Well okay .. if you make New Year’s Resolutions and yours are going well then ..
‘Keep Going you’re doing great – Yay !’
However if you don’t or they’re not .. should you worry and punish yourself ?
Know that resolutions generally ‘don’t work’. Podcasts, radio shows, newspaper articles, infographics and segments of afternoon television shows are dedicated to this.
But why ?
Perhaps it’s the way they are framed .. a check list of ‘should’/’should not’s with little inspiration or motivation behind them. A huge amount of determination is essential to follow through on .. I will …. ‘Lose weight’ .. ‘exercise more’ .. ‘eat less’ .. but what’s the motivation ? What’s going to happen if/when you get there ? Will your life miraculously change for the better ?
….. what happens when we ‘fail’, (around 8o% of New Year’s resolutions fail by February)
For most; a downward spiral. Being unkind and punishing ourselves more.
So what we set out to achieve … to lose weight (do) …. so that we can… increase our self esteem ? (have) and (be)come.. more confident ? .. actually has the opposite effect as we feel pretty useless at not being able to achieve our ‘goals’.
Perhaps what we really need to do is address at the core what we want to ‘BE’ … If we can figure out what we want to ‘be’ everything else (the DO and HAVE) will follow and this is where the real transformation lies.
SO a suggestion for a kinder NEW YEAR’S RITUAL … ?
Choose a word to guide you through your year… eg. Be ‘kind’ , ‘ Nourish’ , ‘Grow’ ‘ Nurture’ .. (that last ones mine but I’d love to share it with you .. indeed 😉🙏❤️..!)
This word reminds you not just of what you want to DO but also of who you want to BE. It doesn’t mean you don’t take action but, more powerfully, your actions are now inspired from the BE level. (Indeed you may take more action than ever)
So instead of eg. thinking about what foods we might ‘restrict’ in order to ‘lose weight’ we become guided by what foods are nourishing, nurturing, help us to grow (in mind, body AND spirit) or kind; both to us as consumers, and to the planet and others, in their production.
What’s more important to us .. losing a pound in weight or knowing that we’ve been kind in the food choices we make and nourishing and nurturing to: our minds, bodies and spirits, and those that we share this planet with ?
Does choosing a word for you .. contain energy along with images and meaning ?
Choosing a word taps into intention: Intention is unfathomably powerful. These are things our hearts and souls can get excited about.
And this is how transformation begins… (Shift happens !)
Racheleyoga 