Take Control of Your Goals

Here's a simple technique that will help you relax your mind and take control over your ideal and goals. This technique can be used over and over, in most situations, and consists of two distinct phases.

The first phase is:

• What do you want to change about yourself or your life? Focus on just one specific element.
• Imagine yourself in the future and that you have achieved this goal. You can do this by using an "I am" statement - if you want to lose weight you might say "I am fit and trim and feeling good!"
• Say your "I am" statement out loud and really listen to your words. Speak in a positive, confident manner.
• Take a walk, outside if the weather is nice, and keep repeating your "I am" statement as you walk.
• Let yourself wander around for at least 15 minutes, while repeating the statement in your mind. You will begin to notice that new thoughts are triggered by the things you come cross in your walk. If your mind wanders too far from your "I am" statement, gently try to focus more on it.
• During your walk, pay attention to things that attract your attention. Have a small notebook ready and write them down or draw a sketch of the things that got your attention.

For the second phase - return to a comfortable spot:

• Sit down and look at the items you wrote down in your notebook. Try to draw something that portrays all the things you noticed. It doesn't matter if you are good at drawing, this is just for you.
• Breathe slowly and start looking at the drawings in front of you. Try to allow your mind to concentrate only on the drawings and nothing else.
• Think about why those items caught your attention during your walk.
• Also think about what is in your mind now, as you look at the drawings. New thoughts may have come to you in connection with the drawings as you look at them.
• Now try to see what the connection is between the items that caught your attention during your walk and your "I am" statement. Perhaps a tree with shiny green leaves drew your attention. Why? Try to make a sentence explaining why the items caught your attention: "This tree has shiny green leaves and seems healthy, just like I feel healthy and happy."
• For the last step take a few slower, deep breaths and think about how this exercise helped you to focus and feel confident about reaching your goals.
• You might have noticed that your mind tends to see elements in your surroundings on its own. It is interesting to note that the items your mind selected on your walk are all somehow related to your "I am" statement. You can use this technique for a very wide variety of situations. The make believe game you play puts you on a direct path to succeed in your goals.