Techniques For Keeping Your New Year Resolutions: Part Two

Part one of this series was about the dissociation technique and how we can move our mind far away from our body to alleviate some of our pain and discomfort. Part two concentrates on setting rules to restrain your mind from going to unwanted places and working on how to direct it toward specific times.

There were three main rules that helped me to stay focused and motivated during my Atlantic swim and you too can follow them to keep your New Year resolutions. The rules are very simple but at times can be very challenging to apply.

1) Look back at what you already accomplished and enjoy your achievements.

2) Live in the moment because it is already in the past.

3) Never project yourself in the future difficulties that lie ahead.

But how you might say? Each time I started to doubt myself I would go back to the three fundamental rules above and go through them one by one.

For the first rule, I reminded myself of what I had already accomplished, the challenges I overcame, the discovery I made about myself and my ability to push my limits. I focused on the weeks I had spent swimming, the 100’s of miles I had already covered and the amount of determination it took.

For the second rule, I reminded myself to live in the moment because I knew that the present moment would be lost forever. I reminded myself about the purpose of my swim, that I was living an amazing adventure; I was following my dream.

For the third rule, I reminded myself to never look toward the future. I restrained myself from thinking about the next day, the next week or the next month as I knew how difficult it was to stay motivated thinking about the challenges and pain I had to face in the upcoming days.

No matter how small or big the challenges are that we face, those three rules apply to all. What is important to realize is that the journey will be the most memorable; not the goal.