2012-14: Predicions, Feng Shui, Astrology, Resolutions etc

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Resolution Challenge #2 – Holding Positive, Yet Flexible Expectations

How many times have you set a massive goal while thinking, "This will be a breeze"?

You imagine yourself effortlessly taking action each day, easily moving toward your chosen outcome and reaching it in record time. Unfortunately, that's not the way it usually happens.

Instead, you struggle almost from the get-go and feel overwhelmed and frustrated when you don't seem to be progressing as quickly as you planned. Rather than acknowledging that you may have set your sights too high, you may be tempted to give up altogether.

Unfortunately, we often fail to realize that it is far easier to think about doing something than it is to actually DO it, especially if we have limiting beliefs that might be holding us back.

With every goal you set, understand that there is going to be a period of transition as you work toward it. You can't expect to make a giant leap from mailroom clerk to CEO in a matter of weeks, or lose 50 pounds in a month, or go from being a couch potato to a marathon runner overnight.

But you also can't allow negative expectations to prevent you from trying at all. Rather, your goal should be to keep your expectations positive but also flexible.

[winston]

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The Remedy:

One good way to do this is to start smaller. Not many people will enjoy hearing that, but it's a good idea if you want to avoid getting frustrated and giving up.

There's nothing wrong with setting big goals and having big dreams, but you also want to start with those that you believe are most achievable.

The truth is that all goals are achievable, especially when you work in co-creative partnership with the universe, but you may have a hard time believing that some goals are achievable, and if you believe that you will block them from manifesting.

However, you can overcome these obstacles by either setting smaller goals to start with, or balancing your expectations of how and when your goal will come to fruition. Which one you choose will depend on your personal preferences.

There are people who can set a large goal, hold to their vision and diligently work toward it for years until they achieve it. They never lose sight of what they're working toward, they don't doubt that they will receive the outcome they want, and they're willing to wait patiently until it happens.

But some people are the opposite -- they want results and they want them fast! If that describes you, you'll probably be happier setting smaller goals and enjoying moderate results as you go along.

Remember, you can expand your goal consistently too. If your ultimate goal is to be earning $100,000 a year with your own business but you feel too overwhelmed or intimidated by that figure, start with a smaller goal of $20,000 and then raise the amount when you reach the first benchmark.

If you want to lose 50 pounds, try focusing on 10 pounds at a time. Fifty pounds sounds like a lot, but when you consider that it's only 5 sets of 10 pounds, it seems a lot more achievable.

Nearly any large goal can be broken down into smaller pieces – and when you focus on achieving those smaller goals they eventually add up to big success!

Another important point to keep in mind is that you don't have to achieve the entire goal on your own. Allow the universe to work with you.

Hold to the vision and you will be led to the people, resources, opportunities and means to achieve the goal more easily than you could accomplish on your own.

Just be flexible about how and when all this progress happens. Expect the best but don't get attached to specific ways or timeframes.

[winston]

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Resolution Challenge #3 – Balancing Effort with Alignment

Working toward any new goal seems hard at the beginning, but sometimes we underestimate just how hard it can get.

Sometimes the struggle is the result of unrealistic expectations, like we covered a moment ago. Taking on a bigger goal than you're ready for can definitely make the journey seem impossible.

But there's also a more common reason for goal-achievement seeming difficult at the beginning, and that is: you have to build momentum before it will seem easier.

When it comes to working with the Law of Attraction, this applies both physically and energetically.

A common analogy used to describe momentum is pushing a car. To get the car rolling, you have to exert a lot of force. But the longer you push, momentum begins to take over and you hardly have to push at all to keep the car moving along.

Goals are very much the same in that you have to work harder at them in the beginning than you do toward the end. If you work at them for long enough, you enter this "zone" where it just seems simple to take the action steps and make steady progress each day.

Another good example is starting a new fitness routine. Your first workout will probably seem a little bit like torture. Your muscles will burn and ache; you'll be drenched in sweat and end up wondering if a sedentary life might not be so bad after all...

But what happens if you keep pushing through your workouts every day? You build muscle and get stronger. You feel more energetic. You'll probably even begin to enjoy working out. The stronger you get, the more easily you are able to keep up the momentum.

Every goal will have this in common. But it goes much deeper than physical effort; you also need to build up your "vibrational muscles" by consistently attuning to the outcome you are trying to create.

