Say goodbye to New Year's Resolutions

It's that time of year where we are traditionally encouraged to make our resolutions for the new year. Perhaps to exercise more, lose weight, stop smoking, cut out alcohol - something that will create new and healthy habits for us.

All too often these New Year's resolutions, which rely on our willpower for success, fall by the way very quickly. This is for one very simple reason: when it comes down to a battle between willpower and imagination, your imagination will always win.

Therefore my advice to you is - ditch the resolutions!

There’s a bundle of nerves located in your brainstem known as the Reticular Activating System (RAS) which acts as an information filter. Only the information which is important to us filters through to our perception. In other words, the RAS brings us more of whatever it is we focus our attention on.

Here's a scenario you might recognise. You buy a new car - new make, new model, new colour. Suddenly, wherever you go, you start noticing other cars of exactly the same make, model and colour. They just seem to pop up everywhere!

Why is this? It's because your RAS has kicked in and is unconsciously drawing your attention towards these cars.

When we make a New Year's resolution we initially make a good start using willpower alone. But as time goes by and willpower gets tested, we find it increasingly harder not to focus on the food, the drink or the smoking. Our imagination richly conjures up images of chocolate cake, wine or cigarettes. and because our imagination is always stronger than our willpower, it's highly likely we will give in to temptation.

But it is possible to tune your RAS to focus on the things you DO want. Hypnosis provides one way of doing this. It allows you to engage your imagination to see, hear and feel yourself in your desired outcome - slimmer, smoke-free and healthier. By vividly and repeatedly visualising what you want your RAS can be trained to help you with your goals. And guess what? You’ll begin to move towards them effortlessly and easily.

So this year, set aside the willpower and resolutions and allow the superpower of your imagination to get you where you want to be!