Sadly, making New Year’s Resolutions has become a superficial endeavor. Every year, millions of people resolve to “get in shape and lose weight.” Gym memberships spike for one month, and by February, everyone is back to their same old patterns. Year after year this cycle repeats, and opportunities for personal growth, enlightenment and soul-filled resolutions are lost.

We are multi-faceted beings of light and spirit and when we make decisions, we typically make them with the conscious portion of our brain based on what we think we should want or even what we think others expect us to want. In order for real, deep and abiding change to occur, it is essential that our minds, emotions and spirits all come into alignment with our resolution. Since the subconscious mind never lies, unless we ensure that our resolutions are made on both a conscious as well as a subconscious level, true change can never take place.

It is possible to break out of these dysfunctional cycles and connect to our core being, heal, commit, grow and evolve as we truly wish to evolve.

The first step is to identify our thoughts, beliefs and feelings about the change we are about to be making. Once we have identified what is holding us back, we will be able to commit to our resolutions consciously as well as subconsciously. While working with a skilled hypnotherapist can lead to rapid change, it is possible to do much of the work on your own.

How Does Hypnosis Work?

Hypnosis provides access to the subconscious portion of the mind, allowing us to consciously align the subconscious mind with the desires of the conscious mind. This means that we can quickly and efficiently learn and unlearn a variety of behaviors. Of course there is still work to be done in creating the new, desired pattern, but hypnosis makes it significantly easier.

The conscious mind is the logical, reasoning part of our brain that we make decisions with. It represents 11% of our mind’s power. The subconscious mind represents 88% of our mind’s power, so even if we firmly decide something with our conscious mind, unless we bring our subconscious mind into alignment with our conscious mind, it can be very difficult to be successful, because we have 88% of our mind blocking our efforts!

Finding Our Subconscious Blocks

The first step in successfully creating change is figuring out what subconscious blocks may be hindering us. Sadly, because they are subconscious, they tend to be difficult to find.

A way to begin exploring these blocks is to ask yourself the following questions:

• Can I imagine or visualize myself where I say that I want to be? Thirty pounds lighter, in a successful job, as a permanent ex-smoker? If not, how far can I get with my vision? What is scaring me?

• Is there anything in personal history or beliefs that runs counter to my resolution or desire? For example, was I raised in a traditional household where women did not work outside the home, or where divorce was a sin? Even if I don’t believe these things now, how they are still a part of my subconscious programming?

• Are there any stories I can share about bad things that happened to people who achieved what I want to achieve? For example, do I know someone who lost weight, but lost their marriage in the process?

• What am I gaining from my behavior? Do I like having to go out and smoke three times a day at work, breaking away from the stress of the work environment? Will I miss these breaks?

• All relationships change when one person in the relationship changes. How will my relationships change when I am successful with my resolution? Are there any other changes or impacts that I can foresee?

• How do I feel about the current behavior that I wish to change? For instance, how do I feel about being a smoker, or being overweight or underemployed? How do I think others feel about this behavior? How do I feel, about how I think others feel about my behavior?

• How does my resolution feel in my body?

• Does this resolution support my greater good?

This set of questions is designed to elicit insight about your thinking, beliefs and behavior, which are all related to subconscious blocks to success.

Sometimes, simply being aware of our subconscious blocks is all that it takes to release them and begin the process of change. Once we are aware of our thinking, beliefs and behavioral patterns, we can consciously create new patterns that serve all of our needs.

If we continue to smoke, because we enjoy fiddling with cigarettes and escaping the office stress by going out to smoke, then we can come up with solutions that meet our conscious need to quit smoking as well as our subconscious needs to fiddle and escape. We quit smoking, but we purchase a squishy ball to fidget with, and we set a timer on our phone and take a quick walk away from the office every few hours.

All change is a process. All processes take time, and all processes consist of successes as well as failures. The key lies in continual improvement and insight over the long-haul, not necessarily in the short run. Working only with the conscious portion of our mind is not very effective, but when our entire mind is on board, we can’t help but succeed!