For much of last year I struggled with insomnia. I half heartedly tried an array of natural remedies with half hearted results. My husband Vic had some thoughts and ideas about how getting off my computer a few hours before bed might help, but I ignored him. It was as if the illusion of doing something was keeping me busy, saying I was ‘working’ on it, but I didn’t actually commit to any one course of action long enough to know if it would cure my sleeplessness.

Then I was lucky enough to attend a delicious week long retreat aptly titled, Get Back to Bliss, in Costa Rica led by my pal and divinely inspired teacher, Dr. Deb Kern . The first thing Dr. Deb helped us do was identify our ‘energy leaks.’ There was no way for me to deny that late night, mindless Netflix binging on spy shows from the 90’s (Alias, anyone?) was a major energy leak. So for a full week I was off the computer all together and guess what? I slept seven to ten hours a night. The act of choosing one focussed action to stay committed to cured my insomnia. When I returned to real life, I chose 9pm or earlier as the unplug time and I am still sleeping just fine.

Can you identify one behavior or circumstance, that you would give anything to be free from? That one thorn in your side that keeps you up at night (pun intended 😉 or haunts your thoughts throughout the day.

Perhaps it’s been on your to-do list for months now, or maybe it’s been a goal of yours or an issue you’ve been facing for years. Regardless of how long something has been on your radar, almost everyone has at least one thing in their life that they wish was different.

However, as much as you may want something to change, like me and my sleep issue, many of you aren’t effectively doing anything to make it happen. In fact, it is easy to convince yourself that not dealing with an issue is less work than actually taking steps towards a solution. Which of course isn’t true. Fear of not knowing exactly what to do is one reason many of you may not be working towards solving a personal problem or taking steps towards a desired goal.

Others ignore their needs and desires to avoid a sense of overwhelm. When contemplating how to solve a chronic problem many of my clients become paralyzed with the sheer amount of action choices and expert’s claiming to know the only right way to fix it. In my case, I tried acupuncture, Chinese herbs, bio feedback and a few other things, but committed to none of them, therefore none of them worked. Unconsciously I knew that numbing out to bad TV was a form of escape and not helping my insomnia, but it wasn’t until I committed to a course of action that I was motivated to alter my behavior and solve the problem.

You must COMMIT to a course of action to YIELD results #StayTheCourse
@Terri_Cole (Click to Tweet!)

To not overwhelm yourself I suggest that you stay focused on one course of action as your solution. This requires commitment, discipline and mindfulness. It may be a new way of approaching a problem and it worked for me, so what do you have to lose?

So now I want to hear from you. What is one simple thing you can commit to this week to work towards resolving an issue you’ve been facing? I know you can do it!

Have a great weekend and as always, take care of you.

Love Love Love,

Terri

Terri Cole is a licensed psychotherapist, transformation coach, and an expert at turning fear into freedom. Sign up for Terri’s weekly Tune Up Tips and follow her on Twitter.

Image courtesy of andrechinn.