Don't Make New Year Resolutions, Instead Set A Life Plan

Every year it is the same, we all want to forget the missed opportunities, mistakes and unfulfilled plans of last year. We want to start the new year as a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed confident and motivated person. We are full of high hopes for making this year THE year when we finally get to achieve all of our goals. 

We WILL go to the gym every week.
We WILL lose those pounds and stop eating sugar.
We WILL stand up to the person who makes us feel small.
We WILL change our job...move house...tidy up the loft...revamp the garden...and the list goes on.

But...ask yourself this? What inside YOU has fundamentally changed from this time last year to enable you to do all those things?

Because if you have not changed your inner landscape, you will not be able to change your outer landscape to your satisfaction.

Where is the drive to do all those things coming from? Is it coming from your restless mind which seeks endlessly to find peace and contentment, or from a real desire to nurture yourself and be the very best version of yourself that you can be?

We are so busy 'doing' that we leave very little time for just 'being'. Yet it is in that very place of 'being' that we start to realise what we really need to feel content.

'what we focus on becomes our story, and the stories we tell ourselves become our life'                                                                                                                                                Tamara Star

What direction is your life going in?

I invite you this New Year to do something different. Instead of making New Year resolutions, set the intention to create a Life Plan. The Life Plan consists of 3 parts and so I would like to share these with you to help you get started:

Soul Planning

You incarnated into your current body having chosen a specific lifepath and your soul is always reminding you of what that is. Synchronicity is the guidance system and passion is the confirmation that you are on the right track. Pay attention to what fires your soul and what makes you feel alive.

• Are you including enough of those experiences in your life?
• What is the percentage of contentment that you feel about your life in general?
• Do you have a deep feeling of rightness and purpose?

Examine your choices in the past and notice whether they have led you to feel fulfilled or trapped and disappointed. When something shows up in your life two or more times, that is an indication that you need to pay attention. We attract the experiences we need into our lives and if you are seeing a pattern of information showing up then that is the theme of what you are attracting in. Our tendency is to rush through our lives and not take time to smell the flowers and so we miss a lot of our own inner guidance. When we do not pay attention to what is going on inside of us, we are in danger of taking a turning which is not in alignment with our true purpose. This can lead to stagnation, anxiety, depression and unfulfilment. Set an intention to regularly check in with yourself about how you feel about your life and make the changes which you are drawn to, not the ones your think you should make.

Heart Planning

Your heart knows that you are an infinite being who is already perfect in every way and that nothing that happens is a mistake or co-incidence. It also knows that love is the only real power. It knows that within love lies contentment, peace, joy and fulfilment. 

• How much are you nurturing your heart?
• Are you allowing it to give and receive love every day?
• Are you doing the things that make your heart sing or are you going against its wisdom and choosing ways of living because everyone else is doing that?
• Are you doing what makes you happy or what makes others happy? 

Most of us do not listen to our hearts because we have been taught that we need to use our heads and our minds. The problem with that is that our minds only have one primary job and that is our survival. Our minds do not encourage taking risks or going outside of our comfort zones. This is why it is so difficult to keep New Years resolutions. There is a constant battle going on between what you think you should do and what you know is best for you. If you had listened to what is best for you, you would have already done it. That deep wisdom resides in your heart and not your head. You need to get past the constant mind chatter and connect in with your heart. I have developed a technique called Re-Minding to help you to do just that. Go through the exercise with me and release your heart-voice. It will help you to bring so much more love and joy into your life by making better choices.

Body Planning

In general, how much do we honour our bodies? They are the vehicles which enable us to live and so we need to keep them healthy and happy. Stress has become an epidemic in our societies and it is making us ill. 

• How much attention do you pay to reducing the stress in your life?
• Do you think making a bunch of New Year resolutions which you are already doubting you will achieve will be good for your stress levels?
• Do you experience tension headaches, low energy levels, anxiety or low moods? 

Stress can lead to many emotional and physical symptoms. If you follow your Soul Plan and your Heart Plan you are going to be able to avoid many of the pressures most of us put ourselves under. Stress is a way for your deeper wisdom to break through and indicate that something is misaligned with your own truth. If at the moment you have been ignoring those signs, it is time to start paying attention. If you continue to do so, your stress levels will be likely to build. What we resist, persists. When we make a change in our lives, it needs to come from a place of recognising our deepest needs and then we can flow with those changes. This includes any changes and choices you make for the good of your body. Whether that is a change in diet, more exercise, more fresh air, a change of location, all these decisions need to be made by listening to your inner guidance system.

If you set the intention for your Life Plan, you will find that you will make positive changes naturally because there simply is no other way you wish to be.