Can taking action cause you more damage than good?

One of my favourite sayings is “if it is to be then it is up to me” which of course means we all need to take action.
It reminds me of a joke: “a man goes to church and prays to God asking that he win the lottery. God replies yes he will help and the man will indeed win the lottery. A few weeks later the man is still waiting, so he asks God if he misunderstood because he hasn’t won the lottery yet. God replies, you have to buy the ticket.”

But are there times when it can cause your more damage than good?

If your inner beliefs don’t match the action you are trying to take, then yes indeed it can be doing you more damage. Because no matter how hard you try, you simply won’t achieve your goals. No matter how often you take steps, unknowingly you will sabotage yourself every single time.

Do you know someone who has tried to lose weight but for some reason they can’t? They tell you this is it, they are going to lose weight, and they start exercising, choosing healthier foods. Then something happens and they find themselves eating a piece of chocolate cake or two or maybe even three!
Have you ever asked yourself why that is?

The reason is the person has a belief that is contrary to the action they are trying to undertake.

Let’s look at brushing your teeth for example. Is it great fun? I don’t think anyone would say it is something they enjoy doing… although perhaps they do; (I shouldn't paint us all with the same brush.) For most of us we believe it will keep our teeth healthy which means brushing our teeth becomes a habit. But we aren’t going to start sabotaging ourselves because the process is in line with our beliefs.

But for the person who says on a conscious level they are going to get to their ideal weight and then sabotages themselves because they have a belief that is different.

No matter how much action they take, they will not achieve their goal.
When this happens our confidence can take a bit of a plummet. We try and try; doing all this effort yet we seem to be getting nowhere fast. Talk about frustrating! So what happens next, is all hope lost?

Of course not. What is important to understand is that we have to be the person first, and then we do (take action) before having or reaching our goal.
A belief is simply a thought we keep thinking. We keep thinking the thought until it forms a belief… it has to be true if we keep thinking it. Therefore it would stand to reason that if we keep thinking a more serving thought we can form a new belief. Which is true; but sometimes if that is all we do, it can take a whole lot of effort. Kind of like getting one cleaner in to do the job after a major sporting event…

Of course you have to be aware of the habits you are formed. You can’t fix what you don’t acknowledge. If an alcoholic doesn’t admit they have a drinking problem, they won’t be able to take any action. Awareness is the first step.
Think about a goal you seem to be struggling to achieve. Pay attention to what you do or don’t do towards reaching that goal. Inaction is still action. You are choosing to do nothing.

If you notice yourself eating that extra piece of cake ask yourself “for what reason do I eat that cake? How does it serve me?” After receiving answers to these questions ask yourself “what is something I could do instead? What is something that would serve me better? Am I prepared to commit to that?”

These questions can be used in any situation.

All the answers are within us, we get access to them when we ask the right questions.

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