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Take action this week on something that you’ve been planning to do but have not yet done it. Remember the old verbiage, “The pathway to hell is paved with good intentions.”
I’ve been working with a client for over 2 years now and he still hasn’t gotten through the treatment manual yet. Every week when he comes to group therapy he sheepishly sets a goal to “blow the dust” of the manual and read something in it before our next group therapy session. In our past therapy session I sensed that he is really getting to a point to take actions. He has seen that the treatment concepts have worked for others but has yet to take the step to do so himself. He has told the group numerous times in the past two years that he is going to get into the manual. Some may say that he has failed in his attempts to make progress. I say that every time he came to group and set a goal has just gotten him closer to actually take action. I really believe that he will take that action very soon and then he will begin to realize the rewards of effort.
Don’t hesitate take action today! Make a decision to improve on one thing today!
Read the story about Jim on page 25 of the manual. If you don’t have the manual, read Jim’s pornography addiction recovery story here.
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The power to direct thoughts is the only moral act
The only willful choice one has is the quality of attention one gives to a thought at any moment. . .the strain of attention is the fundamental act of will. The effort of attention is thus the essential phenomenon of will. The function of effort is to keep affirming and adopting a thought that, if left to itself, would slip away. To sustain a representation, to think, is in short, the only moral act.
To focus attention on one idea, on one possible course of action among the many bubbling up in our consciousness, is precisely what we mean by an act of will. The essential achievement of will is to attend to one object and hold it clear and strong before the mind, letting all others – its rivals for attention and subsequent action - fade away. The effort to focus attention is an active, primary, and causal force, and not solely the result of properties of a stimulus that acts on a passive brain.
Have a great day!
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The first step in
overcoming any challenge is to admit that it is there – no sugar coating the facts. It is what it is! By admitting that there is a problem one can then learn to take more responsibility for it.
“The extent to which people will go psychologically to avoid assuming responsibility for personal problems, while always sad, is sometimes almost ludicrous. The difficulty we have in accepting responsibility for behavior lies in the desire to avoid the pain of the consequences of that behavior. Yet it is in the s whole process of meeting and solving problems that life has its meaning. Problems are the cutting edge that distinguished between success and failure. Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom; indeed, they create our courage and our wisdom. It is only because of problems that we grow mentally and spiritually. This tendency to avoid problems and the emotional suffering inherent in them is the primary basis of all human mental suffering.”
- Scott Peck M.D.
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