Will you repeat the same mistakes again next year??

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The most powerful thing I have ever done in my life, (apart from meeting Jesus), was to understand just how bad my thinking was and to so something about it.  It has literally changed my life completely.   Now in any situation I first of all consider whether this situation is real or is it just a reality I have conjured up.

Secondly I consider whether I am looking at the situation through eyes of fear, ignorance or past experience.  It has freed me to pursue those things I truly believe are important and allows me to bring my life into line with what Dr Stephen Covey would call “True North”, principles that we cannot violate without consequences.

I share this with you this morning because many of us will make New Years resolutions tonight, some in jest, some in earnest but the most common thread will be that most of them will be forgotten or ignored within 14 days.

So can I give you 2 thoughts to take with you today that may help you reframe your resolutions into something much more useful.

1.  You can have anything you want but you can’t have everything you want.

The first time I heard my wife teach on this I was blown away by its profundity.  You see if you want to be an Olympic swimmer and a world class classical pianist for example then you cannot do both.  They both require a commitment that precludes the other.

Many of us want to be financially free for example but we are simply unwilling to sacrifice the garbage we have filled our lives with to achieve that goal.  You can’t spend every cent you earn on holidays, cars, your children and spend 60 hours a week at work and expect to achieve any wealth creation goals.

Similarly you cant spend 60 hours a week at work and spend your weekends out with the boys and expect to have a great marriage.
So before you trot out the NYR’s think about what you really want.  Pick one thing and stop kidding yourself you can have it all.  You can’t!!

As an aside I have noted with great sadness the number of high profile wealth creation people who have gone through separations and divorces in the last 12 months.  You see they thought they could solve everything with money, that they could have it all via success.  It just ain’t true.  If you become obsessed with one thing, other things WILL suffer.  So choose your resolutions carefully

2. 30 day rule

The other thing I’d like ot remind you of today is that it takes 30 days to break and begin to replace a habit. So if your NYR involves changing something about yourself then part of that resolution must include a 30 day plan to kick it off or you won’t last even a week.  Our brains literally have chemical pathways that become “wired” as we behave in certain ways.  These pathways become motorways over time as we reinforce them with the same behaviour.  This is why habits become so strong, we have wired our brains uniquely to suit our behaviour.  So to close that motorway down takes a minimum of 30 days. As we change the behaviour our brain initially starts screaming at us that we have taken a wrong turn and it will fight us until those chemicals stop flowing.  At the same time as we start the new behaviour a tiny trickle starts to run in a new channel as we force our brain to rewire.  The first thirty days are hard and the more we fail the more we will want to revert to the old super highway.

So don’t “decide” that you will lose weight, increase your wealth, find a lover this year.  You must also put in place a 30 day plan of daily activity to implement the change.  Otherwise don’t bother starting

Have a Great New Year Celebration but let it be a truly new beginning.

Stay Inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus

The Ethical Investing Strategiest