Sexuality

Developing Your Infrastructure

Last week you learned that words shape attitudes. The words you choose build your own sense of confidence, as well as send a direct, concise message about you to others. This week, you will be learning how to strengthen your own infrastructure to support your sense of self, your goals, and your dreams.

An infrastructure is comparable to the foundation and the beams of a house. All parts of a house are important, but a well-built house requires a strong foundation and external beams to support it. Today, you will be learning about two infrastructures—the internal and the external.

The internal infrastructure is the belief system you have developed in yourself. It comes from personal experiences and messages from others. Do you feed yourself positive thoughts that you are special and unique? Do you have that sense of certainty and assurance that you will succeed and create the life you want?

The second type of infrastructure is developing the external supports—the beams—that will enable you to make positive changes in your life. People benefit most from a strong, supportive family, an encouraging partner, a faith in God, helpful friends, a job that develops their full potential, and outside organizations that promote helping others (e.g. fraternities, sororities, Scouts, Kiwanis, Rotary, etc.).

Is there something in your life you would like to change? Are you ready to fine-tune your infrastructure to get the results you want? You can’t afford to be passive if you want to change something in your life. Changing your life requires a strong sense of self and a plan. Too many people want to change, but don’t create an environment to support it. This leaves them in the waiting stage…waiting for their life to be different, waiting for the right partner to magically show up, waiting for weight loss, waiting for that perfect job, waiting for their kids to mysteriously behave.

Strengthening your infrastructure requires work, but it doesn’t have to be difficult if you chunk it down into manageable pieces. Here’s a surefire plan to get closer to your goals.
• CREATE A GOAL: Get a journal and write down something you would like to change about yourself.
• WRITE BELIEF STATEMENTS: Write down twenty statements to support your belief in yourself.
• DEVELOP AN ACTION PLAN: Write down 15 things you will do to make it happen this month.
• SCHEDULE IT IN: On your family calendar or personal appointment book, write down the days you will accomplish these tasks.

Consider the following example:
GOAL STATEMENT:
I want to go back to school.
BELIEF STATEMENTS:
I can chunk this out one step at a time.
I am a hard worker.
I can do all things I put my mind to.
ACTION PLAN:
I will go online and search for schools that interest me.
I will call the school for an application.
I will call Tom and ask him how he financed his education.
SCHEDULE IT IN:
Go down the list and mark down on the calendar when you will achieve these goals. Use your lunch or break at work and assign 2-3 days per week to pursue these tasks.

When you create the infrastructure, a natural synergy occurs and moves you closer to your goals. The trick is to get into the routine of believing in yourself and creating a plan to support the goal. When you have good infrastructure, amazing things will happen!

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