Wait!

Before you set your New Year’s resolutions, spend some time working with me through this blog series!

The New Year IS a great time to take stock, gather your resolve and make some personal goals for self-improvement. It’s the time when we pull out that new calendar and all is fresh and ready for something new. And for those of us with businesses, who often spend time juggling more than anyone should, make this a priority and follow my multi-part blog to help your 2010 year unfold in support of your resolutions.

I’m not sure how you traditionally set your new year’s resolutions (if you make any at all anymore!), if you have a process, or just pick the one most obvious thing you sense you could improve. I propose we work through a short process together with the aim of getting you through 2010 having made progress on what you truly do want to improve about yourself and your life.

Each of us has set some resolution, only to reach the end of the year and realize that we did not really make the progress we wanted. We still want to loose weight, make more money, find that great relationship, spend more time with family, be happier, etc. How do we get around this? How do we make progress on these things that we consider important enough to set a resolution around?

To be honest, I think it takes a different kind of awareness of what to do, how to do it and why to do it. By ‘what to do’ I mean the actual selection of which elements of your life you choose to resolve to change. Choosing what you want to accomplish, change or do is not a simple matter and does require more than a feeling of frustration, a sense that you could do better.

By ‘how to do it’ I mean the actual process of selecting what you want to accomplish, change or do. As well as the process you use for making progress and the checking in on your progress. It doesn’t have to be long or complicated, but having a new process or routine can help immensely.

Any ‘why to do it’ seems almost self-evident, no? You are sick and tired of something in your life and you really want something better, happier, different, right? But if you are truly sick and tired of it, then why haven’t you changed it? Why can’t you seem to make progress on that thing? Actually, I think this might just be the hardest part we will work on together. It will be hard because I propose we tackle one of those resolutions that do not seem to make headway. And the more entrenched it is, the more you will need to do some soul-searching. I’m confident that this year, we can, and will, get you moving where you want to go!

So here’s what I propose:

1. Do NOT set any resolutions yet! Trust me. If you really need one to share with yourself and others, resolve to follow this process and give it as much time as you can each month. You can certainly begin mulling a few over, considering what you might want to set for the year, ask friends – but do not set them in stone just yet.

2. Set your space to keep track of your work. It might be a document on your desktop, a new notebook, your own personal blog, or a committed time with your partner (spouse, significant other, friend, business partner) to talk about this if you are not a writer. You don’t need much, just a sense of where you will find your work to refer back to it.

3. Now I’m going to give you the first three steps to this process. Do them with all the attention you can give them.

• Step 1 – Set an intention for what you want 2010 to be. Write it down in this format: ‘My intention for 2010 is to be a year… (you fill in the blank).’ Please refrain from using any other personal pronouns, especially ‘I’ or ‘my’. Also, refrain from using the words ‘do’, ‘have’, ‘not’ and ‘want.’ These constraints are important. Language is powerful and we are working on a statement of being. Take the time to really consider this one. I suggest you give yourself a week to work this one through. Write it, share it, sit with it and make sure you have what you are looking for. Here are a few examples to get you started:

• • My intention for 2010 is to be a year of joyful, exuberant service to self and others.

• • My intention for 2010 is to be a year filled with creative expressions of happiness, balance and success in all endeavors.

• • My intention for 2010 is to be a year of outrageous prosperity.

• Step 2 – Take some good long moments to take stock of where you are today. Before we can get to working on what you want to change, it is important to give yourself credit for what you do have and value. Title this: ‘What I appreciate in my life and in my self.’ Look back on 2009 and consider what has changed, what progress you did make, what you do value that you have around you. These are the precious things in your life, in yourself and in your business that need to be recognized to keep them alive. If this is hard for you, I have found that good friends are great at telling you what you are good at, or what they see that is amazing in your life. Ask them, and write down what they say and do not edit it. See it and sit with it. Now, I know there are many of you out there who are not write-it-down-types, so you have to agree to share yours with someone. Like I said earlier – your partner in this endeavor. Plan to give this at least a week of your time where you add things to your list as you notice them.

• Step 3 – When you have your appreciation list to a place you are satisfied, show your appreciation. Some creative types will consider making a visual collage of what is on their list. Others might want to take the time to write notes of appreciation to people who are a part of the list. Be certain to include one activity that specifically is designed to highlight your appreciation for something about yourself.

Can you imagine a better way to start the year? This is powerful work and sets the stage for the next phase of our work together. These are small steps and very do-able. So do them! Enjoy them, and know that you are making progress on yourself in ways that will be very evident in just a short time.

My next post will come mid-January and will set you up to begin work on what you specifically want to change, improve or do differently. So get ready – and stay tuned!

Be sure and share your comments with me and, and let me know if you have any questions that come up as you work through this.

Happy New Year!
Judith