You can eliminate limited thinking

*Puts head into hands muttering*

"I just don't know what to do, there is more month left than money, the bills keep piling up and the only way I can cope these days is to eat a very large bar of chocolate everynight while I watch just to take my mind off it all ... I mean I don't know what I'm doing wrong, it's not that I deliberately over spend, I mean I need a new pair of shoes occassionally, and the kids ALWAYS need something ..."

if you've ever had those kinds of conversations with either yourself or someone close to you, then you will know that nothing and I mean NOTHING is going to change while you are thinking and uttering words like that. But that is not the only way we limit ourselves, especially our thinking. And lets face it, if we can't get our thinking right, well there is no way we can make any kind of inroads into the actions that WILL make a difference to the way our lives turn out is there? And please correct me if I am wrong.

But going back to our thoughts for just a moment - I find there are number of ways we limit our thinking. We say things like:

    If I had enough time I would ...
    If I had enough money I would ...
    If I were thin I would ...
    If I were fit enough I would

You can of course exchange those initial words for

When I have ...

    Lost enough weight I will...
    Saved enough money I will...
    Created my new business venture...
    When the kids leave home I will...
    Opened that shop...

These are all STOP phrases - they stop us from thinking about what is possible should we have all the time, energy and money in the world. And if you think about it, we really do have all the time, energy and money in the world, sometimes we just need to know where to find it.

* Banks have money - well most banks do (there will be some in Ireland, Iceland, Italy and Greece who may disagree)
* Our budgets may have stock lines on them that can be eliminated - all we need to do is break the habit that says I don't need to buy a paper today, I'll get my news online - when was the last time you went through your spending habits line by line and evaluated what you were really spending? A lady I used to work with used to be a packet a day smoker, actually so was her husband. One day they decided that in order to go on the holidays they wanted when they retired, they needed to find some money - guess where they found it? And no it wasn't buried in a jar at the bottom of the garden.
* We may decide to get another job, a second job or ask for a raise
* We may for instance decide to give up the TV subscription package we've got. In doing so, we not only generate more disposable income, but we also generate time for ourselves to do other things...

When we know what we REALLY want - we will find the time, we will make the effort and we will find the money. The trick of course is knowing what you REALLY want.

Are you in the habit of using STOP words such as:

    No
    Can't
    Won't
    Shan't

and the associated phrases

    It won't work...
    I can't do that...
    I can't be bothered...
    No way
    I shan't have the time to do all that ...

Have you noticed how they do make you come to a grinding halt every time you utter those words, and they don't need to be out said loud either (mutters under breath - who does she think she is... I can't possibly give up ...)

Well if you have struggled to get on and achieve your dreams and goals, first of all you do need to spend some time and decide what it is you do want and then I would like you to ask yourself the question:

If I had all the time, energy and money in the world - what can I achieve - and is that goal too low? We are now well into the 2nd week of the new year and the time most New Year's Resolutions have faded, well I feel now is the perfect time to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and tell ourselves it's time to stop the limited thinking and to ...

With many thoughts for a much more energetic and prosperous 2012

Elle