I’m sure you, like me, are bombarded with emails, conversations and thoughts about goal setting, particularly each new year. If I had a nickel for each email I’ve received since Jan 1st that talked about goal setting, I’d be a rich woman! Yet, have I set my goals down on paper yet? No, I haven’t. Until this week, I have been diligently trying to avoid the whole topic, no doubt because I have had limited success with achieving any goals I’d actually written down in years past.

Then recently, some information came my way that just made so much sense. It’s not new information, that’s for sure, but I guess my mind was just finally open to it and it sunk in. I FINALLY understand why having a “why” visibly attached to your goals is so important. And even more importantly, why your “why” must be in front of you at all times.

Here’s what I learned: the reason so many people fail to achieve the goals they set for themselves is they focus too much on the process of achieving those goals, rather than their “why” for the goal itself.

For example, the #1 goal set each Jan. 1st is to lose weight. So many people seriously set this as a goal for themselves as each new year begins, yet so many never realize their goal. Why? Because they focus on the process of achieving that goal, rather than why they have the goal in the first place.

The process of losing weight is not all that glamorous, to be sure. You have to change your routines, get moving, be consistent, and be patient as you work through the process. If you decide you are going to walk briskly for 30 minutes each weekday, what happens the first day it rains?

If you are focusing on the process, your thoughts will likely sound something like, “No, I’d really rather not get soaking wet today, thank you very much.”

But if you are focused on your goal of having more energy and being able to keep up with your kids or grandkids, then you’ll likely be thinking, “Ok, where can I take my walk that I won’t risk pneumonia in the process?”

I have resolved to only write down goals for which I have a strong “why”. I encourage you to do the same. Forget what everyone else’s goals are. Forget what everyone else says you should be able to accomplish. What do YOU want to accomplish, and why?

WHY?

When you figure that out, then make life easier on yourself and keep those “whys” in clear view. Focus on how you’ll feel when you achieve the goal – live it NOW.

Monitor how you talk about the goal.

Concentrate on the positives of your “why”, not the negatives of the process.

Tell someone else about your goal, so you have someone to go to later and say, “Please…remind me why I’m doing this again?” It can make all the difference in the world…in your world.

Ever had butterflies in your stomach, that dizzy and nauseous feeling when asked to speak to a group of people?

Even days before, you seem somewhat uncontrollable and disoriented. And when you get to the rostrum or stage, you just want the floor to swallow you up? That feeling that gives you the jitters and that you just want to back out?

Alas, you are not the only one. I guess that would relieve you a bit, knowing you are not an isolated case. A lot of people are horrified having to talk in front of a group of people. You share this social phobia of public speaking with just about millions out there. It is one of the worst fears people have, in fact, in surveys, it came out as the number one fear.

Public speaking is when you speak to a group of people in a deliberate manner either intended to influence, entertain or inform your listeners. And the fear of that is public speaking anxiety. There are lots of ways to overcome this fear and soar high with your public speaking engagements.

These few tips may help prior to your public speaking date. Have a mind set that 99% of your worries do not actually happen, and that leaves only 1% that they do. So if you set your mind that you will not fumble, then you won’t. Do not memorize verbatim. It will baffle you once you lose a word or two. Instead it is advisable to have pointers or notes. Pause regularly, in that way you don’t get to speak so fast.

Emphasize on points that you are more familiar with. This is a great confidence booster. And when you are led to negative thoughts regarding your public speaking commitment, redirect these thoughts and focus more on positives. In that way, it will also attract another positive outcome.

Hypnosis also helps public speaking anxiety. It has been used for many years now to relieve nervousness. The fear of public speaking is all in the mind, the sub-conscious mind. Because you foresee pessimistic things, you tend to feel those negative effects. Through hypnosis, the mind is reprogrammed to have a different view of public speaking. It purges your mind of your negative expectations thereby positively attracting your mind to a successful presentation.

So dread no more. Conquer your fear and avoid those knots in your stomach.

Procrastination is a problem that affects a person’s ability to function in a motivated sense. It can stop a person from being able to complete assignments in a timely manner and it can often keep people from performing well at a job. Usually, this kind of problem is something that comes as the result of many years of laziness that leads to a pattern of procrastination. Procrastinators are often people who feel that their work is sub par and they do not want to experience failure, so they put off the work until the last possible moment.

Procrastination is a huge problem because it can put lots of stress onto a person’s plate. Performing tasks and different assignment is stressful enough without having to worry about putting things off until the last possible deadline. Because procrastination can lead to such high levels of stress, it’s important that it be taken care of very early on. Procrastination is simply a psychological issue in which a person’s mind allows them to think that it’s alright to put off work.

One treatment method for stopping procrastination is a thing called hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy, or hypnosis as it’s sometimes referred to, is a treatment that impacts the brain’s subconscious. A hypnotherapist can help you change the way that you brain works. That person can take the blocks off of your brain as you learn to think more clearly. In addition, hypnosis is known to help things like procrastination because it takes pressure off of the person and relaxes them. A more relaxed worker will always get more work done than a very tense worker with lots of stress.

In my time as a hypnotherapist, I have seen many clients for a lot of different issues. People come to me when they want to quit smoking and when they can’t control their anger. They also come when they can’t beat procrastination. After all, procrastination is a pretty normal thing for most folks. It just becomes a problem when it’s the norm rather than the exception to the rule. I feel that the success rates for hypnosis in dealing with procrastination are very high. If you need to get over this problem and you haven’t found a solution that works, I encourage you to get some more information on hypnosis or self-hypnosis and make a determination on whether or not hypnosis is for you. This is one decision you shouldn’t put off!