Note: This article is by Erin Falconer, who shares 4 ways to improve your self-communication.
Achieving dreams and goals requires focused attention. The way to get this attention is to improve how you communicate with yourself. Making certain adjustments is also necessary to realise goals and dreams.
The problem is that most people fear change. They distract themselves with various present-day pursuits to avoid confronting the impending changes. You see them burying themselves in work, indulging in specific activities, or using food, drinks, or smoking as distractions.
Unsure of how to improve it or realise their goals, they lose themselves in social media, video games, and cell phones, spending hours in front of the TV.
Effective change starts within the human psyche. This means those who solely focus on the external world will struggle to define their goals, work on them, and eventually achieve them.
The following four steps will help you turn your attention from the outside world to your actual self, improve your self-communication skills, overcome your addiction to mindless distractions, make the changes you want to see in your life possible and stop obsessing over your online presence on social media.
Steps to Improve Self-Communication
The four steps are outlined below:
1. Acknowledge Your Addiction to External Distractions:
The first step towards making a change is acknowledging the problem. The problem lies in the external distractions individuals resort to, like overworking, engaging in specific activities, overeating, drinking, smoking, watching pointless TV shows, or being addicted to smartphones and social media.
You must identify these distractions and the time you waste on them daily. If you're serious about changing, you should meticulously record the time you spend distracting yourself.
2. Identify the Benefits of Addiction to External Distractions:
Be honest with yourself and pinpoint the benefits of indulging in these distractions. For instance, smoking generates a sense of pleasure, helps people take deep breaths and helps them overcome shyness. This is because they focus their attention on the act of smoking and occupying their hands without displaying signs of shyness or awkwardness.
3. Find Alternatives to Addictions to Keep Your Gains:
I had a long and tough struggle to overcome my smoking habit, but it was well worth it! I started feeling more agile and started pounding the pavement with some runs, and let me tell you, there's nothing like taking those deep breaths after a long jog. I've even made sure to breathe deeply during my meditation routine.
I used to watch TV for hours on end because it helped me unwind. But lately, I've swapped out screen time for some good reading whenever nothing is interesting on TV.
4. Identify Long-Term Beneficial Activities after Eliminating External Distractions:
I was one of those people glued to my smartphone during my morning commute, so engrossed in social media like everyone else. Then, one day, I looked around the train and realised we were all in the same boat, heads buried in our screens. Then, I wondered what it is that people generally attempt to avoid in their lives.
Recognising my addiction to distracting activities and the disconnect it was causing, I followed the steps mentioned earlier in this article. Now, you'll catch me using my smartphone less during my public commute and investing that time in other activities like meditation, shaking off negative thoughts, jotting down my daily reflections, or reviewing my goals.
Engaging in these purposeful activities instead of scattering my focus means nurturing myself, giving me more energy and resources to hone in on the goals that truly light me up. The winner always concentrates on their goal and creates the emotional, mental, and physical framework required to reach it.
Final Words
It's crucial to pinpoint the actions and activities that help you connect with yourself. Make sure to pick alternatives that bring you the positive gains you used to look for in external addictions. Take a good look at how you're spending your time, and invest it in activities that improve your self-communication.
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