Take a leaf from the attitude from the Qantas CEO after posting a $2.8 billion loss, “Today’s financial year results are confronting. But they represent the year that is past. The Group is addressing its major challenges and we have now come through the worst. Our Transformation program is on track. Our overall financial performance is rapidly improving and, subject to events outside our control, the Group is expecting to return to profit in the first half of the current financial year.”
Your results now are indicative of your past actions, not who you are now, or what you’ll be in the future – unless of course you don’t address your major challenges, and get your ‘transformation program’ on track. The role of self-talk, which is really self-programming, is critical. Here are some tips to keep you moving:
- Know your major challenges.
What you are aware of you can change. Denial keeps you stuck. Is it being so stretched running after everyone else that you’re exhausted and have no time to rest and recharge, so make poor decisions? Are you so anxious about making the wrong decision that you make no decision? Have you lost focus and are swinging from this to that to those, achieving nothing much in the process? Do you get confused listening to everyone else’s conflicting non-expert opinions, forgetting to check in with and trust your own experience and intelligence? Are you spending more than you earn? Eating or drinking more than you need for good health? Know what you ‘should’ do, but feel stuck. Haven’t got a clue what to do, so feel stuck?
- Know what’s really under those challenges
Is it low self-esteem causing you to be unable to say no to others, even to your own detriment, health and well-being? Is it a lack of self-trust? Do you have self-worth issues around growing and maintaining money? Do you have a deep down fear that you simply aren’t enough, or don’t deserve wealth/success, whatever that means for you? Do you spend a lot of money trying to buy love? Ask those questions of yourself and listen for the answers.
- Identify your destination
Get clear on what you want, when you want it and most importantly, why you want it. It’s never about the money, it’s about what the money represents or can get for you e.g. Security, peace of mind, freedom of choice, fun! Write it down.
- Decide on your own ‘transformation program’
Knowing you have come through the worst, what’s your transformation program to get back on track? What can you do, think or feel differently so you can get different results? Even one small habit change you stick to can make all the difference over time. E.g. Saving $10 a week adds up, and most importantly gets you into the habit of saving. Stepping out of your safe rut and saying yes will get you out of stuck. Saying no and sticking to it can free you. What education do you need, from Uncle Google for example? Ensure your language and the labels you give yourself are focussed on action in the present to make a better future, rather than stagnating in the past. E.g. Saying “I struggle to save” or “I can’t say no to a bargain”, is self-programming.
Know you can make small steps yourself, or ask for help from experts to make large steps, and faster progress.
- Identify your support team.
Acknowledge who lifts you up and who drags you down. Avoid the latter, even if they are family. Tap into other people’s strengths and ask for help as needed. E.g. choose a motivated person for an exercise buddy. Say no to shopping excursions with big spenders. Only ask advice from people who are experts. Find a mentor who has done what you want to do, and hire a mindset coach to keep you on track and moving in the right direction.
Just by reading and thinking about the steps above you have already begun your transformation program. All you need to do now is to keep going. After all, one step after another makes up a whole journey. And if you find something to enjoy each step, then the whole journey becomes enjoyable too.
p.s. Check out Chapter Five “Reclaiming Your Personal Power, Including Financial Freedom’ in the book ‘The Face Within’ by Sue Lester for mindset techniques and exercises to make it easier. Available from www.growingcontent.com.au/shop-now
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