Create Your Year the Way You Would Like
It’s a New Year.
For many this signifies new beginnings, an opportunity to start fresh, to resolve to take on a new habit, let go of one that doesn’t serve you or just the hope and promise that this year will be better than the last.
Yet how many of you actually follow through on your new year’s resolutions? How closely does your New Year become what you wish it to be at the beginning? Do you actually accomplish the things you’ve desired for that year?
As I went about visioning and intention setting for this new year, I had a realization. Not only do I need to have a clear vision of what I desire in my life and to believe that it IS possible, but I also need to align my choices and my actions to support moving me toward that vision. If I want to reach my visions, then my attitudes, choices and behaviors need to change. I need to evaluate everything in my life in terms of whether or not it is moving me toward my visions and be willing to adjust or let go of anything that isn’t. And not just with a new-year’s resolution, but consistently and continually.
So here’s what I did. I found it incredibly insightful and clarifying for me and I hope it will be for you too.
Line up your life with your vision of how you would like it to be
1. On sheet of paper write, “What I would like in 2014”
Then make a list of what you would like your life to look like in 2014. Really be honest with yourself. If you would like to be making a certain amount of money, if you would like a new relationship, if you want more peace, if you want to “get in shape” put that on your list… picture the fulfilling life you desire to have, the life that your heart calls you toward.
2. Take a second piece of paper and write on it: What do I need to change in my life in order for this to be my reality?
Write everything that needs to change if you are to have what you would like in 2014. Really think about what is happening in your life, how you spend your time, what you do, what habits you have, who you surround yourself with. Is what you’re doing really going to get you where you’d like to be going, is it supporting your dreams and visions? If you keep doing what you are doing, what is the likely result?
There’s a reason they say “Insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.”
It could be helpful to create categories to work with. Below are some that I identified with a few questions to guide you. You could also look at areas of your life- work, health, relationship, community etc. or group it based on each item from your “what I want my life to look like” list
Behaviors– What behaviors do I need to adjust or change to create the life I desire? How is what I’m doing now contributing to or detracting from having what I want? In a given day, how do I spend my time, what am I doing or not doing to support my goals?
Beliefs and attitudes– What beliefs and attitudes to I currently hold and how are they affecting my ability to create the life I want? What would I need to shift or change?
Activities and conditions- What areas of my life need adjustment? How do the activities I participate in support me in getting where I wan to go? What needs to change? This could include work- maybe it’s time to look for a better paying or more rewarding job- social activities, moving, changing how you spend your time, getting training or education, etc.
People and relationships- Who are the people in your life? What kinds of relationships do you have with them? Do they increase or drain your energy, do they uplift you and give you greater confidence? Are they truly helping you have the life you desire? Are there relationships or ways of relating that are holding you back? What would take to change them? Are there people in your life that it’s time to let go of or relate to in a different way?
3. On a third sheet list what resources, support, information, action, knowledge etc, you need to make these shifts.
Who can you call on, who can help you, what can you put into place to make these shifts? What steps do you know you can take now to move you toward your goal? Here’s where you might put the concrete actions steps you plan on taking- the “New year’s resolutions” except, make them clear, specific and doable. Instead of eat better, or be healthy, say, “Sign up for nutrition classes” or “ go to yoga twice a week”Write any other insights, ideas, action or awareness you have about creating your life.
I’ve heard it said that Transcontinental flights are off course 90% of the time. But they still reach their destination. The key purpose of this exercise is not so much about making an action-plan, but about knowing where you want to be going, seeing where you are and continually adjusting course to reach your destination.
4. I highly recommend doing weekly check-ins with yourself. Pick a regular day of the week to sit with what you’ve written and to ask yourself these questions.
- What is my vision and goals?
- What do I want to create in my life
- How is what I’m doing or choosing contributing to or taking away from that?
- What needs to change to keep me on track for my destination?
Then write down the ideas and changes you plan on making and how you will implement them.
May this be a year of speedy arrival at your chosen destinations.
Happy New Year! And may it feel refreshingly new and different.
PLEASE SHARE COMMENTS, THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS BELOW!
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