1. Self-limiting beliefs: Kate Emmerson, author of Ditch Your Glitch (Metz Press) says: “Those little self-doubting, self-berating, judgemental things we see, think, feel and believe about ourselves are our worst enemies when it comes to growth, change and moving out of our comfort zones. Self-limiting beliefs come in all sorts of diguises, and for the most part are only true because we deem them to be.” She explains that our beliefs are simply “perceptions that become so deeply ingrained that they start running and ruining our lives”.
How to move forward: Create a vision board. Get 10 magazines (finance, spiritual, travel, lifestyle, etc), cut out any images that resonate with you and glue them onto an A1 piece of cardboard. Keep it somewhere you’ll see it every day. “We can create new circumstances in life with powerful ‘imagining’,” says Emmerson.
2. Procrastination: “There are two types of procrastination,” explains Psychology Today’s Carl E Pickhardt, PhD. “Type one is resistant procrastination when delay results in putting a task off until the last minute before finally getting it done. Type two is refusal procrastination when delay results in the task being put on permanent hold and it never gets done. It is type one procrastination that most people struggle with.”
Pickhardt explains that it’s costly because when we do things last minute, we have little time and then “deadline pressure induces stress to get it done”.
How to move forward: Make sure you exercise. Lethargy can lead to procrastination because we just don’t have the energy to deal with tasks. Be sure to eat enough fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts, and get a good night’s sleep. When we’re tired, we can get easily overwhelmed and small tasks seem unmanageable.
3. Grudges: Usually we hold onto grudges when we’re feeling wounded or wronged. Chronic resentment will literally make you ill, so it’s vital to learn how to let it go. “Forgiveness does more for you than anyone else because it liberates you from negativity and lets you move forward. Forgiving might not make anger totally dissolve but it will give you the freedom of knowing you are so much more,” says Judith Orloff, MD, author of the New York Times bestseller Emotional Freedom.
How to move forward: Practice compassion. Think of the person you bear a grudge against. Let your anger out by talking to friends, family or your therapist. Orloff advises: “Then ask yourself, ‘What emotional shortcomings caused him or her to treat me poorly?’ This is what you want to have compassion for, the area to forgive. Definitely, don’t subject yourself to shabby treatment, but reach for compassion for the person’s emotional blindness or cold heart.” |
