The Lazy Way to Remember Self Improvement

by CG.com Contributor, Aaron Potts

One of the biggest problems that people have with their self improvement efforts is simply that they forget to practice whatever techniques they are supposed to be practicing in order to improve their lives.

The truth of the matter is that you are so used to living your life in a certain way that you often forget to take the appropriate measures to effect long-term positive changes.

Back before the days of computer-generated task lists and automated telephone reminders, people used to tie a piece of yarn around their finger in order to remember that they were supposed to do something. It was a crude, but effective technique.

These days, our daily list of activities is so huge that in order to utilize the yarn technique, we would all run around looking like a blanket or a scarf that was in the process of being created!

An easier to use (and more fashionable) technique is to simply associate things that are in your life with whatever it is that you are supposed to remember to do. Then, every time you come across your associated experience, you will remember to take part in a certain self improvement technique.

For example, let’s say that you are wanting to improve your financial status in life. There are plenty of tasks that can be part of such a goal, but it has now been proven conclusively that the primary reason why people do not obtain financial success is because they do not have the proper mindset.

Reprogramming your subconscious to see wealth as positive and attainable is a far more effective strategy than simply working more hours, or trying to find “the next big thing” that people will pay good money for.

Another example could be weight loss. The very simple method of losing weight and increasing health has been known since long before the days of ultra-high tech diet and fitness programs. That answer is, of course, to eat healthy and to get plenty of exercise.

Again, it is the self-limiting belief about someone’s ability to follow through with that simple formula that stands in their way. That fact is easily remedied by convincing your subconscious mind that you are both worthy of incredible health, and that it is possible for you to attain it.

One more example – relationships. There are no “good and bad” people when it comes to relationships. Every single person on earth has thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of compatible partners out there, and they just haven’t run into each other yet.

However, the lonely or relationship-challenged individual will tend to think that there is something wrong with them, or that they are not “good enough” to have an incredible relationship, so they keep subconsciously reinforcing that same self-limiting belief over and over again in their mind.

In each of the cases listed above, as well as any other circumstance you can think of that needs improvement, the baseline solution is the same: Reprogram your thinking, and you will reprogram your reality.

Two simple and free ways to reprogram your thinking are through the use of what are popularly called “affirmations” or “visualizations.” In reality, however, both of those tools are simply glorified reminders about what you are supposed to be thinking. The trick to using them is to simply remember to do so!

In order to trip that memory switch, simply assign an affirmation or a visualization reminder to a common occurrence in your life, which, when it occurs, will remind you to reprogram your thinking.

In the case of wealth, you could find a certain shape that you equate with money – a circle for instance. Then, each time you see a circular shape, such as a coin, a coaster, the rim of a cup or a glass, you stop what you are doing and say your affirmation, or take 30 seconds and perform whatever visualization you have set up in advance.

For health, you can do the same thing, only this time, choose another common occurrence, such as a color. If you choose green as your “health” color, then every time you see the color green, you reaffirm to yourself that you are thin, healthy, and attractive, or you picture yourself looking sexy or vigorous in a visualization.

With regard to relationships, maybe you could choose a sound, such as the email sound on your computer, your dog barking, or the sound of a car engine. Each time you hear that sound, say your relationship affirming mantra in your head, or visualize yourself with your dream mate.

Each of these examples are meant to just give you an idea of how this whole process works, and you are encouraged to come up with your own reminder system. The key to the process is consistency, however. Your reminders need to be things that you experience several times every single day.

After repeatedly affirming and visualizing your desires over and over again many times each day, eventually you will reprogram yourself for whatever success it is that you are after, and the whole thing won’t have cost you any money, or even any significant amount of your time.

It doesn’t get any easier or more effective than that!

Author: Aaron Potts