Top Strategy #6 of 7: Turning Dreams into Reality: Silencing the Gremlins In Your Head

Top Strategy #6:  Silencing the Negative Self-Talk and Destructive Gremlins in Your Head.

If you’ve been following along and completing the steps I’ve outlined, you now have three dreams fleshed out and ready to be realized. Maybe you’ve already aligned all the tools and resources you need, and maybe you’ve even taken your first few steps. It feels so good, doesn’t it?

GOOD: That’s what I want you to sit and feel. How does it feel in your body? Do you have a sense of excitement? I hope so.

Now, I want you to sit with this feeling of “good” because on a day soon, maybe when you’re tired or under the weather, that negative self-talk—the sabotaging, self-confidence-eating Gremlins in your head—are going to try to wreak havoc on your dreams. And you need to remember that FEELING of GOOD so you can go back, sit down and re-access it, fill your heart and soul up with it, so the decietful, undermining gremlins of negative self-talk don't defeat you!

If your goal is to lose weight, maybe you’ll slip and have a brownie. That’s all the Gremlin needs to start a self-defeating dialogue with your conscious mind. “See, you can’t do this. Why bother? Really, just have another brownie, or the whole pan for that matter.” And many times, internal self-talk will be harsher than that.

Remember, the only thing you can really control in this world is YOUR THOUGHTS and YOUR ACTIONS. But thoughts drive actions, so it is of utmost importance that when your negative conversation starts to spin, you go to a quiet place and practice overriding that negative conversation with a positive one.

Example: The month of January for me, personally, is overstuffed with big, bold accomplishments I have decided on. It is one month of incredible dedication and focus that I need to give to my business to reach the next level of success, which is what I ardently desire and sincerely believe I am supposed to do.

Yesterday, I found myself thinking, “You’ll never get this all done.” But because I am practiced at overcoming negative self-talk, my inner voice of self-parenting kicked in, beat the negative talk and emotions away, and replied, “Kathleen, this is going to be such an amazing, wonderful month. I am so excited! And when this month is complete you are going to be so ecstatic! And as a reward, make a plan to get away for a few days in the beginning of February as a celebration of all that you are going to accomplish!”

What am I going to do? Make reservations for the spa I love in Connecticut! No baby, no dogs, no noise!

If you need some help with this, and that begins with writing positive affirmations, go to my website at http://www.kathleenastonintl.com/ and download my Affirmations Guide & Worksheet. It’s free and will help you develop positive statements to override habitual negative self-talk.

Tune in tomorrow for Top Strategy #7: Clap Your Hands Three Times if You Believe!

Cheers,

Kathleen

Top Strategy 4 of 7: Collecting the Tools You Need For Dream Fulfillment

Top Strategy #4: Collecting the Tools and Resources You Need for Dream Attainment.

OK! We’re making progress! You’ve awoken you inner Dream Genie. You’ve reviewed you Master Dream List. You’ve evaluated your dreams to see if they are short or long term. And you’ve transferred two short-term 90-day dreams and one long-term yearlong dream into the SMART goal format.

And most importantly, you've discovered your BIG WHY--your important, passionate reasons for why this dream/goal must be achieved!

Top Strategy #4:

Now it’s time to review and align the tools and resources you need to achieve your SMART goal.

1.       If your dream goal is not SMART, you may want to put it away for now and choose another dream goal to focus on for the time being.

2.       If your dream is SMART, great! Let’s make a list of all the tools and resources you need.

a.       Which resources and tools are already at your disposal?

b.      What tools and resources do you need to gather?

                                                               i.      Mark down STEP ONE of your goal: gathering all the tools and resources.

3.       If you are trying to quit smoking, one step may be speaking with your doctor and family. These are people who need to know about the goal and can lend you support. You may also need tools, such as an online smoking cessation program, or products like nicotine replacements.

4.       You want to make sure you don’t start down the path of your SMART goal without having the necessary tools and resources. You would not set out for a road trip across the country without your map or GPS, cell phone, supplies, etc. Don’t start your dream attainment unprepared, or chances are you will get lost!

Tune in tomorrow for:

Top Strategy #5: Avoiding Sinkholes and Quicksand on Your Journey to Dream Attainment.

Cheers,

Kathleen

Strategy 1 of 7: Awaken Your Inner Dream Genie Before She Turns to Dust!

Top Strategy #1:  Reawaken Your Inner Dream Genie Before She Turns to Dust in the Bottle

To be able to realize a dream, you must be able to imagine it.  You must be able to see it happening so clearly, just as you imagined yourself flying to the moon when you were five years-old.  This may seem simple. But as adults, our dream machines are rusty.  Starting them up again can be a slow process. But it is critical to believing, once again, that anything, ANYTHING, is possible.

The first step to building up your atrophied dream muscles is to make a new dream list. OK, hear me here.  This is a “no-holds-barred, cut-loose, anything you could possibly want” dream list.  It’s fine to have things like a new car, or new carpeting. But, I really implore you to think like your inner five-year old.  I want YOU to want it all! Then write it down.  Allow yourself the pleasure of extravagant desires.  Allow yourself the gift of imagining life without any obstacles, barriers or real-world limitations.

It is only by allowing yourself to fully dream again, that you will stumble across the lost dreams of your passion, or your inner longings and true purpose.  If you do not allow yourself this luxury, you may ultimately find that you are aiming at dreams that are imposed on you by another … and that don’t truly belong to you at all.

Here are just a few things that are on my dream list: 

·         Have a full-time housekeeper, cook and gardener

·         Have a driver to take me everywhere I need to go

·         Travel to four exotic destinations a year, once every quarter

·         Reach and impact 1 million women in a positive way

Now, it’s your turn.  Get out the paper … get pretty paper or fun paper and a great pen.  Then just write whatever comes into your mind … reach high, reach wide, reach for everything you ever imagined. I want BIG, BOLD, AUDACIOUS DREAMS HERE PEOPLE!

Please let me know all the new dreams that you awaken!  Tomorrow, we’ll be exploring how to take those dreams and put them into a master goal list!  Boy, this is going to be fun!

TUNE IN TOMORROW: Monday, January 3, 2011 FOR:

Top Strategy #2:  Are You the Master of Your Goals OR Are You Executing Someone Else’s?

See you then!

Kathleen