Why has nothing happened for you?

Simply put, you are too lazy to do anything about your personal development. There I have said it. I can hear screams of reluctance and abuse at me now, but it does not matter, you are only fooling yourself and you know who you are.

Therefore, for 2008 I would like to present this method for personal development.

It is an acronym for:

Get Off Your Arse!

To do something, anything, you have to take action, to take action you have to get off your arse first and make a start. That is what this article is about.

I do not want to hear whines, excuses, or anything else just read this through and then Get Off Your Arse.

Getting to the stage of SOYA

A lot of us will have gotten to the stage of SOYA (Sitting On Your Arse) at some point in our lives. Indeed it is good to have a bit SOYA time but too much can lead to a permanent state of SOYA and your arse gets flatter with all the sitting, the only exercise you get is flicking the remote and eating those packets of cheese and onion crisps. The younger SOYAs among you will get a little more exercise with the Nintendo Wii and PS3 and Xbox 360s but you are still at the SOYA stage and need to GOYA more before your life becomes a virtual world and soon the Matrix will have you.

For those of us on board the Nebucadnezzar it is still useful to read this just for a little jolt.

For those of you who do not think you are at the SOYA stage of life answer these questions:

1.Is your Arse permanently flat?

2.Does it take you about half an hour before you can walk properly getting off your couch?

3.Do you make old man noises when you get off the couch?

4.Do you make old man noises when you go to sit on the couch?

5.Do you have some goals that involve Getting Off Your Arse?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above it is time for some GOYA.

GOYA in action

There are at least two voices inside you at any one time. One voice saying take the easy option just turn the TV on, and SOYA and the other, less dominant voice, saying come on, I need some goya time.

The trick to getting off your arse is making the GOYA voice more dominant than the SOYA voice.

Quick Exercise

I want you to think back to a time, recently, where you were in two minds to go and do something but instead elected to stay in bed or sit on the couch and watch TV. For example, you need to get up and tidy the house but instead you stayed in bed or watched TV or read your book. What did that voice sound like inside your head, if you cannot remember listen for it next time. The SOYA voice sounds like MR T 'Sit on your ass fool, aint nobody gonna clean the house' and the GOYA voice sounds like Mickey Mouse on Helium 'Oh shucks, thats a shame coz the house needs a good clean'

Listening for the SOYA and GOYA voice

You will soon begin to hear the little voices whenever you have to do something. Recognising them is the first stage and when you hear them, it will be a revelation. Now when I say hear them you dont literally hear them you hear them in your head. You might not think they are there but they definitely are. Any time you have to do something they are there.

The next stage is switching the voices around.

This can be tricky at first but when you do it once it becomes very easy all the other times and you will see a dramatic difference in your life. Now I know I am being a bit tongue in cheek here but I do mean this. When you switch the voices and use the SOYA voice for the GOYA voice i.e. MR T voice is now the GOYA voice and Mickey Mouse on Helium is the SOYA voice you will see an amazing difference in your productivity, you exercise routine, everything you need the GOYA voice for.

Another exercise for today

To try this method out try hearing the new GOYA voice telling you what to do whenever you are procrastinating about something. Obviously, it doesn't have to be MR Ts voice but you want a commanding voice, have a little fun with it. Eventually the voice will be your won voice and you begin to do tings you have been putting off.