A New Year Gift: A Simple 4 Step Approach To Change Your Inner Dialogue

Welcome to the new year and to all that it will bring! At this sacred time of year, we often feel a sense of excitement at what this new beginning will bring us and if you're like most people, "new year's resolutions" were made with conviction and enthusiasm that make us hopeful for a chance to master ourselves in a bigger way than ever before. This year I didn't set any new year's resolutions for myself specifically, but I do intend to approach my life in a different way than I previously have and intentionally interrupting old stories is an essential tool for that process. The coming year will inevitably bring a great number of changes with it, and I am resolving to be content where I am, with the choices I have or haven't made, knowing it is only the choices I make from here in this moment that have the power to change anything for me or anyone else. Looking in the rearview mirror does not change the direction we are moving in now so I am choosing this year to be the one where I practice interrupting old patterns that see me ruminating over things I cannot change faster and instead help me choose a thought that will serve me better. It's a simple technique but incredibly profound when practiced: Step 1: Recognize you are running a negative story. Step 2: Interrupt the subconscious program that is providing the thought by saying "I hear you and no longer choose to give this thought my power. Instead I choose... (insert the new story you want to give your attention to instead)."  Step 3: Breathe yourself through the discomfort of this transition from one pattern to a new one with three deep belly breaths to call yourself back to the present moment. Step 4: Celebrate yourself for catching yourself before you wrecked yourself. Each time you follow this simple process you change the Cue-Response-Reward pattern with these simple steps, you set yourself up for success the next time you fall back into old habitual patterns and next year at this precious time of year you will find yourself in a much better place emotionally, if not physically, financially, and mentally too. I look forward to what the coming year brings and wish you much conscious creation along the way!