| Hi beautiful,
Setting New Year Resolutions is a nice tradition, but beyond tradition, why do we do it?
What's it rooted in?
There's a deep natural yearning we have within us to make ourselves better (to heal) & to improve our lives (to create).
As you're probably aware already...
I believe our needs to heal & to create are fundamental to the soul.
Did you set resolutions this year to improve an aspect of your life?
Maybe, today in this short note, I can help you move beyond "new year resolutions" to creating lasting change in your life.
I get it. Deciding that you want something & then, having the courage & the confidence & tenacity to go after it, is not easy.
Think about it, most adults don't even make a resolution anymore because they made them for years & years and "they know" they are not going to follow through. They've given up on themselves.
How do "they know" they're not going to follow through?
1. SELF EVIDENCE
They're focusing on the past. How are you ever going to create something new & different for your life when you keep repeating the past & looking at the evidence of the past.
If the prominent EVIDENCE in your life demonstrates that you've given up on yourself...
2. START WITH ONE PERSONALLY IMPORTANT TASK
Begin a 30 day or 90 day commitment to yourself & keep it to yourself until you've completed it.
Here's a few examples of this in my life. When I first began this 7 years ago,
- I wanted to start prioritising my own creativity so I had to commit to journal everyday,
- when I wanted to get comfortable in a bikini I did 104 days of jumping in a glacier lake,
- when I wanted to overcome PTSD of a snowboarding accident, I did 365 days of a handstand every day.
These were all "small" actions that may seem insignificant but way beyond achieving these consistent daily resolutions, doing these commitments every day built a backbone of tenacity & strength within me. Now I trust myself. It doesn't make starting a new commitment & raising my standards less of an effort but I have a confidence within me & the evidence to prove that I can commit, I can follow through, I can trust myself & my word no matter what.
3. Real happiness is [CREATIVITY and CREATIVITY is] PROGRESS.
The only thing that's going to make you happy, the only thing that's going to truly fulfil you (because again, remember, CREATING is fundamental to your soul), is that you consistently, on a regular basis, feel like your life is making progress.
That's why we get this fresh energy, this new start inspiration at the beginning of the new calendar year. We remind ourselves that I can really do what my soul desires, I can grow...
I can improve, I can change, I can CREATE = I CAN PROGRESS.
Progress has an aliveness & alignment to it.
It's deciding you're going to create something & becoming alive by the commitment & staying aligned by your decisions.
So now, let's decide...
4. DECIDE ONE THING OR ONE AREA OF YOUR LIFE YOU WANT TO IMPROVE
This could be your body, personal project, love relationship, sibling relationship, finances, career.
Decide I'm all in. I want to improve _______ & I've got what it takes to improve _____.
5. WHAT'S THE TRUTH OF WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW IN THIS THING/AREA OF YOUR LIFE
This is why & where having a transformative life coach can help you face the things that you'd rather not face. Sometimes it's challenging to look & admit what we're not happy with, BUT they only way to create lasting change here is to call it, accept it, love yourself, forgive yourself, love yourself some more & commit to a new vision, a new ritual & a new standard.
6. NEW RITUALS
What are the current rituals keeping you in that place?
Yup, another uncomfortable truth. There are actions you are taking consistently that are keeping you where you are.
There's something you are eating or not eating, there's some way you are not moving or not doing, there's something you are saying, there's somethings you are doing which are taking from your desires.
Now look at what you want to improve again...
What are the rituals that will ensure that you achieve it? A ritual is an action you do consistently. Do the right action consistently, you'll progress.
7. NEW VISION
You've got to have a VISION for what you really, truly want
NOT WHAT YOU SHOULD DO... I should stop eating sugar, I should stop stop smoking, I should... problem with "I should" is that it's not reminding what you're going to get (the outcomes), it's just reinstating what you don't want to do but feel obliged to do.
Vision is what you are HERE TO CREATE IN YOUR LIFE FOR YOU.
A vision is something that really excites you,
it's your YESSSSS.
A VISION PULLS you towards it.
NOT the vision that PUSHES you to do something (that would be should).
Pull is attracting, it's magnetic, it's imaginative, it's inspiring, it's motivating
it's that the idea of living it ignites a passion in you to go the distance.
The feeling of living it drives you to take the steps to take you to the next level.
8. SET A NEW HIGHER STANDARD
For lasting change, you have to RAISE YOUR STANDARDS.
You may not always get your goals, BUT you will always get your standards.
Everyone in life, gets their MUSTS.
Again most people have a list of "shoulds"...
should respond to email, should get up earlier, should be more confident, should lose weight, should do yoga everyday.
When we make it a MUST,
we attach ourselves to it,
the MUST becomes part of our identity.
Think about these identities for a moment... "I'm an athlete, an yogi, a smoker, an activist" you can already imagine the rituals for the identities in this person's life.
The rituals of "an athlete" are going to be different to that of "a smoker".
How do you want to define yourself? What's the standard of that identity?
Most adults are creating in their life from standards & choices they made ten, twenty years ago.
Who even set your glass ceiling? Was it you you, your parents, your peers, your degree, your career?
Are you ready now to identity yourself in a new way?
Change is automatic when you're INTENTIONaL WITH YOUR CREATIVITY.
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