Reflection and Resolutions: Not Just for January 1

Happy New Year!  Welcome to 2011--I hope you had a fabulous holiday.  I enjoyed lots of time with friends and family and in all honesty, it went too fast.  I admit I am kicking and screaming into the year 2011 and the end of vacation.  Mostly because I enjoyed the sheer freedom of no responsibility.  I admit for most of December if anything occurred that wasn't pressing I  told myself "I'll deal with it after the holidays" so here we are "after the holidays" and my to-do list is a mile long.  But my whining is not the inspiration you are looking for from my first post of 2011.  And I will confess I am not going to write another 'how to keep your resolutions' post because frankly the blog world is inundated with them.

I strongly dislike new year's resolutions.  I agree that January 1 is a great time to take stock, reflect on the past year and plan for what lies ahead in the coming year.  The issue I have with new year's resolutions and reflecting is that in my opinion we should be reflecting all year long.  The 'check-in' of "Am I Living and Working Happier?", should be happening at multiple times throughout the year.  We should be looking at our values and seeing if they fit our current life each and every month of our lives.  And if we aren't in sync with ourselves than we should make some new resolutions-small realistic ways to implement new ideas and real change.  The danger comes in when we reflect on our lives once a year.  By the time the year roles around the changes we want to/need to make are so monumental we make blanket statements of "I want to lose 30 lbs, find a job I love and meet the partner of my dreams".  The changes become too big and too impossible to attain.

Too often we live the bulk of our  lives as I lived the month of December "I'll deal with that after ____________ (e.g. the kids grow up, I retire, I earn more money, the holidays,vacation or when I feel more rested).  The excuses can go on and on and when we are only reflecting on our lives once a year it is no wonder resolutions are so hard to maintain!  We don't have any real by-in because we are only making changes because we were TOLD to reflect--not because we are living a conscious intentional life that matches our values and dreams.

So this year, if you did make a resolution, congrats make the small necessary changes to implement them.  And then continue to check in throughout the year, to see are you living and working happier?  What small changes do I need to implement to make my life happier?  The only way to live and work happier is to be intentional about our lives, to continually check in and see if our lives match our values and dreams and if we find discrepancies to begin to face our fears and make some changes, one small resolution at a time.

Here's wishing you a happy and blessed 2011, filled with laughter, joy and passion!!

Thanks to Mykl Roventine for the wonderful 2011 picture.

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Is you answer to the question Am I living and working happier?  No, need some help figuring out what the small changes need to be.  I can help!  Send me an e-mail or schedule an appointment on-line and together we can start the process of living and working happier!!