Shut out negativity and unhelpful voices to reach your goals with resilience

The path to reaching your dreams can seem long and difficult but remaining driven until you achieve what you want is the only way to get there – and that means shutting out negativity.

Negativity saps away at determination and confidence, leaving you feeling as though you can’t win, or were destined to fail.

Sadly negativity comes from inside as well as outside, with your own negative voice as likely to gnaw away at your resolve as the warnings and comments from people around you.

Shutting out these negative voices to reach new goals is the most effective way to stay on course and end up where you want to be. 

“You cannot expect to live a positive life if you hang with negative people.” Joel Osteen

Hop to it: Shut out negative voices to reach new goals

There is a tale about a group of frogs which decide to race to the top of a tall hotel. Floor after tall floor takes its toll on the small frogs and with voices shouting out to them to ‘give up’ and telling them they ‘will never make it’, the frogs drop out one by one. 

All that remains is one solitary frog, who remains resilient in its bid to reach the top, climbing floor after floor despite the disheartening voices. 

After finishing the race, it is revealed that the frog is deaf and cannot hear the negative shouts to give up. The frog’s inner determination has not been weakened by the words of others, while those that could hear listened and gave up.  

This frog did not hear the exhaustion of his friends, or their negativity as they gave up. He kept his eyes on the prize. 

“There is too much negativity in the world. Do your best to make sure you aren’t contributing to it.” Germany Kent

Shut out negativity to reach your goals

Thinking of the impact that negative voices around you can have on your goals and your chances of reaching them, take a minute to consider where you are in terms of achieving your dreams.

You may have set a number of goals for yourself at the start of the year – or in a goal-setting session. Now is a great time to pause and review where you are. 

Did you reach those goals? Or did you listen to naysayers – the people around you who said you might as well give up, there’s too many things in the way. 

Or is it time to celebrate that you did it, despite everything. Or maybe stop and think: ‘Yes, things did change, and I wasn’t able to do what I said I’d do, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t do it. I just need to find another way.’ 

“Negativity will distract you from your goals, so don’t entertain it.” Carlos Wallace

Start again with fresh goals

It could even prove to be a good time to start your goal-driven dream all over again. There may be a valid reason why one goal cannot be reached but it doesn’t mean that you can’t create some new goals and opportunities to look forward to and be excited about. 

These goals could be:

• Learning something new
• Going out more with friends
• Getting your health back on track
• Choosing good habits  
• Healthy eating 
• Drinking more water
• Doing more exercise 

Goals don’t need to be New Year’s resolutions, you can make a resolution today with a positive intention to set a goal, however small or big. 

Remember when setting goals that you have the freedom to think big and dream big. It doesn’t matter where you have been up to until this  moment right now – you can’t change what has happened. But you can draw a line, right now, and decide that today is a new day. Every day is a fresh start, every minute and moment can be a fresh start.

Change your story with positive goal-setting

Write a new story for yourself and decide who you’re going to be tomorrow and in two months’ time, or even a year’s time? Change your narrative if you want to. One day you will look back and see how incredibly it turned out. 

Find a way to overcome circumstances that stand in your way and, most importantly, learn to tune out those negative voices that chip away at your confidence and resolve to meet your dreams.

Sometimes, the only reason you don’t get what you want is because of the story that you tell yourself about why you can’t have it. Stop your own negative thoughts and refuse to listen to anything but the encouragement and excitement of your inner voice. Know that you can do anything you put your mind to.

“Stay away from negative people. They have a problem, for every solution.” Albert Einstein

Choose the life you want to lead

I love to hear people’s dreams, whether it is travelling to different places, eating better, exercising more, getting out more, setting your life back on track again. So, share your goals and enthusiasm with the Back on Track Teens community, which will also be there to help you celebrate your triumphs too.  

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Focus on how proud you will feel and the boost to your confidence if you stick at your goals and achieve them. Today is a great day to recapture them and restart them.