Linda-Ann Stewart - Are You Putting Off Pursuing Your Dreams?

Are you on track to fulfilling your dream? Your dream could be to lose weight, write a book, or learn to play the piano. If you're not taking action toward your goal, then something is undermining your follow through. Your conscious thoughts and your subconscious beliefs aren't in alignment.

You may have some resistance, reluctance, ambivalence or fear of change, and not even be aware of it. If you're not taking effective, consistent actions towards your dreams, check what you're thinking about them. Are you talking yourself out of moving forward with them? "I'll start tomorrow," you might say.

Your thoughts about your dream cause you to take action on it, or to put it off. It's normal to be reluctant to put out the effort to create a change in your life. Change is the unknown and means that you'll have to make adjustments. And you may need to make decisions that affect other areas of your life, too.

If your motivation, and the benefits, of the change outweigh the difficulties of changing, then it's easy to follow through. Some people are eager to drive towards their dreams, despite the challenges of change. Their thoughts and beliefs are in alignment and support each other.

However, for many, the consequences of not changing have to get overwhelming before they're pushed to make the leap. For instance, many smokers want to stop smoking, but they procrastinate doing so. Even though they hate it, they keep smoking because they don't want to deal with the discomfort of withdrawal or giving up habit patterns.

They have conflicting thoughts and beliefs about it. One part of them wants to quit, but the other doesn't want the difficulty. They vacillate until the cost of smoking gets too high for them. And I'm not talking about only money. For many, the cost to their health is what motivates them to quit. Once continuing to smoke gets troubling enough, they start looking for ways to quit.

The same is true of any issue. Let's say you were unfairly demoted and want a new job, but you haven't been looking for one. Your current hardship isn't bad enough for you to decide to deal with the inconvenience of updating your resume. It's easier to stay where you are, even though you're not happy.

If you've been dragging your feet, then the disappointment of not having your dream isn't stronger than your inertia. You have to get to the point where you are so uncomfortable that you have to take action, no matter how distressing it is. When the downside of not taking action is worse than staying where you are, that's when many people commit to change.

How can you deliberately tip the scales so you pursue your dreams? You have to find a motivation strong enough that it will spur you. Sometimes, it might be to simply avoid more possible pain and sorrow.

Some smokers decide to quit when a loved one has gotten sick or died as a result of cigarettes. They realize it could easily be them, so they quit when the pain is fresh. Or a patient goes to the doctor and finds out they're pre-diabetic. It prompts them to make substantial changes in their eating behaviors and lifestyle.

Your motivation must have a strong enough emotion attached to it that it overwhelms your natural tendency to inertia. For instance, think of a year from now, and you're no closer to your dream than you are now. How will that feel? And then, think about how will it feel a year from now when you're much closer to it? Use whichever impulse is stronger.

Once you've found out what motivates you, find a way to change the thoughts and beliefs undermining your actions. "I'll start tomorrow" could transform to, "There's no time like the present." What you put your attention on stimulates your feelings, and they then fuel your action. As you take control of your thoughts about your dream, it shifts your subconscious to support your intention.

Focus on whatever it is that motivates you, either the fear of the lack of your dream, or the joy of accomplishing it. Are you leaping toward something or away from it? Either will work, as long as you know what it is you want and are willing to work for it. When you are properly motivated, you'll get on track to accomplish your dreams.

As a focus coach, hypnotherapist, and speaker, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, freedom, wellbeing and prosperity. Watch her FREE training video on Set Your Course to Success: 4 steps to strategically achieve your goals with confidence and ease. Register for the video and accompanying action planning guide at www.SetYourCourseGuide.com. You can contact her at LAS@Linda-AnnStewart.com or 928-600-0452.

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