It’s almost New Year’s Resolution time again!

Posted on December 29, 2007 
Filed Under Effective Thinking, Following the Path, Manifestation - Creation, The Law of Attraction, Weight Loss

It’s almost time to make those New Year’s resolutions again.  One of the most well-known facts about New Year’s resolutions is that people simply don’t stick with them and, as a result, they don’t get that which they resolved to get.  What’s the point in making a resolution you know won’t last?  The point of all resolutions — like the point of all prayers — is to "formalize" desires in order to increase our chances of experiencing them in our reality.

But what exactly is a resolution?  It is possible that people are not realizing their resolution simply because they don’t have their minds completely wrapped around the concept of what a resolution is — or what their resolution is.  If you don’t really understand what you want, what you’re doing, or how to best do it, what kind of results do you truly hope to experience?  You can learn how to make — and live — your New Year’s resolutions (no matter what day of the year you make them on).

I believe the definitions for, "Resolution," which best apply in this context, are:  "To find an answer to…;" "To deal with successfully;" and, "To declare or reach a firm decision about."  Of course, it starts with the declarations of our intentions to experience a certain kind of change; and then, perhaps, we reach our resolution and "successfully deal with" that which we wished to change.  Essentially, a New Year’s resolution is our declaration of a specific change we wish to make in our life, and our intention to create it.  It is a prayer, of sorts — perhaps one you wish to create on your own.  As they say, "Declare a thing and it is so;" the best first-step to achieving anything is to make a resolution.

Most of the New Year’s resolutions people make have something to do with breaking old habits — or, changing old behaviors.  "I resolve to quit…," or, "I resolve to lose 25-pounds in time for…"  In other words, most people resolve to change something about their body, or change some of the things their body does with "its" time.  Honestly, if you knew how your body worked, you wouldn’t wait until New Year’s to let it be healthy and happy; and if you don’t know how it works, a resolution isn’t going to generate any real, lasting, positive changes — but it might start you thinking about something different for yourself.  Enough of the right kind of thinking always inspires the right kind of action.

People wait until New Year’s, presumably, to join in the collective energy of millions and millions of people making resolutions on the same day — like a club, or a support group…  Unfortunately, what most of them are doing is joining in an experiment in group failure — for the comfort, or safety, of being a part of a group.  If I wanted something to happen, I wouldn’t go about asking, wishing, praying, or resolving, in the same way most people traditionally go about NOT GETTING what they want.  Failed New Year’s resolutions are a cliche; they are so common, that the term, "New Year’s resolution," has become synonymous with, "Something I don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of accomplishing."

If you’ve been hit in the head with a hammer each and every time you pushed a certain red button, Don’t Push that Button Again.  If your New Year’s resolutions typically fall by the wayside, don’t keep doing what you’ve been doing.  Try and think differently about your resolutions, decisions, declarations, or prayers.  Make a resolution you can keep; and then keep it.  In order to keep it, you’ll need to think about it quite often, and in a certain way.  Most people have casual interests — like fitting into a certain dress, or losing a few pounds, or giving up something they really don’t want to give up — that are so casual they haven’t really thought about them since last New Year’s Day.  These are typically the things they resolve to do — maybe because they know they won’t have to change.  After all, everyone knows New Year’s resolutions are doomed to fail…

A New Year’s resolution is a twist on the, "There’s no time like the present," or, "The best place to start is at the beginning," philosophies — both of which are true.  But, unless you devote mental energy to your resolution, it will fail no matter which day of the year it was made.  Resolve to do something that’s been on your mind for some time, and is likely to stay on your mind.  Resolutions require changes in behavior — those require changes in thinking.  Don’t resolve to do something that you have to REMIND yourself to think about.  Resolve to do something you can’t stop thinking about.  If you have to keep reminding  yourself what you want, you probably don’t really want it too badly.  And, if you do know what you want, you might want to think about it, or pray for it, every day of the year — or until you received it.  If your goal is the acquisition of some thing, this is a good way to start.

Of course, if your resolution is to have a better memory, you might want to write that down and resolve to read it several times each day…  Really.  In fact, write your resolution in the form of an AFFIRMATIVE DECLARATION, and put it someplace where you can read it in the morning and before bed.  The more you write and speak your resolution, the more you are thinking about it — and the more real it becomes.  The whole point of a resolution is to make this "new thing" a part of you and your life; affirmations are an immediate way to start doing that.  Affirmations should be like prayers of thanks for receiving what you want exactly as it should be:  "Thank you for my wonderful new body, and for making it so easy for me to reach and maintain my ideal weight and Divine health!"  If your resolution was something like:  "I resolve to achieve my ideal body weight," then that’s a good affirmation.  There are many possible affirmations for every resolution.

Pay attention to other signs and opportunities to take steps toward your goal or desire.  For instance, if you resolve to be in better shape and play with the kids more, then don’t tell the kids you’re too tired the next time they ask!  Go find out what it’s like to play tired!  Remember when you were a kid?!?  I promise you that you will find ENERGY you didn’t know you had — if you look for it, that is.  Think about it; you don’t wish for a strong, healthy, attractive body so you can sit in a dark room on a couch watching the television and eating the junk your body tells you to eat.  DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT!  In fact, do something kind of like people who already HAVE the same things you RESOLVED to get for yourself.

If you resolved to take control of your health and reclaim your wellness, then you can absolutely do that; but not by complaining about your health to anyone who is kind enough to not walk away when you start talking about your woes.  Talking about problems makes them bigger, not smaller; and healthy people don’t sit around complaining about their health — or dramatizing it.  Do one thing healthy people do; and then do another, until all of your time is filled with the activities of a healthy person and you have no time left for the activities of an ill person.  Start your road to recovery by resolving to speak WELL of yourself; and, if you cannot make yourself believe that you are well, "fake it ’til you make it."  You will become what you think yourself to be.  Speak well of your self and your health — until you believe it.  Only then will it be so.

The truth is, most people simply don’t think about the idea of a resolution, or what it means; they simply "make ‘em and break ‘em."  The next few posts will be about "Secrets for Turning Resolutions into Reality;" but these "secrets" aren’t really secrets, and they aren’t just for New Year’s Day.  The more you change the way you think, the more your life will change as a result.  If you are experiencing things you truly want to change, then you truly need a new way of thinking about those things you wish to change.  Stay tuned for some simple and effective ways to create the change you seek — in your mind, body, and life.

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