We have failed in the past and that failure has hurt. Because we have experienced failure in our past it can make us gun shy of taking bold action in the future. When this happens we become hesitant or even stop taking action at all.
Today we are going to tap for those times when our fear of the pain of failure is greater than our desire to take action.
When we are trying new things we will encounter things that we don’t know how to do. Some of these things are so new and different that we don’t know where to start and they feel impossible for us to learn.
Today we are going to tap for the feeling of overwhelm that comes with new tasks that feel too complicated for us to learn.
There are times when we feel like we have two left feet. Nothing comes easily and nothing turns out the way we want.
Today we are going to tap for those times where it feels like we just can’t do anything right.
There are times when we know we are heading the right direction. Our goals feel right. The action we are taking feels right. Everything is just working in flow.
Other times everything feels like a hard slog. No matter what we try it feels like a big effort and sometimes too much effort.
It can be easy to question if we are on the right track when things are not going easily or aren’t any fun.
Today we are going to tap for those times when we question if we are on the right path because it is so much work and not any fun.
It is good to have passion. It is even better to feel like our goal is within our grasp and that we can take action every day to get there.
There are times when, as we get closer and closer to our goal, it starts to take up more of our time, energy, and attention. When this happens it can create the concern that it will take over to the extent that we neglect other parts of our life.
Today we are going to tap for those times where it feels like our desire for one thing is going to take over our life completely.
Remembering and learning from past mistakes is a good thing because it helps us to make better choices in the future.
But we run into trouble when the lesson we learned from past failures is that we are failures and that we will fail again.
Today we are going to tap for feeling that failure is a pattern we are bound to keep repeating.
Making changes in our lives often has consequences and impacts our relationships. If you go back to school, for example, you may have less time to spend with loved ones.
It’s possible that the people your lives will react negatively when you change. They might feel like they are being left behind, that you think you too good for them, or they may feel bad because they don’t have the courage to make changes themselves.
Today we are going to tap for how the negative reactions of others to our change might slow us down.
When we want more we are in some way saying that what we have is not enough. This can cause an internal conflict because do not want to be ungrateful for what we already have.
Today we are going to tap for the conflict between being thankful for what we have AND wanting more.
By Wanting More I Feel Ungrateful For What I Already Have
(audio 3m22s)
There’s a part of me…That really wants to move forward…There’s a part of me…That sees these wonderful goals I’m striving for…There’s a part of me…That is ready to move forward…But when I name something new…When I name something better that I want…It feels like I’m saying…What I have simply isn’t enough…It feels like I’m saying…I don’t appreciate where I am…I don’t appreciate what others have done for me…I don’t appreciate all the gifts in my life…I don’t appreciate the fact that I have it better than most…It is possible for me…To continue to move forward…To strive for better…To strive for more…And still appreciate where I am…Still appreciate what I have…Still appreciate everything that’s happened in my life…I can strive for more and appreciate what I have…I can appreciate what I have and still have energy to strive for more…Striving for more…And appreciating what I have…Are not mutually exclusive…They can happen simultaneously…And they can both serve me…I want to appreciate what I have…I want to strive for more…I give myself permission….To do both at the exact same time.
One of the things that holds us back is our need to be perfect. The part of us that wants to be perfect wants us to stay safe. When we are perfect we can’t be criticised and we don’t have to do anything again.
We will NEVER be perfect so as long as we hold on to needing to be perfect we will never be able to act.
Today we tap to know that, “It’s OK for me to take imperfect action, now.”
Imperfect Action
(audio 3m05s)
There’s a part of me that wants to be perfect…There’s a part of me that wants to get it exactly right…Because if I get it exactly right…Then it’s going to be easy for me to be successful…Because if I get it exactly right…Nothing can possibly go wrong…So there’s a part of me that’s going to prevent me from acting…Until I know I can do it perfectly…It’s going to wait for more information…It’s going to wait for me to have more skill…It’s going to wait for a more perfect environment to make a choice…But the truth is…I need to be able to take action…In an environment that’s imperfect…By someone who is imperfect…Because there’s never going to be exactly the perfect time…And I’m never going to be exactly perfect…And if I wait for the perfect time…And if I wait for me to be perfect…I’m never going to take action…I give myself permission….To know that it’s OK…To make an imperfect action…At an imperfect time…In an imperfect way…With imperfect knowledge…And even if it doesn’t work out perfectly…It’s possible to have it work out great…There have been lots of times where it worked out great…Where it was far from perfect…I want to be good…I want to be successful…And I don’t need perfect…To be good and successful…I give myself permission….To make choices…From an imperfect space…With imperfect information…With imperfect skills…And an imperfect moment…Knowing I can make all of those things work out.
There are lots of things that are out of our control. It is good that we are aware and take account of them, but if they consume our attention then we will never move towards our goals.
Today I want to focus on what I can control.
Let’s tap for that:
What I Can Control
(audio 3m39s)
There are a lot of things that happen…That don’t happen perfectly…That don’t happen exactly the way that I want…That don’t play to my advantage…And part of the reason this happens…Is I don’t control everything in the universe…There are a lot of things that happen…That I have no say in…And I have no effect on…This is just a fact of life…Even though this is true…It is possible…For me to be successful…With what little I control…Which is all of my thoughts and all of my actions…I can make a huge difference…In working towards…In creating my goals…It does me little good…To worry about…The things I can’t control…I certainly have to respond to…Those things that impact my life…But to spend time…Emotionally…Worrying about things…That I have no impact on…Is a huge waste of resources…It’s a huge spend of energy…Which it makes very, very difficult…For me to be successful…Because I’m concentrating on things that I can’t do anything about…I need to be aware…Of all the things that impact my life…Even those that I don’t control…But just because I’m aware…It doesn’t mean I’m spending energy worrying about what’s going to happen next…Or worrying about those things I can’t control…I give myself permission…To put my full energy…And concentration…On those things I control…On my thoughts…On my emotions…My choices…My actions…And when I do this…I will continue to move towards…My goals… Regardless what happens…Outside of my control.