It’s January. January is when 40-50% of Americans set their goals for the year. Personally, I think if you’ve got a goal to go after, set your intentions and go for it, regardless of what the calendar says, but it’s tradition for so many people… I’ve been seeing posts about people falling off their New Year’s resolutions, and it’s only the 9th of the month! The arbitrary date may mean that the timing is not right for you as an individual, and New Year’s resolutions can also put enough pressure on us that we are setting ourselves up for failure.
I love the Marianne Williamson quote about our fear of really standing in our power:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
On the other hand, as I told a colleague the other day, if your goals aren’t scaring the sh*t out of you, they’re not big enough. But we have to be okay with the idea of slipping up, of making mistakes, and of having to refocus ourselves. Studies find that the people who keep up with their resolutions for 2 years or more average 14 slips or setbacks in that time. But they picked themselves up and kept moving forward. That’s one of the big keys. When you miss a day, or make a mistake, or whatever your negative ego is using to take you out of the game, you have the choice of listening to your ego and giving up, or of learning from the experience and continuing to move forward.
Our society is very focused on instant gratification. We want what we want NOW. Even if we understand that it’s going to take some effort, we’re not very practiced, as a whole, in creating a game plan for reaching our goals. It’s like that Far Side® cartoon with the mathematician at the blackboard, writing out a large equation, and in the middle it says “Then a miracle happens.” Being able to create an effective plan of action, and being able to assess that plan as you move forward, goes a long way towards your chances of reaching the finish line.
If you’re feeling challenged in going after what you want, whether it is in your career, your health, or your personality, I am doing both a workshop on Wednesday the 11th and a guided meditation on Tuesday the 17th. Some people prefer coming at these things from a left brained point of view, and some from the right brain, so I offer both approaches. Join me, and raise your odds of getting what you want out of life.