Before I leave the subject of resolutions and goal setting for 2012, there are a couple of things I would like to share in addition to those I wrote about a fortnight ago.
If you haven’t done so already, I hope you will soon set aside some quiet time to review 2011 and plan for 2012 as it unfolds.
Take a leaf from successful companies and hold your own one-person retreat.
A new notebook and stationery will come in handy because keeping resolutions and plans in your head without writing them down is not the best way to go about it.
In my view listing down what you plan to achieve is the easy part, the mindset and framework in which you will operate is the real challenge, so I will focus on that.
Express gratitude — Even though there is a big gap between where you are and where you want to be, being grateful for what you already have is one of the keys to getting more.
Acknowledge things that many people take for granted like good health, waking up to a brand new day and a loving family.
The following is one girl’s wish for 2012.
“But my biggest wish for 2012 is just to be able to walk by myself again,” says Hayley Okines who at 12 years of age is one of only 74 people in the world who have Hutchinson-Gildford progeria syndrome.
This means she ages eight times faster than a normal person and at 12 she suffers from heart and cardiovascular problems, stiff joints, kidney failure and hip dislocations.
The beginning of 2012 will see her in a hospital’s intensive care for an operation to repair her dislocated hips followed by 10 weeks of recovery.
In her book, Old Before My Time which she co-wrote with her mother, Hayley tells of her life which aside from the health and physical challenges is like any other teenager’s.
Acknowledge past accomplishments — when looking back at 2011, most people can list their failures or lack of action at the drop of a hat.
Instead take some time to rejoice in past successes — list them down and reflect on the mindset and other conditions that helped you achieve these things.
Learn from what worked and aim to replicate the thinking and action behind the success.
Change your perception of time — All good motivational book writers talk about the importance of living in the present moment and realising that the future we dearly want is created by our actions and thoughts now.
And yet, the present moment is not the favourite of many as it represents a situation which needs to be changed.
Clock time, which is time divisions based on how long the earth spins on its axis (24 hours) and how long the earth takes to go around the sun (365 days) creates the illusion that life moves in a linear fashion.
The past seems to be behind us and the future somewhere ahead.
Being mindful of each waking moment by giving your full attention to a meal, to a person we are talking to or to a task at hand, keeps us grounded in the present without the temptation to live in an ideal future.
Three keys to accomplishment — In A New Earth Eckhart Tolle says the keys to awakened doing are acceptance, enjoyment and enthusiasm.
We often say things are hard because we are trying to push through without acceptance of a situation even as we strive to change it.
Enjoyment means that we do something which doesn’t feel like work because it’s something we love doing.
Doing what we are passionate about is always accompanied by enthusiasm and this can make a big difference to using effort alone.
As my philosopher of the moment says, “The very effort to “become” is a barrier — because you are already carrying your being with you. You need not become anything — simply realise who you are, that’s all. Simply realise who is hidden within you.”
OSHO
