The Work That Changes Where You Are Going

This article was adapted from my InnerTalk InTouch newsletter, “Some of the Most Important Work We Do Is on Ourselves.” Please read the full newsletter for more of my thoughts on the work we do, the changes we sometimes almost don’t notice, and the person we are becoming.

We tend to think of work as something we do for a living. It is what happens between the time we start our working day and the time we finish it. And very often, we associate work with effort. But some of the most important work we ever do has nothing to do with our jobs.

It is the work of becoming more confident. Learning to manage our time or money more wisely. Improving a relationship. Developing healthier habits. Becoming more creative. Learning something new. Letting go of a fear that has limited us. Following through on something that matters. These are achievements too.

Small Changes Can Change Our Direction

The results of this kind of work aren't always accompanied by a diploma, promotion, trophy, or paycheck. Sometimes the changes are small enough that we barely notice them at first.

We make a slightly different decision. We take an opportunity we might once have dismissed. We persist a little longer. We speak up when we might once have remained silent. We try something we previously assumed we couldn't do. But small changes accumulate.

Change your direction by even a few degrees and, over time, you can arrive somewhere very different.

The change itself may seem small. Where it can eventually take us may not be.

When You Don't Know What Is Holding You Back

One of the things I have learned over the years is that trying harder isn't always the answer. Sometimes the real difficulty isn't the thing we are trying to accomplish. It is the resistance we bring to it — and very often, we don't even know the resistance is there.

Think about driving a familiar route. You can arrive at your destination with almost no conscious memory of the journey. You stopped at the lights, made the turns, changed lanes, and responded to traffic, but the process was so familiar that much of it happened automatically.

Our inner beliefs can become just as automatic. Consciously, we may tell ourselves that we deserve to succeed. That we are capable, talented, and worthy. That this time we really are going to follow through. But underneath those conscious intentions may be much older messages telling us something quite different:

“I'm not good enough.” “I'll probably fail.” “I never stick with anything.” “I'm terrible with money.” “I'm just not creative.” “I've always been this way.”

When beliefs have been repeated and reinforced for years, we don't necessarily hear them as thoughts anymore. They can become part of the background — assumptions we act upon without consciously recognizing that they are influencing our choices.

And this highlights a peculiar kind of struggle. Consciously, we are trying to move in one direction while some of our deeply habituated beliefs are quietly pulling us in another.

Working Smarter Rather Than Harder

This is precisely the kind of conflict InnerTalk® was developed to address.

InnerTalk has been studied by independent universities and research institutions, with research demonstrating its effectiveness in changing self-talk — those internal messages that can influence what we believe, expect, notice, and ultimately do.

InnerTalk is also a patented technology. It isn't simply a collection of positive affirmations hidden beneath music. The technology was specifically developed to deliver positive messages in a way designed to work with subconscious processes.

Change the inner conversation and new choices and experiences can naturally follow.

For me, this is an important part of working smarter rather than harder. Instead of continually demanding more effort from ourselves, we can also work on reducing some of the inner resistance that makes change harder than it needs to be.

Don't just believe that change is possible. Take control and restructure the beliefs that may be getting in the way.

What Would You Like to Work On?

Perhaps there is one area of your life you would really like to strengthen. Perhaps there are several. Or perhaps there is one important goal you would like to approach from several different directions.

Ask yourself: What would I most like to change, strengthen, accomplish, or become?

Our InnerTalk library includes programs addressing many different areas of life, including:

• Success — Turn more of your potential into accomplishment and create your own definition of success.
• Better Life — Work on the small details of everyday life that can make such a difference to quality of life, joy, and peace.
• Relationships — Create the inner environment in which strong, healthy relationships can thrive.
• Health and Wellness — Support the thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs that contribute to well-being and the body's natural self-healing abilities.
• Habits and Addictions — Change deeper beliefs and patterns that can undermine your best intentions.
• Body Image — Build a healthier, kinder relationship with your body and yourself.
• Sports and Fitness — Strengthen the mental game behind physical performance and achievement.
• Children and Parenting — Help build stronger foundations for growing minds — and for the people guiding them.
• Learning — Strengthen the attitudes and inner messages that support learning, remembering, and making better use of what you know.
• Spirituality — Explore the inner beliefs that shape meaning, connection, purpose, and your experience of life.

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The Work of Becoming

Before deciding what you would like to work on next, take a moment to recognize some of the work you have already done.

Notice something you handle better now. Something you understand that you didn't understand before. Something you have overcome, learned, strengthened, accomplished, or simply become better at. Then look forward.

What is the next small change that could alter your direction? What would you like to be able to look back on a year from now and realize is different?

The work we do on ourselves today shapes the life we experience tomorrow. And sometimes the smallest changes are the ones that eventually take us somewhere entirely new.

Warmly,

Ravinder Taylor
Author of Mind Training: The Science of Self-Empowerment