Sorting the Blocks, by Phoebe Fox 

 

 

Let's say you have chosen the goal you wish to work on for this coming year.  And now you have the idea in your head that you must stick to that goal for an entire year.  So instead of thinking about it that way, let's break our goals into bite-sized pieces.  We are charting our progress over the next 52 weeks, and we will be checking in each week to get a boost of energy so we can feel good about moving forward. 

 

Begin by summing up our progress so far:

 

1.  You found The Positive Way website.  The name itself indicates you are seeking a better path for your life.

 

2.  You signed up to receive this newsletter.

 

3.  You decided to participate in our goal journey, and you made a commitment to come along for 52 weeks.

 

4.  You selected a journal to use in keeping track of your progress.

 

Look at the choices you have made just to come this far.  It may not have sunk in yet, but the change you seek has already begun.  And here are some helpful tips to build on your current success. 

 

If your goal still looks like an elephant sitting on your far horizon, break it down into pieces you know you can manage.  Remember the old joke:  How do you eat an elephant?  Answer:  One bite at a time. 

 

Sort through those individual pieces of your goal and arrange them into a smooth series of small steps you will feel confident about taking.  Remember you will not be tackling the entire goal all at once.  You only need to complete one small piece of your goal each week -- the piece you choose to work on next.

 

When deciding the order of the small steps toward your goal, how will you know what comes next?  Make it easy on yourself: choose the part you can do right now.  Don't worry about the parts yet to come, we will get to them in due course.  There must be some step in your process that you can begin to do, so choose that one and give yourself permission to get started.  Remember your will serves you; you are not a slave to your will.

 

To maintain your forward momentum, it will be helpful to sort out the blocks to your past progress.  Whether this goal is one you have contemplated for a long time, or whether it is one you have tried to achieve before, your success will come easier if you set apart the steps toward your goal from the ideas that tend to block your personal growth and progress. 

 

We will examine this more closely in the coming weeks, but for now just think about what has aided you or stopped you in the past and write it down in your journal.  Write down what works for you and what doesn't work for you.  Journal what you think and how you feel about your goal, your pieces, your next step, all of it.  Your journal is the place for you to work through all of that so you can develop your self-control while adjusting to each small step of change. 

 

And one more thing, celebrate your victories along the way.  Believe it or not, this is the part people most often forget to do.  Your progress is important.  You are devoting time and energy to achieving this goal, and every step along the way counts.  So give yourself permission to celebrate your successes, and write them down, too.  Later on when we check our progress, these entries will be the proof of your personal growth over time. 

 

So go ahead, choose your next small step.  You have seven days to take it.  Journal your progress, and celebrate your success in some tangible way.