Making 2022 New Year's Resolutions Stick
A New Approach to Bringing New Year's Resolutions' into Fruition
The start of the New Year has historically been a time for reflection, visioning, intention setting, and releasing what no longer serves you. Like most, my persistent resolution have been optional fitness, health, wellness, and you guessed it, weight loss. Year after year, the early days of the new year would optimistically start off on the right track.
As the early days evolved into weeks, and months, I eventually found myself losing motivation and falling back into the same inconsistent habits. Next thing I knew, it was April and my resolutions were but a distant memory. I felt many thoughts, feelings, and emotions, mostly disappointment in having yet again fallen short.
Needless to say I wondered why it was so hard to remain steadfast and committed to resolution. With each passing year my faith in New Years Resolutions’ grew less and less until it rivaled that of the mystical genie arriving to grant me three wishes of my choosing. Although it is a well-established fact that most resolutions fall by the waist side, I knew there had to be a better way to usher it into fruition.
Much like mindfulness and meditation practice, the nature of our thoughts, habits, and consistency hold the key to manifesting our desires. Having desires and putting pen to paper to craft intentions, and create vision boards are a good start. However, the real challenge arises when the nature of our thoughts, and habitual thought patterns, repeatedly arise and affirm that the changes you intend are not possible.
There’s nothing worse than the prominent incessant mental chatter compares new thoughts and intentions to every past miss-step. Believing, and internalizing the persistent, annoying, inner voice that threatens to negate your efforts towards change is singularly responsible for decimating resolutions. Here are four ways in which I approaching my 2022 New Year’s Resolutions.
6 New Ways to Approach Your New Year’s Resolutions
1. Be Intentional with Your Practice
Don’t set it and forget it. Our world is filled with distractions. Be it internal or external, there is always something or someone vying for our attention at any given moment. Setting your resolutions is the first step. Write it down, read it aloud, repeatedly. Designate a time each day to read, visualize, and feel into your intentions. Set an alarm on your phone as a reminder to practice. The more frequent the better.
2. Free Yourself from Attaching Time Limits
We all tend to live busy fast paced lives. Fast food, and expedient service, are a few mainstays of our daily routines. When we want to bring something into our experience we tend to be time constraints on its outcome, and if it does not align with our preconceived notion of time, then we view it as a failure. Time is relative, and the Universe does not work according to our concept of time.
When we set intentions, and resolutions, we co-create with the universe to bring it into our experience. This is completely reliant upon us doing the work, and putting our complete trust in the universe to bring it into fruition.
3. Shift Away from Any Thoughts that Negate Your Intentions
We all have full busy lives that are filled with thoughts, feelings, emotions, obligations, responsibilities, and activities that compete for our attention. Understandably, it is easy to revert to old thought patterns, and habits, that previously caused us to abandon our intentions.
Our minds uses our previous experiences to redirect our actions, in an attempt to protect ourselves from fear of the unknown. Thoughts are going to surface that tell you that there is no possible way that your resolutions will work. When they arise, pause, take a deep breath, and redirect your attention to your resolution. Feel, and affirm, your intention, and release the need to control how it will happen.
There are many ways to calm a negative energy without suppressing or fighting it. You recognize it, you smile to it, and you invite something nicer to come up and replace it; you read some inspiring words, you listen to a piece of beautiful music, you go somewhere in nature, or you do some walking meditation.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
4. Release the Need to Control How It will Manifest
Each persons’ individualized path is unique, as no two people are alike. What works for one person doesn’t necessarily mean that it will similarly work the same for you. You can not predict how, or when, it will unfold. Therefore, release the urge to control the the details.
5. Keep the Faith; Don’t Beat Yourself Up
Grant yourself permission to release any attachments to the past. Whether you have previously fallen short when it comes to resolutions, or you have lingering regret, shame, or disappointment, allow yourself to release the ties that bind you. Remember that the start of each day, and subsequent moment is a gift and opportunity for you to begin again.
When it comes to resolutions you will not alway meet the mark everyday. There will be good moments and not so good moments where you find it hard to believe and remain steadfast with your intentions. Don’t let these moments predetermine the outcome of your day. Be gracious with yourself. Whenever you have a misstep simply begin again, as each moment and each new day is an opportunity to begin anew.
6. Have an Attitude of Gratitude
When you look ahead to intentionally bring something new into you experience it easy not see all of your current blessings. Each day take a moment to contemplate a few of the things that you are grateful for. If you encounter any trouble, simply take it back to the basics and start with the breath. The breath, and the beat of your heart is a beautiful reminder of the wondrous gift opportunities that you have begin again.
7. Safeguard Your Intentions
Sharing is caring. But you absolutely do not need to share what you are releasing, intending, or resolving to do in 2022. Setting and releasing intentions for the new year is a sacred practice that you should hold close at hand. Your vision for your life is uniquely suited to your individualized needs. It is not for anyone else to see or believe in what is possible for your growth and enfoldment. No one else is privy to that information unless you selectively choose to share. Hold it near and dear to your heart, and allow your energy and manifestations speak for you.
My highest intent is that this post will inspire you to remain steadfast with your intentions for the New Year. Wishing you all of the love, health, wealth, and happiness, in 2022. Leaving you with a quote to support you to usher in your intentions.
Within the seed of your desire is everything necessary for it to blossom to fulfillment. And Law of Attraction is the engine that does the work. Your work is just to give it a fertile growing place in order to expand.
—Abraham Hicks