All of the action in the world cannot overcome energetic gaps. If you don't work daily on getting aligned with your desired outcome, the actions you take will seem much harder than they really need to be, and probably be completely ineffective.

[winston]

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The Remedy:

Obviously, the remedy for this one is simple: keep your efforts in proper perspective by working steadily toward the outcome each day and remembering that you are building momentum.

Keep reminding yourself that it won't always be so challenging. While that sounds simple, it may not always be easy to convince yourself. Therefore, here are a couple of strategies that will help you align with your goal mentally and energetically:

Relish the challenge: Have you ever noticed that your self-talk determines your attitude? If you keep whining about how hard it is, that it will take forever to make progress, you're going to be miserable and probably make very little progress.

On the other hand, if you were to keep telling yourself that you're enjoying the process, that it's not so bad, that you feel great as you take one step after another toward your goals – you'll instantly feel more motivated and your progress will probably be greater too.

Convince yourself that you have what it takes to keep moving forward and that it's not as hard as you feared. Often, just believing this is enough to make it so.

Baby steps: At any point if you feel intimidated or frustrated because you're not making progress quickly enough, try narrowing your focus onto ONE tiny aspect of your goal.

Every goal will probably have numerous action steps that you'll take each day as you work toward it, but trying to do all of them at once might prove overwhelming.

If that's the case, try doing just ONE of the action steps until it gets easier. Then add another one, and another, until you are doing all of them with less struggle.

As for energetic alignment, one of the best ways to get steadily more aligned with your outcome is to keep imagining it already accomplished. Sit quietly and envision yourself enjoying the goal already accomplished.

See yourself enjoying your bigger salary, living in the home of your dreams, feeling great about your slender new body.

Do this daily and you will be consistently altering your energetic signal to match the essence of what you are trying to achieve, which means the physical effort you need to apply to achieve it will be much less than it would be otherwise.

[winston]

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Resolution Challenge #4 – Doing the Inner Work First

We typically think of goal-achievement as an external process only. We are here at Point A, and we want to move to Point B.

While we do indeed make external changes, we also need to remember that we become a different person through the achievement of our goals. Therefore, we will undergo an internal adjustment even as we're making external transitions. This is especially true in the context of the Law of Attraction.

You can't achieve anything outwardly until you get aligned with it within – which means steadily becoming the person who will have the outer circumstances you want.

How does this pose a challenge?

If you don't prepare yourself for the new circumstances you're trying to create, you won't be mentally and emotionally ready to handle them. Let's use an example to expand on this idea.

Imagine that your goal is to lose 50 pounds. If you simply focus on "losing weight," you'll overlook the fact that you gained weight in the first place because of specific reasons – and you'll struggle not to gain it all back unless you make some inner changes.

Doing some inner work might reveal that you gained weight because of low self-esteem, believing that you don't deserve time for self-care, or emotional vulnerability. You can bet that these kinds of beliefs need to be resolved – or they will keep limiting your ability to lose weight, keep it off and live a happier life.

The same thing happens with other types of goals. You can set a goal to be more successful in business, but if you don't first understand what has limited your success thus far, you might simply repeat the cycle at a later time.

Do you have trouble believing in your own abilities? Are you afraid of taking risks? Do you have a fear of selling that limits how much you promote your products and services? Addressing these underlying issues may make the difference between failure and success.

[winston]

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The Remedy:

One of the most effective strategies for overcoming this challenge, is to consider the qualities you'd need to handle the achievement of your goal, and begin building them now.

For example, if your goal is greater business success, ask yourself what qualities a successful business person would have – such as confidence, courage, creativity, flexibility, and so on.

Once you've got a list of these qualities, begin developing them within yourself. Practice being more confident and courageous, express your creative side more often, work on being flexible as often as possible, etc.

If your goal is to live a healthier lifestyle, consider why you haven't been living such a lifestyle until now. Do you have trouble believing that you deserve to be healthy and happy?

Does much of your diet consist of "comfort food" that covers emotional issues you could be resolving in a healthier way?

If you work on these inner issues while you're also doing the outer work, your chances of lasting success will double. As you may have guessed, this is also one of the secrets of successful manifesting -- being able to "be" that which you want to attract.

If you want to attract a lot of money, you need to BE a person who has plenty of money. If you want to attract your soul mate, you have to BE a person who already has their soul mate. This is powerful and the Law of Attraction begins responding to your new signal immediately.

