VAs, Blast Through Resistance & Keep those New Year’s Resolutions!

You’re great at getting stuff done for your clients, but when it comes to yourself, sometimes you drop the ball.

So It feels great to make some New Year’s resolutions, but then comes the part where you have to keep them . . . and despite your top-of-the-year enthusiasm, the same resistance or procrastination that got in your way before may show up again.

Using the New Year is a great strategy to motivate yourself, but to insure success, here are 6 more tactics to add to your arsenal when the going gets tough:

1.   Become Aware. What gives your resistance power is its unconscious nature. You’re not really paying attention to it, instead you’re allowing yourself to be distracted, make excuses, and do everything else but what you need to do.

If you find yourself resisting or procrastinating on your newly minted resolution, try this:

Eliminate all distractions, set a timer for 10 minutes, close your eyes, and say “hello” to the resistance. Welcome it, invite it in. Jump into the thick of it . . . ask it why it doesn’t want you to do this (whatever your resolution is)? Jot down anything it says onto a notepad, keeping your eyes closed otherwise.

2.   Motivate Yourself. Open your eyes. On that same notepad, answer the following 4 questions:

-  What will the end result be for me if I stick to my resolution and do this?
-  What will it cost me if I don’t get that result?
-  What will it do for me if I do get that result?
-  On a scale of 1-10, how important is it to me to get that result?

Now: Imagine you already have that result. Close your eyes and picture it, feel what it feels like to have it. Notice that this is the real you, and not your resistance.

3.   Get into Action. While you’re feeling good, start your task. Set the timer again for 10 minutes and tell yourself you’re just going to do it for that long. Then when the timer goes off, you can decide if you want to continue.

This is the time to embrace the Nike slogan and “just do it.” Think of it this way: “I can do anything for only 10 minutes!”

Getting going is critical! If you want to stop after 10 minutes, at least you did it for that long. It’s a baby step and you’re no longer stuck. You can try the process again later, or, you can set the timer again for another 10 minutes.

There will be a point when you’ll have broken the resistance and you’ll want to keep going.

Remember the words of Art Petty: “Resistance hates action, and once in motion, action wins every time.”

4.   Use Structure, Rituals and Accountability.

Structure: Make appointments with yourself. Write them on your calendar with the same importance as you would an appointment with someone else. Then treat yourself as well as you would them, and keep that appointment.

Rituals: Create rituals around them. For example, one of my rituals is to stop at the coffee place on my way to the gym and enjoy a non-fat mocha latte. Then I listen to an absorbing book on my iPOD while working out.

I look forward to the latte and to my book, and by focusing on that, I sidestep any resistance to working out. Not to mention the caffeine also helps my workout go easily!

Accountability: tell someone what you plan to do and ask them to check in with you about it.

5.   Revise your strategy. If your resistance is so solid that it’s like moving a mountain of bricks every time you encounter it, perhaps it’s time to change your strategy. What’s another way to achieve your goal? How can you alter your game plan so it feels more “do-able” to you? What would be a more realistic way to go about it?

6.   Get a Coach. Nothing beats having a personal coach to help you keep your New Year’s Resolutions. For example, I help my clients strategize and set realistic goals, motivate them into action, and hold them accountable for doing what they said they’d do.

I also help them gain awareness and distinguish between that pesky “gremlin” and their true self. So if you do your best to implement these strategies, but still can’t seem to keep from getting derailed, consider scheduling a free consult with a certified coach who specializes in working with VAs.

To schedule a consult to find out what it would be like to coach with me, email me at CoachKellie@gmail.com