Happy New Year!
I hope you’ve been enjoying your vacation and appreciating your family and friends. I sure have.
The selection of the starting point of a calendar year is a cultural one, as evidenced by the different days of the new year celebrated around the world. However, I still like to take time and reflect on what I learned, how I changed and what I am glad to see end. We live in amazingly fast times, and even though the mark of the new year is an artificially set date it is valuable to take time out and pause, reflect and appreciate.
A big part of the coming of the new year is deciding how you would like to change aspects of your life. Many people attempt to make changes by creating New Year’s resolutions. Some popular ones that millions of Americans will choose this year (and have probably done so for decades) are:
1. I will lose weight (or I will go on a diet).
2. I will exercise more. (Sometimes this looks like , ” I will join a gym.”)
3. I will stop procrastinating.
I believe we do create our own lives. I am a big proponent of creating the life you want to live. However, many people don’t have the tools to do that consciously and thus create by default. There are a variety of tools to support people in creating the lives they would like to live that are becoming increasingly more well known. New Year’s resolutions is not one of them! In fact, most people state New Year’s resolutions and don’t manage to follow through, then they go into blaming and self loathing, which usually compounds the original problem.
So how do you change your life? Here are a few easy tools that you can use:
1. Focus on the Positive
If you’re focusing on what’s wrong, like being too heavy, then you are drawing your attention to “too heavy” and that’s more of what you’re likely to see. Some people call this the Law of Attraction. Basically, the Law of Attraction states what you give your attention to you draw more of to your experience. I like to think of it as the lens that you see the world through. For example, if you think people are basically nice, you continually find data to support your point of view. If you think you are bad at math, then every time you make a mistake (and I’ve made thousands in math), then you say to yourself, “Look. See how stupid I am. See how bad I am at math,” and with your negative focus you make it more real. When you have that belief, you don’t notice all of the times you do things right.
How do you create your life consciously and with intention? Start envisioning yourself being the type of person you’d like to be: kind, healthy, fit, great at math. Maybe saying, “I’m great at math” or “I’m thin” doesn’t quite feel truthful to you yet. Is there something that you can think of that will get you closer to that feeling and reality? Maybe you can say, “I am getting better at math every day” or “I’m getting healthier daily.” Experience how great if feels in your body being this new way. Just creating the sensation of how that feels begins to make it real.
2. Chunk up the Year into Manageable Parts
Instead of committing to something for the whole year, do it for 30 or 40 days. Make a commitment that you can be successful at achieving.
Self-defeating: I will run 2 miles every day.
If you haven’t exercised all year this is fabulous, but probably not the first step. Start with a smaller more achievable target.
Great chance of success: For 30 days, I will get on my sweats and go outside for at least 20 minutes on a route that I would like to run.
Chances are after a few days of getting dressed to run. You’ll probably actually start to do it. Even if you don’t, you’ll have taken a nice hike, which is healthy too. 
Self-defeating: I’m going to stop procrastinating.
A statement like this may be too vague or too big. Instead find a specific action you can do that will head you in a better direction.
Great chance for success: I’ll sit down for 20-min. at 4 o’clock and do a little bit of homework.
You don’t have to do it all now. Just a little. If nothing else, you’ll be able to get to sleep 20 minutes earlier at night.
Self-defeating: I’m going to lose 10 pounds.
Don’t focus on the weight, focus on a healthful habit that you are willing to do for a month or so.
Great chance for success: I am going to eat a piece of fruit at lunch.
OR I am going to eat a salad at dinner.
After the 30 to 40 days, access if the new habit worked for you. If it did, extend the habit for another 30 or even 60 days. If not, go back to the old way or try something else on to see how that feels.
3. Who are You?
Make a list of the qualities that you would like to embody. Who do you wish to be? How do wish to show up in the world? What qualities do you want to bring to your relationships, school and activities? What contributions would you like to make? Then feel how great that would be.
The fastest way to create a new habit or new way of being is to feel it in your body as if it was already fully true. From time to time look at this list, feel how magnificent you truly are and how much you have to offer the world.
4. Be Mindful of your Language – Take a Vacation from Negative Speech & Thought
We create thoughts, patterns and our reality with our words. Be thoughtful about how you speak to others and yourself. Take a vacation form complaining and negative thought. Whenever you hear yourself make a judgement about yourself or someone else, notice it and let it go. Every moment is a new moment. There is no need to judge yourself or anyone else. When you hear yourself going into judgement, send a thought of gratitude to yourself for noticing and to the other person. So relax. Take a vacation from complaining and judgement for 30 days. I’d love to hear about your trip.
My First 30 Days of 2007
I am instituting a new health plan of miso with greens before breakfast to support the liver and dry brushing before I shower, which helps exfoliate dead skin, increases circulation and supports the lymphatic system.
Who am I?
I am kind and thoughtful in all of the interactions I have with others.
I am mindful of the ecological footprint I leave on this planet. I continue to find ways that I can leave a smaller footprint and I help others find their own path.
I create engaging educational material that students enjoy doing. It helps them to learn the math concepts while exploring their own values and their relation to the world and others.
I gracefully handle all situations.
I am fulfilling my life destiny.
I’d love to hear what you’d like to create with your life. Feel free to share any 30 or 40 day plans that you’ve chosen.
Wishing you a wonderful year. May all that you dream and desire to create become true – quickly.
