2020 is here.  A new decade. The 2010 years have transformed our lives tremendously. Technology is here to stay, social medias are part of our everyday life as we observe through a photoshopped lens a manipulated reality that makes us feel “not enough” more times than not, automation has been installed everywhere so that we don’t have to open doors manually anymore, we can talk to our lights in our houses, we can control everything through our phones, we have feelings of belonging to community through social websites without ever needing to be in real contact with people, we spend money in a click (and most times, money we don’t even have), busy is the new black, our days are filled with endless overwhelming to-do lists, we have been buried under dozens of diets from Weight Watcher to Paleo, to low-fat, to vegan, to Keto, to fasting, food is now engineered in labs, although the natural food industry is growing, generation gaps are increasing to the point that half the population feels that they are working harder than ever before and cannot see the day they will be able to retire while the other half refuses to conform to schedules and give up their “lifestyle” for a boss, everybody is an entrepreneur, reinventing themselves to keep up with the constantly changing society, we run, run, run, faster, smarter, busier, and we spend endless resources trying to figure out why we are not happy.

Enough.

Let’s start fresh. What do you want the next decade to hold for you? What will you decide for YOUR life? The last ten years have contributed to create a series of limiting beliefs that we chose to let in our lives and somehow, they control our new reality. Will you jump headfirst in 2020, at the same pace you have been going and getting used to taking on the same stuff, and falling in the common trap of the limiting beliefs that have been holding you back for over a decade?

Here is a simple formula to get you started to transform these limiting beliefs into a serving force that will drive you to live to your full potential. It’s time!

If you’ve been going the wrong direction for a while, and if you leave the old itinerary in the GPS, it will keep RECALCULATING, RECALCULATING… So, you need to delete the old address and change it. It’s easy to press a button on a GPS. In real life, this process needs to happen at an unconscious level, so you can’t really do this at a logical level. It is quite the undertaking to try to do that on your own. That’s what I do. I use specific processes with my clients to reprogram their unconscious mind and help them get rid of their old life plan. It takes time.

But today, I’m giving you a simple technique that you can use right away to start the process.

AFFIRMATIONS THAT WORK

Who’s created positive affirmation before? Who knows what I’m talking about? Well sorry to tell you this, affirmations don’t work… if you don’t believe them. When you create affirmations, make sure they feel real. When I work with my THINK Yourself THIN program with people highly overweight, it won’t work to make them stand in front of a mirror repeating: “I am thin!” or when I work with my THINK Yourself WEALTHY program with people that are in deep financial struggle, I can’t make them stand in front of the mirror and say: I am Rich! Their brain goes: “Yeah right! No we’re not rich!” There are two steps to follow before you can get to a positive affirmation.

First, STEP 1: you need to start by repeating the nasty thought you just heard in the past. Talk about it in the past. Your brain hears it. It is true. And then it wonders: are we done with this? Why are we talking about it in the past?

Then, STEP 2: immediately follow step 1 with a progressive statement. A progressive statement starts with: I am willing to learn… or I am in the process of…

Let’s recap: Step 1: talk about it in the past. Step 2: Progressive Statement.

For example: Let’s say you hear yourself say: I’m so stressed out all the time. Step 1: Immediately catch yourself and say: wait a minute, what did I just say? I used to be stressed out all the time.

Step 2: Now, I am willing to learn how to live a balanced life.

Or what if you hear yourself say: I always gain the weight back.

Step 1: immediately tell yourself: I used to gain the weight back.

Then, Step 2: Now, I am in the process of learning how to live a healthy lifestyle.

So, talk about it in the past and use progressive statements.

Let’s start with the first limiting belief of the decade:

BUSY IS THE NEW BLACK.

One of the major changes of the decade is the pace we live in and the amount of stuff on our to-do lists. We have the tools to be organized and we have lists of lists now and they are categorized, numbered, highlighted, sectioned and prioritized. Here are a few beliefs that we have chosen to let in our lives:

1. I am super busy.
2. The busier I am, the more “important” I feel.
3. Spending time not working is a “waste of time”.
4. “Me-time” happens when everyone else is taken care of.
5. When I reach an objective, I fix another one right away and don’t take time to enjoy the moment.

We live life so fast that we actually forget to ‘live’. We feel that if we work hard, we will get “there”, but somehow, there is no “there” because as soon as we are ‘there’, we set up another ‘there’ to get to. Let’s stop the chasing. Let’s rephrase the limiting beliefs and turn them into positive.

LIMITING BELIEF NO. 1: I AM SUPER BUSY.

Put it in the past:  I used to be super busy.

Progressive Statement: Now, I am in the process of choosing what I want to put on my to-do list.

Positive affirmation (after a few weeks repeating the first two steps, you will come to a time when you can say with confidence: I have time to do what I want to do because I choose my priorities and I am okay with knowing that I am doing the best I can.)

LIMITING BELIEF NO. 2: THE BUSIER I AM, THE MORE “IMPORTANT” I FEEL.

Put it in the past:  I used to believe that being busy made me feel important.

Progressive Statement: Now, I am willing to learn how I can feel confident and important with a balanced schedule.

Positive affirmation (after a few weeks repeating the first two steps, you will come to a time when you can say with confidence: I have a balanced schedule and I am important and confident.)

LIMITING BELIEF NO. 3: SPENDING TIME NOT WORKING IS A “WASTE OF TIME”.

Put it in the past:  I used to believe that I was wasting time when I was not working.

Progressive Statement: Now, I am willing to learn how to work when it’s time and enjoy time to recover and recharge.

Positive affirmation (after a few weeks repeating the first two steps, you will come to a time when you can say with confidence: I enjoy time to relax and recharge so I can be more efficient when I work.)

LIMITING BELIEF NO. 4: “ME-TIME” HAPPENS WHEN EVERYONE ELSE IS TAKEN CARE OF.

Put it in the past:  I used to wait until everyone else was taken care of to have “me-time”.

Progressive Statement: Now, I am in the process of planning time for myself on a regular basis.

Positive affirmation (after a few weeks repeating the first two steps, you will come to a time when you can say with confidence: I enjoy putting myself first as it recharges me and I can best serve the people around me when I have had a chance to take care of myself.)

LIMITING BELIEF NO.5: WHEN I REACH AN OBJECTIVE, I FIX ANOTHER ONE RIGHT AWAY AND DON’T TAKE TIME TO ENJOY THE MOMENT.

Put it in the past:  I used to believe not take time to enjoy my successes and would fix objectives right away after reaching one.

Progressive Statement: Now, I am willing to learn how to appreciate and enjoy my successes before deciding if I really need to set up my next commitment.

Positive affirmation (after a few weeks repeating the first two steps, you will come to a time when you can say with confidence: I am continually evolving and I enjoy the journey, savouring each success and each step with gratitude.)

Do you get the gist of it? These examples will help you in rephrasing your own limiting beliefs. Whatever they are, whenever you hear them in your head, use the two-step technique in order to progress to a positive affirmation that will serve you.

Create the new decade exactly how you want it!