MaXIMIze - Reset for the New Year

We all know that the beginning of a new year brings with it a lot of new year's resolutions. Losing weight, getting fit, doing more of this or that or the other - most of us make them, and a lot of us fail. We fail because we are looking for a quick fix. Well, I can tell you there is no such thing. Did you get where you are overnight?  No, of course not. So why do we think that things will change instantly? Things worth doing, worth having, and worth being take time. And resolve and commitment.

This is the third year of this blog, and those who know me and have followed this blog during that time know that my life has changed quite a bit over the past few years. Patience, persistence, resolve, and commitment are key to gaining and growing in the long term, as is beginning things right.

So you've got a goal - something you want to change or do this year - great! Why? Why is that goal important to you? And a better question is does that goal fit with the overall sense you want for your life?

Here are some questions to get you started on making your life more authentic, for making it make more sense for you and who you really are, deep inside.

First, rank your satisfaction level in the following areas - 1 is low/non-existent and 10 is high/off the charts:

Your overall well-being

Your health

Your financial situation

Your career

Your spiritual life

Your relationships

Second, do you consider yourself optimistic or pessimistic? Why?

Third, more questions to ponder/answer:

What are your three most significant accomplishments? Why are they accomplishments in your view?

What are your three most significant disappointments? Why are they disappointments in your view?

Describe your top three strengths. Why are they strengths in your view?

Describe your most aggravating weakness. Why is it a weakness in your view?

When you feel happiest?

When do you feel lowest?

How would you describe your state of health?

How would you describe your state of well being?

What would you do if you could do anything?

What goals or desires do you have yet to fulfill? Why are these important to you?

What is stopping you from fulfilling these goals or desires?

What draws people to you - why do they like you?

Take as much time as you need to really answer these from the depths of that which is uniquely you.

Next week, we will ponder on our personal prose and what that is saying to our inner self and to others as well.

Namaste!

First Post of the New Year - Becoming

Happy New Year! Another year over, and a new one just begun. Last year what I had on my white board was the phrase "focus on - letting go." You have to let go of that which no longer serves to allow that which will in. This is an iterative process that we go through over and over and over again through many layers - for we have layers upon layers upon layers of experiences to pull out into the light, examine, take the nuggets out of for safe keeping and let the dross go.

This year the phrase is "focus on - becoming; prove the devil otherwise." You also need to focus on what it is you really want in your life and becoming the person who draws such things to you. The devil is that evil little voice inside that is full of the "you can't, you aren't good enough, you aren't enough period" type phrases, the one fueled by your insecurities and old patterns of thinking - those things you need to continue to focus on letting go of through the iterative process noted above.

As I believe I've said before, no one said this path was easy - you'll hit walls, fall into wells, tumble and tremble and want to give up many times along the way - however, it is worth it in the end. YOU are worth it in the end.

I'm going to share with you now some of the things that help me keep going, particularly at times when I feel like nothing more than a battered and broken toy not even fit for Santa to rescue from the island of misfit toys. They are the quotes I retweet on Twitter (@bethane13, if you're so inclined to find me there). These quotes lift my spirits and remind me I am not alone on my journey through this world, and I hope they do the same for you. And I give thanks to all the folks I follow on Twitter for sharing these with me and others.

Where the heart is willing, it will find a hundred ways. Where it is unwilling, it will find a hundred excuses. - Arlen Price

Don't be afraid if people leave, be afraid of not being yourself to please someone else. Be authentically you no matter what. - Mastin Kipp (The Daily Love)

Most human beings have an infinite capacity for taking things for granted. - Aldous Huxley

The 3 C's of life = Choices, Chances, Changes. - Dr. Marion Ross (shiftyourlife.com)

Our wounds are often openings into the best part of us. - Dr. Marion Ross (shiftyourlife.com)

Free yourself from fear, guilt and regret. The past exists only in your mind, your future also. Let go. Forgive. - Valacier

The way to change others' minds is with affection, and not anger. - Dalai Lama XIV

One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus. - Tony Robbins

If beating yourself up worked, you'd be thin, rich and happy. Try loving yourself instead. :) - @coachoncall

Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding a truth. - Ludwig Boerne

Watch your language; by altering a few words we can create different results.  - Lopez (@Lopez_nlp) This one was a reaction to a saying on a Starbucks cup - The Way I See It #283 - The most important thing in life is to stop saying "I wish" and start saying "I will." Consider nothing impossible then treat possibilities as probabilities.

There are many more of these that I have shared over the time I've been on Twitter, and I may share more of them here in future blogs.

Until then, I bid you Namaste!