Are your New Years' Resolutions Doomed - Because of How You MakeThem?

Author: Adam Kayce

Source: articleage.com



New Year's time is upon you again, isn't it? Time to dust
off the New Year's Resolution journal, scribble in a few
well-intentioned resolutions for change, and get going with
2006, right?

Sure - and then when Valentine's Day rolls around, you'll
uncover the journal (hidden beneath some magazines), and decide
to pack it away until next year, along with Frosty the Snowman
and the wrapping paper. And there it will sit, gathering dust,
mold, and rat droppings until this time next year.

Sounds good and productive, doesn't it? (In case you couldn't
hear the sarcasm in that statement... it was there, trust me.)

New Year's Resolutions don't seem to last, do they? In
fact, a recent poll* shows that people are tossing the idea of
New Year's Resolutions in the trash can, from the tune of 88% of
people making resolutions down to 45%*. The reason? They just
don't work.

Au contraire, mon frere - I believe they can work, just not in
the way most people do them.

Remember the colloquial definition of insanity? Doing the same
thing and expecting different results. Well, this is what's
going on, all over the place.

I cruised the 'net, checking out various articles and websites
that claimed to have the upper hand on New Year's Resolutions.
Each one promised a new and more effective way to make
resolutions, so "this time, they'll work." And every one
involved lengthy planning sessions, brainstorming, writing your
goals, getting support, etc. Good ideas? Sure. Gonna work? Doubt
it.

But Einstein doubted it first

Einstein summed it up nicely: "The significant problems we face
today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at
when we created them." So all the goal planning, affirmations,
good intentions, and six-step-processes-to-reach-your-goals are
essentially useless, unless you change your level of thinking.

How to change your level of thinking

Eat gingko? Not exactly. Stand on a ladder? Umm, no. Changing
your level of thinking is about changing the source of your
thoughts. And since your thoughts are reflections of the state
of enlightenment of your heart, you change your thoughts by
opening your heart to greater levels of witnessing of the Divine
Reality.

In other words, rather than make your conclusions about how life
works based on your experience of creation (that's called
"living from your humanity"), make them on your experience of
the Creator (that's "living from your Divinity").

What does this have to do with New Year's Resolutions?

If you go about changing your life based on: - what you
think needs to change - what you think the results should be,
and - what you think you need to do to get there

then you are trying to change your life based on your
life. Trying to get dry using a wet towel. Trying to pull
yourself up by your own shoelaces. And that only works in
cartoons.

Would you rather have a better way to do it?

Rather than make New Year's Resolutions based on what you
think, try making them based on what your heart's intuitive
powers can tell you. And to do that, try this process:

1. Consider the thing you want to change. It can be
anything in your life. And if it's the same thing as your last
year's New Year's Resolution, great. (I mean, sorry - but great,
use it now.)

2. Begin the process I call the Remembrance - remembering the
Name of the Divine (whatever you call it, or however you
conceive of it). Let it expand your heart, still your mind, and
connect you to the Divinity all around you.

3. Ask for a new perspective. Let your expanded heart
hold the thing you want to change, and keep Remembering. Pay
close attention to your feelings, mental imagery, and subtle
sensations that arise in your awareness. Trust what comes!

Example: 1) I want to have a wonderful relationship with
my daughter, Yasmin. She'll be six years old in February, and
she's blossoming in the most amazing ways. I want to make the
most of our relationship.

If it were up to me, I'd probably think of things like, "spend
more time with her", "take her places more often," and "do nice
things for her." Good intentions? Sure. But I've had those
intentions all along, and it's only done so much. Let's see what
happens next.

2) When I started in with the Remembrance, I felt a softness and
compassion come into my heart. I felt a greater connection with
Yasmin, and my heart swelled with joy.

3) What came to me then was, "Make her feel as good about
herself as possible. Make her world wonderful, magical, and
exciting."

Notice that I didn't get directions; I got directives. I
didn't get a map; I got a compass. Rather than dwell on results,
I now have intention, a path to walk. Where we end up is not
really in my hands. But, I do have a course to follow, and that
allows for flexibility, creativity, and change - something that
a static plan can never offer.

Still have that old New Year's Resolution journal lying around?
Well, put it to good use - sit on it while you take a moment to
travel into your heart!

--- * From a random telephone survey conducted by Stephen
Shapiro, president of Goalfree.com, with the assistance of
Opinion Research Corp. of Princeton N.J.