Creating Change for the Year Ahead
By: Elaina Curran, DSFH, CNHCreg, AfSFHreg
As 2016 comes to a close, we might spare a few moments to look back at the year’s events and take stock. Regardless of the types of experiences that shaped the past twelve months, we tend to look to the coming year with a degree of optimism and hope. Another chance, perhaps, for us to be happier, to get our finances under control, build up our savings, to be fitter, healthier, or to work toward a more balanced life. A new year…a new you!
The statistics vary slightly, but approximately 40% of Britons make New Year’s resolutions. Only 10% of those will stay the course and reach their goal. Many will have abandoned their resolutions after only one week, and the majority (80%) will give up by the end of January. So, why does our resolution resolve peter out despite our best intentions?
The resolutions we make may not be precise enough. Instead of a general promise to lose weight, for example, you might want to consider a more measured and specific goal instead. “I will lose one pound a week for 2 months” can replace “I want to lose 10 pounds”. Or you might fare better with “I will join the Wednesday spin class” rather than “I will join a gym”. When we look at making small changes and setting manageable goals for ourselves, change becomes realistic and achievable.
Let’s be honest, change is stressful, whether it has been imposed upon us by circumstance or by our own choosing. While we may consciously recognise that getting fitter, leaner, or healthier is in our best interest, our Primitive/Emotional Mind can react with stress, anxiety or perhaps anger at the sheer effort, inconvenience, change in routine and sacrifice that is required to bring the resolution to fruition.
Professor Pete Herman, in an article published in Psychology Today, identified a condition he called “false hope syndrome”. He described it as something “which means their (a person’s) resolution is significantly unrealistic and out of alignment with their internal view of themselves”. The article goes on to say that in order to make resolutions work, it must involve a change in behaviour, and in order to change behaviour, you have to change your thinking.
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (SFH) can be an enormous help in reaching your goals as it works directly with the subconscious where your unwanted thought patterns reside. You and your therapist will work together to replace the existing, unhelpful thought patterns with new, positive and healthier ones. This is achieved through a combination of talk-therapy and hypnosis.
Also, SFH allows you to reduce stress or anger associated with the changes that you are trying to achieve. As you empty your Stress Bucket through the SFH sessions, you can then focus on your desired goal and move toward your preferred future.
If you change nothing, nothing will change. Self-discipline and motivation, however, are always essential factors in achieving success. Perhaps 2017, with the help of Solution Focused Hypnotherapy, will be your year to finally make lasting changes for a happier and more fulfilling life.
Published in BS35Local Magazine, December 2016
