2018 is fast upon us and, like many people, it has me looking at what I can do differently in the year to come. New Year’s Day is often a day in which many people resolve to change a behaviour or make changes to improve their lives.
Resolutions are generally difficult for me because I ask myself to make drastic changes – a recipe for failure. What if, instead of making resolutions, I change my outlook?
Neil Pasricha wrote a book titled ‘The Book of Awesome (you can borrow this from the Burnaby Public Library),’ where he recommends a simple system for staying happy. Instead of focusing on money, personal comfort, or success as my resolutions, he argues that I should take a piece of paper and write down three things:
- what I am grateful for
- what I will focus on, and
- what I will let go worrying about.
Examples might be, I am grateful for the artwork my daughter did for me. I will focus on running three times a week. I will let go of worrying about finding the perfect job. Just for this day. If I miss a day, I shouldn’t sweat it, but I should try again the next day.
This exercise is about taking “simple steps to prime [my]self for productivity, accomplishing something, and feeling good about it. I [should] jot down five things I’m grateful for every day.”
In addition to the above, I am going to spend time setting some intentions for the year to come. I want to draw a map of where I wish to go to bring this to the forefront of my consciousness. I will make about 10 cards, write down my intentions on them, and then put them away for the year. At the end of 2018, I will pull these cards out and see how many of them I have managed to do.
Dr. Wayne W. Dyer has researched intention as a force in the universe. He has written a book titled ‘The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-create your World your Way,’ in which he explores intention—not as something you do—but as an energy you’re a part of (also available at the Burnaby Public Library).
Here’s wishing you a very happy and prosperous and well intentioned 2018.