RESOLUTIONS VS NO RESOLUTION

I wish you a very happy resolution free new year !

Here’s to a year which gives you peace and fulfilment in all areas of your life. May you find the keys to unlock any blockage you may be facing and set yourself free. May you find the right help to achieve this. Thrive and enjoy your life, even (and maybe especially) every little and seemingly insignificant moment.

What are your resolutions for this coming year? I imagine you have by now a whole list of them which you have started or are still firmly intending (we are still in January) to start implementing.

1. RESOLUTIONS

Setting goals is indeed a good way of making sure you are transforming your desires into reality. If you need a bit of help setting up your goals I suggest you read last year’s post Modern Goals the Ancient Way.

For those of you who want to follow that line in the coming year, I would recommend a simple yet valuable tip to help you folow through on all your resolutions.

Get an accountability partner! This is the idea I had last year, as I was struggling to handle my tasks and projects by myself. I decided to call a friend and ask her if she wanted to be my accountability partner and I would be hers in return. It meant basically that we would meet once a month to brief each other on our goals for the month ahead and to debrief on what we had accomplished the past month. It has been a positive experience which has overall helped me to:

  1. be more productive
  2. have a more organized mind
  3. meet with myself on a regular basis and get clear before I met her
  4. identify my strengths and weaknesses
  5. set up more realistic goals when I was being overambitious
  6. practice flexibility as I encountered life situations which would jeopardize my initial schedule and make me reassess my life priorities and rearrange my plans.

The fact that my actions or plans were known and checked by somebody else anchored my projects in the present, gave them credibility and increased their value. Highly recommended! A special thank you to my friend!

However…

2. NO RESOLUTION

What if I suggest this year is going to be a RESOLUTION-FREE YEAR? What if you simply decided to give yourself a total break from resolutions? How would that sound?

Just imagine, a whole year that is not ACTION based…

What does it trigger? Relief I would imagine. Yet possibly some degree of fear, of resistance… You can hear your inner voice whispering “I just can’t do that! I have to keep up with life’s pace. I have so many commitments. etc”

Ok, if you really need a plan and can’t live without a TO DO list, here is a very simple one I have designed just for you :

“DECREASE”

As you might know by now, most of the life coaching advice given in this blog are drawn from Eastern ancient wisdom and health principles, one of my favourite source of inspiration being the Book of Change, commonly known as the I-Ching (or Yijing).

Hexagramme 41 of the Yijing (or I-Ching) whose title is “Decrease” sheds light on why for example having no resolutions this year could be so beneficial in many ways.

The Yijing (or I-Ching) teaches us that a lot can be gained from loss, or at least from less.

                                                    

Always wanting more leads to… yes, always wanting more… which often goes together with forgetting the value of small things which make up our lives. We get focused on money, possessions, and can sometimes get so buried in material gain that we fail to notice it is making us unhappy…

It could well be draining your energy.

For instance, you work hard because you want to get a bigger house. But you fail to realise a bigger house means a bigger surface to maintain, so more time spent on taking care of it. In that case, as far as your new year’s no resolution decision is concerned, the advice would be to not get that bigger house. Or at least, to not get a house which is too big for your needs (or for your budget). The advice could also be (if the financial aspect of things is not an issue) to delegate more, as in, to hire qualified people to do more of the house and maintenance work.

Gain? More freedom, more quality time to be with the people who matter or to just do nothing and recharge!

Hexagramme 41 of the Yijing is urging you to simplify your life, to reduce all that can be reduced, so you can be more aware of what is important.

THE PRINICPLE OF DOING NOTHING OR “WU WEI”

The Yijing (I-Ching) also extensively describes and advises to apply the principle of  “Wu Wei”. It could be translated as “doing nothing”. Doing nothing can be applied literally, as in, genuinely, doing nothing. But it can also mean, in a more subtle way, “be patient and trust that the universe is acting for you behind the scene, in a better way you coud have ever done with your own actions”. Focus on just being there, present, in the right state of mind, relaxed, and things will unfold in the best possible manner.

This no resolution revolution requires a huge ability to let go ( if you want to learn more about letting go, check the post Autumn Detox is About Letting Go)

NOW, HOW TO APPLY THE NO RESOLUTION TO DO LIST?

Any idea?

By meditating. 

Regularly.

What is meditation?

It is to sit and do nothing.

Just sit, do nothing. Let the thoughts arise (as they will as the brain’s function is to work in a non stop processing mode – including in your sleep). Just notice them, and let them go, when a next one shows up, repeat the process until you reach a clearer space, you will have cleaned and slowed down part of your brain. This works with emotions too. Sit and let yourself feel whatever it is you are feeling, whether nice or uncomfortable, for how long it takes, and repeat…

Don’t ever get discouraged if you feel you are not making any progress, it is a process, there is NO goal to be attained! Just let yourself do nothing and witness what unfolds over time.

This simple practice is the most powerful one I personally have ever experienced. I also witness the benefits of it and major transformations happening easily and organically in other people due to quieting down the brain.

Please don’t forget to let me know how it goes, what changes this practice brings to you? Yes, it does takes courage to try this out of the box doing nothing approach for the new year, but why not give it a try? It could well surprise you with unexpected benefits which go way beyond what you could have imagined. It could make this year a high quality one, one which might inspire you for many years to come.

Here’s to a meaningful new year!

Yours,

Karine-Kayitesi

karine@karinekayitesi.com (don’t hesitate to reach out)

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