Fans of my Time Management Made Easy™ home study know how much emphasis I place on planning ahead, then concentrating on now, which allows our time management to reach new levels of success. It means events, to dos and results all fall nicely into place without stress or hassle.
Today I’d like to share my thoughts on what prevents us from planning ahead as well as concentrating on the now. Ask any personal development specialist, executive coach or performance mentor and they are more than likely to agree.
It’s because we hold onto negative thoughts, feelings and memories from our past. They can be from early childhood when these negative experiences took place, as we soak up the environment we were living in at the time.
Things that parents, teachers, siblings and other family members said or did are what have had an influence on us and not always in a positive way either.
These events become embedded within us, often developing into a fear or negative emotions, as we grow and develop. Now, if we are aware of these fears we can, of course, choose to do something about them i.e. drop them.
However many of them often reside within us, subconsciously and are more difficult to identify. Left unresolved, they become an ‘obstacle to success’ or give us ‘self limiting beliefs.’ We all have them or at least have had them. Everyone from the most unassuming neighbour, to those who reach high office: from sports amateurs to Olympic champions.
As a general rule of thumb, the more successful the individual becomes, the less likely they are to be carrying loads of negativity and fears within themselves. But even those who have reached the top of their game can fall foul of their negative behavioural patterns. They are more likely to use the words self confidence, at this level. We hear it in sport, public speakers and any other performance related position.
It all comes to the same thing, confidence reigns where negativity is eliminated. The only way to keep it this way is to keep dealing with any negativity that lies within us by making sure it is banished for good.
So back to these ‘obstacles to success’ or ‘self limiting beliefs.’ You may ask what this has to do with your time management.
Well, the biggest challenge we face when managing our time (or trying to!) is procrastination. Procrastination is usually borne from any fear, negativity and resistance that lie within us.
This is why we put off or try to avoid certain tasks, because they dredge up unpleasant memories or feelings from the past. We will avoid doing what needs to be done to avoid the unpleasant memory or the negativity. Remember, all this can be subconscious too!
Now the good news is, that it can all be fixed! There is absolutely no reason why you should be holding on to any fear, limiting belief, worry, pain or stress – unless you want to that is.
This is a choice – but at least be aware that unless we let go of all of this baggage, (remember everyone has it, believe it or not) we can expect more obstacles to success due to our self limiting beliefs.
Who needs this? Who wants it? How can we possibly benefit by hanging on to it?
Isn’t it great to know there is an alternative available to us?
We only need to want to change the status quo. If you need help you know where I am.
Have a great week being everything you want to be!
Billy
