goal-setting
The Inner Truth Of External Clutter
We are almost a month into the new year, the time when most people begin to flounder in their resolutions. For me, resolutions are like empty promises, so my only resolution every New Year is to not make any resolutions.
Instead, I try to simply live my life with a few consistent rules. I have found that staying true to these personal and lifestyle guidelines eliminates the need for major resolutions each New Year.
Clutter is a big one for me. I make it a point to clean out the clutter in my life on a regular basis, whether it is physical, material, emotional, or spiritual.
Material clutter is the easiest to deal with because it is tangible and visible. It is hard to ignore a pair of shoes that you never wear anymore and have to move around in your closet over and over again.
It is also hard to ignore all those old clothes from another era that you have held on to in the hope that one day they will come back in style. Equally difficult to deal with are those old spice jars and other pantry items past their expiration date that you should have thrown away years ago!
These small lifestyle annoyances may seem insignificant on the surface until you consider that material clutter goes hand in hand with mental, emotional and spiritual clutter. The way we live, the way we manage our environment, and the way we organize our outer existence are a reflection of our inner being. The resulting clutter then becomes a recurring pattern that leads to more clutter, chaos, and dysfunction in our lives.
Transform Your Life With Sustainable Resolutions
Every new year, I hear my clients complain about what they hope to change about themselves, what they want to change about themselves, or what they should be changing about themselves.
I then ask them why they are not claiming their power to change right now?
You do not have to wait until the New Year or some other major life event to make a change in your life. Once you’ve decided on a new path or course of action, the key is to stick with it for the long haul, taking small steps every day.
The Japanese call this kaizen, a philosophical concept that emphasizes continuous improvement, often in small increments. The idea is that by making consistent progress, even if it is just a little bit each day, you can eventually achieve significant results.
Sustainability should be the ultimate goal of whatever you decide to change in your life. While New Year’s resolutions are all noble and lofty, you have to acknowledge the inherent resistances and blockages you carry within and agree to be patient with yourself in order to ultimately get there.
I’m still working on some New Year’s resolutions I made in 2016. Do I look back in horror and say, “Why is it taking so long?” or “I really should be doing better!” Sometimes, yes! Do I use that as an excuse to backslide, fall off the wagon, or throw in the towel? Not at all, mostly because I’ve come to realize that if I hadn’t decided years ago to make those resolutions to make powerful changes in my life, I’d still be where I was, or worse. I’d be living a life of regret, not progress.
Maybe It’s Time To Let Go Of The Baggage
Most people who make New Year’s resolutions don’t keep them. Every year we tell ourselves it’s time to move on, to change, to leave negative people and influences in the past, and yet we rarely follow through. We wonder if it is even possible to let go of the things that hold us back?
Yes, it certainly is!
The first step is to simply make the decision that it’s time to let go of all the old baggage in your life. To do this we must be completely honest about what’s really holding us back and why it’s so difficult to let go. This is sometimes best done with the help of a coach or mentor, such as a therapist, spiritual advisor or trusted friend, who will listen and guide you objectively.
Until we have a true understanding of all our baggage and our own part in it, it will never go away. We must also be gentle and accepting as we travel this path. The past can never be undone, but it can be learned from and it can help us move into a better future.
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results each time.” It’s within our power to change negative thinking patterns and habits. Good habits take at least a month to wire into our brains. Start with affirmations, practice better self-care, and stop obsessing about things you can’t change or control. Over time, you’ll find yourself making better decisions that aren’t tainted by the past.
Financial Prosperity Requires An Energy Shift
It takes more than just talent and hard work to enjoy true abundance and prosperity. In fact, our energy has the most profound impact on our success. People who struggle in this area of their lives often need a major energy shift to unlock new levels of abundance in their lives, especially in the area of financial success.
‘Energy’ in this context refers to the subtle creative forces emanating from our thoughts, emotions, beliefs and actions. By the way, this is not just a metaphysical or esoteric concept. Modern science also recognizes that everything is energy.
Everything in the universe is made up of tiny particles. These particles are in constant motion and vibration. In other words, they are energy. The energy of these particles is what we experience as matter.
For example, the screen of the device on which you are reading this blog post is made up of atoms that are constantly vibrating at a very high speed. This vibration is what you currently experience as the solidity of your cell phone or computer screen.
The same is true for all matter, whether it’s an object, plant, animal, person or place, or even your own body. Everything around us is made up of vibrating particles, and the energy of these particles is what we experience as physical matter.
How To Be More Present In Your Life
We often hear the advice that ‘being present’ is an important spiritual practice to master on our journey through life. Being present with ourselves and in the moment. I like to think of it as being with yourself wherever you go and whatever you do. This is certainly true, but what exactly does it mean? And with all the busyness of life and keeping up with our daily responsibilities, how do you become more present in your life?
Firstly, cultivating ‘presence’ requires time management and effective planning. It is important to organise the responsibilities of our lives in a manageable way. Otherwise, we find ourselves in a constant state of worry and stress, having to manage daily demands ‘on the fly’. And this is a sure way to lose our presence.
Planning ahead may seem like the opposite of being ‘in the moment’, but it is actually essential. When we are busy making plans for the coming week, thinking about what we need to prepare for and making decisions about how to organise our time and spend our energy, we don’t think much about the ‘present moment.’ But this is something we need to do in order to then be more present in our daily lives. It is key to cultivating presence.
How To Manifest Your Best Life
As spiritual beings in physical form, we are the conscious creators of our best life and have the divine power to shape our own destiny. We create our future every day with our free will. But contrary to what some believe, this is not just a matter of positive thinking, daydreaming, or casually wishing for a better future without being proactive.
To achieve what we want in life, we must take daily action steps that will lead to the achievement of our goals and manifest the results we desire.
If you have been wishing for a better life and a brighter future with little success, the following strategies can empower you to achieve better results. By implementing these tactics gradually, one day at a time, you will see a major change in your life.
Gratitude
Gratitude is the mother of all manifestation efforts. When we are grateful for what we already have, we attract more of what we want.
Seems simple, right? Yet we easily forget to count our blessings and tend to be very ungrateful. Instead of celebrating what is good in our lives, we tend to focus on what is wrong or missing. When we are constantly sulking or complaining, we are self-sabotaging because wherever our focus goes, energy flows.
The Keys To Manifesting Success
In the book The Law of Attraction, authors Esther and Jerry Hicks write, “The more you come to understand the power of the Law of Attraction, the more interest you will have in deliberately directing your thoughts — for you get what you think about, whether you want it or not.”
Many people practice various manifestation techniques in an attempt to get the Law of Attraction to work for them, including visualization, journaling, prayer, vision boards, focus wheels, affirmations, dreamwork, and so on. Some succeed spectacularly, while others, sadly, fail miserably at manifesting their desires.
If this has been your experience, know that there is always a solution! Since the universal Law of Attraction definitely works for some people, it surely must work for everyone. All that is usually required are a few adjustments to one’s approach to the manifesting process.
Consider the following practical strategies as potential keys to your manifesting success:
Be Relaxed
Try to be as relaxed as possible when doing any kind of manifestation exercise. Stress and tension make us negative, but to manifest we need to be relaxed and positive. We can only attract what we resonate with, because like attracts like. You cannot attract positive things into your life if you are in a negative state of mind. Do your manifesting work in a grateful, joyful mood in a comfortable, quiet environment. Continue reading