Human beings are impulsively driven by greed and the desire to dominate. They will take the easiest way to get and keep what they want. This often has negative and unintended consequences that are frequently destructive. And, humans are not naturally prone to accountability or self-discipline, which is why we need laws, rules, boundaries, and limits in society. Reaching YOUR goal requires self-imposed limits and these limits must be created through personal accountability. You must know what you require in the way of protocols, strategies and rules in order to create effective self-limits or self-control.   It’s very important to identify the weaknesses and the strengths of your execution. After that, new habits and supportive behaviors can be created.

It’s critically important to identify the faulty patterns of thinking that cause behavior inconsistent with your stated objectives. After identifying bad behavior (often the lack of follow-through or violated rule(s), isolate them which might entail making another rule to put greater specificity in your process. The goal is to get into a mindset in order to identify how the behavior reflected foggy thinking and how thoughts and emotions work together to create results—this knowledge helps to get and maintain a focus on the most important elements in the “next” step in order to remain on target, on task and on purpose. Then you can cut losses and position yourself to re-observe the order flow without the emotional noise.

You are not always the same and how you are is based upon what part of you shows up. Also, the environment, biorhythms, discomfort vs. comfort, and recent events that may have shaken your confidence, all have an impact upon who shows up. So, sometimes you are confident and relaxed; sometimes you are agitated and anxious; sometimes you are depressed and fatalistic. Deep-seated irrational beliefs create these emotions. They result in “who is coming to work today” and greatly affect how events are perceived. The ideal is to approach life in an open, alert and focused state, being in balance and resonating with the market system. This means remaining in a constant state of curiosity and observation.

The objective of dealing with emotional interference is not to attempt to eliminate it. Emotions are an inextricable part of who we are as human beings. The point is to learn how to understand more about them so that the negative can be contained and the positive can be harnessed and used as allies to boost the drive to stay on course so behavior and performance are reinforced rather than adversely affected. As you modify both cause and effect, you know where that modification is leading. By knowing your strengths and weaknesses, knowing the state you want to achieve, and knowing you are on the path to getting there, you close the gap between expectations and results. Remember, you can’t change what you can’t face, and you can’t face what you don’t know.