Step into the New Year with a New Mindset
A Spiritually Transformative View on the Meaning of Resolutions & 4 Easy Steps to Empowering Yourself.
The New Normal.
For many of us, this year has been pretty daunting, challenging us in unexpected ways and asking us to face our truth.
The world is changing and so is the meaning of resolutions.
With this in mind, a deeper approach to attaining personal goals means building a new empowering mindset that can serve us well, and guide us to create a path that can be much easier to see and become life-changing and life-sustaining.
For myself, dealing with grief these past few years has felt like an old friend, as I am facing the way I use to live my life, memories of my childhood, how my life choices have changed over the years, and what experiences lead me to be exactly where I am today.
It’s like an overdue, not so friendly, stay to help me gain access to a deeper truth.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the meaning of New Year’s resolutions as the promise to do something different, and the action to accomplish a personal goal. But let’s face it, over time the tradition has slowly become disempowering. A stage set up for failure, guilt, and shame, leaving us all with a bad taste in our mouth and plenty of second guesses.
Yet, we can no longer deny the effects this year has done to us emotionally and mentally. With the year 2022 just moments away, we are forced to look back on the difficulties we had to face and think about our future, what we really want for ourselves, and why. Leading us to approach resolutions in a whole new way.
Suddenly, I feel whisked back into that iconic movie scene in When Harry Met Sally, the moment when it suddenly became clear to both of them that the love they were seeking was right in front of them.
“And the day came when the risk to remain a tight bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” ~Anais Nin
Because there is simply no going back to the old ways of doing things.
When I delved into my spiritual journey, a handful of years ago, I was introduced to transformational practices that shifted my perspective and gave me a whole new way of looking at the process of unfolding and evolving.
The cycle of nature, a balancing act we all inherently mirror in our own human lives.
We are in the winter season here in the U.S. A longer period of darkness overcomes the daylight, everything starts to slow down, and seeds are planted into the earth as they prepare to sprout with the sun.
The spiritual significance, an exploration of something bigger than ourselves, is a sacred time of rest, of going within, and reflection. And as we prepare for more daylight, we gather insight and self-knowledge and slowly ready ourselves for new inspirations and creative actions to emerge. Thus, the cycle of death, followed by rebirth.
In other words, planting and sowing the seeds, a term often used and revered in the spiritual and nature-worshipping communities.
So here are four insightful and simple ways to help shape and step into the New Year with a new mindset:
1. Be Kind to Yourself
To help you gain a new perspective, begin by reflecting and giving gratitude for who you are. Think about the positive efforts you made over the past year. Who were the people who have come into your life and who were the ones that have left? Can you explore the good and not so good experiences? Because in order to celebrate them, you have to recognize them first.
Research studies have shown that practicing gratitude can enhance one’s well-being over a long period of time. Like stepping stones, they help you learn and grow and bring you closer to your personal goals.
It’s a great starting point.
2. Small Steps
What easy move can you make today?
Like resolutions, the essence behind the words planting and sowing the seeds is to create an intention or to no longer do something. Make your intentions simple, clear, and from the heart. This will help to overcome the anxiety or fear of failure that loom over us like a black cloud.
Seeds take time to grow.
Simple intentions equal simple actions. It’s all about the process behind the intention. For example, if you are wanting to create more time for yourself. Think of one thing you can do without. If you fall back for any reason, it’s okay. Setbacks happen. Just get right back on that horse and try again.
Baby steps.
One action, one moment at a time.
“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsberg
3. Celebratory Action
Congratulating yourself on your efforts is a mindful practice of revered self-love for putting your intentions into action.
Honor your process and celebrate your achievements every day, whether small or grand.
4. Reap the Rewards
When a seed starts to blossom and flower you are able to witness the beauty in its growth.
Small changes can come in many types of bigger gains, such as happiness, joy, inner peace, self-love, forgiveness, compassion, less judgment, loving actions, and higher consciousness, among many others.
In the most littlest or simplest efforts, you can reap fruitful rewards attracting and magnetizing more to come into your life.
So take notice and watch your efforts bloom!
“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance.” ~ John Lennon
There is no denying we are on the precipice of urgency to say farewell to 2021 and begin a new chapter of redefining and creating what is meaningful to us and our lives.
So instead of subjecting ourselves to that stressful and dreadful daunting list of resolutions…
I say heck no, screw all that!
Let’s try something different.
Give the ol’ beast of burden the boot. Laugh a little more, dance a little more, cry a little more, love a little more, and take a less stressful and more mindful approach to personal transformation.
It’s all about loving the process, not the goals. The future is not set, but we are creating it at every moment.
Are you ready to kick start the New Year with a new mindset?
Dana Marie Richards is a product designer, and an intuitive writer based in Austin, Tx. She shares her love of writing with her work as a healer artist and human-centered product designer at danamarieux.com.
