Monday, January 4, 2010

New Year's Resolution - Some Like 'Em, Some Dont

New Year’s Resolutions, some like them some don’t. Personally, I like them. I’ve always been a person who needs a plan for my plan of action. This is important for me especially when it comes to life changing decisions. A life changing decision means an action that will impact your life in a new way to create new results. After all why would we want to put energy into something that will create the same results? Creating DIFFERENT results is the goal.

Let’s break it down. The ”resolution” is the decision to create an action. The action requires a plan. The plan of action is the means to that goal. When you take the time to plan, you create the energy at many levels. In new thought science, or the law of attraction, it is believed that the intention is what begins the movement toward the action and that the action is the manifestation of the thought. The manifestation is the tangible or the measurable goal. The resolution may start with big actions or small actions. Some peoples’ personality is to jump right in with a big action once they decide something, while others need small steps that lead to the main action. But whether you like to jump in with both feet or if you prefer baby steps, having a starting point is the most important and a significant motivator of when to actually make the jump. This is where the “new year” comes in.



In the book Getting Things Done by David Allen he introduces the horizontal and vertical concepts to planning or “action management”. Simply put, horizontal planning is the idea and all the components that need to come together to reach the desired goal. Vertical planning is the focused action steps required to start. One is the idea and the other is the action. The idea carries feelings of excitement and motivation-it’s an abstract concept of something that is desired. The action steps carry feelings of dedication and responsibility. Both require motivation. And, what is more motivating as a starting time line than a significant date in your life?

These specific dates carry a lot of motivating energy. For example, you are always aware of them and many times they create a feeling of change and you think to yourself "I Need To Do Something Different". For me, it keeps procrastination to the minimum. So whether it’s a new- year, a birthday or the beginning of a new season, just pick the date and start. Start with a 3 week commitment outline on how, when, and where you will begin. For example, say you are intending to make changes with a dietary or an exercise program, in 3 weeks you create changes physically, mentally and emotionally. Physically you change your blood quality to become more oxygenated and alkaline for better cellular and immune support. Mentally you increase blood and oxygen flow to the brain for clarity of thinking. Emotionally you increase the dopamine and serotonin levels which are the feel good chemical hormones that support the feeling of well being. This is an example of taking small steps to achieve a better long term result. Is it worth the effort? ….heck yeah!

One of my significant life changing experiences was when I made the decision to change my nourishment, diet, and the way I viewed food to the macrobiotic concept. I started on my birthday, Jan 8 in 1980. I had my ups and I had my downs, but I did best when I was able to set small goals for myself and not overwhelm myself with unreachable goals. It changed me physically, mentally and emotionally and now 30 years later I live a disease-free, healthy and happy life! And I was able to achieve this through small goals and resolutions. This year’s resolution?..... to increase my yoga practice by 5 extra minutes a day, chew my food 10 extra times and to blog consistently!

Happy 2010!

1 comment:

  1. I like the small changes.......like dropping a stone into a pond, the initial impact is small, but the results of that small impact widen out endlessly. The small change ripples out into your whole life.

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