It's that time of year again when we start thinking about New Year resolutions. We want to stop smoking. Give up chocolate. Lose weight. Become a better person. We start off well-intentioned and enthusiastic, but after a month, what is the result? We are still the im perfect, fat, chocolate-eating smoker that we were before. It should be a no-brainer that we do what is good for us, right? Wrong! But why is it so difficult to become the person we want to be?

Let's take a look at ourselves. All of us have thoughts and beliefs that were instilled in us from a very early age - by our parents, our teachers. I'm a teacher and I had a pupil who told me 10 times a day - "I'm nothing. I'm useless". Do you think she decided that for herself at the age of 8? Whatever you hear day in and day out; whatever you think day in and day out will become your belief system. You may be smart, but if you have heard for years that you're useless, you will believe it and never achieve your potential. How can this be?

Think of your brain as a computer. Your mind is made up of two parts - your conscious mind (20%) and your subconscious (80%). Your subconscious is by far the more important. It's what runs you; it's your software. It is your subconscious mind that keeps you breathing as you read this article and into is coded your entire life experience.

So when you think the same thoughts over a long period of time - years - they create pathways in the subconscious that grow ever larger through constant repetition, so that before you know what's what, you have created motorway-sized grooves of negative thoughts and beliefs. Because this is your mental soft-ware, you act according to that pattern. For example, I used to lose everything - you name it, I lost it. If I bought a bus ticket, I would have lost it by the time the bus came. It made for a frustrating life! One day, I suddenly realized that all my life my mother had told me, "You're so CARELESS!" So I grew up believing I was careless and because that was my programming, I WAS careless!

There's a well-known saying, "It's all in your head". It's so true. It doesn't matter what our parents or teachers told us, because now, WE are the only ones responsible for our lives, nobody else. We DO have the power to be what we want, because WE are the ones in control of our own thoughts! Who else can be thinking thoughts in our own heads?

A thought is not something that jumps out of nowhere and lands in our heads. Each thought originates with us, so if we want to change our programming, then we must begin with our own thoughts. You may have only one negative thought that is poisoning your entire life. Think about it. How good would it be to pinpoint it and weed it out? To change the code that drives your software?

CAN you change your software? YES! You can't destroy the original program, but you can write new code to replace it - an upgrade, if you like. To change my "careless" software, every morning before I went out, I said to myself, "I choose to be careful today and keep all my belongings safe". I kept it up for 3-4 weeks - The result? I haven't lost anything in years.
Relationship issues? Money problems?

ALL problems stem from our own programming. So pay attention to what you're thinking. Note down thoughts that do not serve you. You will begin to notice automatic reactions, recurring thoughts, negative patterns. It takes a bit of effort in the beginning, but you may be surprised by what you discover. Then you can start the process of change.

So at this time of renewal, why not think about renewing yourself? If you persevere, you can correct coding errors, write whole new programs and who knows where they might lead you? Remember, you are in charge of you. Happy New Year!