The Final 8th: Enlist Your Inner Selves to Accomplish Your Goals

Stuck. It's a miserable way to feel and a lousy place to be. The misery is amplified when a cherished goal -- whether breaking a bad habit or building a business, finding a mate or finishing a degree -- is within sight. Bridgit Dengel Gaspard coined the term "the final 8th" to describe a phenomenon she experienced herself and found in many clients: talented, energetic, motivated men and women who had accomplished many steps toward a goal (7/8 of it) but stalled "in front of their finish line, for no good reason." Practical tips and pep talks don't work here because the problem -- and the solution -- is deeper. While the conscious, everyday self says, "I want this," inner selves worry that they aren't really good enough, that someone will disapprove, that succeeding will put them in some kind of danger. Trying to forge ahead without acknowledging these voices is pointless. But, as Gaspard shows, it is possible to unearth and understand these voices, "talk" to them, and make them allies. Liberating these "wise counselors and canny advisers" creates a fundamentally recalibrated sense of self and a previously untapped squad of coaches equipped to help readers cross the finish line.

Bridgit Dengel Gaspard, LCSW, studied psychology and social work at Columbia University after years spent acting and doing improv. She has taught in numerous professional settings including the Omega Institute and lives in New York City. Drs. Hal and Sidra Stone developed the Voice Dialogue work and live in Albion, California.