Day 6

Watch Out – Those Guilty Feelings Will Try To Sneak Back Into Your Life

Yesterday’s blog post was all about taking baby steps and making progress. The secret to reaching any goal is to just keep taking those small steps and adjusting your course as needed. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, there’s always something that will throw a spanner into the works, potentially halting your progress. Today I want to share one of those with you. It’s something you can watch out for and be prepared for. If you know it’s coming, it’s much easier to prevent it from halting your progress.

I’m talking about guilt again! We’ve looked at the guilt that’s holding you back throughout this 7-day mini challenge. Not only does it prevent you from starting to go after your dreams in the first place, it also keeps trying to sneak back into your life. You’ll notice those little negative thoughts popping back in your head after the first excitement of making progress and going for it starts to die down. That’s when you have to be prepared so that you don’t get derailed by these feelings of guilt or self-doubt.

I’ve mentioned how helpful a journal can be when it comes to self-reflection. It’s also a great tool to help you spot guilty feelings popping back up. If you journal regularly about your feelings and your progress, you have something to refer to. You have a record of what you’re doing and how you’re feeling. You can then spot those instances of guilt quickly.

As we’ve discussed before, it’s easier to get over the guilt and in this case prevent it from taking hold when we know what it is and where it’s coming from. When you know what you’re feeling bad about, you can find arguments and evidence to argue against it. Reminding yourself of the positive impact the changes you’re making will have on your life also helps you stay the course.

For example, that cake may look very tempting you and you may feel guilty about not eating something that your mother has spent so much time preparing so lovingly. Or you may feel guilty about letting “perfectly good food” go to waste. By reminding yourself that your health will be much better and that you’re loving being able to run around the park with the kids, you can quickly overcome these feelings of guilt. The same holds true if you’re feeling guilty for not going out to lunch with your friends at work, or not buying your child the latest pair of designer trainers because you’re being financially responsible. Do you see how this works?  It involves being willing to put your own wants and needs at (or near) the top of your important people list.

A journal also gives you something to show you the progress you’ve been making and highlight the positive changes you’re already experiencing. That can be a great confidence booster, which will be important as you continue your journey well past the end of this challenge. In fact, it’s something we’ll take a closer look at in tomorrow’s blog post. Stay tuned.