Now that it’s time for another trip around the sun, you’re probably swamped with the idea of resolutions and “new year, new me” talk. But before you can make big life changes, you need to take stock of your priorities and where you are spending your time.
In my book, A White Hat & Rose Colored Glasses, I explore how we can shift our limiting beliefs by looking for more of what we want. If we prioritize activities related to what we want, and we start to look for opportunities in alignment with what we want, those things begin to appear.
Whatever you make a priority is what your mind will seek out.
How many times has someone tried to point out possible reasons for our struggles or unhappiness and given us advice we don’t listen to? Awareness eventually strikes, and priorities change. Once that happens, we are receptive to options we would have automatically ruled out before. Look for people, situations, and opportunities that will help you get what you want, and you will find them.
Replace the squeaky wheel instead of greasing it.
People respond to the tasks that make the most noise. The squeaky wheel does get the grease. Is the time we spend on current tasks getting the results we want? Or are we exhausting ourselves by responding to the ones that demand our attention but aren’t aligned with our goals?
Don’t reward distractions with a squirt of grease! Find a new and improved wheel that can take you to your destination without any drama.
If it’s important, make it a priority.
Responsibility, work, time, and money are major factors in the grown-up world. Money must be made. Bills must be paid. Fun gets pushed aside. On the infrequent occasion we allow ourselves to embrace our passions and lose ourselves in the joy of now, our brains finally have the opportunity to forget about stress and worry. For those rare moments, time and money become meaningless. We temporarily leave anxieties and troubles behind. It is rejuvenating!
So, take time for yourself. You and your health are just as important as the bills.
Let positive emotions linger. They need more time to grow.
Negative emotions elicit a quick response. We are in danger, or think we are in danger, so we must act now! We tend to react with less immediacy to positive emotions because they aren’t threatening. Negative emotions get all the attention. If we want to attract more positive results and maintain our visions of the future, then we need to give good emotions time to develop and space to settle in. Confident thoughts and feelings need time to linger. So, welcome positive feelings and encourage them to stay a while. Just imagine how quickly we could change the direction of our lives if large portions of our thoughts were about positive possibilities!
Commit to adding some good times to your hectic schedule.
Do you really want to be all about staying busy, or do you have other priorities? Get out of that automatic “don’t think, just keep going behavior,” and give yourself space to become aware that you create the hectic schedules you think you must follow. Set some time aside for yourself.
Being busy can send the message that we don’t care.
Being busy becomes a way of life for some. This is dangerous. Constant busyness sends the message that we don’t care about anything or anyone else. We are often too occupied to notice them! Our priorities are focused on the good feeling of getting things done and hopefully making more money for our efforts. But we all know that when something is important to us, we can find time and money for it. What we value is what we get done. Are you spending money on what you most want in life?
When you take time to examine your thoughts and actions, you will find what you are actually putting importance on. Get your priorities right and start checking off those resolutions!
Find out more in Susan’s book A White Hat & Rose Colored Glasses: Unlocking Your Power Through Clarity & Action, the innovative new guide to rediscovering the fearlessness and creativity of childhood and how to apply it in your “adult” world. Available now!
