This fresh and snowy beginning often sees us running headlong into new resolutions, desires and dreams, but if we're not careful, we can end up right back where we started before January is even finished.
Look around you. The media is full of celebrities, health experts and life coaches telling you how to begin the new year, new diet, new exercise. It's easy to get drawn into something, investing time, energy and money only to find it doesn't suit you - not because it's no good, but because it's not doing what you really need - it's either not good for you, or you are not good for it.
So, to begin the new year with grace, it's important to set realistic goals.
Get inside your own body, your own mind, your own soul and decide for yourself what you really need. What you want may be different to what you need, so take some time to meditate, get in tune with your inner being, and understand your unique needs and priorities.
And be exact. For instance, wanting a new health regime is fairly broad, so break it down.
You may need:
smoke free lungs? to recover from cancer? to reduce your weight? to strengthen your bones? to repair your kidneys?
You may want:
a toned body? stronger muscles? to be flexible and bendy? to run a marathon? to experience reflexology? to grow your nails and soften your hair?
The list is endless, but it may be one or two simple, but critical, things like drinking more water or reducing caffeine.
By withdrawing from the external world and listening to that quiet voice inside you, you'll understand what is right for you. Then, step by step, if you follow the guidance offered by that inner voice, you'll see your desire become manifest and, hey presto! your need or want has come to fruition.
If this sounds easy, that's because it is.
The hard part comes as we talk ourselves out of doing what we know is right for us. Each of us has spent a life time acquiring and developing bad habits and negative thought patterns. We often set ourselves up for failure because that's what we're used to and therefore what we expect. So once we have meditated, listened and understood our needs, we then work out a strategy to fulfill them.
How to break a mental habit?
1. Accept responsibility for ourselves
2. Accept that we make or break, and can therefore, change ourselves
3. Notice our thoughts - are they focused on lack rather than wants?
- I have a fat body is negative, but I want a healthy, thin body is positive.
- I smoke too much is negative, but I want to be smoke free is positive.
- I'm too old to try yoga is negative, but yoga is good for all ages is positive.
5. Over time you will notice that you attract to yourself the exact thing you are thinking - pleasant or unpleasant.
It is The Universal Law of Attraction: We can change our lives by changing our thinking.
So, by watching our thinking we can alter our mental patterns and really make long term, sustainable change in our lives, this new year, throughout the year, and every year.
For more information on altering your changing thought processes and achieving success in all areas of life, check out these websites, and good luck in 2010:
Abraham-Hicks
The Law of Attraction
Zen Habits
The Secret