Get Your But Out of the Way

I know there are many of you who are sitting there just thinking about how you would like to be successful, have a nice bank account, live in a mansion with a pool and a stable full of horses, have a new car for every day of the week and many more things that you can dream of. So, what do you think is holding you back? Your "but", that's what!

How many times have you said, "Oh, I would love to go to Ireland but I will never have enough money for a trip like that? Or how about "Oh, I wish I could find my soul mate but I just don't get out of the house much? Or maybe, "I would love to own my own business but I am afraid that I would fail and all my friends and family would laugh at me. And my favorite...I would love to help out in the community but I don't have time.

In these cases, you can't see ahead for your buts! Most people spend more time establishing their but than they do trying to achieve a goal. In all, you probably use that word more than any in the English language when you are discussing your dreams and goals. You have to learn to get your butsout of the way and replace them with positive responses.

For example, instead of saying that you'd like to go to Ireland but... try saying, "I am planning a trip to Ireland and I will focus on raising the money I need for the trip. If you will repeat this phrase over and over, you will begin to see that it is possible to achieve your goal with some proper planning and actions. All you have to do is start replacing your but with and this is how I will accomplish that goal.

So many times, we use that word and we never know just how often it holds us back from doing what we really want to do. Try this exercise for 1 month. Take a large container (may need a really large one in some cases) and start paying attention to what you say each day. Every time you say you want something but, put a coin in the container. It doesn't matter for this exercise whether it is a penny or a quarter. Make sure you do this for an entire month. For those times you are on the go, just take a ziploc bag or something you can seal and stick in your pocket or purse. Just be mentally aware of your conversations, take mental notes of what you say and be faithful to add a coin for every but that you use when speaking about your dreams or goals. At the end of the month, pour all these coins out on the table and count them.

Now, this is not the end of it. Once you count all of the coins, write it down on a piece of paper.

At the top of the paper, write in big letters "This is how many times my but held me back this month". Now, skip a few lines down and multiply the number you have by 10,000, just to get a round figure. Write that number down and above it in big letters, write, "This is the number of people who have faced my same circumstances and achieved my goal".

I am sure you realize that this number may be lower and it may be higher. However, what this will do is to help you to understand that you can also achieve these goals just as well as these others have. And the best part is, depending on the value of each coin you put in, you probably have a pretty good nest egg started!

Either way, the point of the whole excercise is to make you aware of how many times you use the word but in your outlook of your future. Too many times this will hold you back from achieving the goals and dreams that you really want for yourself. We have been preprogrammed to include this word in every aspect of our lives, both personally and professionally. Therefore, it has a negative affect on our belief in ourselves and our ability.

So get out that piggy bank, milk can, gallon jug or whatever type of container that you have and try this now. You will be able to start changing your way of speaking, therefore changing your way of thinking. Then, you can get your but out of the way and get on to achieving your dreams and goals!

© 2007 Bonnie Ramsey