- 5 ways to resuscitate NYRs already on the wane
- A no-planning alternative to NYRs
- An intuitive visioning approach to NYRs
Barely over the threshold of a spanking New Year, many of us are enacting a tradition we so relish – New Year’s Resolutions (NYRs).
I was reflecting on what is it about New Year’s resolutions that makes them so compelling. Leaving behind disappointments of the previous year, we are ready to anticipate once more the ways our life might be improved and events turn out more to our liking. It’s a ‘wish list’ that holds much promise but already some of us will notice our enthusiasm waning, like a bunch of ripened grapes shrivelling on the vine. We start out with such good intentions but already there are cracks in the pavement.
Before we discard the NYRs that are already on a downward spiral, let’s see what can be done to resuscitate them. If you haven’t written yours yet, you might like to factor these five considerations into your planning.
When it comes to shaping our future with NYRs, we typically use only half our brain.
We use the left-hand side which is dominated by the ego. Here is our rational planner that has a bias for tangible, material goals with a defined start and end point to them. It has less time for airy-fairy NYRs that may cost money and show little tangible return (by its definition).
The other half of our brain, the right-hand side, where our intuition lurks, is ignored. Yet it is the gatekeeper of subtler NYRs and moves we would be advised to make to enjoy a more balanced lifestyle. Our intuition believes these may not only be helpful but necessary and enabling if we are to achieve the loftier, more visible goals set by the left-brain.
The right-brain will vent its silent protest eventually by resisting the NYR’s it never bought into in the first place. As far as it is was concerned this was a left-brain take-over.
We have too many NYRs for them all to be effective, each demanding and competing for our attention.
If you can’t recite the full list without referring to where you’ve written it down, there are too many. While you’re out walking or on the tube, you want to be able to mull these over to keep them uppermost in your mind. But some will disappear off the end if there are too many as you find yourself focusing only on those you can remember.
Having a shorter list of NYRs, with a balance of soft and hard goals, will allow us to feel better about ourselves and we are more likely to achieve them. When we live in the service of our ego exclusively, driven by its wants and desires, we won’t be entirely happy unless we nourish our soul too.
By applying our whole brain to the NYRs decision-making process rather than be bossed around by the ‘voice in the head’ as Eckhart Tolle calls it, we will be happier, less stressed, and more peaceful – and our NYRs last longer.
It’s easier to conjure up a list of NYRs than it is to implement, succeed at and sustain each.
It makes me think of ‘a Dog is for Life and not just for Christmas’ syndrome.
For every NYR on your list, requires time, often money and invariablly additional skills to execute. Have you factored this into your calculations and what you may need to stop doing to make the time for this?
For example, if I task myself to write three, A4 pages of longhand every morning first thing, realistically I will need to go to bed ½ hour earlier. I’ll also need my husband’s agreement not to speak to me until I am finished to permit me this quiet, introspective time. Without addressing these preconditions before hand I am unlikely to succeed.
Consider the impact your NYRs will have on others.
Have you considered this before embarking upon them? When you become focused on manifesting your intentions, how will this rub up against those of your children, your partner, your work – and potentially clash?
Apologies for stating the obvious, but it would be a good idea to discuss your NYRs with them in advance – and to have heard theirs – before committing yours to paper. No man is an island and you’ll each need the other’s support to fulfil your desires. This is another good reason for having fewer NYRs to start with to avoid entering into too many conflicting negotiations, which can take the wind out of your sails. Or if you’ve already decided you don’t care what others think, you might end up living on your own!
Spend too much time focused on future happiness, attention is diverted away from the present moment.
What if we could achieve more, love more, progress faster with breathtaking results by welcoming every day as it comes. To enjoy what we are doing right now. There’s no guarantee life will be easier but it may make it more fulfilling.
If we become overly fixated on our NYRs to the exclusion of all else, it leaves no room for spontaneity, inspiration or variations on a theme to enter our stratosphere. Since we’re the only one driving our particular bus, we’re on our own and it will need a lot of willpower and self-discipline to stay on the road. Encounter a bad day when your willpower wobbles and you could find yourself in the soup, alone. Whereas if you’d also left the door open for the unexpected, you might experience some delightful surprises without you having to engineer them into existence.
