Stop Making Excuses!

We all make excuses in life- when we were at school it was why we didn’t do our homework, in later life it may be why we didn’t get that report (or even blog entry!) completed on time.

I am often confronted with various excuses as to why my clients can’t stop eating chocolate, eat healthily, or why they don’t have time for exercise.

Excuses and beliefs go hand in hand when it comes to stopping you getting where you want to be in life- If you tell yourself the same thing enough, it will become a belief in your mind and beliefs can be very stubborn things when it comes to shifting them.

A lot of what I do as part of the New Start Hypno-Nutrition system involves throwing out those old beliefs and shooting down the excuses that prevent clients from getting the healthy body and mind that they desire. Of course, the most important thing isn’t just getting rid of those old beliefs and excuses- it’s what we replace those beliefs and excuses with that matters- creating a compelling vision of that future self that has made those changes- the self that looks in the mirror and feels good, that shines with excitement when going out to a social occasion because they look so good! That self that has reached and now maintains that perfect size and shape, that enjoys a healthy lifestyle and all the benefits that come with it.

A Realisation!

The subject for this blog came to me recently as I am doing the OutRun for Macmillan sponsored running challenge. I have set myself a target of running a marathon over the space of a month. I wanted to set myself an achievable goal but one that would get me out running instead of just taking the dog for a walk every so often.

My first run went really well- I managed a couple of miles. The second, I managed three miles. Then came the third and a funny thing happened- As I was running my preferred route, I found my internal voice giving me excuses to stop running and to walk for a while. “Check your phone is tracking the run”, “Stop running and have some water- you don’t want to get dehydrated”. It went on like this until with a variety of excuses until I realised what I was doing- giving myself excuses to give up! As soon as I realised this, I changed the internal dialogue to a more positive one- I encouraged myself to keep going and to try and beat the time for my previous mile and that is how I have approached my running since- With a belief that I can do it and that each run will be better than the last.

I saw this as a powerful reminder that I need to do with myself what I do with my clients in the hypnosis sessions for the Hypno-Nutrition programme- get rid of the excuses and believe in myself and my abilities!