by Janine Jozwiak
The word “Resolution” comes from the Latin “resolvere,” which means, “to loosen, release.”
I don’t really believe in New Year’s Resolutions. I think it allows you to think that there is only one special day when you can make changes in your life. I believe every day is a potential New Year’s day — whatever particular day of the year it is, you can resolve or commit to change. Any day is a time you can turn over a new leaf and “release” yourself from your current state of life, health, spirituality, wealth, relationships or whatever area of life you deem fit for a change.
I use the Wheel of Life as a tool to periodically to check in to see where I would rate myself on each of the key areas of life. You can check it out here and give it a try. If I see something that I don’t like or that is slipping, I take some quiet time to evaluate the situation. What is happening now? If it was higher before, what happened to push my rating down? What can I do to change the situation and improve it?
Then I put together an action plan. I create clear, concise, measurable steps that I’m going to take to improve the situation. I make sure I put both short and long term steps in place to achieve the goal. I make a guesstimate as to how long I think it will take before I start to see improvement. That guesstimate gives me some guidance as to when I am going to reevaluate using the Wheel of Life in the future. It’s a simple, but effective way to self-assess.
Now, I don’t just put away the Wheel of Life and forget about it. It remains something I review daily and take action with the help of a vision board. Do you remember the commercial a while back, “Is it real or is it Memorex?” Well, your subconscious mind is just like the Memorex tape.
Brain cells are where you store mental pictures or images and we need to use those mental pictures to reinforce the things we want to create and the vibrations we want to live our life in. Remember: Energy flows where attention goes.
The subconscious mind can’t differentiate between the real and the imagined. It must accept any image. Why not surround yourself with your “imagineered” reality? This is why I use a Vision Board, essentially a way of creating your dream life visually so it is more likely to manifest in reality.
Our thoughts and minds are extremely powerful. Whatever we focus on affects parts of our brains, specifically the reticular cortex and the reticular activating system. They are like heat seeking missiles: Whatever you focus on becomes a target in your brain; your unconscious mind.
Unconsciously, we are scanning for data to find the things we are focused on. This is why clarity on what you want is so important. Let’s say you want to own a red sports car and you visualize it sitting in your driveway. If you aren’t clear on your vision, you may just have a friend stop by with his red sports car rather than owning one yourself!
If you are crystal clear on what you want, you usually will achieve it. Again, the key is to be crystal clear — spend some time thinking about what that is rather than merely going through the motions in your everyday life. Everyone can do this, however, it seems we usually reserve this capacity for a problem or crisis. Instead of waiting until a crisis to fine-tune our thoughts with laser accuracy, work on honing this skill in the day-to-day.
The Vision Board helps me stay on point to move myself toward the vision I have created.
Sometimes things don’t go along as planned. Life happens. If I’m really off-course I may just start a “new” New Year for that area of my life and repeat the entire cycle. If I’m not totally off-course, I will evaluate the situation and determine what I can do to bring things back on track, adjust the plan and move forward.
I do like to make resolutions about what I “won’t” do. Like for example, this year I won’t stay up past 10:15pm, I won’t look at the computer or my phone past 8:30 pm and won’t look at email or any electronic device before I complete my morning routine. I will work on these and when I feel like I have them under my belt, I will determine whether I should add other “won’t” resolutions that help support my action plan.
The ultimate question I always ask myself is this: “If today was my last day on earth, would I be happy with the life I lead? Did I live life to it’s fullest, did I make a difference and, ultimately, did my life have value?” That difference or value doesn’t have to be to the level of Mother Theresa. I believe that if I made someone else’s life, whether human or animal, better because of my presence on this earth, then my life has had value. Answer these for yourself and you won’t need a trite or temporary New Year’s Resolution. Your life will speak for itself.
In health,
Janine
Our thoughts and minds are extremely powerful. Whatever we focus on affects parts of our brains, specifically the reticular cortex and the reticular activating system. They are like heat seeking missiles: Whatever you focus on becomes a target in your brain; your unconscious mind.
Unconsciously, we are scanning for data to find the things we are focused on. This is why clarity on what you want is so important. Let’s say you want to own a red sports car and you visualize it sitting in your driveway. If you aren’t clear on your vision, you may just have a friend stop by with his red sports car rather than owning one yourself!
If you are crystal clear on what you want, you usually will achieve it. Again, the key is to be crystal clear — spend some time thinking about what that is rather than merely going through the motions in your everyday life. Everyone can do this, however, it seems we usually reserve this capacity for a problem or crisis. Instead of waiting until a crisis to fine-tune our thoughts with laser accuracy, work on honing this skill in the day-to-day.
The Vision Board helps me stay on point to move myself toward the vision I have created.
Sometimes things don’t go along as planned. Life happens. If I’m really off-course I may just start a “new” New Year for that area of my life and repeat the entire cycle. If I’m not totally off-course, I will evaluate the situation and determine what I can do to bring things back on track, adjust the plan and move forward.
I do like to make resolutions about what I “won’t” do. Like for example, this year I won’t stay up past 10:15pm, I won’t look at the computer or my phone past 8:30 pm and won’t look at email or any electronic device before I complete my morning routine. I will work on these and when I feel like I have them under my belt, I will determine whether I should add other “won’t” resolutions that help support my action plan.
The ultimate question I always ask myself is this: “If today was my last day on earth, would I be happy with the life I lead? Did I live life to it’s fullest, did I make a difference and, ultimately, did my life have value?” That difference or value doesn’t have to be to the level of Mother Theresa. I believe that if I made someone else’s life, whether human or animal, better because of my presence on this earth, then my life has had value. Answer these for yourself and you won’t need a trite or temporary New Year’s Resolution. Your life will speak for itself.
In health,
Janine