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It's a New Year... Let It Go!

As the New Year approaches people start making resolutions.

I am not a fan of New Year's resolutions, because for most people, the second week of the year they forget or excuse away what they resolved to do just a week earlier. The resolution itself comes from a noble place. A place in our hearts that says I am going to do better this coming year... better than I did last year. That is a noble cause! The power of the resolution lies in the commitment with which the resolution is made. The deep desire to better ourselves, our lives and the lives of those around us. New Year's resolutions are good things when they are made with commitment and become New Year's Goals. When these resolutions are made with a vision for a better me, when they are made with a passion to do better, when they are made with the desire to keep me on purpose, when they are made with a focus on being the "Scott V. Black I could have been"... That is when New Year's resolutions become attained New Year's goals. When I accomplish this I improve my team at home, at work, and in my community. Win/Win/Win/Win.

At some level we are holding on to something that is holding us back.

Most of all it takes a commitment! A desire for change, a wanting to make change or effect change. What most of us don't realize is that in order to change, in order to get to a different place tomorrow than we are today we need to change some things. Most importantly we need to change our consciousness, we need to change our B.S. And I don't mean the stuff you step in when walking through a pasture. I mean our Belief System. Our Belief Systems or our B.S., is the programming in our minds of our abilities, our inability's, our limits our possibilities... . As we focus on our vision- our vision of the person that we want to be- and we move toward our vision we start hitting resistance. This resistance is our belief in our powerlessness or unworthiness. This resistance occurs on the sub-conscious level, so it is often times not even detected, but it is there. At some level we are holding on to something that is holding us back.

Many things hold us back in life. Psychologists believe that we live to about 10% of our potential. No matter how good you are doing, you can do better. What we need to do is get in touch with what is holding us back. Is it a desire to self sabotage... Is it our fear of failure, or embarrassment... Is it our programming from a person in our lives who used to verbally abuse you by telling you, "You will never amount to anything", or "You will never be more than________"... ?

In our Power Goal Setting class, before we go out to light our bonfire we tell a story about how tribes' people in the Far East catch monkeys....

In the Far East when someone wants to honor you, they honor you with a dinner and serve monkey brains. The tribes' people have an interesting way that they catch the monkeys. They take coconuts and clean the coconuts out leaving these shells with large holes in them. After they have done this they fill them up about a quarter of the way with rice. The tribes' people leave these coconuts lying around on the jungle floor and go into hiding so their prey will not see them. The monkeys come down from the trees, curious to see what is lying on the jungle floor. They pick up the coconuts, and realizing that there is something in this shell, put their hand inside the coconut and grab a hand full of rice. With their fist clenched around the rice they cannot remove the coconut. In a panic they frantically attempt to remove the coconut, to no avail. So they run over to a tree and attempt to climb the tree to get away, but they can't because there is a coconut stuck on the hand. So they bang the coconut on the tree to frantically break the coconut off of their hand. When the tribes' people hear the banging they come out from hiding and grab the monkey and eventually kill it.

Now you might be thinking what a dumb monkey, I would never hold on to something that would cost me my life... wait a minute...

You are probably thinking what a stupid animal... If the monkey had just let go of the rice it could have removed its hand and thus lived a longer more productive life. Now you might be thinking what a dumb monkey, I would never hold on to something that would cost me my life... wait a minute...

Think about the things that are holding you back and keeping you from being as happy or being as successful as your capabilities will allow. What have you been holding onto that is keeping from being the "George Bernard Shaw that you could have been?" What doubts, what false images, what B.S.?

In our Power Goal Setting class we have our students focus on what obstacle has been holding them back. When we go out to light the fire, we have our clients imagine that obstacle is now being released and going up in smoke. I have realized over the years, working with thousands of people in the field of personal growth, that no matter how successful someone is they are only reaching a portion of their potential. As we mentioned earlier, psychologists figure that we live to about 10% of our potential. What happens when we hit 20 or 30 or even 50% of our God given abilities?

There is a philosophy of personal growth called CANI, constant and never ending improvement. W. Edwards Deming, the American who taught the Japanese statistical quality control and principles of management after World War II, is the father of this philosophy. When we strive to always improve who we are and what we do, we come to realizations that will change our lives and the lives of those around us for the better. One of those life-altering realizations is that we all hold onto things in the past that don't serve us well. These obstacles keep us from reaching our potential. Our past is impeding our future.

What are you holding onto from your past that is limiting your future?

Would you drive down the street in your car looking behind you the whole time? "Of course not," you say. Yet so many people live their lives that way, allowing their past to dictate their future. Holding onto fears, pain, and past experiences that limit their potential for a brighter future. What are you holding onto from your past that is limiting your future? Take 15 minutes and honestly ask yourself this question, What are the limiting Belief Systems that are holding me back? Write them down on a sheet of paper and decide if you are willing to let go of them, because it is your choice.

In order for you to accomplish your New Years goals, find out what has kept you from accomplishing this in the past. Once you realize what that is, let it go. Then with no resistance from your past, you can create the future that honors who you are and what you do.

In order for you to accomplish your New Year's goals, find out what has kept you from accomplishing this in the past. Once you realize what that is, let it go. Then with no resistance from your past, you can create the future that honors who you are and what you do. When you decide what it is that is holding you back, now you have to decide if you want to get rid of it. Has it cost you enough, are you tired of holding onto it and living your life at a lower level than you and your family and your company deserve? If you make the commitment to get rid of it or them, have your own private burial ceremony for these demons. Its time to let go and move on! 1999 will be an incredible year, if we are willing to be our dreams. Remember the three things that we must do to be our dreams...

WANT IT. CREATE IT. LIVE IT. We are all smarter than a monkey.

Have a Happy and Passionate 1999, one filled with Purpose, great Teams, big Visions, fine tuned Focus and filled with Commitment to better your life and the lives of those around you.

I remain...

Enthusiastically yours,

Scott V. Black
The Empower U Leadership Team
January 1999

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