Here we go again. A new year has begun, and if you are like many other people around the world, you look at the beginning of a new year as the perfect impulse to set new year’s resolutions. So January 1st comes around, you enthusiastically set new year’s resolutions, follow through for a few days, and then, usually sooner than later, the commitment is gone, the resolution is broken, until January 1st comes around again. Then you start over again and repeat the whole procedure. Does that somehow sound familiar to you?
Well, personally speaking, I have set new year’s resolutions for as long as I can remember, however, as long as I can remember, I also always had difficulties following through, so some three years ago or so I decided to change my approach, and so today I would like to share with you how I make sure that I follow through until December 31st. And it is much, much easier than you may think – and success is virtually guaranteed. So if you would like to know what I do, please stay tuned. But before I share with you my bulletproof super simple system, let’s just quickly look at the deeper reason why we set new year’s resolutions in the first place.
At the end of the day, a new year’s resolution is a resolution to improve ourselves.
Now, why do we want to improve ourselves – from a higher, broader, intuitive perspective? We want to improve ourselves because we are on a journey of evolving and perfecting our consciousness and this is a journey that expands over many lifetimes.
So from the perspective of evolution, our goal really is the perfection of consciousness, yet this is not something that we attain in one lifetime, and it is also not something that we will attain in this lifetime. This lifetime is just one small step on the greater ladder of evolution. However, even though we may not be consciously aware of our evolutionary goal, the forces of evolution are pushing us towards perfecting our consciousness. And a new year’s resolution is nothing but a conscious or unconscious response to this inner urge or pull or calling to keep advancing, to keep growing, to step into mastery, to become Soul conscious and awaken to our Divinity.
What is a new year’s resolution to lose weight or get physically fit, for example, but an attempt of the consciousness dwelling inside the body, to master the body. If you can‘t live two days without eating sweets, then, you the consciousness dwelling inside the body, are not in charge of your life. Your body masters you. So if you say, this year I will get fit like a yogi, you are saying that you are determined to master your body. You are saying that you, the consciousness, are determined to master the matter aspect – even though that’s not something I want to get into right now as the relationship between the three aspects of Spirit, consciousness and matter is a whole science unto itself. Although, if I may say, the Spirit aspect and matter aspect constitute the so-called “forces of evolution” that push the consciousness on towards perfection. So, the body, the matter aspect, is not just a dress for the Soul, it is much more than that.
But anyway, so we set new year’s resolutions because – knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or unconsciously, depending on our evolution – we understand that we are on a journey of evolving and mastering and perfecting our consciousness, and a new year’s resolution is simply an initiative to make that happen, whether we realize it or not.
Now, the question is, once we decide to take an initiative to improve ourselves in some way, how can we make sure we follow through?
Specifically, for our purposes here, how can we make sure that we keep our new year’s resolutions and follow through? Here is what I do: I do not only have new year’s resolutions, I also have new month’s resolutions, and new week’s resolutions. Said another way: I treat every first day of the month as if it were January 1st. So I treat every February 1st, every March 1st, every April 1st etc. as if it were January 1st. And I treat every Monday throughout the year as if it were January 1st. So I don’t just see January 1st, but every first day of the month and every first day of the week, throughout the year, as an impulse to set a new resolution. So I do have a few big yearly goals, but I break them down into smaller monthly goals, which I break down into even smaller weekly goals, which I then further break down into even smaller daily goals again. So I never start a day without 7 super small daily goals, and I never start a week without first deciding on 7 weekly goals, and I never start a month without deciding on 7 monthly goals, and I never start a year without deciding on 7 goals for the year. This goal setting helps us to stay focused.
From a spiritual perspective, we have an evolutionary goal, and that goal for us, as a human family, is now to become Soul conscious. That’s just the next step ahead of us. It’s not the ultimate evolutionary goal, but the next step along the way. And we, as awakening Souls, we can set the initiative and create sub-goals to help us get there. And even a seemingly mundane goal such a losing excessive weight and getting fit like a yogi, is a step towards Soul consciousness. Because, you as the indwelling consciousness – Soul and consciousness are synonymous terms – so you as the indwelling consciousness are saying, I, the Soul, will make it a focus now and master the matter aspect. That’s really what it is from the perspective of the Soul: getting fit and healthy like a yogi is you as the consciousness saying, I will go and master the body of appearance, the matter aspect. And that’s what we are supposed to do, from an evolutionary perspective.
