmmm, that’s interesting,.” or “There I go, eating sugar again when I know it isn’t good for me.” The more we just graciously bring our attention to it without judgment or criticism, the sooner it will just fall away. Seriously, it’s that easy. Give it a try! Just pick something that you have been trying to change for a long time and instead of getting upset when you do it (or don’t do it…whatever IT is) just say “Hmmmmm, there I am doing (or not doing) this again. Isn’t that interesting?” And then see what happens. Each time it comes up just observe it without judgment and then let it just BE. You will find that it loses it’s hold on you.
To be continued…
It is a familiar place – that place of knowing what to do, but not doing it. If we were all living consciously we would all know what to do, how to do it and why we were doing it, and we would do it all with peace and happiness. But it takes awareness and practice to learn to live consciously most of the time. So until then, let’s continue understanding self-sabotage and learning how to keep it to a minimum or eliminate it from our lives.
The next principle to learn after we become aware that we are self-sabotaging is:
(2) Letting go of resistance. Whatever we resist persists. So what do I mean by resistance? When we become aware of an area in our lives that we are self-sabotaging, we need to just bring our awareness to it and resist the urge to judge it and ourselves. When we beat ourselves up and criticize ourselves for doing it - that is resistance. When we constantly tell ourselves “I shouldn’t be doing this,” or “I am so stupid to keep doing this,” that is resistance. Instead, we just need to bring our attention to it, be curious about it and embrace it as a part of ourselves. We can take a look at it and say, “Hmmm, that’s interesting,.” or “There I go, eating sugar again when I know it isn’t good for me.” The more we just graciously bring our attention to it without judgment or criticism, the sooner it will just fall away. Seriously, it’s that easy. Give it a try! Just pick something that you have been trying to change for a long time and instead of getting upset when you do it (or don’t do it…whatever IT is) just say “Hmmmmm, there I am doing (or not doing) this again. Isn’t that interesting?” And then see what happens. Each time it comes up just observe it without judgment and then let it just BE. You will find that it loses it’s hold on you.
To be continued…
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