Your Challenges

Conventional wisdom says that the hardest part of any journey is taking the decision to get started.  The second hardest is staying motivated to finish what you've started.  The truth is a bit more complicated for most of us and I have a theory about that.  

If you picture your mind as a computer, you've got the desktop - everything you know you know and believe about yourself and the world.  But underneath that you've got all the other files - everything that's been said or done to you and everything you've ever said or done sits in the subconscious mind.

So what?

So why is that important?  Well it's important because sitting in those files are decisions we took as children and teenagers about how we should respond to things.  So for the child for whom food was their only source of love, going on a diet deprives them of the one thing they want.  

As an adult you might know that food comforts you but until the old emotional hurts are dealt with, your subconscious mind will consistently undermine attempts at change.

For the smoker who started smoking to help with stress or to cope with difficult circumstances, it might feel unsafe to quit without finding out what the original stress was and working to dismantle it.

The key to it all

My experience is that motivation is the key to everything we achieve in life.  We may have the knowledge about what needs to be done, but until the motivation is in place it's just not going to happen.  If you're using up a ton of willpower forcing behavioral change, you're wasting energy that could be spent having fun.  Unlock the motivation and you've got it all going for you.