Self-Awareness Challenge

The Start of a New Year

The crossover to a new year is, of course, the ideal time to reflect, evaluate and make plans to do things better — to BE better — and make “adjustments” in our lives in the areas we feel need improvement. Many make resolutions at the beginning of new year to lose weight, save more or spend less money (there IS a difference!)… the list goes on. Here’s the problem, though. The rate of failure for annual resolutions is as high as 92% according to Forbes.com so it’s pretty obvious that they’re not working. This year, I invite you to join me on a January 2019 SELF-AWARENESS CHALLENGE where we will take a look at some specific areas of our lives to determine where we are and what we can do better. It’s called being INTENTIONAL my friends. Instead of just making random lists or throwing things at the proverbial wall hoping they will stick, we’re going to take a look at the why. Why things are the way they currently are and why we want or need to change them. The why is our real motivation that will hopefully help us to make lasting change that positively impacts key areas of our lives to produce real results that aren’t completely forgotten about after the first couple of months (or weeks!) of the year.

The Challenge

For the challenge, I want to start out by facing some of the self-limiting things that tend to hinder us, then look at the areas where they may have caused negative impacts. Once we’ve done that work we can start to tone down those behaviors and their hold on our lives and set some goals to start moving forward in the areas that can encourage growth in us. You ready? Our areas of focus will be:

• FEARS
• DEEPLY SEATED BELIEFS
• RELATIONSHIPS
• STRENGTHS
• GOALS

Fears are the beliefs, the thoughts and imaginations that plague our minds and so often immobilize us. They’re the things we think we hear and see in the dark. We’re held back by the “what-ifs” that our fears constantly whisper in our ears or straight out punch us in the face with! “I want a better job but what if I apply and don’t get it (fear of rejection)?” Or “I want a better relationship but what if I stand up for myself and he/she leaves me (fear of abandonment or being alone)?” “I want to chase that dream but what if I fail (fear of failure)?” The unknown is a vast and terrifying concept for us so we tend to take the safe option and stick with what we know. What tends to be the case, though, is that our fears are MUCH bigger in our minds than the reality of them in our lives. During this challenge, I want you to really dig deep and look at some of your greatest life-limiting fears and then try to confront them once and for all and start to move past them!

Deeply seated beliefs are those core beliefs that run so deep that they basically shape everything about us: how we think, how we approach relationships, what we think we deserve… EVERYTHING! The deeply seated beliefs work hand-in-hand with our fears — or cause them — and again, grip our hearts and anchor our feet preventing us from growing and living our best lives, as everybody wants to do these days. Don’t worry, though. We’re going to tackle those too.

After busting up the fears and evicting the self-limiting beliefs from our minds, we’ll address behaviors. How have these things negatively affected our relationships? Not just romantic relationships but those with siblings, parents, children or other family members. Or with friends (do you have any???) or bosses or neighbors. We all have relationships with people because none of us lives in a bubble. Whatever your situation, how can confronting your fears and changing those deeply rooted beliefs improve your interactions with those in your world?

Because not everything in our worlds is all bad, I also want us to identify some strengths and start to maximize them. We’re making the things that hinder us smaller and giving our strengths a more prominent place in our lives.

Finally, after putting everything in its proper place, we’re going to set some goals for our healthier selves. Realistic, measurable goals that we can accomplish in a set period of time and then we will use them as stepping stones for the next ones to create a positive pattern of momentum.

The thought of this process may seem daunting but it is completely possible. We are not trying to change our entire lives in a five-day period, we’re starting a process that will hopefully put us on the path of continual self-awareness so we can recognize unhealthy thoughts and behaviors as they occur going forward and make the proper adjustments. That is called self-regulation. You will be grateful for it and those around you will thank you for it! So are you ready?

Some Specifics…

There will be worksheets for each day to guide you in your process of self-examination. I really want you to give full effort to the process to get the maximum benefit. Don’t be afraid of the things that come to the surface. Muster up all the strength and courage that you can and take an honest, hard look at YOU. Be prepared to write things down, even if they’re questions, as the answers may come to you at a later time. A journal would be recommended as this process is certain to be ongoing.

Whew! So are you ready for Day One? Let’s get started!