[winston]

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Resolution Challenge #5 – Sacrificing for Your Higher Good

Every goal requires sacrifice of some kind, and it's easy to forget this sometimes. Most often we tend to focus on what we stand to GAIN from the achievement of our goals, not what we stand to lose.

However, failing to acknowledge and prepare for the sacrifices can set us up for a rude awakening and threaten our eventual success.

What kind of sacrifices have you made for your goals in the past? Did you give up some of your favorite television shows so you could spend more time working on your goals? Did you give up your favorite dessert when you started a new health regime?

Let's face it; sacrifices aren't fun. It usually means giving up something you enjoy, even if temporarily.

But, does that always have to be true? You may be surprised to learn that with the right outlook, sacrifices can seem like a good thing.

[winston]

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The Remedy:

When it comes to sacrifices, only two things matter:

Willingness: Very often when you are willing to release something that is no longer serving you, it becomes a simple act.

It's only when you keep clinging to something that letting it go seems really difficult.

It also helps if you keep affirming that what you stand to gain is worth the cost of what you're giving up. Rarely are these rigid concepts; more often they will change according to your perceptions.

For example, when you first set your goals and start working toward them you may believe that your sacrifices are well worth it. Your motivation is strong and you're feeling optimistic that you can overcome any temptations to slide back into old habits.

But as time goes on and you begin to miss the things that once provided a sense of comfort or pleasure, you may wonder whether you can continue making these sacrifices.

In fact, the question "Is it worth it?" is one you'll probably have to answer over and over again until you reach a point where your new habits have overridden the old.

Trust: Even more important than being willing to let go of destructive or unproductive habits is the ability to trust that the actions you take today will pay off in the future.

You have to trust that the situations, people, places and things you are releasing will be replaced by even better things later.

Belief comes into this step in a big way – if you don't believe that your goals will be realized, you may have trouble trusting the bigger process of manifestation.

However, you can work on this by consistently affirming your belief and your trust day by day. The more you do, the stronger your belief will grow and the easier it will be to trust.

[winston]

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Resolution Challenge #6 – Believing in Yourself and Your Abilities

Lack of belief in your own abilities is also a common reason why New Year Resolutions fail. Let's face it; if you really believed you could achieve your goal, you probably would have done it before now!

(Unless your goal is brand new, of course. But most people set the same goals multiple times before they actually achieve them.)

How can you tell if you don't have a strong belief in yourself?

Probably the most telling clue is that you'll hesitate when it comes to taking risks. You may find yourself holding back on something you really want to do, or you might procrastinate on taking action steps related to your goals.

In order to achieve any goal, you first need to believe you CAN. This involves much more than hoping or wishing -- it requires an unshakable core belief in your own ability to work through challenges, stay committed and do whatever it takes to be successful.

Most importantly, the Law of Attraction will only deliver outcomes that do not conflict with your existing beliefs. If you believe you cannot achieve a specific goal, the Law of Attraction will simply make sure the outcome validates your doubt.

But how do you build belief in yourself and your abilities? Most of us are not born with this level of confidence; we have to build it little by little.

[winston]

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The Remedy:

There are two angles from which you can approach this challenge:

Mentally: One of the best ways to build up your belief is to keep envisioning yourself accomplishing the goal you have set.

Did you know that athletes have participated in studies where they mentally "practiced" their sport over and over – and their physical performance improved as a result? It's true! Visualization is incredibly powerful, so use that tool to your advantage.

You may also find it helpful to recite some powerful affirmations like these:

"I can do this, I know I can."
"I'm willing to believe that I can handle this challenge."
"I'm nervous, but I'm going to do it anyway."
"I grow in confidence with every step I take!"
"With enough practice, everything becomes easy."

Additionally, you may also want to take a few minutes each day to think about some previous accomplishments. What other activities did you once feel nervous about, but have since mastered?

Relive those old fears and feel proud about your ability to overcome them! Remind yourself that you can do the same thing with your current goals.

Physically: Do the very thing you fear! The more you do something, the more confident you'll become with it, right? It's just like anything else in life.

The first time you drove a car you were probably shaky and nervous. The first time you gave a speech you were probably standing in a puddle of sweat.

It's the old "fight or flight" response to a perceived threat – and it's completely normal! It's your mind's way of telling your body that it may be entering a dangerous situation.

But if you can keep pushing through that fear, it will eventually go away because you'll condition yourself to believe that there is truly nothing to fear.