Merry Christmas and happy New Year! You have been with me for some time now. We are friends in learning. We are seekers together. I want to thank you for the past year of association by giving you some real tools to make 2013 better. Say NO to ineffective New Years Resolutions!!
2012 is almost gone! I have been thinking about the last year and I am satisfied. No, I didn’t get everything done I wanted to do. No, my life isn’t always peaceful and put together. But, I have learned a great many things. I have made some significant changes in my own way of being this year. I have done some work that matters. I am content.
My One Action Step to Make 2013 Better!
Now I am facing 2013 and I have determined that I want to flow into the New Year gracefully and flow through the year making needed changes, learning and again ending 2013 with a sense of satisfaction. So for the past few months I have been taking that desire to the Lord and asking him for some guidance. I have phrased it this way, “What is the one action step I could take this year that would make the most significant change for good in my life?
You will notice I asked for an “action” step and only one of them. I have learned from 62 years of New Years Resolutions that there is a tendency at the end of the year to take note of all the weakness, imperfection and losses and then create a huge list of “to dos” for the next year, to fix all that stuff. I have also learned that that is a recipe for failure.
I have come to believe in and act upon the 1% principle; that when you make the correct 1% change it exponentially expands that change for good in your life – it affects not only the 1% you were focusing on but all the rest of your life as well. I have also come to understand, through experience, that focusing on my strengths and successes and then seeking divine guidance helps me clearly see the correct 1%. No more New Years Resolutions for me based on what hasn’t gone well.
Well, here is my 1% for 2013 – Stop complaining! YIKES!!!! Yes, I was a bit stunned and embarrassed to think that I still have work to do in this area of negative thought. But I do.
Sunday I messed up twice. I clearly saw the mess ups and then said in my mind, “Opps, that was me complaining again”. Then I recommitted to doing it differently next time. Good for me.
Three Steps to Make 2013 Better
There are some steps to success in change that are helpful to know in order to really make change stick and not feel discouraged in the process.
1. Awareness of what to change. Now that I am aware of what my work is for 2013 I can see when I mess up. Wahoo, progress. It looks like this. You mess up, recognize the mess up after the fact and then decide how to do it differently next time.
2. The second step looks like this. You mess up and in the middle of the mess up you recognize it and stop and redo right then.
3. The third step is that you think about messing up and you don’t!
Because I know the steps I can see that I am already making progress and it isn’t even 2013 yet. I am on my way to success!!
Tools to Make 2013 Better in a Nutshell!
Here is a summary of the tools for a better 2013 in a nut shell;
• Stop focusing on what you didn’t get done in 2012. Stop looking at all the problems that still need to be resolved. STOP!
• Look at all the successes you have had this year no matter how small. Make a list of at least 10.
• Ask your Higher Power for ONE action step for 2013, a step that can make a big difference in your personal life.
• Hold that thought no matter how insignificant it feels to you.
• Make a commitment to do that one thing all year long.
• Understand that the first step in change is awareness. When you mess up and then recognize the mess up, rejoice. You are in the first step!
• Know that when you can stop in the middle of a mess up and redo, you are in the second step.
• Change has happened when you can stop the impulse to do the thing you have been working on!
• Repeat the process at the end of 2013
May each of you have a remarkable 2013 filled with movement toward personal happiness.
Your friend and mentor,
Mary Ann Johnson
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