Resolutions Made Easy

I love the New Year because I see it as a time of new possibilities and excitement. Most of us are thinking of all the things we want to do in the New Year because we want to add new things to our lives to enrich ourselves. Instead, why not start 2011 with making some space for yourself by deciding what you are going to stopdoing and what you will removefrom your life this year?

I’m not talking about breaking a bad habit or letting go of something that has been tormenting you all year. While these are great objectives for the New Year, they take energy to accomplish. What I am suggesting will free up your energy so you can put it into new habits you want to develop. Specifically, I encourage you to take an inventory of your life and see if there are things you have in your routine that no longer serve a good purpose.

There are many habits that we develop because they are good for us and bring us benefits. They serve us while we are growing and we evolve. But evolution also means changes in our needs and over time, some of these habits become less and less beneficial. We notice that things which used to inspire and energize us has turned into a chore. Our enthusiasm and vigour diminishes and the benefits wane. This is a sign that it is time to move on. We may not know to what, but creating the space for something new will show us the way.

Other times there are parts of our routine that we have always done without question. Again, it may have been critical to our lives at some point before it became so automatic that we never questioned it. Rituals like this can take time and energy without us even knowing. The space these things occupy keeps new, exciting and wonderful things from being able to enter our lives. We want to make some room!

Honestly, most people do not even know what they do with their time. A good way to find out is to record every single thing you do from the minute you wake until you go back to sleep for an entire week. Look at the things occupying the bulk of your free time. Are they the things you really want to be doing?

A clean-up like this is a great way to truly start the New Year with a clean slate. It creates the space that attracts possibilities and lets synchronicity bring the right person or activity into your life. You don’t need to know what you want to do next. Just know that you want to grow. The perfect new thing will show up because you made room for it.

So while everyone is trying to cram one more thing into their busy schedules, why not try something different this year and take something out. They’ll be struggling to spread their limited energy over more activities, while you’ll be liberating energy for something fantastic and new. Which one sounds more sustainable? Taking something off your plate could be the easiest and most fulfilling resolution you make!

I wish you all a wonderful Holiday Season and an incredibly inspired New Year of health, happiness and growth.

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