New year, new you through Hypnotherapy

As 2021 is behind us and we look to the year ahead, many will be inspired by the energy of ‘new beginnings’ that the turn of the calendar represents, and may be considering their new year’s resolutions. Unfortunately, it’s well known that these resolutions rarely last, as many people fail to sustain new health or lifestyle changes beyond the first few weeks of the year!

If this sounds all too familiar, do not despair! It’s usually not because of a lack of willpower or motivation, but because the subconscious mind is powerful and can sabotage our best efforts. Understanding why we undermine ourselves when attempting to make positive changes is important and perhaps the first step to overcoming our own limitations. As a hypnotherapist, I work with the subconscious mind to help people overcome these patterns

What does self-sabotage look like?

Self-sabotage refers to behaviours or thought patterns that hold you back from saying or doing what you really want to, and can be the reason why your best-laid plans often get derailed.

Some examples include:

• Procrastinating when you feel overwhelmed, or start to doubt if you really can do this.
• Taking things personally, or getting offended and letting this hold you back from taking action towards your goals.
• Blaming other people or situations. For example, leaving a workplace because the boss was too demanding, or it was toxic, only to find yourself in a similar situation again because perhaps you take too much on, or aren’t able to articulate health boundaries.
• Automatic, persistent negative self-talk like “I can’t do this”, “I’m just not made for this” or “I always mess things up” to give some examples.
• Prioritising people, places or activities because you feel obliged or tied to traditions, when spending time and energy on these are not aligned to the goals you have. An example could be going to the pub for after work drinks when you are trying to give up drinking or spend more time with your family.
• Getting sick or feeling so exhausted that you revert to old habits.
• Having a “fuzzy” brain or being unable to focus on the task that you’ve planned to do.

All of these examples can happen and may not be related to self-sabotage, however if they’re happening repeatedly, then this pattern can point to your subconscious being the saboteur of your goals. Remember, this is your subconscious attempting to keep you safe, and acting from our conditioning and our subconscious patterns is normal. It's only a problem when you notice it’s preventing you from having the healthy, happy, successful life that you want.

When Why we self-sabotage

Our subconscious mind is what’s really driving our behaviour 80% of the time. We like to think that we are in control and that our conscious thoughts direct our lives, and this is somewhat true. Our intentions, and in this case, our new year's resolutions - do originate from our conscious thoughts.

Unfortunately though, when we are trying to make intentional changes in our lives, even when these would mean better health, greater happiness or more wealth, our subconscious mind only registers change. It won’t distinguish between ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ change. To the subconscious, change simply means moving outside of the known, outside of the patterns that have kept us safe, and into uncertain and therefore potentially dangerous territory. It is not always easy to rationally explain why the subconscious would perceive changes such as losing weight, quitting alcohol, or getting fit as dangerous, but on some level our habitual behaviours are serving us and changing them spells trouble for the subconscious mind.

When we move outside of our comfort zone, or our regular patterns of behaviour, or change our habits, it’s likely to induce some amount of fear at the subconscious level. Fear shows up when our nervous system perceives a threat to our safety, which is important if you’re about to walk out in front of traffic! But, if you're not accustomed to success, to a healthy diet and lifestyle, to healthy relationships, then fear will show up when you take steps to make these positive changes in your life.

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When we sense fear, whether that’s fear of judgement, fear of failure, fear of new opportunities, or other forms of fear, it is easy to default to old patterns and satisfy that subconscious need to keep things relatively stable and safe. This is why you might find yourself back doing what you’ve always done, sticking to your old habits.

Your life won’t change unless you do

If you feel dissatisfied with accepting the limitations imposed by your subconscious fears and anxiety, maybe it’s time to change. As a Clinical Hypnotherapist and life coach, my coaching skills will align the conscious mind for change with goal setting & a mental tool box, and Hypnotherapy ensures the subconscious is coming along for the ride.

Hypnotherapy is incredibly effective in allowing people to shift old, unhelpful or detrimental patterns and move subconscious blocks out of the way so you can move confidently in the direction of your dreams or goals. Hypnosis can give you the 'blank canvas' you need to be completely in the here and now and make choices that align to your goals rather than be driven by the patterns established in the past. In my sessions, I help people to clarify their goals and intentions, then clean up thought processes so you can more easily take consistent and deliberate action towards your goals.

Nothing changes if nothing changes, so if you’re ready to commit to your new year's resolutions and 2022 goals, then consider Hypnotherapy as your ally and get the support you need to create positive change and live the life you have imagined.

Amanda Davies

Diploma (Clinical Hypnosis), Advanced Cert. (Trauma, Grief & Addiction), Cert. (Anxiety & Depression) Cert. (Life Coaching)

Amanda is a qualified Clinical Hypnotherapist and she is a Clinical member of the Professional Hypnotherapist Association of Australia. With over 15 years experience, Amanda has empowered many to create positive change and move forward.

Amanda has a special interest in phobias, negative self-talk, anxiety and the mind body connection in wellness, therefore eradicating self-sabotage and unlocking people’s full potential.