8 Steps for Resolutions That Stick

A New Year stretches before us much like the new fallen snow in this picture—there are no tracks in it yet—what kind of tracks do you want to make in this fresh New Year?

1) Resolve to do something positive for yourself regularly.

Think about what makes you the happiest and most joyful. What are you doing during these times? What can you do to create this feeling on a regular basis? Think about the situations that make you the happiest, make a list, keep it handy, refer to it often and consciously choose to create more of these situations next year. Commit to do something nice for yourself every day!

2) Give thanks often. Gratitude nourishes your soul.

Giving thanks sets energetic patterns in motion that help create more of the same. When you express gratitude, you move into a feeling of love and away from fear. When you are in a state of love, you are open to receiving more of the same. You can even give thanks in advance €¦ for things that you know (or trust) are already on their way to you!

3) Create the energetic space for what you want by consciously choosing it or choosing the essence of what it brings you.

Let go of what you don’t want. For instance, suppose you wan to lose weight. Think about why you want to do so and what the new you will be like. How will you feel as you make progress towards your goal? How will you feel when you reach it? Rather than losing weight, perhaps you really want to be lean and strong. Think about how lean and strong really feel. Think about the essence of your goals. The sense of lean and strong is positive and evokes healthy feelings. Let go of feelings of struggle. Look beyond the physical and examine the essence or the feeling of what you are really after. Tune into those feelings often.

4) Let somebody do something nice for you.

Often we find it easier to give than to receive. Resolve to receive more often. Be willing to accept help and assistance along the way. If someone offers to help you out, consider accepting the help or letting them know what would be beneficial to you. Take charge and look at various options for meeting your goals. Make things happen for yourself. Getting away from your situation, even for a brief period, allows new ideas and options to come to you. Think creatively.

5) Count your blessings.

Notice the small things that happen all around you every day. Take delight in them and realize that everything happens for a reason: notice who calls you, when a convenient parking space opens up, when money arrives at just the right time. There are no coincidences. Small things turn into big things.

6) Leave the past behind.

When looking at the attitudes, behaviors or situations that you want to leave behind use a ritual to enlist the help of the subconscious mind. Our subconscious understands imagery and symbolic communication. Design a ritual such as writing out all that you wish to release on slips of paper, put them in a box or coffee can and burn them. The importance lies in the meaning and feeling that the method has for you so make it personal!

7) Create rituals for what you would like to see in your life.

The same holds true for the positive that we wish to attract to our lives. We can use symbols, rituals and imagery to gain the cooperation of our powerful unconscious mind to achieve our goals. This is one of the reasons hypnosis can be so effective in helping people change.

8) Choose well

Make sure your goal and timeline are really manageable and that you truly have the desire to create it!

Remember: Change and creating new situations, attitudes and behaviors is a process not an event. When we keep this in my we can be kinder to ourselves as well as take both small steps and slips in stride. In addition, we are most effective when we use a positive approach that builds on strength. To focus on what we do not want, are trying to eliminate or on how far we have to go weakens us.