One of the gifts I was given this Christmas was a DVD of a band and part of the special features was a film about them returning to where they first started out to do some secret gigs. As they were travelling to these locations they were being asked how they felt about going back to do these and one of them said “Part of me thinks, what are we doing back here? We’ve already done this.”

As we approach the start of 2011, it is the time of year when people are considering change and New Year resolutions. It is not that uncommon for these resolutions to be about getting back to something that you have achieved in the past – so it may be that you want to get back into the jeans that you could wear 5 years ago, or maybe its about getting back the feeling that you used to have about a particular event or person.

I often find that when people imagine themselves achieving such resolutions or goals that they are imagining themselves at a time back when they last did it – so for example, if the new years resolution is to get back into the jeans they could wear 5 years ago, they imagine themselves 5 years ago getting into the jeans, rather then in the present or the near future.

I’ve written previous posts about how your brain is a bit like a taxi driver – it’s easier for you to get to where you want if you are clear in what you want your destination to be (See this post for more details)

If when you imagine yourself doing something you are imagining a you from the past, you run the risk of part of you going “We’ve already done this.” Make it easier on yourself, by all means have a goal of getting into a particular pair of jeans – make sure that when you imagine doing that, that you imagine a present or future you (not one in the past).

I invite you to play with the following for any new year’s resolution or goals that you are currently working with:

1. Imagine what it will be like when you achieve this new years resolution/ goal

2. Notice what age you are imagining yourself to be – if this is a you in the past, remember that this is your imagination so change it to imagine something else instead.
Likewise if you realise that you are imagining achieving this a lot further into the future than you would like, have a play at imagining it happening sooner.

Have a fantastic week and I’ll take this opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year.

Love

Jen

This was originally posted on www.YourChangingDirection.com