Monthly Archives: September 2016

How to Write an Affirmation

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Affirmations are highly effective to support a goal to change a behaviour or to modify a negative self image. You must be clear on your goal or the change you want to have about yourself. My previous articles and videos on the behaviour change process is a great way to get started on clarifying your goal.

 

Characteristics of an Affirmation

  • Affirmations need to be written in the present tense as if the behaviour or change is reality. This works on changing your subconscious belief about yourself.
  • The affirmation should be congruent with your goal statement.
  • The affirmation should be positive

Example of an Affirmation

personal-behavioural-change-goalUsing myself as an example for the personal behavioural change goal I am working on, this is my affirmation:

  • I am patient and diplomatic.

This supports my following goal statement:

  • When things are not going at the pace I like or being done the way I want, take a diplomatic and positive approach with the person or those responsible for the task and show patience and support

The above affirmation supports the following desired behavioural change:

  • Impatient and too controlling with people when things are not going fast enough or done the way I think they should be

How to use an Affirmation

 

An affirmation should be repeated frequently throughout the day in order for it to form a new belief in the subconscious mind. It will disrupt your current belief and cause you to respond differently in the present moment without having to think about it.

 

A good practice would be to take a few minutes to relax for a few minutes three times a day to repeat the affirmation to yourself. Sit in a comfortable chair or lay down, close your eyes and concentrate on taking a few deep breaths to relax. Repeat the affirmation several times and out loud if you can. Do this upon rising in the morning, after lunch and before bed.

 

Adding visualization techniques can make affirmations even more effective. I’ll cover this in my next article and video.

 

Overcoming Roadblocks & Challenges to Achieving Goals for Personal and Leadership Development

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goal-achievementGoal achievement is like mountain climbing in that there are always obstacles on the path and should be expected. The key is to know how to overcome the obstacles and not just give up on the journey. That is why writing a goal is so important because it forces you to plan and think through the solutions to roadblocks and challenges.

 

In my last article and video, I explained the process of goal setting in detail to change a behaviour relative to your human type. You can also download my new goal planning worksheet and example and use that to follow along and set your own goal. If you have not done so already I highly recommend doing it now and coming back to this article later.

 

In the last article and video, I covered up to writing a S.M.A.R.T. goal and the outcome measure. The next step is to write down the benefits to you personally, your organization and your team. You should be able to list at least five key benefits.

 

The Follow-up step (how will I measure progress made?) is next and this is crucial to do daily in order to develop a new habit by making sure you are actually making the effort required. Many people fail in achieving their goals simply because they do not write them down and track their activities or actions. Tracking a behavioural change goal can be done using a spreadsheet or with an app on a smartphone. I like using a spreadsheet so I can write the number of opportunities I had to practice my new behaviour and the result. I also like to add a note. Some apps let you do this as well.

 

roadblocks-and-challengesNext is to list any roadblocks and challenges that come to mind. These could be both external and internal obstacles. In the case of behaviour change most challenges are internal. For example, in my goal relative to my type the behaviour I want to change is becoming impatient and overly controlling if things are not moving fast enough or being done the way I think is best. My goal is to be patient and diplomatic with others when expressing myself.

 

My main challenge is habit and stress. My solutions are to track my progress daily, get reminders from my partner and assistant and plan my time better to reduce stress. Being conscious of myself is also crucial and applies to everyone working on a behaviour modification.

 

Once you work out the solutions they become actions. If you keep up this process daily, you will create the change you want.

 

In the next article and video, I will cover affirmations and visualisation to support achieving the goal and to help be aware and conscious.