As we are ready for another week, keeping the focus on your goals and desires – all the things you truly want – can be a bit frustrating in trying to keep them in your awareness and being reachable. It seems that we get programmed to think more on what we don’t want and we use language that speaks to this:
“I don’t want to have to struggle paying my bills each month”
“I want a new job but no one is hiring right now”
“I don’t like feeling fat – I’ll start working out later”
Using words that are negative and detrimental to the psyche only will keep you down and doing the very things you don’t want to.
Here is a very easy exercise to get you out of the “muckies” and get you leaving them behind. If your situation(s) are truly frustrating you, then the answers should wake you up.
This is called the 10-10-10 Rule; think of your issue and the ‘pain level’ and ask yourself the following questions:
1, If I keep on with my current issue, will it make a difference in 10 minutes?
2. If I keep on with my current issue, will it make a difference in 10 months?
3. If I keep on with my current issue, will it make a difference in 10 years?
For example, if you are really unhappy in your job, and the pain level brings you sleepless nights, anxiety, anger, etc. asking these questions should help you to decide that even 10 more minutes of experiencing these symptoms is detrimental to your health and you will make the decision to look for a new job. If you didn’t any action, do you want to be in the same place in 10 more months or 10 more years?
Hopefully, the answers will lead you to see that you need to make some big changes; looking at the ‘dark side’ of your situation will no longer be an option. You now have the decision to do something about your life and the direction you want it to go. 10-10-10 is a simple but powerful tool to move you forward and get the end results you want in your life.
Exercise
Make a list of all the things you don’t want (job, finances, relationships, health, etc.) and assess them for importance; assign a number for the level of pain – how frustrated you are – to them. Now, apply the 10-10-10 questions to see which one(s) pains you the most. Write out exactly what you DO want in clear terms and what steps you need to take to get it – put a date to start and to achieve. When you feel tempted to give up because ‘it’s too hard,” keep the 10-10-10 questions in mind – they should help you remember the pain and spur you to keep taking action.
Journal your answers to see what is coming up for you and how to push past the blockages that come up. As the saying goes, “When you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, you will do something about it.” Only you can decide.
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