We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through our lives, room by room… not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman
New Years Resolutions
I used to make New Year’s resolutions every year without fail. And every year, I’d fail to keep any of the resolutions I’d made. It really was a vicious cycle. And it left me feeling as if I couldn’t accomplish anything.
Then one year I decided I’d make one final resolution and if I didn’t keep that one that was it. To my surprise, I actually kept this one resolution. And since then I make the same resolution each New Year’s eve.
And as this New Year approaches, I’d like you to join me in making this one resolution. It’s only one and it’s an easy one to keep. Here goes…in 2010 resolve to do only one thing….to begin living the life you desire. That’s it, that’s the one resolution.
If you’re not completely satisfied with your life as it is, then make the choice in 2010 to change it. Only you can choose to change your life. No one else can make those choices for you.
Remember the old saying the only constant is change. Change doesn’t have to be scary and change doesn’t have to be hard. Over the next several posts, I’ll give you my plan to help you begin to live the life you desire.
Start Now
Today is January 30. Don’t wait to begin. One of the critical components to making this happen is acting now. Right now, today make the choice that you will embrace the change, no matter what it brings. That’s it. Just resolve yourself to embracing change.
If between now and midnight tomorrow night you can do these three little things you’ll be well on your way to changing your life in 2010.
First, make the decision that you’re going to begin living the life you desire in the New Year. It’s not necessary to know exactly what you want your new life to be. That will come with time. All you need to know right now is that you choose something different than you already have.
Spend the next day or so taking it slowly. When you think, next year I’m going to begin living the life I desire stop and pay close attention to how that feels. You should feel that little butterfly feeling a sense of excitement as well as a sense of calm all rolled into one.
Depending on where you are on your journey, this may feel like the most natural or unnatural feeling you’ve ever had. Don’t let it overwhelm you. Realize that changing a lifetime of bad habits isn’t going to happen over night.
Secondly, choose to embrace change, no matter what it brings. Anticipate the unknown, look forward to learning new things about yourself. You should be excited and a bit apprehensive, that’s only normal. But if you feel real fear…then you aren’t ready for the change. It is very important to understand just how you feel.
Lastly, understand and accept that there is no instant gratification in this process. It is a journey and however long your journey takes is completely up to you. You’re in the driver’s seat. Either you’re listening to your iGPS (Internal Guidance Prescience Source) or you’re not.
If you’re listening and staying on course, it’ll be a very short ride. It won’t take nearly as long to undo the bad habits as it did to develop them in the first place.
However, if you think you already know where you’re headed and refuse to take direction, then it could be a very long journey and one where you may never reach your destination.
So as you say a toast to the New Year also say a toast to a new life. And, let 2010 be the year you finally keep just one little resolution.