No-planning approach to New Year’s Resolutions.
If you are not inclined to write NYRs, here is another way to peer into the crystal ball of 2025. I practice this myself. It’s simple and doesn’t require any forethought to speak of. It correlates with my 6 New Year Intentions (as I call them) – the 6 key areas I’d like to progress during the coming year. And it works alongside my Intuitive Vision Board (IVB).
I start the year with a general awareness of the direction I’d like to go in. This will be greatly informed by my current vision board, although I can’t make all the connections yet; it’s too early. Besides, my IVB isn’t there to give me a literal vision or depict specific goals to be achieved. It is more like an intuitive blueprint with the images on it representing a sea of potential with the invitation to engage with them and follow their flow.
I then use my knowledge as a Feng Shui therapist to create an ambient environment and appropriate culture around me, both within and outside the home. This environment complements, supports and reflects my personal and professional goals. It is also a frequency match to the energy blueprint of my IVB. Since I work from home, the Feng Shui will be applied to my office too.
Each day I focus on two things only – one each of a professional and a personal nature.
These are actions I will take over and above the routine tasks of the day. You might describe these as ‘important but not urgent’. How I decide what next is based on a combination of feeling the time is right, that I have what I need to act upon it, that I know enough, and maybe there’s somebody else involved I believe who can help. I keep going with these two tasks until they are complete. This maybe in 10 minutes or it may take me several weeks. But having only one of each to focus upon at a time avoids me splintering my attention and becoming stressed.
I don’t wait for the perfect moment to begin nor wait until I receive verification it’s the ‘right’ thing to be doing.
It’s not necessary to have sight of the finishing line before commencing. I set off with absolute trust that what I am doing is right for now. And that the next step will miraculously appear when I am ready for it. It’s more like meandering with purpose rather than marching to a destination.
How do I know if I’m on the right track?
By gauging how much satisfaction my actions are bringing me; on balance, do they increase my libido and get my creative juices going or are they sucking the lifeblood out of me and leaving me dry. If the former is true I continue. If the latter is true, I find something else to do or get nudged onto another parallel track.
I try to remember that my focus should not be on what I stand to gain in the future but motivated by how much pleasure I’m enjoying today.
When I am enjoying the ‘now’ this is a sure sign I am connected to a force greater than myself and in touch with something fundamental to my sense of purpose and well-being. So I’m won’t be about to switch channels just because my ego has a better idea – or other people’s egos think they know better for me!
Intuitive alternative to New Year’s resolutions
If you’re still feeling becalmed and at sea by the prospect of the New Year ahead don’t stress over it further. Give your left-brain a rest and engage the ‘active imagination’ (Carl Jung’s term) of your right-brain and let your intuition guide you in creating an Intuitive Vision Board.
When you present your right-brain with a pile of magazines, scissors and glue and a few careful instructions, in the right environment it will collage the equivalent of NYRs in the form of an Intuitive Vision Board (IVB). You won’t have to give it a second thought.
The Intuitive Vision Board is a wise, intelligent decision-making process. It’s purpose is not to predict your future but to help you shape, change and manifest it in a wholistic way. How? It does this by informing the path you might take differently. This path is determined by the intuitive insights, enlightened self-awareness and intentional activity that arises naturally from your vision board and guides you.
4 ways to make the Intuitive Vision board
The content of the workshop and the process is the same whichever way you choose. You can read reviews from people who have experienced both the workshop and the intuitive reading.
Public Group workshop. Join me and a small group for an in-person workshop. Please visit my webpage for the dates of the next events.
Intuitive Vision Board online. At a date and time to suit we’ll create together on Zoom. This private workshop includes an intuitive reading on the day too – or soon after if there is more that one of you. Please email me to arrange.
Private Vision Quest by the sea. This is a whole day retreat exclusively for you by the sea at my studio in Devon, England. This includes a telephone call beforehand to establish expectations followed by the workshop, an intuitive reading and further coaching to empower your vision further.
Invest in a copy of my book – Awaken Your Intuitive Vision. It explains the philosophy and psychology about the Intuitive Vision Board. The middle section contains a full explanation as to how to create a vision board intuitively. The final section describes how to read the signs, symbols and metaphors appearing on your board. Order from Amazon or other online book stores.